We're counting down the days until Harmony of the Seas debuts later this year with our 99 days of Harmony blog series. Each day we will post something about Harmony of the Seas to share with all of you!

Luckey Climber

What do you get when you combine art and function on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas? The lucky climber!

Harmony of the Seas will be the first ship to feature the Luckey Climber play area, located at the end of the Boardwalk.

Luckey Climber is a brand of rather large clibming structures that are surrounded by a net, designed for kids to jump on and explore.

Photo by Luckey Climbers, LLC

These innovative playgrounds are part art and part jungle gym that feature some very bold colors.

From the looks of it, Luckey Climber ought to be a great spot for kids of many ages to hop in and engage in the kind of climbing all kids love, while their parents enjoy a milk shake from Johnny Rockets and watch the fun ensue!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Harmony!

Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships offer so many amazing dining opportunities, with the premier experience being 150 Central Park.

150 Central Park is the creation of James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami.  Chef Schwartz created 150 Central Park with a commitment to sustainable and seasonal food sourcing that offers the freshest, most distinct ingredients.

Whether you dine on Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas or Harmony of the Seas, here are five things that are sure to please at 150 Central Park.

5. The setting

Any good chef knows that presentation is as important to a meal as the food itself, and 150 Central Park follows that rule with its picture-perfect home in the Central Park neighborhood.

Set among the beautiful layout of Central Park, guests will walk past towering Cuban laurel and Black Olive to clusters of calla lilies and rabbit foot ferns to get to the restaurant.

With dinner in the evening, it is an undeniably beautiful backdrop for dinner.

4. Upscale dining experience

A meal at 150 Central Park is more than just great food.  It is about every aspect of the meal, from when you set foot in the restaurant to when you leave.

Royal Caribbean designed 150 Central Park to offer guests an intimate dining experience that is unlike anything else offered onboard. That means not only dressing up for the occasion, but a wait staff trained to make your meal as personal as possible.

Your waiter will explain each menu choice for you and customize the experience to meet what you want. 

For guests seeking a chic night out, 150 Central Park is the place to go.

3. Seasonal tasting menu

Chef Michael Schwartz offers guests at 150 Central Park an innovative dining concept with 150 Central Park.

The menu is seasonal, which means it is regularly changed to offer the freshest and most distinct ingredients.

The 150 Central Park menu features rotating six-course menus per voyage highlighting fresh produce from small Florida farms.

No matter when you dine at 150 Central Park, you are sure to find responsibly- and locally-sourced ingredients that are in season.

2. Wine pairing

When you talk about any kind of upscale dining experience, wine pairings with your meal are common place, including at 150 Central Park.

Royal Caribbean offers guests the choice of reserving a meal at 150 Central Park with or without a wine pairing, or simply choosing select wines to enjoy with their meals.

At $75 per guest, the wine pairing option includes a glass of wine to match each serving during the course of the meal.

The wine accompaniment is chosen to compliment the evening's menu and serves to enhance the flavor of the food.

Wine lovers will consider this option a must-do.

1. Cucumber martini

In addition to the great food served at 150 Central Park, the restaurant features a signature cocktail that is a must-try: the cucumber martini.

As the name implies, there is a hint of cucumber to a classic martini concoction that is light and very refreshing.

This drink is a mix of cucumber, basil,Monin lemon grass syrup, sweet and sour mix and Grey Goose Vodka.

Many Royal Caribbean fans claim this is among the very best cocktails Royal Caribbean offers, so give it a try!

Each day we are getting closer to the launch of Harmony of the Seas and we "celebrate" with a new blog post, all about this amazing ship!

The Captain

One of the most important and recognizable roles on any cruise ship is her Captain and Royal Caribbean has already selected who will be in control of this magnificent ship when she debuts.

Royal Caribbean has actually selected two of its Captains to be the ship's Captain.

Captain Gus Andersson will take Harmony of the Seas out, which means he will be in charge of the ship once it is delivered from STX France shipyard and command her as she makes her way to her first sailings.

Captain Andersson has been with Royal Caribbean has some recent experience with new ships. In May 2010, he went to Turku, Finland as Staff Captain to be part of the Newbuild and Start Up team for Allure of the Seas.

He also served as part of the Newbuild and Start up team for the Quantum and Anthem of the Seas. After the initial start up period, he took command of each of the ships for their inaugural seasons.

He also served as Captain of Enchantment of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Eventually, Captain Johnny Faevelen will take over Harmony of the Seas and be the ship's Captain for the foreseeable future.

Like Captain Andersson, Captain Faevelen has been a Captain with Royal Caribbean for a while too.

Since 1994, has been a Captain and previously served as Captain onboard the Nordic Prince, Sun Viking, Sovereign of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Harmony!

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

Episode 140 is available for downloading where I will be reading more of your questions this week all about Royal Caribbean.

Matt is diving into the email bag this week to answer your emails all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise, including booking shows, what to do in Roatan, Liberty of the Seas changes and a whole lot more.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 140. 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 is offering guests the option of exploring select ports of call mid-voyage with new Multi-Day Adventures program.

Guests debark their Royal Caribbean ship mid-voyage, where they take part in a fully guided tour that includes hotel accomodations, meals, airfare (where applicable) and transportation, before rejoining the ship at another port.

Royal Caribbean is offering Multi-Day Adventures in destinations such as

• New Zealand
• Guatemala
• Greece
• Israel
• Bangkok

These Multi-Day Adventure tours offer the opportunity to venture beyond the coast and explore the "heart" of each destination - from the Holy Land’s sacred spaces and the ‘lost’ Mayan ruins of Tikal, to visiting the site of the first Olympic games in Ilia, or admiring New Zealand’s magnificent Milford Sound.

