Royal Caribbean is looking for the best Bionic Bar drink recipe to add to its drink menu on Symphony of the Seas.

The Bionic Bar is a pair of robots that were engineered in Italy to be able to muddle, stir, shake and strain all types of drinks; the cocktail combinations are endless, with 30 spirits and 21 mixers from which to choose. 

Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society sent the open invitation to all past cruisers to share with the cruise line their drink recipe submission, and encourages as much creativity as possible. You will have the opportunity to name the drink too.

Guests can fill out the Bionic Bar Recipe Contest form and see if their favorite concoction makes the cut as the next new cocktail.

The robot bartenders can produce two drinks per minute and can make up to 1,000 each day. Guests create an order—whether a custom request or standard menu item—on a specially programed tablet or with staff. They can keep track of their order on the digital screen next to the bar, and once it’s ready, the bartenders will release their drink with a simple tap of their SeaPass card or WOWband.

In just about three months, Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas will be arriving at her new home port of PortMiami, Florida, and it will mark her debut in the United States.

Symphony of the Seas is not only the largest cruise ship in the world, but also marks a significant moment for many Royal Caribbean fans because this brand new cruise ship offers so many enticing options.

In anticipation of Symphony of the Seas' arrival, we are counting down the top reasons you ought to be excited to welcome Symphony of the Seas "home".

New terminal

Coinciding with Symphony of the Seas' arrival will be the opening of a brand new cruise terminal at PortMiami, colloquially known as, "The Crown of Miami".

The new state-of-the-art terminal at PortMiami will be home to Allure of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas. Terminal A will house an angular glass center and a parking garage with about 1,000 parking spaces at the northeastern side of the port, designed by England-based global architecture firm Broadway Malyan. 

The 170,000-square-foot terminal is nicknamed the ‘Crown of Miami’ because of its distinct shape. The design evokes the points of the symbolic headgear when viewed from the water; the ‘M’ of Miami when viewed from the east or western approaches; and a sense of waves rising or ships passing when viewed from the terminal side. 

New dining venues

I really love the specialty restaurants Royal Caribbean offers, especially on its newer ships.  When a new restaurant concept is added, it definitely gets our attention and Symphony of the Seas has a couple of new additions.

Hooked is Royal Caribbean's new seafood restaurant that features fresh seafood and a robust raw bar complete with oysters shucked to order. While other restaurants have had seafood items on their menus, having a dedicated restaurant to offer these type of dishes is a welcome addition.

Hooked is described as, "This is the ultimate catch if you’re angling for the freshest seafood. It’s a real taste of New England in a casual atmosphere — and it’s a brand-new addition on our newest ship, Symphony of the Seas. Introducing Hooked Seafood — taste bud-tempting fare to satisfy every seafood craving, including raw bar favorites, a variety of crab claws and a selection of just-shucked East Coast oysters. Plus enjoy classic apps, clam chowder, lobster and fresh caught local fish. It’s reel fresh, real good."

While Hooked brings a new sit down experience to Symphony of the Seas, there is also a brand new venue for hanging out and enjoying sports, drinks and games at Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade.

As a fan of the various incarnations of pubs on Royal Caribbean ships, Playmakers follows in that tradition of offering great drinks combined with plenty to see, watch and play. Located in the iconic Boardwalk neighborhood, this massive new venue is all about beer, chicken wings, skeeball, sports and hanging out.

Return of Hairspray

Symphony of the Seas will see the first Broadway revival at sea, with the Tony Award-winning show, Hairspray, headlining the main theater .

Hairspray was first offered on Oasis of the Seas and was the first Broadway show to be offered on a cruise ship.  Not only is Hairspray a favorite Broadway show, it features classic Broadway songs and a heartwarming story. 

Hairspray is set in Baltimore in 1962 where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair, only has one passion – to dance. After winning a spot on the local TV dance program “The Corny Collins Show”, she is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. As a trendsetter in dance and fashion she goes up against the program’s reigning princess, wins the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin and plays a major role in the integration of the television show. Welcome to the 60’s!

Lots of WOWs

Building the largest cruise ship in the world is more than just about how large the ship is, because Royal Caribbean has packed Symphony of the Seas with so many exciting activities for the entire family to enjoy.

Symphony of the Seas will offer guests a wide variety of activities, dining options and places to relax.

There is no way to list all of the fun things to do on Symphony of the Seas in just one post, but here are the ones not tmiss:

• Glow-in-the-dark laser tag
• Ultimate Abyss slide (10 stories high!)
• Waterslides
• Two FlowRider surf simulators
• Escape room game
• AquaTheatre shows
• Solarium Big Wonder art installation

Biggest ship in the world

At the end of the day, Symphony of the Seas' arrival is going to be an exciting moment because she is the largest cruise ship in the world and that alone signifies a big change (no pun intended).

