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Hi all, Does anyone know why Royal are changing the deck plans for every single one of their ships on the ship's first sailing after May 1st? If you are unsure what I am referring to, check the link here, https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/deck-plans and you can see that when you go into all of them, they all say that their current deck plans are only valid until May? If I had to make a wild guess, I might wonder if it's the date where all ships will be on the Royal Caribbean Smartphone App, in which case they may switch to the more detailed deck plans found on said applications. Any other ideas?

I got more than a little excited when I saw the post from @Matt about the Royal Amplified fleet upgrade schedule, which included some new details on what each class of ship was getting as part of its refurb. In particular, I saw that Freedom class is getting all of these features from her bigger Oasis-class siblings, and Symphony in particular: Sky Pad (what I call "the bounce house") The Perfect Storm water slides Playmakers Sports Bar and Arcade Sugar Beach Laser Tag Escape Room Fish & Ships Emphasis on Playmakers and Escape Room is mine. I'm wondering where Playmakers would go, given that Freedom class doesn't have an outdoor space like the Boardwalk on Oasis. Maybe the space where Johnny Rockets currently sits on deck 11, right next to the existing kids' arcade? It wasn't very busy on any of the days I'd walk by there on my recent Freedom sailing, and Playmakers would clearly replace the burgers-and-fries offering of JR. Plus, by putting it right in the space next to an existing arcade, they can refurbish that arcade space with newer games and maybe increase the size a little. Would be some effective use of the space, and anything on the burger front should be better than JR. Even on land, I'm not a fan of JR burgers. The escape room -- I wonder if this would be like on Anthem, where it's just the Teen Club space repurposed for part of the day, or if they might do it like Escape the Rubicon and other dedicated rooms that Oasis-class ships get? I'd really prefer the latter, as a purpose-built space for escape rooms is so much better than just slapping some props into an existing room for a couple of hours on one or two days. But what space would they replace if they did this? Apart from JR, I can't say I noticed any other really "dead" spaces on Freedom. I'm assuming Laser Tag would be done the same way as on Symphony, with walls and other props set up in the Studio B ice rink. Sugar beach -- probably replacing the current cupcake store in the Royal Promenade. Fish & Ships -- NO idea on this one, but I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) they're doing this and not putting in an Izumi like they did on Adventure. There's already the Bull & Bear Pub that could be used as a fish & chips place, keeping the overall theme of British Pub going; why install another restaurant that sort of duplicates a theme already in place? Especially when the marketing material clearly shows the pub is not going anywhere? Overall, this is kind of exciting to see, especially when it's coming in 2020. I really liked sailing on Freedom, and while I'm not a huge sports bar fan, if it improved the beer selection so I could choose something other than Paulaner Salvator or Guinness Draught cans, I'd be very happy to sail her again and try out all the new shiny. Maybe even forego the Europe trip I've been mulling and sail her instead.

Not sure how many here follow @monorailmedic's blog Cruise Habit, but he recently put up a post discussing a fleet-wide refurbishment for Celebrity that will start in 2019 and is planned to wrap up by 2023. This sounded pretty impressive to me, especially as they indicated that on at least some ships they were going to not just refresh the decor of the cabins, but totally tear out a bunch and replace them with new designs and architecture. Plus changes to common spaces, a new sundeck and lounge, and more! The timing is really interesting for me, as I'm looking at a 2020 booking and was seriously considering a few itineraries on the Eclipse. If that ship has its refurbishment towards the start of the cycle, I could have an even nicer experience than I was already looking at!

Has anyone heard any details regarding Royal Caribbean's "More to Love" Ship Enhancement Program; certainly less advertised than the bigger, longer planned Refurbishments Pregram. I recently came across a revitalization schedule that shows Royal Caribbean's planned ship refurbishments. The schedule includes some of these low key "More to Love" Enhancements. I'm particularly interested in learning anything about the enhancements planned for Radiance in May 2016. I will be sailing her south-bound in Alaska on May 27 2016. I have noticed a gap in Radiance sailing schedule once she reaches Vancouver (following her transpacific crossing) and right before she starts the Alaska season - dry docking in Vancouver. Looking forward to some new sparkling surprises once I board! I'm hoping the enhancements include VOOM :-)