Royal Caribbean announced today the cruise line will return to two major cruise ports largely impacted by hurricanes earlier this year.

Royal Caribbean will return to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Philipsburg, St. Maarten, which will be a, "major milestone towards the revival of these Caribbean gems which were impacted by recent hurricanes."

On November 30, Freedom of the Seas will be the first ship in the fleet to call on San Juan, Puerto Rico

Grandeur of the Seas will follow suit on December 17 as the first cruise ship to sail into, St. Maarten since Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas arrived to provide humanitarian relief last month.

As of November. 30, all scheduled calls to San Juan and St. Thomas across 10 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet will operate as planned

This announcement comes on the heels of Royal Caribbean’s recent news that Adventure of the Seas will be the first ship to call on St. Thomas on November 10.  

"Royal Caribbean is encouraged by the commendable progress that has been made by the governments of Puerto Rico and St. Maarten towards the recovery of these destinations and it means a lot to us that we are heading back home. We have been part of the Caribbean community for almost 50 years, and for all of us it has been paramount that we focus on supporting our long-standing partners – who feel more like family after so many years," said Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. "Supporting these destinations that are so reliant on tourism is key to the future of the islands and the best thing we – as travelers and businesses – can do for the islands."

Royal Caribbean has been working closely with the governments of Puerto Rico and St. Maarten, and local businesses, and plans to offer destination experiences that will allow guests to enjoy the natural beauty, historic landmarks and culture of these idyllic islands. Power and transportation is on track to be readily available in San Juan by November 30.

Similarly, the return of power and water to most of St. Maarten means that a majority of the shops, restaurants and bars, and tour operators around Philipsburg will be fully operational for guests to experience a diverse and extensive array of dining, shopping and activities in the area. The sun and vistas of the region’s best beaches, Great Bay Beach and Kimshaw Beach, will be a beacon for guests wanting to dive into the turquoise blue waters and admire the sea life, whether by boat or catamaran, or from the relaxing comfort of a beach lounger.

The scheduled visits to St. Maarten will operate as planned starting on Dec. 17 with the exception of Oasis of the Seas, which will make its first call to the island on January 1 during her New Year’s Eve cruise. Additionally, the global cruise line will return to St. Croix on January 8 with the arrival of Jewel of the Seas, which will sail from San Juan. All calls to Dominica are cancelled through June 2018 and the cruise line is working closely with the local government on a return date to the destination.

Governor Ricardo Rosselló, along with the executive director of the Ports Authority, Lic. Omar Marrero Díaz, announced Thursday improvements to San Juan's Pan American II Pier, in partnership with the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

The announcement comes as Royal Caribbean announced its intention to homeport Freedom of the Seas in San Juan in May 2018.  To do this, investments will be made in this port facility to optimize the infrastructure and in turn improve the experience of the passengers at the dock.

As part of the agreement between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and the Ports Authority, a number of works will be carried out including: improvements to the boarding bridge, improvements and reconfiguration of safety checkpoints, adding passenger registration desks, The capacity of the baggage inspection area, improvements to the bathrooms, dredging to the dock area of ​​the Pan American Wharf II, improvements to the mooring structure of the ships and other miscellaneous improvements to the building.

The economic impact is expected to be momentous and have an increase in Ports Authority revenues of $2.8 million.

Anunciando mejoras al Muelle Panamericano II en alianza con @RoyalCaribbean. ¡Seguimos trabajando en equipo para desarrollar el destino! pic.twitter.com/uJh0fX00nO

— Jose Izquierdo (@jri2) April 6, 2017

For fiscal year 2015-2016 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brought a total of 574,140 passengers and is expected to increase to approximately 700,000 passengers by 2018.

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas will call San Juan, Puerto Rico its new home in 2018-2019.

The cruise line's 2018-2019 Caribbean deployment has a number of 7-night Southern Caribbean cruises that will sail round trip from San Juan.

View Freedom of the Seas' entire deployment here

Freedom of the Seas will depart her current home of Port Everglades, Florida on May 5, 2018 and reposition to San Juan at the end of that sailing.  From then, through March 2019, Freedom of the Seas will homeport from San Juan.

Freedom of the Seas will replace Adventure of the Seas, which will be moving to Cape Liberty, New Jersey. 

Thanks to Erik Clauson aka Cruiseboy for discovering the deployment plans.