To avoid cancelation penalties, Multi-Day Adventures must be canceled 30 days prior to sailing.

Program requires a minimum number of participants to operate at the advertised price. Should this minimum not be met, Royal Caribbean reserves the right to offer the program to those already booked at an adjusted price for a private excursion, or cancel the departure completely.

We love to share photo updates from around Royal Caribbean's fleet, and today we have a great look at the pool and sports decks from Liberty of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Steve Ritter is back from Liberty of the Seas and shared these photos of the new kids pool area and the miniature golf course.

Both areas were added during Liberty of the Seas recent January 2016 refurbishment.

At 10 stories high, Harmony of the Seas' Ultimate Abyss is not only the tallest slide at sea but also an amazing engineering feat. Get an inside look into the construction process with the manufacturing team as well as the world’s only thrill engineer. Hear what makes Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate Abyss such an epic adventure.

Royal Caribbean announced today that the brand new Ovation of the Seas will extend her maiden Australian and confirmed she will return for the 2017/18 summer season.

During Ovation of the Seas' first season down under, the ship will now offer four extra cruises during this forthcoming summer 2016/17 season.

In addition, it was confirmed that Ovation of the Seas will return for a second season in summer 2017/18 due to, "the extraordinary demand for the ship from Australians."

Final deployment details for the additional sailings and 2017/2018 season will be released later in April.  Royal Caribbean Australia is offering a newsletter to get more information when they do become available.

“The level of interest for Ovation of the Seas has exceeded all of our expectations; we’re currently over 90 per cent sold for next summer’s sailings,” said Adam Armstrong, managing director, Royal Caribbean Australasia.  “She is a true game-changer and such was the high demand for the ship that we’ve been able to secure four extra cruises from Sydney, which will extend the season into late February 2017.

“This extension of her maiden season – plus her subsequent return in summer 2017/18 – reaffirms Australia’s position as one of the most significant cruising markets in the world and Royal Caribbean’s position as Sydney’s leading cruise line,” Armstrong continued.

“We are delivering Australians the most modern style of cruising from their doorstep – a style they previously had to travel overseas for.  Australia has asked for more and we will deliver; four more cruises, a return at the end of 2017, and more opportunities to experience a brand new era of cruising on Ovation of the Seas, purpose-built for the Asia Pacific market,” Armstrong concluded.

It’s my ninth and final day on board the Brilliance of the Seas, and these days just fly by. 

Today, we were at sea all day traveling back to Tampa, Florida. 

I started the morning off with room service to the cabin.  I’ll be honest; it’s not the best option if you are looking for great food.  But I really enjoy just eating on the balcony and taking in all the views. 

I’ll also mention, in my past cruises, the coffee they deliver was less than drinkable.  However, on this cruise I actually enjoyed the coffee, so looks like they have made a change. 

I sat on my balcony for over an hour this morning just enjoying my coffee and reflecting on my past 9 days. 

Afternoon onboard

We wanted to relax in the Solarium and just take it easy. 

The ship was starting to rock a little, as we were in the middle of The Gulf of Mexico.  The water in the pool was splashing around a lot and it was like a mini wave pool. 

I really enjoyed my time in this pool; heated water is always a pleasant experience. 

Since it was my final day on board, I had to enjoy one more roast beef sandwich.  Look at all this meat they put on my sandwich! 

I had to take one of them off and eat with a fork, but I didn’t mind.  They also serve salad’s here and have a wide variety of toppings. 

Evening on board

Tonight we got ready early, so we could take full advance of the ship on last evening. 

I went to the photo lounge, to get my free diamond 8x10 photo.  After which, it was time to get a pre dinner cocktail. 

I went down to the R Bar since they were playing live music at 5pm.  It was a band playing beautiful music with violins; it almost felt like formal night again. 

I went with the classic old fashion and Hillary had the champagne cocktail. 

Dinner at Giovanni’s Table

We loved our dinner last night at Giovanni’s Table so much; we decided to go back again. 

I had did met a couple on the Enchantment of the Seas two years ago, and we dined with them this evening to celebrate their birthday. 

They are Pinnacle members, and I’ll say, we received a little extra service at dinner. 

Since it was a special occasion we were celebrating the chef made us lasagna.  If you have dined here before you know they only serve this dish at lunch.  However, if you request it in advance they will prepare some for you. 

For our starters, our waiter just brought out a few to try family style.  I enjoyed dining here with more people, because we got to try more options. 

For the main course, I had the filet and lasagna, I know two dishes!  Again the filet was absolutely amazing, so tender just like at Chops Grill. 

The whole staff came out to sing our friend happy birthday, and made her a large birthday cake. 

I must mention the beautiful sunset we saw this evening.  Our reservations were at 7pm, and we were able to watch the full sunset at dinner. 

I highly recommend eat there at this time, so you are able to watch the sunset while you are eating.  Also, the restaurant is not very large, so no matter where you sit, you will be able to see outside. 

Evening Activities

We decided to end our trip in the pub, this is always were mine started.  They had some live music playing, which I might add seems to be the case all the bars. 

If you are a beer lover like myself, you will love their options here.  They have beers from all around the world, and with the exception of 1 or 2 beers they are included in the drink packages.  I loved being able to try different beers all week, and relaxing in the pub. 

The only downside of the pub is the location itself.  They added this pub during the dry dock, so it’s beside the casino on deck 6.  After a few pints, we called it an evening and headed back to our cabin, this was a sad moment because the cruise was over. 

Thank you for following along with me over the past nine days.  I truly enjoyed sharing my experiences with you from the Brilliance of the Seas. 

If you have any questions about the ship, feel free to comment them below and I’ll respond. 

See you again in two months for another live blog from the Allure of the Seas!