Royal Caribbean is reporting 21 guests on a shore excursion from Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas were involved in a traffic accident in Falmouth, Jamaica today.

Today 21 guests from Independence of the Seas participating in an excursion were involved in a traffic accident in Falmouth, Jamaica. 1/3

— RCLcorp (@RCLcorp) January 14, 2016

In the incident, one guest passed away, while three others were treated for injuries at a local hospital.

Royal Caribbean crew members have gone to the hospital in Falmouth to assist.

Royal Caribbean is asking all guests to keep those injured in their thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE: The Jamaica Observer is reporting the tour bus was on its way from the Dunn's River Beach in St Ann.

This week's podcast episode is ready to go, as we present episode 128 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for your downloading pleasure.

This week, Matt and Annette preview the plans for the 2016 Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise on Allure of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt and Annette look at the idea behind a group cruise, what special events we have planned for the group cruise and take listener's calls live on the air!

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 128. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS 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!

Roal Caribban has announces its list of their annual Travel Partners of the Year for the United States of America and Canada.

"Royal Caribbean is delighted to name our 2015 Travel Partners of the Year to recognize these incredibly successful and meaningful partnerships," said Vicki Freed, senior vice president, Sales, Trade Support and Services, Royal Caribbean International. "We are driven by our ongoing commitment to travel agents and are very proud to acknowledge these travel partners who have displayed an exemplary commitment to our brand and achieved significant growth in their business with us. We thank all of our valued travel agent partners for recommending Royal Caribbean to their clients and their important role in creating incredible adventures for our guests."

Royal Caribbean’s 2015 Travel Partners of the Year award recipients are as follows:
 
Chairman's Award for Overall Achievement       

Cruise Planners- An American Express Representative
 
President's Award for Overall Achievement      

Vacation.com                   
 
National Partner of the Year

AAA/CAA
 
Home-based Partner of the Year

Nexion, LLC
 
Online Partner of the Year

Expedia, Inc.
 
Consortia Partner of the Year

Ensemble Travel Group
 
Corporate Incentive Partner of the Year

Maritz Travel Company
 
Luxury Partner of the Year

Virtuoso
 
Loyalty Partner of the Year

CruCon Cruise Outlet Plus, Inc.
 
Marketing Partner of the Year

Avoya Travel
 
Southeast Partner of the Year

Educational Travel Service, Inc.
 
Northeast Partner of the Year

Autism on the Seas
 
Central Partner of the Year

AAA Allied Group
 
West Partner of the Year

Auto Club Enterprises/AAA Travel
 
Canada Partner of the Year

Expedia CruiseShipCenters

Royal Caribbean is committed to providing an expansive and unmatched array of multidimensional entertainment found only on Royal Caribbean. Jaw-dropping, Broadway-style entertainment and unique programming featuring spectacular ice skating, diving and aerial performances wow guests on their cruise adventure.

Good news, 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!

The Royal Caribbean news everyone was talking about was the rise in price of the unlimited alcohol packages.

Royal Caribbean rose the prices of its unlimited alcohol and non-alcoholic drink packages a bit this week. The increases ranged from less than a dollar to a few dollars per day.

This was the first change in the base price of the drink packages since Royal Caribbean introduced the drink packages in late 2012.

Royal Caribbean News

There was plenty more Royal Caribbean news, so dig into this week's batch!

• Royal Caribbean launched its new BOGO Further sale this week and today is the last day of an add-on sale.
• Check out our guide to Royal Caribbean's 2016 new cruise ships and refurbishments.
• Royal Caribbean has no plans (yet) to charge for WOWBands on Ovation of the Seas.
• We shared seven surprising facts about Allure of the Seas.
• The best itinerary recommendations for first time cruisers.
• A 10 drink card was spotted on Oasis of the Seas.
• Royal Caribbean won a few awards at the 2016 Travvy Awards.
• We reviewed a great alternative beach in St Thomas, Emerald Beach.
• Take a photo tour of Labadee.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 127th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, we are discussing what shore excursions to do in Nassau, Bahamas.

In this episode, Matt and Erin discuss why a lot of guests struggle with what to do in Nassau and share some of their picks for what to do (and not to do) in Nassau.

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.

How you can support Royal Caribbean Blog

So many of our readers have reached out to us to ask how they can help the blog and we are introducing the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders for just that reason.

The Insiders group is a way readers can contribute to Royal Caribbean Blog and help fuel some of the really amazing ideas, projects and new content that we have lined up.

As a way of saying thank you for your contribution, there are some fun rewards for being a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders.

Becoming a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders is completely up to you and you can cancel at any time. No questions asked! 

As always, thank you for visiting Royal Caribbean Blog and being a part of our community!

Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds

If you are on a Royal Caribbean cruise and spot something cool, new or just fun, share a photo with us on Facebook or Twitter so we can add it to our Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds each Sunday!

Collier Swecker took this photo of Adventure of the Seas docked in San Juan.

Andrew McConnell took a panoramic photo from Oasis of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Royal Caribbean shared six unique adventures on Anthem of the Seas.

Fortune Magazine looked at how cruise lines are targeting gamers.

Cruise Critic answered the top frequently asked questions about Oasis of the Seas.

Shermans Cruise has a 90 second tour of Anthem of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean kicked off a 72-hour weekend cybersale today that offers up to $50 onboard credit that is combinable with the existing BOGO Further promotion.

Beginning on January 8, 2016, guests can take advantage of the 72-hour sale on all sailings departing on or after February 8, 2016. Offer excludes China departures.

Guests will receive up to $50 onboard credit per stateroom

• Interior & Oceanview staterooms: $25 onboard credit per stateroom
• Balcony & Suites: $50 onboard credit per stateroom

Anyone that has a current booking should see if this promotion can be combined with their existing rate to save them a little more.

Offer applies to new bookings made January 8-10, 2016.

Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates, restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military,) BOGO Further offer, and Next Cruise offers. Offer is 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, Crown & Anchor Discounts, and Shareholder benefits. 

Offer available in the United States and Canada.

When the calendar says it is Friday, that means it is the perfect time to share some Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers have sent to us. Each week, we invite all of our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean photos so we can show them off on the blog!

First up this week, is this photo of Legend of the Seas in Bali by Ross and Pam.  I love the contrast between the various boats in the foreground and Legend looming large in the background.

Here is a fun photo by Frederic of Santa and his elves arriving to Anthem of the Seas, via the North Star. Santa knows how to arrive in style!

Kalya submitted this shot of Enchantment of the Seas as seen from Coco Cay on a beautiful and cloudless day.  Sign me up for this kind of weather!

Heath sent us this photo as they were leaving Labadee while walking on deck 11 towards the front of the ship.  Amazing colors!

John had some Halloween fun on Serenade of the Seas with these costumes!

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos this week and if you have Royal Caribbean photos, well, we want to see them!  You can use this form to send us your photos and we will feature them on an upcoming Friday Photos blog post!