We hope everyone reading this is having a wonderful Sunday and enjoying some time this weekend with friends, family and some good food too.  There was a lot of Royal Caribbean news this week, and we have summarized all up into one easy-to-read blog post for your convenience!

Royal Caribbean made headlines this week when it announced plans for its next class of cruise ships that will be powered by liquefied natural gas and fuel cell technology.

Dubbed "Project Icon," Royal Caribbean has ordered two ships so far from shipbuilder Meyer Turku and will likely accommodate approximately 5,000 passengers, but details are still being worked out.

According to Royal Caribbean, the use of LNG and the introduction of fuel cell technology will usher in a new era of shipbuilding that will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Royal Caribbean News

• Everyone can vote to pick the Godmother for Harmony of the Seas.
• Take a photo tour Empress of the Seas' bars and lounges.
• Answers to many Harmony of the Seas frequently asked questions.
• Here is how to purchase Royal Caribbean's unlimited drink packages.
• Here is how to enjoy Sabor guacamole on Freedom of the Seas without paying the cover charge.
• Our review of the Peat Taylor Tours in Falmouth, Jamaica.
• Grandeur of the Seas was diverted earlier this week to avoid a storm.
• Have you seen Tony the Gnome yet on Harmony of the Seas?
• Royal Caribbean won two awards in this year's Cruise Critic Editor's Picks.
• The Asia Cosplay Festival will return to Mariner of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

Have you ever considered trying out the Royal Suite Class? In this week's Royal Caribbean Blog podcast, we discuss what this new program offers with a first-hand experience.

Laurel Stewart and Len Testa join Matt to talk about their recent cruise on Anthem of the Seas, where the couple tried out the Star Class offerings and report back on what this kind of experience offers.

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

Cruise Habit asked veteran cruisers what they wish they had known when they first started cruising.

Not Another Mummy Blog shows how Royal Caribbean changed their family's mind about being a cruise type.

The Daily Mail shares what a recent Serenade of the Seas family cruise around Norway was like.

Seatrade Cruise News says Royal Caribbean is investing heavily to improve its China distribution.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas will be transformed into a world of cosplay fantasy once again next February, when it plays host to Asia’s biggest cosplay festival at sea for the second time. “COSFEST SEA: Beyond The Great Horizons”, organised by The Singapore Cosplay Club in collaboration with the cruise brand, will be on a 3-night weekend cruise from Singapore to Penang from February 17 to 20. The region’s top cosplayers for the championship plus exciting cosplay entertainment and activities will be in store to spellbind fans and guests.

Stephanie Loh, President of The Singapore Cosplay Club said, "“COSFEST SEA: Beyond The Great Horizons” will be bigger and better with new cosplay activities and entertainment for folks of all ages! Everyone including young kids and their parents is invited to indulge in a moment of fantasy onboard. We want to make cosplay enjoyable for everyone, all the more on a super ship like Mariner of the Seas."

The biggest highlight of this theme cruise is the Asia Cosplay Meet Championship which will feature contestants from eight countries and territories such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, The Philippines and Thailand all vying for the top spot. For the first time as well, there will be guest contestants from outside of Asia, namely USA. This will be open for public viewing for all the guests onboard to catch the action. There is also a special preview before the competition begins. More details on the contestants will be unveiled at a later stage.

Onboard, the cosplayers will also have chances to mingle with one another and discover about different cosplay cultures. As for the guests, they are welcome to join in the mood in their own cosplay outfits.

Other activities highlights open to all guests include the ‘Movie Costume Museum’ which will show an impressive display of costumes from many movie and animation titles and have costumes for guests to dress up their children for photo taking; the spectacular ‘Cosplay Parade’ along the Royal Promenade which will be filled with cosplayers dressed up as popular Anime characters; and the ‘Cosplay Treasure Hunt’ for participants to accomplish as many missions as possible onboard. Guests onboard will have the chance to meet some of their favourite movie characters. 

Interested parties can visit www.sgcosplayclub.org to book and get access to all COSFEST SEA private events.

Please welcome Rick Cincotta, as our latest guest blogger.  Today, Rick is sharing his review of the Peat Taylor Tours in Falmouth while aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

As I sat down to plan out my shore excursions for my upcoming Western Caribbean cruise on  Oasis of the Seas, one destination left me a little stumped. Falmouth, Jamaica. This recently developed port leaves a lot to be desired in the way of shore side activities, if sitting poolside at Margaritaville is not necessarily your cup of te-quil-a. In fact, many cruisers often look to this port as a day to enjoy the ship while the masses disembark for parts unknown. To be honest, that would have been exactly my plan had I not been traveling with my buddy, Mark, who was not only on his first cruise, but was also visiting Jamaica for his first time.

With that in my mind, my first thought was to look for an excursion that included Dunn’s River Falls, the infamous natural staircase waterfall, for which I have been to many times. However, my own selfishness was telling me to bypass the falls and find a tour that would include a stop at the Blue Hole, a destination that many experienced travelers have said is a must do in Jamaica. See the problem with docking in Falmouth is that you are about 45 minutes away from the major tourist attractions, which are primarily located in Ocho Rios, where only certain cruise lines (not to be named) dock. As a result, time is very much against you.

So as many of us do, I took my search to the internet to find a reputable tour operator that could bring us to both stops and ensure that we would return to the ship in time for departure. After reading many reviews and making many phone calls, I settled on using Peat Taylor Tours. After discussing my preferences with Peat, he suggested that we visit Dunn’s River Falls, the Blue Hole and Calypso River Tubing, which gave me room for pause given that we were only in port from 10 AM – 7 PM. However, Peat promised me that we would be back to the ship with plenty of time to spare to enjoy some patties and Red Stripe before setting sail. With my faith in Peat’s hands, I agreed to the $100 per person price and promptly paid my $10 deposit via Paypal.