Exploring a port of call's history can be just as interesting and fun as spalshing at the beach or enjoying local cuisine.  In Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, history comes in spades and among the most popular historical spots tourists can see are the two old Spanish forts that guard the city,  Castillo San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) and San Cristóbal.

These two forts are among the most popular historical sites to see in Old San Juan, and they offer an intriguing look back at the island's rich history as well as provide amazing views of the surrounding area.

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The two Spanish forts are located on the north side of Old San Juan, and are within walking distance of each other.

El Morro is the more famous of the two forts, as it guards the entrance to the harbor, while San Cristóbal was built to defend the city itself.

The city of San Juan provides a free shuttle from the cruise area up to the forts, although the distance is walkable by most people and there is a lot to see and do along the way.

Starting with El Morro, the fort is set opposite a rather large grassy area, where you will often spot locals and tourists flying kits, taking dogs for walks and otherwise enjoying the wide open space.

Like San Cristóbal, once inside the fort, guests are able to tour the fort on their own and explore every aspect of it. The park staff do offer guided tours at certain times that narrate the experience. Nonetheless, you should feel free to explore the fort on your own, as there is plenty of signs to help tell the fort's story.

There are many areas of the fort to explore, as El Morro is rather large and offers views of the entrance to the harbor, the ocean and the surrounding areas.

Admission to El Morro gets you admission to San Cristóbal as well (and vice versa).

After a walk to San Cristóbal, you will find a fort similar in nature to El Morro, but this fort offers better views of the city and harbor.

San Cristóbal was built to defend the city against land based attacks and is larger than El Morro. In fact, it is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World.

Like El Morro, San Cristóbal provides a self-guided tour of the facility and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

If your Royal Caribbean ship happens to be in port during the evening, El Morro is lit up quite nicely and provides even more beautiful photo opportunities.

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The two Old San Juan forts are among the most famous historical sites in Old San Juan and they are to Old San Juan what the Statue of Liberty might be to New York City.

There are two good tips we can offer for seeing the forts: try to go there early in the day before the temperatures rise and take the complimentary trolley from the cruise ship terminal.

Since Puerto Rico is in the tropics, it tends to get quite hot and humid in the afternoon, especially between the months of March through November.  Given that the fort is almost entirely outdoors, ideally you will visit it in the morning before it gets too hot outside.

If you are wondering about which fort to see if you only have time or energy for one, El Morro tends to be the better choice for its photo opportunities and slightly smaller footprint. Keep in mind that admission to one fort gets you into both (for up to 7 days), so there is no financial reason not to see both.

Be sure to bring your cameras to either fort, because the views offered are really quite impressive.  

Both fortifications can be explored everyday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm either on your own or on one of the ranger led programs held throughout the week.

Cost: $7 per adult. Children 15 and under are free.

Royal Caribbean offers cruises that begin in San Juan, Puerto Rico that offer some great Southern Caribbean itineraries to try.  If you're considering going on one of these cruises, here's what you need to know about embarkation day in San Juan.

It's not where you think it is

If you've ever taken a cruise that stops in San Juan for the day, you've likely been to the San Juan Cruise Port, but that's just for cruise ships that are in the city for the day.

Royal Caribbean cruises that originate in San Juan will dock at the Pan American Pier, which is across the channel from the San Juan Cruise Port.  It's adjacent to the Isla Grande Airport and is about a 5 minute taxi drive from Old San Juan.

As you're driving in, you should be able to see the ship docked since there isn't much around there.  As of the writing of this blog post, Jewel of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas are offering cruises out of San Juan.

Getting checked in

Once you arrive at the pier, the check-in process is similar to other ports but we've also noticed a few differences too.

There will be porters at the pier to help take your luggage and load it onto the ship.  In addition, there is a special line to enter the building for Platinum and above Crown and Anchor Society members.  Everyone else will wait in a separate line.

Waiting to check in for our Jewel of the Seas cruise #cruise #JewelOfTheSeas #cruiseship #travel

A photo posted by Royal Caribbean Blog.com (@royalcaribbeanblog) on Sep 21, 2013 at 7:48am PDT

We've gotten to the pier as early as 10:30am and we've generally heard passengers are let into the embarkation building around 11am.  One potential issue is the check-in building is not very large and the staff will only allow batches of passengers in at a time, so you may get stuck outside waiting to get in.  Given this is Puerto Rico, the temperature and humidity outside can be quite high.

