Royal Caribbean will begin its newest sales promotion on July 19, 2016, with a new BOGO offer, with additional savings for one day only on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas sailings.

In addition to the benefits of the normal BOGO deal, 50% off second guest and their deposit, guests can save up to an additional $250 off the cruise fare.

Offer details

• Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 50% Off
• 25% savings for 3/4 guests
• 50% reduced deposit
• On Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas
  • Interior/Oceanview: $75 off per stateroom
  • Balcony: $150 off per stateroom
  • Suite: $250 off per stateroom

Also, for eligible Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas holiday sailings departing December 18-31, 2016, offer includes a per person onboard credit: $100 OBC per person up to 4 guests for sailings 6 nights or longer, $50 OBC per person up to 4 guests for sailings 5 nights or less.

The one day bonus sale for Oaiss and Allure of the Seas is valid on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas sailings departing between August 19, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

One Day Sale is combinable with adjoining BOGO, 25% Savings for 3rd and 4th guests, Holiday OBC, Crown & Anchor discounts and NextCruise offers. BOGO and 3rd and 4th Guest Savings are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). One Day Sale and Holiday OBC are combinable with each other and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military) and NextCruise offers. One Day Sale and Holiday OBC are not combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts. One Day Sale is not combinable with any other Dollars Off promotion. 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, Shareholder Benefits.

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada.

Royal Caribbean is celebrating a double win at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards 2016, which marks the first time the cruise line has taken home both honors.

Royal Caribbean was awarded Best Cruise Operator – International, and Best Cruise Operator – Domestic. 

Since 2005, Royal Caribbean has been the proud recipient of Best Cruise Operator award wins five times. 2016 marks the first time the line has secured both the international and domestic prize, a particularly special achievement, according to Adam Armstrong, Royal Caribbean’s managing director in Australia and New Zealand.

“These awards are significant because they demonstrate recognition from the travel industry. Our travel agent partners play a huge role in the success of our cruise brand sailing here in Australia and around the world.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised and solidifies our commitment to delivering our style of innovative and international holidays at sea. We are truly grateful to the industry for their ongoing support.”

“Our congratulations go out to all other finalists and winners of the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards,” Armstrong concluded.

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas will skip a scheduled port stop in Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey this week following the news of the attempted coup in the country.

Royal Caribbean issued a letter to guests, informing them that the scheduled stop in Ephesus on Wednesday, July 20, will be canceled.  Royal Caribbean is working to find an alternative port of call to replace the stop.

"Since we became aware of the incident, we have been in close contact with our Global Security Team in Miami, as well as our local contacts in Turkey.  After taking all of their intelligence and advice into consideration, we have decided to cancel all port calls to Turkey, including our scheduled call to Ephesus (Kusadasi) on Wednesday, July 20.  We are currently working to find an alternative port of call and will let you know as soon as one is confirmed.

We truly regret having to take this action, but feel it is in the best interest of all guests.  The safety and security of our guests and crew members is always foremost in our minds."

All shore excursions purchased through Royal Caribbean International will be refunded to the form of payment used.  

Thanks to Royal Caribbean Blog reader Jacob Holness for alerting us to this change.

Happy Sunday! We hope you’re having a wonderful weekend and are ready to catch up on all the Royal Caribbean news from this week!

Royal Caribbean added new Empress of the Seas sailings, offering cruises through the end of September 2016.

The new sailings visit destinations in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

The new sailings are available for booking immediately and are 4- and 5-night itineraries.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean cancelled a scheduled stop in Nice, France because of the recent terrorist attack.
• Royal Caribbean's next sales promotion is a BOGO deal plus more.
• New video of the 1887 ice skating show on Harmony of the Seas.
• Here are 4 dining hacks to try on your next Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Restaurant review: La Sucrière in St. Martin
• A look at the Royal Caribbean shore excursions to Walt Disney World.
• Everything you need to know about Dynamic Dining Classic.
• The differences between the balcony stateroom categories.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 154th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we are answering your Royal Caribbean emails

In this episode, Matt and Michael read the emails our listeners sent in about lots of Royal Caribbean topics and share the answers to them.

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

Skift interviewed Royal Caribbean's CIO about the direction of the company.

Business.com interviewed Royal Caribbean's Vicki Freed.

Cruise Fever reports on which Royal Caribbean ship got a perfect score from the CDC.