In addition to the key features highlighted in this post, there is lots more to see and do to the point you will have to return a few more times to be able to "do it all."

Royal Caribbean designed its Oasis-class ships to be a floating hub of dining, entertainment and activities, and Symphony of the Seas is included in that mold of amazing cruise ships.

What are you most excited about to experience on Symphony of the Seas? Share your thoughts in the comments!

During Royal Caribbean's second quarter 2018 financial call with investors, the company shared some interesting anecdotes, facts, and insight into the ever changing cruising environment.  While most of the information discussed in these earnings calls deal primarily with financial indicators, cruise guests can glean some insight into how Royal Caribbean runs its business.

Symphony of the Seas debut has been spectacular 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) Chairman and CEO Richard Fain started off the call with investors beaming about the positive response Symphony of the Seas has received in her inaugural season in Europe.  Fain indicated that not only is the ship booked well, but guests are raving about the experience and the high level of service they are experiencing.

"Her performance for a first time ship in a new market. For her to perform so amazingly well when she is the fourth in a series, is a testament to the innovations the team has incorporated and the power of the Royal Caribbean International brand.

This ship has remarkable new wow's, new shows, and new activities, but what truly sets her apart is the careful execution and high level of service which have been pivotal in achieving these record-breaking ratings."

Smart phone update

Of particular interest to Royal Caribbean cruisers is an update was given on the progress being made with the cruise line's new smart phone app and technology innovation, known as Project Excalibur.

Fain offered an update on where the project stands, and seemed bullish on the prospects of rolling the app out to most ships in the fleet by the end of 2019, as well as the progress being made.  There were no specific updates in terms of when certain functionality will be completed, but it did sound like they wanted to get it right the first time, instead of just pushing out an app that may or may not work well.

"The program is on track and the progress is impressive. We have taken a methodical, hands-on approach to this implementation, rolling out new upgrades on a monthly basis or even more frequently. We're finding that this 'softly softly' approach allows us to move more quickly, but also to correct the errors early before they impact a lot of vacations.

We continually add features to the app, and we remain on our trajectory of having half the fleet connected by the end of this year and most of the rest by the end of next year.

The most complete version of the app today is on Symphony of the Seas, and in December, that distinction will be taken over by Celebrity Edge.

One interesting milestone is the introduction of frictionless arrival.  We have been rolling this out on a limited basis and expect that it will be operational on a large scale basis on Symphony of the Seas and on Celebrity Edge later this fall.

By the way, we recently trademarked the term 'frictionless', so don't expect to see that being used by any other cruise line."

Higher onboard revenue is up (again)

If you spend time listening to these earnings calls, one trend that continued again this quarter was higher spending by guests, namely in the form of drink packages and other packages that can be purchased online or onboard.

In short, a lot of Royal Caribbean's revenue can be traced back to guests not only booking cruises in droves, but also because they are spending more than ever once onboard.

RCL Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty spoke about onboard spending during his summary of the quarter, "The beat was driven by stronger than anticipated close-in demand, and better than expected onboard revenue spend.

Onboard areas, such as beverage, specialty dining and internet, helped deliver a 5.5% year-over-year increase in onboard revenue."

Mariner of the Seas singlehandidly helped drive up Caribbean demand

If there is one ship not named Symphony of the Seas that has hit a home run for Royal Caribbean, it is definitely Mariner of the Seas.  Mariner of the Seas has the distinction of being a very popular choice with consumers that are looking for short cruises, and has been a boon for the cruise line in terms of being booked well and driving up revenue.

In providing an overview of the Caribbean cruise market, Jason Liberty spoke about the impact Mariner of the Seas has had, "Demand for the Caribbean sailings has been strong, with bookings trending ahead of last year's very storng numbers. Our Caribbean capacity is up in the back half of the year, due mainly due to the addition of the reimagined Mariner of the Seas for the short Caribbean market.

Our strategy behind modernizing the Mariner of the Seas was to offer the best alternative for a short Caribbean getaway as a response to consumer trends. The younger generations are opting for shorter, more frequent vacations and the Mariner of the Seas is very well positioned for this segment with onboard activities, dining options, and entertainment similar to those on Oasis class ships.

Mariner of the Seas is booked very well and we are particularly excited about 2019. While we generally don't expect to recieve many bookings for short Caribbean sailings that are more than six months away, Mariner of the Seas' load factors in the first half of 2019 are closer to those of seven-night products than they are to shorter products."

Lessons learned from 2017 hurricane season

Towards the end of the call, an analyst asked Royal Caribbean's leaders about any lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane season that they can apply to the 2018 hurricane season.  This was an opportunity for Royal Caribbean to talk about the impact the cruise line had on the people affected by the storms, and the positive public relations and humanitarian response that Royal Caribbean saw.

