Royal Caribbean reported its second quarter 2016 earnings today, with US GAAP Net Income of $229.9 million or $1.06 per share, compared to $185.0 million or $0.84per share in 2015.  

Adjusted Net Income for the second quarter of 2016 was $235.2 million, or $1.09 per share, up over 25% versus the same quarter last year.  The outperformance for the quarter was primarily driven by better than anticipated fuel expense. 

"Our business remains strong and we continue to improve our return profile," said Richard Fain, chief executive officer. "This keeps us solidly on our path towards the Double-Double."

The company's booked position for the remainder of 2016 remains strong, similar to last year's record levels.

"While there are always puts and takes in our key markets, our portfolio is performing as expected, our booked position remains strong, and our newbuilds are entering their markets to great fanfare," said Jason T. Liberty, chief financial officer. "These factors are driving another year of record earnings."

You can see the full second quarter financial results here.

Royal Caribbean's next promotion will offer 30% off every ship and every guest.  Plus, kids will sail free on select sailings.

The 30% off discount is valid on bookings made between August 4 and 31, 2016, on all sailings departing on or after September 4, 2016.

The 30% off the standard cruise fare for all guests in a stateroom; all stateroom categories. All other charges, including, but not limited to, taxes, fees and port expenses, are additional and apply to all guests.

Kids Sail Free is valid for bookings made between August 4 and 18, 2016, for free cruise fare of third and higher guests who are 12 years or younger as of cruise departure date, booked in the same stateroom as the first two Offer qualifying guests in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom.

Kids Sail Free is eligible in 5 nights or longer Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Dubai, and Europe sailing that departs Sept. 6, 2016-May 15, 2017. Kids Sail Free Offer excludes sailings departing between 11/17/16- 11/24/16, 12/15/16-1/05/17, 2/16/17-2/23/17, 3/10/17-3/20/17, 4/06/17-4/16/17 and Harmony of the Seas. Offer excludes China departures.

30% Savings Offer and Kids Sail Free are combinable with adjoining Holiday OBC, Crown & Anchor discounts, NextCruise offers, and Shareholders benefits.

30% Offer and Kids Sail Free are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). Holiday OBC is combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military) and NextCruise offers. Holiday OBC is not combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts.

All Offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion.

Offer open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. 

Royal Caribbean was forced to change the scheduled itineraries for two of its cruise ships today, due to the predicted path of a tropical disturbance.

Royal Caribbean spokesman Owen Torres told Royal Caribbean Blog the change was made, "to ensure our guests enjoy a safe and comfortable cruise. Given the storm’s current location and projected path, we had no other option but to revise itineraries for Empress of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas."

Empress of the Seas revised itinerary will be

Monday, August 1: Miami, Florida
Tuesday, August 2: Key West, Florida
Wednesday, August 3: At Sea
Thursday, August 4: Nassau, Bahamas
Friday, August 5: CocoCay, Bahamas
Saturday, August 6: Miami, Florida

Liberty of the Seas revised itinerary will be

Sunday, July 31: Galveston, Texas
Monday, August 1: At Sea
Tuesday, August 2: Cozumel, Mexico
Wednesday, August 3: At Sea
Thursday, August 4: Nassau, Bahamas
Friday, August 5: At Sea
Saturday, August 6: At Sea
Sunday, August 7: Galveston, Texas

Royal Caribbean will continue to monitor the path and progress of the tropical disturbance in the Western Caribbean.

You may have heard about Royal Caribbean's drink packages and even the drink cards, but here is a new drink card especially for those that enjoy a little "pep" in their day.

On Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas, guests were able to purchase a specialty coffee drink card, where if 6 coffee drinks are pre-purchased, they get one for free.

Photo by Dr. Kris L-C

These pre-paid punch cards area available at three different price points, so you can choose one that is right for you.

• $24 for 7 coffee drinks priced at $4 or less
• $30 for 7 coffee drinks priced at $5 or less
• $36 for 7 coffee drinks priced at $6 or less

There is no indication that this kind of a drink card will be available on any particular sailing or ship. Royal Caribbean has experimented greatly with the concept of pre-paid drink cards that did include specialty coffees over the last 12 months or so, but this is the first we have seen of a pre-paid card specifically for coffee.

Would you buy one of these coffee cards? If so, which one appeals to you? Tell us in the comments below.

The final day of the cruise as already come, these shorter sailings go by so fast.

Today we were docked in Key West, Florida from 7am-4:30pm. Whenever you leave the United States and come back you always have to enter customs, and this includes the port stop in Key West.

This morning they had suite guests go through the process at 7am. The customs agents come on board the ship, this morning it was in the theater. You simply show them passports or birth certificate and on you go. This process doesn’t take very long, but my suggestion is just go early, regardless of what cabin you are in. 

Morning in Key West 

This morning, we decided to get off at 10am; we were in no rush to get off. Most of the ship was actually already off and about. We did a little shopping at the pier, typical t-shirts and key lime pie shops.

I did notice that most of the restaurants didn’t service food until noon, but they were all serving drinks. I didn’t have breakfast on board so I was ready to eat. We found a little pub that we had a pint at while we waited for Sloppy Joes to open.

They opened up at noon and you really need to be there right when they open to grab a seat. I went with their famous sloppy joe’s sandwich and I’m glad I did, hands down the best one I’ve ever had. We enjoyed some live music and drinks before our excursion at 1:30pm. 

Bike Tour Excursion 

Today we had booked the bike tour through Royal Caribbean excursions desk. The tour started at 1:30pm and lasted until 4:30pm.