Please welcome guest blogger Don & Heidi! DB and the Princess are a husband and wife duo with 10+ years of cruising history. Their blog, EatSleepCruise.com, provides valuable cruise planning tips and strategies. With reviews on cruise ships and shore excursions, along with a complete photo gallery, they help you “sea the world," one port at a time.

Dynamic Dining was a new program first introduced by Royal Caribbean on Quantum of the Seas that completely changed everything you know about traditional dining. Since the first incarnation of the program, Royal Caribbean has provided more options to cruisers, creating Dynamic Dining Choice and Dynamic Dining Classic.

Dynamic Dining Choice functions much like My Time Dining, where cruisers are free to eat at any of the complimentary restaurants at different times, with different table arrangements. This more freestyle approach is essentially the original version of the Dynamic Dining concept that was debuted. Given cruiser feedback, Royal Caribbean has implemented the Dynamic Dining Classic option, a new hybrid offering that includes elements of the original Dynamic Dining and the traditional dining that many Royal Caribbean fans are familiar with on other ships.

Having just returned from a cruise on Anthem of the Seas, we were able to test out Dynamic Dining Classic and compare it to our experiences with Dynamic Dining Choice a year earlier on Quantum of the Seas. We have put together this list of common questions about the program to help cruisers decide if Dynamic Dining Classic is right for them.

Which ships have Dynamic Dining Classic?

Currently, Anthem of the Seas, sailing from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, and Ovation of the Seas, sailing from Australia, offer Dynamic Dining Classic. The program is no longer offered on Quantum of the Seas, sailing year round from China.

When do I eat with Dynamic Dining Classic?

Unlike Dynamic Dining Choice, where your meal times can change each night, with Dynamic Dining Classic, you have a set dinner time every night. Similar to traditional dining, there is an early dinner seating and a late dinner seating. On our Anthem of the Seas cruise, the early seating was from 5:30pm to 6:00pm, and the late seating was from 8:30pm to 9:00pm. Before your cruise, you will select which dining time slot you prefer.

What happens if I miss my time slot?

You are given a thirty-minute window to arrive at the restaurant for your assigned early or late dinner seating. If you do not arrive by the assigned time, then your table is given away to those scheduled with the Dynamic Dining Choice option.

During our cruise, we noticed that the staff did make rounds near 6pm to see which tables were vacant, and within about 15 minutes, those tables were filled. Of course, if you completely miss your dining time, you have several other options onboard the ship.

Do I have to wait in line with Dynamic Dining Classic?

No, there are no lines or waiting with Dynamic Dining Classic.

When you arrive for dinner, skip the lines and head into the restaurant. Your table assignment number will be the same in each of the four complimentary dining venues.  

After a couple of days, you will probably have your bearings and be able to find the table yourself (The table is in the same location, but some restaurants are mirror images of others.). If not, just ask someone to point you to the table, and they will be happy to assist.

Where do I eat with Dynamic Dining Classic?

What makes the Quantum class ships unique is that they offer not one complimentary dining room, but four complimentary restaurants. Each restaurant has its own theme, with distinct menus and atmosphere.

There is the pan-Asian inspired Silk, the comfort food of the American Icon Grill, the modern French cuisine of Chic, and the elegant Grande. 

During your cruise, you will have the opportunity to dine at all of these restaurants with Dynamic Dining Classic.  

How do I know which restaurant to go to each night?

On the first day of your cruise, you will find your Dynamic Dining Classic rotation in your stateroom. The letter will also indicate your table assignment, which is the same at all restaurants. Our rotation for a five-night sailing on Anthem of the Seas was:

Day 1- Chic

Day 2 – Grande

Day 3 – Silk

Day 4 – American Icon Grill

Day 5- Chic

If the cruise were eight days for example, we would have rotated through Grande, Silk, and American Icon Grill in that order for Days 6-8. Everyone’s schedule will be different, but it will be a systematic rotation through each restaurant during your cruise.

Do the menus change at the restaurants?

Yes, even though each restaurant has a distinct menu, there are different sets of menus for each restaurant. Each restaurant has the same “Classics Menu”, offering staple dishes for the duration of the cruise. On our cruise, there were two sets of menus- “Menu A” and “Menu B”. Menu B made an appearance only on Day 5, after everyone had dined once at each complimentary restaurant. On longer cruises, the menus are switched out at different intervals, so you do not have to worry about eating the same meals even though you might be dining in the same venue multiple times.

Is the food different with Dynamic Dining Classic and Dynamic Dining Choice?