Richard Fain spoke about the lessons learned, "We felt our response last year was really ended up being quite good. Probably built up a fair amount of good will from the way we handled it, and I'm not sure that from a pure financial point of view we learned much that would significantly change the outcome if you had, again, a hurricane that exactly tracked as our ships itinerary and exactly hit the ports of call on the days that they would be most impactful. So we constantly try and learn, and obviously there are always some lessons to be learned, but overall, I think we felt that last year we did pretty well.

I do think though that people should be impressed by how well the destinations responded afterwards. These were horrific events for them, but now people are reporting back and travel agents, which are always an important source of information as well as internet chatter, shows how well they've recovered and I think that may help us a little bit in terms of assuaging the concern that people had that if they went to some of these destinations afterwards they would encounter a bad experience. And that simply hasn't been the case."

Guests sailing on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas now have a new option for letting the cruise line know their luggage prefernces upon departure.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Rich Freudenberg noticed this new interactive luggage departure form on his stateroom television.

Rich noted that when you turn it on, it instantly asks you about your luggage preferences upon departure.  

By taking advantage of this interactive option, it forgoes the need to fill out any forms.

Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas, is certainly an impressive and spectacular cruise ship with a ton to offer.  Just how impressive, you ask?  Check out these two brand new infographics to get a sense of just how much Royal Caribbean has packed into this amazing new ship.

Royal Caribbean announced today that Symphony of the Seas will not have a Godmother, rather, a Godfamily by choosing Carlos and Alexa PenaVega, along with their 17-month-old son, Ocean.

This is the first time a family will be the Godfamily of a cruise ship. The selection of a new ship’s guiding spirit, customarily a godmother, is rooted in a longstanding maritime tradition. The role is often held by renowned athletes, celebrities and royalty.

Royal Caribbean says they picked this family because they have celebrated a number of family firsts on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class ships, as well as personify the spirit of the new ship, redefining the way families stay and play.

Royal Caribbean’s nearly 25-year relationship with Carlos began on his first cruise when he was just 4 years old, only to be beat by son Ocean, who sailed for the first time at 13 months.

“Carlos and Alexa have been an extension of our family for quite some time, and they truly personify our spirit of innovation and adventure in every way,” said Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “We’re very excited to welcome them and their son Ocean as the first-ever Godfamily to officially name a ship. Their passion for cruising and commitment to family make them the perfect choice to serve as the guiding spirits for Symphony of the Seas.”

“Words can’t describe the overwhelming emotions we’re feeling,” said Carlos PenaVega, alongside Alexa and Ocean. “Royal Caribbean ships have been the backdrops to so many unforgettable moments in our life, and it means so much to us to be named Godfamily of Symphony of the Seas. Royal Caribbean continues to make amazing memories with our family, and this next adventure will be our best yet.”

Symphony of the Seas + @thecarlospena + @alexavega + @oceanpenavega = the first ever Godfamily. pic.twitter.com/I69sioDJl1

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) May 10, 2018

The family will have the honor of formally naming Symphony when she arrives to her permanent home in Miami in November.

During Royal Caribbean's first quarter 2018 financial call with investors, the company shared some interesting anecdotes, facts, and insight into the ever changing cruising environment.  While most of the information discussed in these earnings calls deal primarily with financial indicators, cruise guests can glean some insight into how Royal Caribbean runs its business.

Social media driving demand

Off the bat, Royal Caribbean's top brass was quick to point out that social media is crushing it in terms of raising the brand's awareness to consumers, assuaging myths about cruising and most importantly, driving demand.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) Chairman and CEO Richard Fain spoke about the impact of social media, "I attribute some of the recent healthy growth and demand to our success in the social media environment. Our social media teams really are doing an amazing job."

RCL Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty also talked about how social media has helped Royal Caribbean this quarter, "Levers, like social media and so forth, are really helping break through stereotypes on cruise and we have seen a real change in our new to cruise volumes.  That is also suggesting that a lot of these past detractors are becoming fans of cruise."

Symphony receiving tons of good press for a sister ship

There is no question that Royal Caribbean is proud of the launch of its newest ship, but the executives were down right impressed by how well Symphony of the Seas is selling, especially considering she is the fourth sister ship in the class.

Mr. Fain spoke about the public's reaction to Symphony of the Seas, "The public reaction to Symphony of the Seas was surprising even to us. Even though she is the fourth in the amazing Oasis Class series of ships, she has so many new amenities and attractions, that our guests and the media were simply blow away. Rarely has a sister ship received such press, and rarely has it been so deserving of it."

Mr. Liberty expanded on the results Symphony of the Seas has brought to the cruise line, "Prices for Symphony have not only exceeded our lofty expectations, they have also been even better than we saw from Harmony last year."

Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley shared an anecdote about Symphony of the Seas' early success, "The week after we introduced Symphony of the Seas, our bookings beat track by 50%. That is the week after we introduced the ship, so it's really performing well."

