Are you excited for Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas to debut? We are too and that is why every day, we are posting something new about this incredible new cruise ship leading up to her arrival in less than 99 days.

1887: A Journey in Time

Ice skating shows have become a staple of Royal Caribbean's entertainment line up and on Harmony of the Seas, guests can look foward to a brand new ice skating show, 1887: A Journey in Time.

The ice skating shows feature world-class skaters performing extraordinary skills, with stunning multimedia visuals, audio an state-of-the-art technologdy prociding a sight and sound theatrical experience. Guests will watch as the surface of the ice rink in Studio B transforms before their very eyes, creating a backdrop of ultra-high definition video, which blends fantasy with reality.

Luminous Creative Imaging is a group of talented creatives that focuses on putting their team together to create beautiful visuals. As simple as it sounds, Luminous specialized in 3D/CGI, Illustration, Digital Art, Manipulation, Photography and just to name a few and they are currenly based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

1887 is a brand new show by Royal Caribbean Productions that is about love and adventure and is best described as a, "steampunk styled ice show." 

Images by The Imagination House / Luminous Creative Imaging

It is set in Paris on February 14, 1887 at the height of the career of Jules Verne, renowned author of timeless adventure novels such as “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1864), “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” (1870), and “Around the World in Eighty Days” (1873).

Beginning their journey on the frozen River Seine, Juliet and her mysterious time traveling companion, the Tempus, travel in multiple dimensions to discover the wonders of the world, and of the heart.

It's Sunday and the good news is we are all one week closer to our next Royal Caribbean cruise! In case you missed any of the Royal Caribbean fun from this week, here is our weekly round up!

There was a lot of Royal Caribbean news this week, but the big story was Royal Caribbean's decision to cancel the first six Empress of the Seas sailings.

We were a about two weeks away from her debut, but the company stated it need more time to finish the upgrades and changes they planned on adding to her, and decided to push her debut back by six weeks.

For guests that were booked on one of the cancelled sailings, Royal Caribbean has offered the option of a full refund, or to be booked on another Empress of the Seas or Majesty of the Seas sailing.

We have a lot to share with you this week, so let’s jump right in…

Royal Caribbean News

• Gavin Smith was promoted to Senior Vice President of International.
• Brilliance of the Seas rescued 18 Cubans that were on a raft at sea.
• Royal Caribbean's Royal Genie program is about to debut.
• Our full review of Sabor Taqueria & Tequila Bar.
• Here is an updated 2017-2018 deployment schedule.
• A set of beautiful Ovation of the Seas conveyance photos.
• It looks like Royal Caribbean is offering discounts on drink packages and the internet on select cruises.
• Our guide to dining with a picky eater on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Read our excursion review of Blue Waters Escape, in Falmouth.
• Everything you need to know about Royal Suite Class.

99 Days of Harmony

To celebrate the countdown until Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas debuts, we kicked off a brand new blog series, 99 Days of Harmony, that looks at what makes this new ship so amazing.  

Each day we are posting a new blog post all about Harmony of the Seas, so here's what you might have missed this week.

• Harmony of the Seas returns from sea trials
• Harmony of the Seas tests her engines
• Puzzle Break Escape Room
• New shore excursions for Harmony of the Seas
• Retail shopping
• DreamWorks Experience

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 137th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we discuss eveything about dinner on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

In this episode, Matt talks about the subject of eating dinner on Royal Caribbean, and tries to provide a general overview of the process as a means of explaining what to expect and why dinner is such an enjoyable experience onboard.

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 Interent

The New York Post has 10 crazy facts about Harmony of the Seas.

Ren Behan has a review of Wonderland's "Dry Run" in London.

Cruise Critic's editor-in-chief has a new column about winter weather and cruising.

Fortune Magazine asked Royal Caribbean COO Adam Goldstein about what to do when you are overwhelmed at work.

Each day we are posting a brand new blog post to countdown until Royal Caribbean launches Harmony of the Seas. There's a lot to get excited about on this amazing ship and we're highlighting it all.

DreamWorks Experience

Ever since Royal Caribbean partnered with DreamWorks to bring their characters onboard Royal Caribbean's cruise ships, it's been a big hit.  Not surprisingly, the DreamWorks Experience will be coming to Harmony of the Seas as well.

DreamWorks Animation characters including Po of Kung Fu Panda; Shrek, Fiona and Puss in Boots of Shrek; and from Madagascar, Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, King Julien and the Penguins will be available for guests to meet during their cruise.

