Suites on Royal Caribbean cruise ships are a wonderful way to indulge with extra space and level of service. The Crown Loft Suite stateroom category on Harmony of the Seas blends luxurious split-level accommodations with Sky Class level benefits of the Royal Suite Class.

Photos of this room come to us from stateroom 1728.

Main level - entrance and living room

The sofa can convert to a double bed.

Main level bathroom

A second bath with shower is located on the main level.

Second level

The master bedroom is on the second level and has a Royal King size bed and private bath.

Balcony

The Crown Loft Suite has a private balcony that measures 114 square feet.

Every Friday we share Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers sent in, as a means of showcasing great photography and giving all of us a "virtual break" to enjoy the view of being on a cruise.  If you want to send in your photo, use this form and we could feature it in an upcoming post.

Our first photo is from the North Star on Anthem of the Seas, taken by Maryjane Tupper.

Craig Martin took this photo on Explorer of the Seas of the t-shirt sale madness on the Royal Promenade.  People really love their $10 shirts!

Here is a shot of Liberty of the Seas docked in Roatan, taken by Katie Shade.  

Mistie Knight and her husband are illusionists that perform on Royal Caribbean regularly.  Here is a photo they took while performing on Serenade of the Seas while the ship was in Geiranger. They found a secret spot near the Flydalsjuvet view point, and took this amazing photo!

Unfortunately, every day on a cruise cannot be warm and sunny.  Jonathan Quealy took this photo on a rainy day aboard Anthem of the Seas.

Here is a photo of Navigator of the Seas, as seen from the top of the Dragon's Breath zip line in Labadee.  Photo was taken by Gina Carlson.

We will wrap up this week's edition of Friday Photos with Stewart's photo of Harmony of the Seas docked in St. Maarten.

Thank you to everyone that shared their photos with us this week! If you want to share with us your photos, use this form to send them in!

Royal Caribbean is offering up to 30% off select Cruise Planner purchases during its Set Sail & Save sale.

Guest that log into the Cruise Planner will find certain items discounted.  The exact discount available will vary from sailing to sailing, but we spotted the Royal Refreshment package discounted 30% off, along with similar discounts for many spa treatments and some shore excursions.

Based on the countdown timer, the sale expires at midnight on Monday, October 9, 2017.

Royal Caribbean's 10th season in Australia begins this weekend, as the first of the cruise ships arrive down under.

Radiance of the Seas will arrive in Sydney on Sunday, which marks the start of the cruising season for Royal Caribbean in the region.

Joining Radiance of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, returning for her second and longest season yet, as well as family-favourites Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas.

"We’re back – Australia’s beloved Radiance of the Seas pulls into port this weekend, marking the start of an epic 10th birthday season ahead for Royal Caribbean," said Adam Armstrong, managing director for RCL Cruises in Australia and New Zealand.

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.

It appears guests who look to purchase an unlimited alcohol package for a 2018 or beyond sailing will be required to purchase an unlimited alcohol package for all adults in the same stateroom.

Guests who use Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site will see a new notation in the Deluxe Beverage Package description, that stipulates "each adult of legal drinking age assigned to the same stateroom must purchase this package."

Upon adding the Deluxe Beverage package to the shopping cart, the site requires all adults to purchase the package at that time.

Based on croud sourcing, thus far, the change appears to be for 2018 sailings and some late 2017 sailings.

Based on an email from Royal Caribbean to a concerned guest, there are exclusions to this rule:

• Pregnancy
• Recovering Alcoholic
• Medical Reason
• Religious Reason
• Does Not Consume Alcohol Due to Personal Preference

Royal Caribbean announced earlier this year it was going to test this policy change on Harmony of the Seas.  The policy change would match other major cruise lines that Royal Caribbean competes with that already have a similar rule in place.

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

Episode 218 is available for downloading, where Justin and Wendy share a few experiences that were new to them that they tried recently.

Justin and Wendy talk with Matt about some experiences and activities they tried for the first time on a recent Oasis of the Seas cruise.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 218. 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 released a map of the Caribbean, with an updated look at which ports are open, closed, or ready for departures.

Hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc on many Eastern Caribbean cruise ports, and recovery efforts are in-progress at all ports.  Understandably, many Royal Caribbean guests are curious about when these ports will re-open and if there will be any impact to their scheduled cruises in the meantime.

This update was released on October 2, 2017.  The status of any port listed as closed could change at anytime.  If/when there is an impact to your cruise itinerary, Royal Caribbean will contact you with changes.

We have another batch of fresh photos to share of the construction progress being made on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean released new photos of Symphony of the Seas, which will be the cruise line's fourth Oasis Class ship.

Symphony of the Seas will debut in April 2018.

For 100 hours, Royal Caribbean is offering 50% off the second guest, plus up to $200 instant savings on cruises booked.

Cruise must be booked between October 1, 2017 through October 5, 2017 at 11:59 PM EST and applies to sailings departing on or after November 1, 2017.

Offer includes

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest who must be booked in the same stateroom as a first guest who books at full fare.
• 25% cruise fare savings for 3rd guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests.
• Kids Sail Free offer provides 3rd and 4th guests 12 years and younger free cruise fare.
  • Guests 12 & under sail free on 4 nights or longer Europe, Bahamas, Bermuda, Hawaii, Coastal and Caribbean sailings departing November 1, 2017- December 31, 2018.
  • Excludes Symphony sailings and sailings departing 11/17/17-11/27/17, 12/17/17 – 1/8/18, 2/15/18-2/20/18, 3/10/18-4/1/18, 5/15/18-9/1/18, 11/17/18-11/22/18 and 12/15/18-12/31/18.
• 100 Hour sale provides instant savings determined by category booked and sailing length:
  • $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 5 nights or less
  • $75 savings for Balconies and $100 savings for Suites on sailings 5 nights and less
  • $75 savings for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 6 nights and longer
  • $125 savings for Balconies and $200 savings for suites on sailings 6 nights or longer
• Additionally, Deck the Holidays Deals offer provides onboard credit for guests who book a holiday sailing departing from December 19, 2017 through December 31, 2017 and December 18, 2018 through December 31, 2018.
  • Offer includes an onboard credit determined by category booked and sailing length:
    • $25 to spend onboard for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 5 nights or less
    • $50 to spend onboard for Balconies and Suites on sailings 5 nights and less
    • $50 to spend onboard for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 6 nights and longer
    • $100 to spend onboard for Balconies on sailings 6 nights or longer
    • $150 to spend onboard for Suites on sailings 6 nights or longer

100 Hour sale and Deck the Holidays offer exclude China departures. BOGO does not apply to third and higher occupancy guests. BOGO offer is combinable with Kids Sail Free, NRDB OBC, promotional OBCs and instant savings, NextCruise offers, restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military), Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits.  Deck the Holidays, Kids Sail Free and 100 Hour sale are combinable with NextCruise offers, NRDB OBC, and restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military) but is not combinable with Shareholder benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. BOGO50 bookings made for China departures are combinable with NextCruise offers and Crown and Anchor balcony/suites discounts only. All offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates. 

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada.