Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast Episode - Drink Package 101

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.

Royal Caribbean has cancelled all shore excursions requiring a ferry ride in Mexico today, following a safety warning issued by the U.S. State Department.

Guests aboard Liberty of the Seas and Allure of the Seas recieved notices that their shore excursions scheduled to take place on Friday, March 2 in Cozumel were cancelled. 

Royal Caribbean informed guests of the new State Department warning, which discouraged travel on tourist ferries in Cozumel.

The letter adds, "The U.S. State Department remains confident of the Mexican government's efforts to ensure the safety of all tourists in the country.  However, in an abundance of caution we are cancelling sponsored shore excursions that involve tourist ferries.  We also discourage guests from taking part in independent excursions that involve ferry travel."

Letter to guests on Allure of the Seas. Photo by Gears

Letter to guests on Liberty of the Seas. Photo by Twangster

We reached out to Royal Caribbean to get a sense if this cancellation of shore excursions involving tourist ferries will extend to other scheduled stops in Cozumel, but have not received a response.

The start to another weekend has arrived and we like to kick off our Fridays with our readers' favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos!

Our first photo this week is by Kinny Lee of two Oasis Class ships in St. Maarten, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas.

Travis N. sent in this photo of Allure of the Seas arriving in Nassau.

Here is a shot of Vision of the Seas docked in beautiful Akureyri, Iceland, during its once-a-year transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to New York. Photo by John McCormack.

Jarrod Quantrelle took this photo of Harmony of the Seas while the ship was docked in Costa Maya.

Take a look at this towel animal display on Explorer of the Seas, taken by Gary Brown.

Debi Speed shared this photo taken in Lisbon, Portugal while visiting aboard Navigator of the Seas.

We finish up with this photo by David Donnelly of Independence of the Seas arriving in Southampton.

Thank you to everyone for sharing photos with us this week.  If you want to share your best Royal Caribbean photos, use this form to send them in!

Royal Caribbean has kicked off its 72 hour Tour & Explore Sale, with up to 25% off select shore excursions booked through the Cruise Planner.

Guests on qualifying sailings may find 15%, 20%, or 25% off onboard prices of select excursions via the Cruise Planner site. 

Offer applies to select sailings departing March 13 - October 29, 2018. Keep in mind that not all sailings may see the sale applicable, nor are all offers significantly cheaper than previously posted.

Based on the countdown timer, the sale will expire at midnight on Sunday night.

To check if your sailing has this new offer available, log into the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's web site and navigate to the Dining & Beverage section to see any available offers.

If you spot a better discount on something you already pre-purchased, you should be able to cancel the purchase and then re-purchase the same item under this promotion.

Royal Caribbean is offering 30% off all guests and Kids Sail Free offer with the March promotion.

The 30% off every guest applies to sailings departing on or after April 1, 2018 on new bookings made between March 1 and 28, 2018.

Here are the offer details:

• 30% off all guests.
• Caribbean Bonus
  • Up to $100 instant savings for those guests who book a 6-night or longer Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada or Northeast sailing
  • Interior & Oceanview rooms: $50 instant savings
  • Balcony rooms: $75 instant savings
  • Suites: $100 instant savings
• Kids Sail Free Bonus
  • Guests 12 & Under sail free on a 4-night or longer Europe, Bahamas, Bermuda, Hawaii, Canada, Coastal and Caribbean sailing.
  • Sailing Window: April 7 – June 1, 2018 & September 1 – December 17, 2018
  • Offer excludes Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 17 – November 23, 2018)
• Suites Bonus
  • Up to $1000 instant savings per stateroom for those guests who book a 7-night or longer Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, or Canada sailing. Valid for suites only
  • Sailing Window: All sailings departing on or after May 1, 2018
  • Oasis Class or Anthem of the Seas
    • Sea Class $200
    • Sky Class $500
    • Star Class $1000
  • Jewel, Freedom, Liberty, Adventure, Grandeur
    • Junior Suite or Above $200
    • Royal Suite $1000

Offer excludes China departures. All other charges, including, but not limited to, taxes, fees and port expenses, are additional and apply to all guests. 30% off, Caribbean Bonus, Kids Sail Free and Suites Bonus are combinable with each other as well as NRDB OBC, OBC, instant savings, NextCruise offers, restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military), Shareholder benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. 30% off bookings made for China departures are combinable with NextCruise offers and Crown and Anchor balcony/suite 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.

It looks like Royal Caribbean will be re-deploying Jewel of the Seas to PortMiami, beginning in January 2019.

Royal Caribbean has begun informing guests that were booked on Jewel of the Seas via email that sailings between January and April 2019 are cancelled.

Guests who were already booked on Jewel of the Seas on one of the affected itineraries are being offered rebooking options, which include onboard credit.  Guests can also opt for a full refund.

On Royal Caribbean's website, Jewel of the Seas shows sailings leaving from Miami in early 2019 to a variety of destinations in the Western and Southern Caribbean.

There is no word yet which, if any, ship will replace Jewel of the Seas in San Juan, Puerto Rico.