No, the menus and offerings are identical for each program. The major differences are the time you eat, where you sit, and which restaurant you dine at each night. Those are set with Dynamic Dining Classic and variable with Dynamic Dining Choice. The food selections, drinks, and atmosphere in each restaurant are the same regardless of which dining option you choose for your cruise.

Who I will be dining with each night?

Similar to traditional dining, each night you will have a set table assignment. You will be given a table number that will be the same at each restaurant during the trip. Your tablemates will also be the same.

Of course, you can request a private table for just you and your family, and RCI will do the best to accommodate your request. We had a table for two every night of our cruise.

What about the wait staff?

Another benefit of Dynamic Dining Classic is that your wait staff move with you through the dining rotation. Our waiter, Manilow, accompanied us through our four restaurant rotation. We did not have an assigned assistant waiter or bar server, but we saw many of the same individuals each night.

The Dynamic Dining Classic option gives you the more personal level of service many loyal to Royal cruisers are used to on other ships with traditional dining.  

What if I don’t want to eat in a restaurant?

If you choose to forgo one of the restaurants in your rotation, you have other options. You could go standby at one of the other complimentary restaurants. There is always the Windjammer Café which is open for dinner. You could also make a reservation for the complimentary Solarium Bistro. Or, there are several specialty restaurants on the ship that you can make reservations at as well.

Keep in mind, there is a surcharge for these restaurants, and the popular ones fill up quickly. On our cruise, we made a reservation at Jamie’s Italian on the last night of our cruise, figuring we had eaten once at all of the complimentary restaurants.

Our Take on Dynamic Dining Classic

We preferred the Dynamic Dining Classic offering more than the Dynamic Dining Choice.

We thought the service was better, and we liked the predictability of having a set dinner schedule and table every night. We did not have to worry about making reservations or be concerned with wait times.

We tend to be rather structured and more “traditional” cruisers, so this option worked out better for us. It combined the best of both worlds, taking the elements of a traditional MDR and combining them with four unique restaurants offering different styles of cuisine.

If you prefer My Time Dining on other RCI ships, then Dynamic Dining Choice might be the better option.

Royal Caribbean's next sales promotion offers guests 50% off second guest and 25% off third and fourth guests.

This BOGO offer is valid between July 18 and August 3, 2016 on all sailings departing on or after August 7, 2016. Offer excludes China departures.

The promotion gives guests

• Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 50% off
• 25% savings for third and fourth guests booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests
• 50% reduced deposit

BOGO is combinable with 25% Savings for 3rd and 4th guests, Holiday OBC, Crown & Anchor discounts and NextCruise offers.

BOGO and 3rd and 4th Guest Savings are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). 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, Shareholder Benefits. 

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada. 

Royal Caribbean released a statement indicating a scheduled stop for one of its cruise ships in Nice did not occur due to the recent terrorist attack.

Cruise Critic posted a statement released by Royal Caribbean that stated Navigator of the Seas skipped a stop in Nice, France.

"After reviewing all of the available information and along with discussions with our Global Security team in Miami, we have decided to cancel our next two calls to Nice. Navigator of the Seas was scheduled to visit Nice on Friday, July 15. Instead, the ship will spend the day at sea."

No other itinerary changes have been announced for Royal Caribbean ships.

Every Friday we showcase Royal Caribbean photos that our readers sent in, and we have a great batch of photos to share with you again this week!

What happens when you order nothing for dessert?  Mike Dinsmore sent us this photo proof of what nothing looks like!

Jeff Covello shared with us this photo Explorer of the Seas in Alaska.  Great contrast between the ship and the mountains!

Here is another photo from Alaska, and this one is from John that was taken from his Junior Suite balcony. I cannot get enough sunset photos and this one is beautiful.

Dan Stewart sent us this photo from Oasis of the Seas right before a storm rolled in near Jamaica. Check out the colors in the sky and on the ship!

Dave shared this photo of Jewel of the Seas.  I am not sure which port this was taken in, but it is hard to deny the beauty of the lines of a Radiance class ship.

Matthias & Klaus combined their love for cruising with their love for baking.  This is such a fun idea!

Our last photo is from Tom & Diane Trudnowski and it is of sunset in Tampa, as seen on Vision of the Seas.  Gorgeous!

Thank you to everyone that shared these great photos.  Do you want your photo included in our weekly photo showcase?  Use this form to send us your favorite Royal Caribbean photos and we will be sure to show it off to the world!