Since most Royal Caribbean ships do not leave port until later in the evening (usually around 8pm), so getting to the port early in the morning is not as critical but lines outside the building are possible.  The good news is, often the lines outside are infrequent.

Embarkation

Once inside the building, you will find lines for Crown and Anchor Society members and lines for everyone else.  

You will be subjected to a security check that consists of an x-ray machine and metal detector.  Once through there, you will enter your line and get checked in.

We should also note there is a duty-free liquor store inside the check-in area, which is a great place to pick up a few bottles of wine to bring onboard your cruise. Remember, Royal Caribbean allows up to two bottles of wine per stateroom to bring onboard.

After check-in, it's just a short walk onto your Royal Caribbean cruise!

Boarding #jeweloftheseas!

A photo posted by Royal Caribbean Blog.com (@royalcaribbeanblog) on Sep 21, 2013 at 8:11am PDT

Have you embarked in San Juan?

Did you have a chance to take a Royal Caribbean cruise out of San Juan?  Share your tips and suggestions for embarkation day in San Juan in our comments below!

Puerto Rico's Governor announced plans to expand the cruise pier in Old San Juan to be able to handle cruise ships carrying 6,000 passengers.

The plan according to Alejandro Garcia Padilla will be able to accomodate Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, which will visit San Juan in December 2014, with nine more visits scheduled for 2015.

The new pier expansion will cost $8.7 million and will extend the pier by 182 feet as well as build a new baggage inspection office.

Quantum of the Seas will be 167,000 tons and carry at least 4,180 passengers when she begins sailings in November 2014.

The Puerto Rico Tourism Co. (PRTC) has signed a deal with Royal Caribbean that will bring Oasis class cruise ships to the island of Puerto Rico in 2014, according to Caribbean Business.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis class cruise ships are the largest in the world and bring 5,400 passengers.   PRTC Executive Director Luis Gerardo Rivera Marín did not indicate weather Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas would visit the island, but Marín did say the ship would dock at Pier 3 in Old San Juan.  Furthermore, naval architects have been at the pier to verify pier compliance.

You've likely heard about the incident in Puerto Rico last week where Royal Caribbean stranded 140 passengers when Hurricane Irene forced the Serenade of the Seas to leave port earlier than expected.  There was a lot of outrage targeted at Royal Caribbean for not doing more to notify the passengers and/or compensate them for missing their cruise.  Yesterday Royal Caribbean announced it was offering those who missed the ship compensation.

So today's soundoff topic is: Did Royal Caribbean rectify the situation in your eyes?

Did Royal Caribbean do enough to make the situation better?  Or do you think that since the cruise contract every passengers enters into stipulating Royal Caribbean owes them nothing means the compensation is more than adequate?  

Share your thoughts in our comments for this post!

After an avalanche of negative comments concerning Royal Caribbean's decision last week to strand over 100 of its passengers in San Juan without any compensation, Royal Caribbean has decided to offer those who didn't make the ship a compensation package.

The incident occurred when Hurricane Irene threatened San Juan, Puerto Rico where Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas was docked.  Port officials needed to have the ship leave early, so Serenade was forced to leave a few hours early and subsequently left 145 passengers and refused to offer them any compensation.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez confirmed that a compensation package was indeed being offered but declined to provide specifics.

The aftermath of the incident spilled over when people heard of what happened and were upset over Royal Caribbean's indifference to the plight of those left behind.  Despite earlier saying the cruise giant would not offer anything (they claimed they were within their rights to do what they did), Royal Caribbean is hoping to reverse the negative perception that has taken hold in the court of public opinion.

UPDATE: Here is a statement from Royal Caribbean:

 “As a gesture of goodwill, and in recognition of the time they missed on board Serenade of the Seas, Royal Caribbean provided each guest who was not able to arrive to the ship before it departed San Juan but met the ship later, with a future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise fare paid for their sailing.

“We are in the process of contacting those guests who were not able to sail with us at all to inform them of their compensation, and would prefer that the impacted guests learn of the amount directly from the line before it is disclosed publicly.

“We are compensating these passengers because we understand that this was an unusual situation, and we want to provide our guests with another opportunity to sail with Royal Caribbean International in the near future.”