DreamWorks Experience activities onboard will include

• A DreamWorks Character breakfast in the main dining room
• 'Meet and greet’ experiences throughout the day
• Photo opportunities with the characters
• Adventure Ocean programming featuring DreamWorks Animation
  • Story time
  • Dance parties
  • Adventures rooted in the popular character stories

Kids also get the chance to play with their favorite DreamWorks Animation characters at Adventure Ocean.

Of course, you will be abloe to watch DreamWorks films in your stateroom.

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

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas rescued 18 Cuban migrants off the coast of Florida on Friday morning, following a 22 day journey at sea for the migrants.

The United States Coast Guard reported the rescue by the Royal Caribbean ship, which unfortunately also resulted in nine deaths prior to the resucue.

Brilliance of the Seas spotted the raft while on her way to Mexico, west of Marco Island in Florida. The migrants on-board suffered from severe dehydration, the Coast Guard said.

"Our deepest condolences to the families of the nine people who recently did lose their lives," said Captain Mark Gordon, chief of enforcement for the Coast Guard's 7th District. "Unfortunately, tragedy is all too common when taking to the sea in homemade vessels with no safety or navigation equipment. The dangerous waters of the Florida Straights can be unforgiving for the unprepared on ill-advised and illegal voyages."

Royal Caribbean notified its travel partners and guests that the first six sailings scheduled for Empress of the Seas have been cancelled.

Empress of the Seas sailings scheduled to depart on March 30, April 4, April 7, April 11, April 16 and April 21 have been cancelled.

The reasoning seems to be that additional work is needed before Empress of the Seas can rejoin the fleet.  In a statement to travel partners, Royal Caribbean explained, "Like many large renovation project, we are going to need more time to ensure the ship meets the high standards for quality our guests expect from Royal Caribbean."

As an alternative, guests may move to the same stateroom category on another Empress of Seas sailing between April 25, 2016 and July 23, 2016, and may also move to the same stateroom category on any Majesty of the Seas sailing between now and April 29, 2016 for the same cruise fare rate they paid for their original sailing. Guests who rebook to any Royal Caribbean Sailing will receive a $100 per stateroom onboard credit.

Guests who cannot or do not want to rebook, are eligble for a full refund of their cruise fare paid. 

The world's smartest ship, Ovation of the Seas makes her way down the Ems River on her conveyance from the Meyer Werft shipyard to the North Sea.

There are less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas debuts, and we are counting down every day with something different about this brand new ship!

Escape the Rubicon

Royal Caribbean first introduced an escape room game on Anthem of the Seas and the concept is now going to be added to Harmony of the Seas.

If you are wondering what an "escape room" is, it is essentially a group game, where players must solve clues hidden throughout one room in an allocated amount of time (usually 60 minutes) in order to find the "key" to escaping the room.

This is different kind of onboard activity that was pioneered by a group called Puzzle Break, which have created similar experiences on in a few cities.

After a briefing, guests search a room for clues and hidden messages and then try to put it all together to figure out the key phrase.  There are word searches, patterns and other challenges designed to get you thinking in a lot of different directions.

Escape the Rubicon will take place in a dedicated space designed in partnership with ShowFX Inc., a staple for Hollywood studios’ engineering, design and fabrication of custom entertainment equipment.

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

Royal Caribbean launched a new marketing campaign in Hong Kong, entitled "Cruise Extraordinary."

The new campaign is designed to show the cruise line's imaginative approach to cruising in the Chinese market and will be shown in targeted television and print ads.

Royal Caribbean wants to highlight the experiences guests can enjoy onboard that give are all about enjoying oneself on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

The new TV commercial was shot onboard Quantum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas during actual cruises.

The commercial includes a cast of 200 actors and cost tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars and is aimed at guests who are looking for a different vacation adventure.  

Balwin Yeung, director of sales and marketing of Royal Caribbean Cruises Hong Kong said, “As the market leader in Hong Kong, this year Royal Caribbean has adopted a more visible positioning on the market with aggressive advertising and sales strategies to appeal to customers looking for something truly special.”

The commercial will be aired in Hong Kong starting from today and will work hand in hand with messages in other media to create more touch points for consumers to get a taste of the cruising experience.

Are you excited for Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas to debut? We are too and that is why every day, we are posting something new about this incredible new cruise ship leading up to her arrival in less than 99 days.

Engine tests

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas wrapped up her first set of sea trials over the weekend, and part of that exercise was trying out her new engines.

This was the first time Harmony of the Seas had her engines used, which were aimed at testing the ship's propulsion and maneuverability.

Royal Caribbean released these images of the engines at work and while we are no engineering experts, it certainly looks like they are working well!

Photos by Royal Caribbean International

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