Royal Caribbean cruises that stop in the island paradise of St. Maarten/St. Martin will often find guests heading over to the French side of the island to enjoy the many terrific activities, and certainly French cuisine has to be at the top of that list.

Those that want to enjoy an authentic French cafe experience, will absolutely love a stop at La Sucrière in the French capital of Marigot for the fresh foods, cafe atmosphere and little taste of France in the Caribbean.

Atmosphere

Across the street from the ocean are a great many restaurants, including the La Sucrière bakery.

Before you even set foot in this boulangerie, you will have a great view of the harbor in Marigot, with its many yachts and sail boats anchored just off shore.

La Sucrière is set up like an open-air cafe, with plenty of seating underneath a roof that has no walls.  Like many French cafes, dining at La Sucrière is as much about enjoying the ambiance and weather around you, as the food itself.

Inside the bakery is a semi-circle shaped large room with plenty of freshly baked good to consider.  The area is lined with fresh breads, pastries, sandwiches and beverages.

The staff speak French and English, and nearly everything available was made fresh earlier in the day.  In fact, the smells alone as you walk in are worth the visit.

Eats

You will find a fairly wide selection of baked good to purchase at La Sucrière.  The French bakery advertises itself as a boulangerie and patisserie, which means it is a bakery and pastry shop.

Frankly, there is a lot of great choices and we quickly found ourselves in danger of over-ordering because everything looked so good.  You should definitely skip eating on your cruise ship prior to visiting this bakery.

La Sucrière features freshly baked breads, French open-faced sandwiches (known as tartines), quiches, cakes, fruits and more.  

If there is one thing missing, it would be cheeses.  Some of the sandwiches have cheese with them, but if you want to enjoy bread with your favorite kind of cheese, you should consider stopping elsewhere prior to eating here so you can combine it.  

The food can be enjoyed at the cafe or wrapped up for a meal later.  Certainly if you are planning on spending time elsewhere on the island, taking some of the amazing food with you is not a bad option.

In terms of the food, it certainly is fresh and sweet.  French breads, like baguettes and croissants, are always good choices and the fact they are baked on the premises really makes it taste better.

Overall

La Sucrière was a highlight of our stop to Marigot, because of the quality of the food offered here.  Part of the appeal of visiting ports of call on a Royal Caribbean cruise is the opportunity to sample the local cuisine, and La Sucrière is a fantastic example of French baking.

The combination of atmosphere, freshly baked goods (the smells!) and views from the cafe seating area made this a great meal.  There is some great shopping just steps away, so there are some nice activities to do before or after your meal here.

If you are going to visit the French side of St. Martin/St. Maarten, you ought to stop in at La Sucrière for a bite to eat.

Location: Front de Mer, Marigot 97150, St. Maarten-St. Martin

A balcony stateroom on your Royal Caribbean cruise sounds like a great idea, with imagery of fantastic views of the oceans available anytime you want.  So when it comes to booking the stateroom, you may quickly discover there is not just one balcony stateroom, but rather, a number of options to consider.

Royal Caribbean breaks up its balcony staterooms into various sub-categories and this is your guide to understanding what the differences are between them all.

D1, D3, D8... what does it all mean?

When you look to book a balcony stateroom, you will see a variety of cabin designations among the balcony staterooms.  There will be stateroom codes, such as D1, D2, D4, E1, E4, etc.

Essentially, the difference between all the Category D staterooms is stateroom location, and potentially size of the room as well.  The lower the number, the more desirable the location of the room in terms of how close it is (or is not) to mid-ship.

As the numbers get higher, the stateroom location goes further aft/forward and/or stateroom size can change.

The differences can be very subtle from one category to another, but the price tends to drop as the number climbs (i.e. a D8 tends to be cheaper than a D1).

In addition, the difference between staterooms can include rooms that have third and fourth berths.  Rooms with this distinction can result in different pricing compared to staterooms that cannot accommodate third and fourth berths.

Other balcony categories

In addition to balcony staterooms that have the letter "D", there are other categories of balcony staterooms that may be on the same ship.

• E
  • Usually, Category E balcony staterooms are slightly smaller rooms than Category D balcony staterooms, otherwise very similar. Between E and D, the difference is size -- the D is larger and this results in a sofa instead of loveseat.
• C
  • On Oasis-class ships, this refers to Central Park facing balcony staterooms
• B
  • On Oasis-class ships, this refers to Boardwalk facing balcony staterooms