Royal Caribbean has unveiled Freedom of the Seas' Summer 2013 schedule that features 26 new sailings.  The schedule covers May through October 2013 and bookings are now open.

Freedom will continue alternating between seven-night western and eastern Caribbean cruises sailing out of Port Canaveral, Florida.

Eastern cruises will have ports of call in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., St. Maarten and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas.

Western Caribbean sailings will stop at Falmouth, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico; and Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s private "island" on the north coast of Haiti.

Fans of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens can get ready for the next season with the third annual AAA Ultimate Ravens Fan Cruise set for July aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.

The seven-night cruise will take a Western Caribbean itineraru and offer the opportunity to cruise with several current and former Ravens players, such as Dennis Pitta, Paul Kruger, Jonathan Ogden, Qadry Ismail and Billy Cundiff. 

This cruise will also offer onboard activities including

• mingle with the athletes through cocktail parties
• exclusive photo, autograph
• question and answer sessions

Rates for the cruise, July 8-15, start at $1,319 for an interior cabin. An oceanview stateroom with balcony starts at $1,599. The rates include a $25 shipboard credit, Ravens events, complimentary photo and dinner for two at Portofino or Chops Grill.

More details here.

One of the largest cruise fan websites, CruiseCritic, has released the results of the 2012 Cruisers' Choice Awards and Royal Caribbean has walked away with a number of prizes for its ships.

Among large cruise ships, Royal Caribbean was nominated in many categories and won the following categories:

• Best For Dining: Serenade of the Seas
• Best for Embarkation: Allure of the Seas
• Best for Entertainment: Oasis of the Seas
• Best for Families: Allure of the Seas
• Best for Fitness: Freedom of the Seas
• Best for Service: Serenade of the Seas

The Today Show Travel listed their favorite cruise ships for families and five of Royal Caribbean's newest ships made the list.

First up is Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  The sheer number of amenities are notes for fun things for kids.

The two largest ships at sea each have pretty much everything you need to entertain the kids: a sprawling H2O Zone water park, a pair of rock-climbing walls, a miniature golf course, two surfing simulators, a basketball court, an ice-skating rink, and a hand-carved wooden carousel.

The Freedom-Class ships were also mentioned, including Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas.

Aside from a huge playroom and video arcade aboard the Freedom-class ships, kids can't enough of the H2O water park, rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink, surfing simulator, mini golf course, and basketball court. Kids of all ages love the Ben & Jerry's ice-cream parlor and the Johnny Rockets diner on board for burgers, fries and milkshakes (both venues at an extra charge).

Photo by Scott Ladewig

Photo by DJ Spiess

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas can add a new achievement to their list of accolades: they both feature the the largest of its kind, state-of-the-art automated wine serving system in the Vintages Wine Bar.

With just one swipe of a passenger's SeaPass card, guests can sample selections of wine from around the world using the automated WineStation intelligent dispensing system.

The WineStation preserves wines perfectly for up to 60 days by utilizing temperature control.  The system allows passengers to try 48 varities of wine not usually offered by the glass. Using the WineStation's LCD screen, guests can see the  the varietal, year and region, and the lit bottles encourage guests to experience the labels.

Royal Caribbean's Director of Fleet Beverage Operations, Bob Midyette, talked about the new system, "We pride ourselves on always seeking the newest and most effective solutions to provide our guests with an unmatched vacation experience.  The WineStation has become a very successful option to help our guests explore wines on their own, or with one of our knowledgeable, friendly and engaging wine tenders. We look forward to offering this on more ships in the future."

Some bad weather in the Caribbean yesterday forced Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas to miss a port of call.  Freedom of the Seas was scheduled to stop at Grand Cayman yesterday but instead took a sea day.

The main reason for not stopping at Grand Cayman was the waves were too big for tenders to safely transport passengers to and from the ship.

Freedom of the Seas was the only Royal Caribbean ship affected by the foul weather, whereas five Carinval Cruise ships and a Norwegian Cruise Line ship had to alter their itineraries in one way or another.

Royal Caribbean reported injuries and damage to its Freedom of the Seas ship over the weekend when a tropical storm impacted its departure from Port Canaveral, Florida.  In a statement by Royal Caribbean, the injuries were thankfully not serious.  

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said 13 passengers sought medical aid for injuries limited to primarily bruises, cuts and scrapes.

Royal Caribbean is reporting damage to its Freedom of the Seas cruise ship after the ship encountered, "extreme wind and sea conditions, well beyond what was forecasted."

The damage occurred as Freedom of the Seas left Port Canaveral on Sunday and did report some injuries as well as damage to the ship.

In a statement by Royal Caribbean, the company described the results of the incident, "At this time there have not been any serious injuries reported. The ship has sustained some damage to the public areas and guest staterooms, which in no way affect the sea-worthiness of the ship."

The damage is not enough to alter Freedom's itinerary.  It is expected to continue on its course to the Eastern Caribbean this week.