Royal Caribbean has begun offering guests a behind-the-scenes tour of the crew's life on select sailings.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Chris spotted the new "All Access Crew Life Tour" option in the Cruise Planner site. This appears to be a new tour offered, where guests can get a glimpse of what it is like to live on a cruise ship.

The tour costs $79 per guest, and lasts for two hours.  

As is often the case with new Cruise Planner options added recently, the site lacks a full description.  Typically, we see the full gamut of information added to the Cruise Planner site over the next few days.

This tour may not be available on all sailings. To check, log into the Cruise Planner and check under the "Entertainment & Activities" section.

The weekend is here and with it, comes our weekly showcase of great Royal Caribbean photos that our readers have shared with us.

We begin with a photo by Kinny Lee of the Royal Promenade, as seen from Central Park on Allure of the Seas.

John M. Long shared this photo of Vision of the Seas.

We move to CocoCay with our next photo, taken by David J.  You can see Grandeur of the Seas tendering in the background.

Lizz took this beautiful photo of the beach by the beach beds in CocoCay. Lizz's review of the beach beds is stated simply, "On a side note: Beach beds? Totally worth!!!!"

Ross and Pam sent in this photo of Explorer of the Seas at the Isle of Pines during a transpacific cruise.

Here is a shot from Rhapsody of the Seas by Marnix Van Cauter while in Europe.

We wrap things up with this photo of Anthem of the Seas passing under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as she departs Port Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Photo by Michael Kho.

Thank you to everyone for sharing these great photos. If you would like to share your own fabulous Royal Caribbean photo, send them in via this form. Have a great weekend!

Royal Caribbean's Double Up Sale rolled out today, which offers combinable instant savings and money to spend at sea.

The Double Up Sale is valid on cruises booked March 8 - March 12, 2018 on sailings departing on or after April 8, 2018.

• Instant savings
  • 5 Nights or Fewer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $50 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $75 USD per stateroom
  • 6 Nights or Longer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $75 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $200 USD per stateroom
• Onboard credit
  • 5 Nights or Fewer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $50 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $75 USD per stateroom
  • 6 Nights or Longer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $75 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $100 USD per stateroom

The Double Up Sale is combinable with the March offer of 30% off all guests and Kids (12 and under) Sail Free on select sailings.

Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 240 is available for downloading, providing an introduction on how Royal Caribbean's drink packages work and if they are worth it.

If you are new to Royal Caribbean's drink packages, Matt goes over the basics of the drink package offerings and discusses what you should think about before booking one.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 240. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean announced today it is rolling out the first part of its enhanced Guest Digital Experience with a new Universal Guest Account.

Beginning in March 2018, Royal Caribbean will begin offering an enhanced guest account that will, "deliver many capabilities of our digital cruise experience, to simplify the guest experience online and to allow guests to quickly access features and information."

The one login can be used for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises apps and websites. It promises to bring them everything guests need from loyalty (Crown & Anchor) information, personalized itineraries and details – all with just one account login.

In addition, Royal Caribbean has simplified and strengthened the account security and password reset processes to ensure guest information is safe and accessible.

Guests may experience new functionality while it is being trialed beginning as early as March 7, 2018 who have upcoming reservations.

Royal Caribbean has also hinted that additional digital enhancements are coming in the months to follow. Other enhancements include the ability to book anything imaginable from a smart phone and more.

Royal Caribbean released new information about summer 2019 European cruises.

The newly released sailings include:

• Explorer of the Seas
• Independence of the Seas

These new sailings are also being shown as available for booking via Royal Caribbean's web site.

Royal Caribbean previously announced European sailings for summer 2019 on these ships as well.

• Brilliance of the Seas
• Jewel of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Rhapsody of the Seas
• Serenade of the Seas
• Vision of the Seas

Symphony of the Seas is days away from completion; here's an inside look at her final phase of construction. The world's largest and most innovative cruise ship is coming to life with a combination of new first-at-sea experiences and signature Royal Caribbean favorites that will excite and inspire guests of all ages. From the Ultimate Abyss -- the tallest slide at sea, to new dining concepts and original aerial, ice and aqua entertainment, the whole family is in for a cruise vacation experience unlike any other.

Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas wrapped up her second set of sea trials, meaning she is one step closer to being ready to enter service.

Symphony conducted her second set of sea trials, which ran between March 3 and March 4, 2018. Ouest France reports Symphony of the Seas returned to STX Franch shipyards in Saint-Nazaire after about 24 hours of being at sea and is now ready for delivery to Royal Caribbean on March 23rd.

During these sea trials, the tests aimed to finalize the performance of the ship.

Between now and the delivery date, finishing work will be done onboard the ship.

Welcome to March! We hope you are having a great weekend and are ready to sit back, relax and catch up with all the latest Royal Caribbean news!

Royal Caribbean announced this week that Jewel of the Seas will be repositioned to Miami in January 2019.

The move meant a number of sailings had to be cancelled, with guests who had booked one of those sailings receiving letters to inform them of the change and to provide rebooking options.

It appears Jewel of the Seas will sail out of PortMiami between January and April 2019.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean cancelled all shore excursions involving a ferry in Cozumel.
• Royal Caribbean announced its 2019-2020 deployment schedule.
• A new offer began this week, with 30% off all guests and Kids Sail Free. 
• Our own Michael Poole is live blogging from Brilliance of the Seas this week.
• Here is a first look at the pub changes on Quantum Class ships.
• Our list of five common myths people use to avoid trying a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Royal Caribbean named Sean Treacy its new Associate Vice President Strategic Planning for International.
• Royal Caribbean has partnered with Malaysia to expand a cruise port.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 239th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, all about Matt's favorite spots to enjoy sail away from while on Royal Caribbean.

In this episode, Matt counts down the places on a Royal Caribbean cruise he thinks are the best for when it is time for your cruise ship to depart a port.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

GTP Headlines reports Royal Caribbean has registered its cruise ships with HELMEPA.

Orlando Sentinel wrote about Symphony of the Seas debuting this month.

Loop shared 9 things to know about Symphony of the Seas.