We walked over to the bike shop, which is very close by, then geared us up. We visited a few places around Key West and our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the island.

I learned a lot about Key West that I would have never known. About halfway through the tour we asked our tour guide if we could speed things up, as the heat was starting to get to all of us. We still went to all the locations, just didn’t stop at them to hear the history behind what we were seeing.

As the tour was coming to an end, a member in our group had a minor accident on the bike. This took around a half hour to help them get a ride back to the ship, but it was 4:15pm and all on board was 4:30pm.

By the time we made it back to the ship it was right at 4:30pm, and the ship was blowing the horn. We never really got worried about missing the ship because we had a Royal Caribbean excursion desk. So things do happen and sometimes knowing the ship will wait on you goes along way. 

Dinner – Chops Grill 

Tonight our group had Chops Grill at 6:30pm for our last group dinner. Again, we had the select menu since we had over 20 people eating.

I went with the NY strip for my main course and really enjoyed the steak.

The service tonight was outstanding and they were always filling our water and wine glasses. If you happen to sail on Empress of the Seas, I highly recommend Chops Grill. 

After dinner we just explored the ship taking in the last few moment we have on board. I noticed that Guest Services had a rather large line, so try to take care of any issues you may have prior to the last few hours.

There was a farewell show at 9pm, but we decided to pass on that and get some rest for our drive to Tampa in the morning. 

 Random Thoughts:

• Voom on board comes and goes, you also have to sign in every time you use it.
• A/C in cabin works great, yes it’s hot during sailaway but it will cool down rather fast.
• Everything is new on board, from the sheets to the towels, pool towel, you can just tell it’s all very fresh.
• The food on board is outstanding, from windjammer to chops grill, it’s all outstanding.
• Cuban coffee shop never had cream for coffee, so I drank it without and enjoyed it.
• Crew on board is like family just after 4 days, really great job all around.
• Cruise Director Carlos does a great job and very personable if you get a chance to talk to him. 

 I hope you all enjoyed the Empress of the Seas live blog. I know I really enjoyed sharing this unique trip with all of you. Until next time, see you sea…

Live Blog Index

• Pre-cruise
• Day 1 - Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - Coco Cay
• Day 3 - Sea Day
• Day 4 - Key West

Today was our first sea day on board Empress of the Seas and once again I woke up at 6:30am to check out the sunrise. I headed up to the pool deck just in time to catch the sun coming up, once again wow.

Breakfast – Chops Grill

For top tier Crown and Anchor members (Diamond Plus/Pinnacle) and those staying in suite you can enjoy breakfast in Chops Grill.

They offer made to order eggs, omelets, and fresh fruit bar. The breakfast is very similar what you would find in the main dining room on any Royal Caribbean ship.

The real advantage is fast service and we were the only ones in there at 8am when they opened. I went with the basic Ham and Cheese omelet and I really enjoyed it. By now the staff in Chops Grill are starting to feel like family, it seems I’m starting to have most meals in here.

Pool Deck

After breakfast, I headed out the pool deck to soak up some sun rays while my girlfriend enjoy her spa morning. My gift to her for letting me live blog, Periscope, take endless pictures was to treat her to a spa treatment. She gave very positive feedback on the spa and it sounds like she is hooked for future cruises, oh no what have I done?!

Okay, back to the pool deck… This morning from 9:00am-10:30am they had a helicopter flying over us, beside us, and around us filming.

Many guest were asking staff what was going on, but I knew they were filming the brand new Empress of the Seas.

Brunch – Main Dining Room

Okay now I feel like all I am blogging about is food, but that’s all you really want to hear about Anyways, right? Well today they had their famous “Sunday Brunch” in the main dining room. Every sea day on Empress of the Seas, they have a big brunch from 11am-1pm in the dining room.

They had a large variety of breakfast and lunch options, so no matter what you were in the mood for they had it. During the Empress brunch, they also serve bottomless mimosas and Bloody Mary’s.

Afternoon on board

After our brunch, we decided to head back to pool deck and it was very full. Since Empress of the Seas has just one pool it can get very packed, but I never had a problem finding a deck chair.

We lounged in the water for quite sometime with the Caribbean band playing music. Pretty typical sea day with games around the pool deck and everyone enjoying themselves. I did notice they were selling the beer coolers at the bar, so if you don’t have a drink package this is a great value.

At 3:45pm we had a bridge tour for the Crown and Anchor group. We met on deck 9 forward and were greeted by security and did metal detector scans on us before we went into the bridge.

Once we were on the bridge they did a quick talk about what their roles are on the bridge.

We were aloud to take pictures of everything, just no video.

Dinner – Chops Grill

Tonight we were headed back to Chops Grill, again. We are feeling like family in here, but it was a great experience. We requested our waiter from night one and he took great care of us. I went with shrimp cocktail, which might be the largest shrimp I’ve ever seen.

Followed by the mushroom soup and 9oz filet. We were dining at 6pm tonight so the restaurant only had a few tables eating and the service was extremely fast.

Evening on board

Tonight was the white pool deck party, if you are coming on board Empress you should plan on packing white attire, though it’s not required. Many guests, including myself were not in white.

The staff started the party off and it quickly became very full and went on for hours. The guest were really enjoying the music and dancing the night away. I might have danced once or twice too…

That’s a wrap on day 3, stay tuned because tomorrow we are headed to Key West, Florida!

Live Blog Index

• Pre-cruise
• Day 1 - Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - Coco Cay
• Day 3 - Sea Day
• Day 4 - Key West