I received a very detailed email from Peat shortly after reserving the tour, which told me to proceed to the white independent tour operator tent as soon as I could get off the ship. So Mark and I made our way to the gangway at 10:30 AM and easily located the tent, which is located outside of the pier area gates. We informed one of the representatives manning the tent that we were booked with Peat Taylor and he promptly pointed our guide (Carry) and tour van. We were only joined by one two others, which we had connected with online prior to sailing, so this was very much a “private” tour.

Once payment (cash only) was made we began our journey (11 AM for those keeping track) from the “historic” Falmouth area to Ocho Rios, where our first stop would be Dunn’s River Falls. During the 45 minute journey, our guide gave us the usual port talk about the area and various points along the way. The drive is very scenic and primarily takes you along the coast, where you can stop for some photo opportunities.

Once we arrived at Dunn’s River Falls, we were met by an attendant in the tour bus area, who provided us with our entrance wrist bands and introduced us to our guide for the falls, Wilson, who was very entertaining and full of energy (lots of singing as demonstrated below). Note: We were able to leave all of our belongings in the van and did not have to rent lockers.

After about 90 minutes of climbing, picture taking, enjoying the natural pools and saying “Ya Mon” more times than I care to remember we made it to the top of the falls.

After surviving the walk through the Craft Market on our exit we managed to get back to the tour bus with only $4 Red Stripes in on our hands (no DVDs or illegal substances here).

Back in the bus, we opted to bypass lunch (for now anyways) and make our way to Blue Hole. We arrived at Blue Hall at approximately 2 PM (three hours in and counting). This place is really spectacular and the natural beauty of the pools is not done any justice by pictures.

We were introduced to yet another tour guide, Jason, who ensured we were safely diving and took many pictures of us with our own personal cameras (no photo/DVD sales pitch). Our time here (just shy of an hour) consisted of about eight cliff jumps and rope swinging. The jumps ranged anywhere from 15 to 30 feet and really got the adrenaline pumping with the group.

One thing to note, keep your water shoes on. While they are not required, the rocks here are very much still in their natural state and there are no manmade stairs or walkways. Mark and I made the mistake of going foot commando.

Back on the van, we made the quick 15 minute ride to the Calypso River for some relaxing tubing to finish off the day. Once again, we were introduced to a new guide, George, who was extremely helpful and energetic (another a cappella singer). More importantly, he ensured that the group never got stuck and was constantly pushing our tubes to the center allowing us to drift into oblivion without worrying about getting stuck on rocks. The river has just the right current speed to keep you moving, but still providing for a very relaxing experience. Our group of four were the only ones tubing and it truly felt like we were on our secluded island.

As we hung up our tubes, a quick time check reminded us that it was now 4 PM and that we had about two hours to get back to the ship, which included the 45 minute ride back to Falmouth. However, we were starving at this point and informed Carrey that we would very much like to stop for food, but take it to go. With that we headed to Scotchies, which Carrey coined as “Jerk Center,” for some fuel for the ride back to the ship. I ordered a quarter pound of jerk chicken, a festival (Jamaican hushpuppy), rice and beans, which equated to $6. The food was excellent and we all quickly found ourselves thoroughly stuffed and snoozing on our ride back to Falmouth.

When I finally awoke, the Oasis was staring me in the face and I immediately turned to the clock to see that it was about 5:30 PM, which gave us about an hour before all aboard and clocked the tour at about six and half hours.

So now for my final thoughts. This tour currently sits at the top of my list with respect to excursions in the Western Caribbean ports of calls. The experience was top notch, from the locations visited (yes, even Dunn’s River was fun) to each of the tour guides we had along the way only to be capped by a truly fantastic authentic Jamaican meal. In addition, if you recall this tour was only $100 for three stops and six and half hours of “personal” tour time…what a bargain! To think this was a port I was going to stay on the ship and potential miss this unforgettable experience…

For anyone that has not given Jamaica the time of day on recent cruises and feels that there are no excursions worth their time or maybe is concerned with the limited amount of hours in port, I highly suggest trying this tour and can almost promise you will not return with anything but a mind and camera full of memories.   

Friday is here and that means it is time to share our readers' favorite Royal Caribbean photos! Each week, we invite our readers to send us photos from their past Royal Caribbean cruises to be showcased on the blog.

With the weekend nearly upon us, here is this week's batch of fabulous photos!

We begin this week with a photo of Radiance of the Seas in Sydney, Australia by Dave Rimington.  That is a well-composed shot!

Next, is a photo of the Ultimate Abyss on Harmony of the Seas by Hannes Scherz.  This might be the first time the Ultimate Abyss has graced a Friday Photos post, and I hope it is far from the last.

As many of you know, I love sunset photos and this one by Mel E. from Adventure of the Seas is fabulous.  Look at those colors!

How awesome is this photo of Kathy-CruisingKat giving a shoutout to us from Majesty of the Seas? This screen shot is from the Port Canaveral Web Cam, which is run by the PTZtv folks.

Here is Oasis of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas in Cozumel, taken by Emily K.  Two wonderful ships next to each other in a really fun port!

Adam Callaghan took this photo of Rhapsody of the Seas at the beautiful port of Kusadasi, Turkey. Lots of history to explore in that port.

Our final photo this week was taken aboard Adventure of the Seas by Pamela.  The artwork in the Centrum of the Royal Promenade is always quite lovely.

Thank you to everyone for their great photos, and we invite everyone reading to send in their photos too.  Use this form to submit your photos to be included in an upcoming Friday Photos post!