Royal Caribbean announced today its 2020-2021 Bermuda, Northeast and 7-night Caribbean sailings.

As we reported earlier, Oasis of the Seas will become the first ship in her class, and the world's largest, to sail from the Northeast.  Oasis will arrive in May 2020 and  transport travelers to the clear blue waters of The Bahamas all summer with 7-night itineraries, as well as a select number of short cruises north to New England and Canada.

Adventure of the Seas will return to Cape Liberty, sailing a variety of 5- and 9-night summer and fall itineraries to Bermuda, New England and Canada, The Bahamas and the Caribbean.

Vision of the Seas will offer three 10- to 11-night open-jaw itineraries between Bayonne and Quebec City with an overnight in Quebec’s capital.

Symphony of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas will return to PortMiami and Port Canaveral, Fla., respectively, offering 7-night itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Both ships will feature visits to Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Brilliance of the Seas will sail 7- to 10-night cruises to Canada starting in September 2020, while Grandeur of the Seas continues to offer 9-night itineraries to Canada and New England for fall foliage from her year-round homeport in Baltimore, Md. Grandeur will embark on a combination of 5- and 9-night itineraries to Bermuda and The Bahamas in the summer months, and transition to 9-night Southeast Coast & Bahamas and 12-night Southern Caribbean cruises for the winter. Northeast, Canada and Bermuda itineraries will be available to book as of Dec. 13, 2018.

In 2020, San Juan, Puerto Rico will welcome what will be the newly modernized Freedom of the Seas. Freedom will return for the third consecutive year to sail 7-night itineraries year-round throughout the Southern Caribbean, traveling to destinations like Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis; St. Johns, Antigua; Castries, St. Lucia and Bridgetown, Barbados.

Liberty of the Seas  will continue to sail from Galveston to the Western Caribbean ahead of her own highly anticipated amplification in early 2021. 

Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society members can begin booking sailings on December 12, 2018, with the general public available to begin booking on December 13, 2018.

Northeast

• Adventure of the Seas
• Anthem of the Seas
• Brilliance of the Seas
• Grandeur of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas

Bermuda

• Adventure of the Seas
• Grandeur of the Seas
• Vision of the Seas

7-night Caribbean

• Allure of the Seas
• Freedom of the Seas
• Harmony of the Seas
• Liberty of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Symphony of the Seas

For the first time ever, an Oasis Class ship will offer sailings from the New York City area when in 2020 Oasis of the Seas spends the summer offering cruises from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Royal Caribbean's 7-night 2020 itineraries for Caribbean and Canada were posted to the website yesterday, and it shows Oasis of the Seas arriving to Cape Liberty on May 6, 2020 and staying through October 25, 2020.  Oasis of the Seas will return to Florida on November 4, 2020.

When Oasis arrives in Cape Liberty, she will offer a quick 4-night Canada Getaway cruise on May 6 before offering 7-night sailings down to the Bahamas, with stops in Port Canaveral, Nassau and CocoCay.  On August 1, 2020, she will offer an 8-night sailing that adds a stop in Miami.

Oasis will sail one New England & Canada sailing on June 21, 2020 when she offers a 6-night cruise to Portland, St. John and Halifax.

Adventure of the Seas will also sail from Cape Liberty and alternate between 5 and 9 night itineraries to Bermuda and the Caribbean.  Adventure of the Seas will also offer a nine-night New England/Canada sailing a few times during the summer and fall 2020.

Royal Caribbean is testing out a new limited quantity VIP guest experience on select Liberty of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas sailings.

Royal Caribbean is calling this pilot program, The Key, it provides guests with special benefits and perks during their cruise. 

The Key is being tested out on Liberty of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas for sailings beginning November 25, 2018 through the end of March 2019. The Key will be available only in the Cruise Planner for purchase at a rate of $24.99 per person, per day.  All guests in a stateroom age 6 and up must purchase in order to receive benefits.

Once purchased, the Key benefits are utilized via the SeaPass card and a summary of benefits will be available in their stateroom on boarding day.

With The Key, guests can enjoy a private lunch at Chops Grille when they board, daily private hours at marquee attractions, like the FlowRider, rock climbing Wall and ice-skating rink, and access to VIP seating at shows. Please note: Guests will need to reserve their seating online at Cruise Planner before they set sail.

The Key provides:

• Carry-on luggage service offering drop off at the Theater (until 1:30 PM) and delivery to your stateroom (Up to 2 bags per guest)
• Private lunch at Chops Grille on boarding day from 11:30 AM until 1:30 PM - this does not need to be reserved, as the dining team will be expecting guests who’ve purchased The Key package
• Daily private hours at signature attractions like the FlowRider, Rock Climbing wall, and ice-skating rink
• Priority tender service from cruise ship to shore
• Access to the VIP seating at shows (reservations required through the Pre-Cruise Planner)
• Complimentary VOOM Surf & Stream (1 device)
• Choice debarkation with an exclusive à la carte breakfast beginning at 6:30 AM until 9:30 AM

From what we understand, this is a pilot program and whether or not it rolls out to other ships and sailings depends on how well the program is received and performs.

Does this sound like something you would want to purchase? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

For Oasis of the Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, arriving to St. Thomas in the Caribbean can be daunting. With narrow water ways, sailboats anchored in the harbor, a tight turn and just six feet of clearance below the keel, the water around this popular port is one of the most difficult to maneuver. But thanks to an expert marine team using the industry’s leading technology, arriving is just another day at the office for the Oasis of the Seas crew. With a local pilot offering his expertise on the currents and local marine environment, and powerful bow thrusters which gives the captain the control he needs to pull the 1,187-foot ship, this is nothing but smooth sailing.

Royal Caribbean announced today an easier online check-in process that aims to cut down the check-in process by 25%.