Consumers want shorter, more frequent vacations

A trend that Royal Caribbean has picked up on is the desire for short Caribbean getaway cruises.  As a result, Royal Caribbean has invested heavily in Mariner of the Seas and the improvements coming to CocoCay.

"We're seeing more and more people opting for shorter, but more frequent vacations. We are responding to that call by modernizing Mariner of the Seas, which is one of our Voyager Class ships, and we're raising our game in the short cruise market with this upgraded vessel, " Mr. Fain explained, "At the same time we also announced a major upgrade to our private destination in the Bahamas at CocoCay that we are calling, appropriately I might add, Perfect Day. Perfect Day in that destination will be another great addition to our Caribbean offering.  It is really thrilling to see the work take shape, and I'm certain that this destination will get tongues wagging just as much as our new hardware has done."

Michael Bayley also spoke about what Royal Caribbean is doing to meet customer demand, "We're very excited about Mariner as a product coming into the shorts market, and that's very much focused on new to cruise, and Millennial, and that really is the on ramp for that market.  That ship is literally like having an Oasis Class ship in the short product market, because its capacity is just over 3200-3400 every three or four days."

Guest spend & onboard revenue is up a lot

If you want to find the "secret sauce" to what is making the biggest difference in Royal Caribbean's quarterly growth, onboard revenue is a big factor.  This means the things guests spend on their cruise above and beyond the cruise fare.

Mr Liberty spoke about the growth the cruise line is seeing in this area, "The main driver of the positive earnings in yield was the continued strength in onboard revenue, which was up 6.3% for the quarter. This result is notable considering that it follows an 8.9% improvement from the first quarter of 2017."

"Guest spend from onboard activities has continued to shift towards areas that involve experiences over buying things, and this quarter was no different. Beverage packages, specialty restaurants and internet were the main revenue streams driving the quarterly beat."

Mr. Bailey also spoke about the onboard revenue growth that Royal Caribbean is seeing, "We've been really pleased with our pre-cruise sales, and we've seen a significant uplift year over year that's been increasing for the past couple of years and it's been a big driver of onboard spend.  We kind of figure, for every dollar that we earn pre-cruise, we'll see somewhere between a 30 and a 50% uptick in the onboard spend."

"And then of course over the years, we've invested quite heavily in new venues, new attractions onboard of our ships and many of those are revenue generating.  We're beginning to see a lot of those now yielding superior revenue because of the kind of services they provide."

Cuba update

Another area that we received an update on was Cuba and cruises there.  A recent leadership change alongside strong demand for cruises to Cuba generated an update on where the cruise line stands with regard to this newly offered destination.

Royal Caribbean Chief Operating Officer Adam Goldstein spoke about Cuba, "We've been commenting over time about the fact that the Cuban market has been a good market for us to enter. The customer satisfaction about Havana has been very, very high. But the reality is that there is still just one functioning pier that ships can go to on either side of the pier in Havana.  There is going to have to be some type of considerable infrastructure improvement that takes place over the next several years, that will probably take time."

"I think what we've been seeing lately is that the Cuban Government has gotten a little bit more efficient in maximizing the use of the pier on both sides, and our company has definitely been a beneficiary of that. We've been able to increase the number of sailings on a year over year basis, even though their capacity hasn't increased."

"For what it is, it's been terrific, but in the overall sense of our portfolio, it is still fairly small. And we haven't seen any change whatsoever in their attitude towards us or their dealings with us, as it relates to their change in government to this point."

A look at the state of digital marketing

Michael Bayley provided a look at how Royal Caribbean is leveraging digital marketing (as opposed to traditional marketing) to better reach customers.

"We think that there's better targeting, and it's a more efficient channel. And certainly, with our social media presence, we believe that we've maneuvered ourselves into a really strong position in our space. In fact, we just recently conducted an independent survey of where we are positioned in terms of the social media universe, and we came out of it exceptionally well, in terms of how people view Royal Caribbean through that lens and how they are engaging with Royal Caribbean."

"We are also seeing that with the response from onboard internet, and how people are using the accelerated internet to utilize social media to actually promote our brands, which has been really quite effective."

Imagination brings the one-of-a-kind Ultimate Family Suite to life with swoon-worthy features, whimsical color schemes and a whole lot of awesome. The 1,346-square-foot interactive space is designed for both the young and the young at heart, providing a space for families to come together during their cruise vacation, while also offering enough room and amenities to relax during that special “me time.”

Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas arrived in Naples, Italy, for the first time and there's a great timelapse video of the world's largest cruise ship.  

The largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas is the bucket-list-worthy vacation for all ages. Packed with thrilling adventures, delicious dining and jaw-dropping entertainment, it’s the ultimate experience you won’t want to miss.