Guests will be asked to enter fewer data fields and can apply information, like credit card data, to multiple parties on their reservation. These improvements help guests move through the check-in process faster and easier.

The new online check-in features:

• Fewer steps needed for check-in completion
• Option to check in one person or your entire party simultaneously
• Ability to edit previously entered information without repeating any steps
• Easy add-guest or remove-guest functionality from check-in process
• The ability to stop and save at any point
• Easily pick up where you left off on either the website or the Royal Caribbean mobile App check in
• Convenient digital SetSail pass for mobile use at terminal

The new online check-in process is already available for sailings onboard Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas. Royal Caribbean plans to expand this functionality to other ships "in the near future".

Guests can check-in from 90 days to 72 hours prior to the sail date. If a guest misses the check-in window, the guest has the option to check-in at the Port.

 Royal Caribbean informed guests sailing on the July 8th sailing of Oasis of the Seas their itinerary has been changed due to Hurricane Beryl’s projected path. 

Thanks to Royal Caribbean Blog reader Nick Vitani, we have a look at the email sent to guests booked on the affected sailing. 

Instead of sailing to the Western Caribbean as originally scheduled, Oasis of the Seas will opt for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary that will visit Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

Actress and avid traveler Shay Mitchell is Royal Caribbean's "Adventurist," and recently shared a number of video shorts that show off the kind of fun to be had on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Having experiences Oasis of the Seas, Mitchell is featured in three new videos all about the kind of fun experiences onboard and onshore.

Known for her role in the TV drama, "Pretty Little Liars," Shay has made a name for herself visiting some incredible destinations around the world, from hot-air ballooning over Morocco to skydiving in Dubai.

UPDATE: The app has been updated again and Oasis of the Seas references have been removed. Support for Oasis of the Seas will come in "a few weeks".

The latest version of Royal Caribbean's new smartphone app that is under development has been expanded to work on Oasis of the Seas.

Version 1.1.0 of the Royal Caribbean App was released, which expands functionality and makes it work on Oasis of the Seas, in addition to Allure of the Seas.

The new app version includes a few new features:

• Learn about the hundreds of activities, movies, and shows available onboard
• Explore off-ship adventures in places like the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Cozumel, and more
• Peruse complete restaurant, bar, and lounge options
• Plan a day of indulgence with our array of Vitality at Sea Spa offerings
• Use deck plan illustrations to navigate the ship

Additionally, the daily planner is easier to navigate, and added a daily ticker with port, weather, and sunrise/ sunset information.

The app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas offers a lovely family vacation opportunity, and has some interesting anecdotes related to the ship's development and operation that we wanted to share.

This list is not a list of hidden secrets of things and ways to improve your Oasis of the Seas cruise experience.  Rather, this is an opportunity to share fun tidbits and factoids about a very popular Royal Caribbean cruise ship that continues to capture the attention of the cruising public.

Oasis of the Seas has seven Godmothers

It is maritime tradition for a ship to have a Godmother, which is a ceremonial position that serves more of a marketing role than anything else these days. Royal Caribbean decided to change things up and have not one, but seven Godmothers.  Why seven? The answer is one for each neighborhood on Oasis of the Seas.

Oasis of the Seas' Godmothers are Shawn Johnson, Daisy Fuentes, Jane Seymour, Michelle Kwan, Gloria Estefan, Darra Torres and Keisha Knight Pulliam.

Oasis of the Seas was known as Project Genesis

It's common in the cruise industry to begin working on a new class of ships under a project name and then announce a formal name later on. In the case of the Oasis-class, it was known as Project Genesis.

There is a small homage to the Project Genesis name on the Royal Promenade of Oasis of the Seas.

Name for crew area

The crew-only super highway that funnels food, services, and supplies to the 16 decks above stretches the entire length of the ship, and is called I-95. This is a reference to the major American highway that runs north and south on the eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.

A new terminal was created for Oasis of the Seas

When Royal Caribbean designed Oasis of the Seas, they realized she was so large and so different that they needed to also build a brand new cruise terminal to accommodate her.

The new terminal would need to be able to handle all the passengers, equipment, and supplies for the largest cruise ship in the world, so Royal Caribbean built the largest cruise ship terminal in the world at Terminal 18 in Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

A 9,000 piece art collection

Oasis of the Seas is proud to blend spectacular art with its revolutionary architecture-over 9,000 art pieces have led it to be dubbed ’’a museum at sea.’’ 

The Boardwalk's inspiration

The Boardwalk neighborhood is a fun spot onboard for guests to catch a show, a bite to eat, or enjoy the ocean breeze any time of day or night.  Royal Caribbean's ship designers were inspired by the seaside piers that dot the coast of England and the nostalgic boardwalks of the past, such as Coney Island.

The centerpiece of Boardwalk is a one-of-a-kind carousel. The Boardwalk Neighborhood on Oasis is designed to be a breathtaking space for families inspired by the nostalgic seaside boardwalks of yesteryear; so the carousel was created using inspiration from turn-of-the-century carousel designs down to the very last detail.

Solar panels help light up the ship

21,000 square feet of thin solar film that produce enough power to light the ship’s Royal Promenade and Central Park areas.

Oasis of the Seas received the solar panels, after Royal Caribbean tested solar panel use on two of its Celebrity Solstice class ships.

While the solar panels may not a rapid payoff on its solar panel investment, the installation of these solar panels is what sustainability architects call “future proofing.” In other words, utilizing imperfect existing technology will pave the way for easy adoption of more efficient solar panels in the future. Old panels can be ripped off and new ones installed.

Other Royal Caribbean efforts to include more energy-efficient lighting and air-conditioning systems that can turn off automatically when balcony doors are left open too long.