Royal Caribbean's private island of CocoCay is very popular with guests and on your next visit there, it may be slightly different than you remember.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Sean McLellan recently visited CocoCay over the weekend and sent us a report of some noticable changes.

Cabanettes have been renamed

The "cabanettes" that are available to rent now have a new name

Excursions desk indicates that they are now called "Beach Loungers" and it now runs just under $50 for 2 people for 2 big bottles of water, a fruit plate and towels.

New trams between Tender/Barefoot Beach

In the past, Royal Caribbean has provided a shuttle that is pulled by a tractor to get guests to help with the long distance walk involved.

There are now some new trams availabe to take guests.

Sean notes these new trams, "run quieter, a tad smoother, and taller so there's less chance of bonking your head on the way out. Oh, the driver gets a little fan."

New tram route

Previously, the tram ran on a path south of the nature trail that went past the island's barracks and ended up east of the Cabanettes.

There's now an entirely new tram path that is "shorter" according to the tram driver, which has newly been created that runs north of the nature trail and ends up east of the Cabanettes.

There's some big piles of sand marking the terminus that look new.

New shower at Barefoot Beach 

A new fresh water shower has been added to Barefoot Beach.

Sean indicated it is, "a nice addition that is just north of the Barefoot Beach Cabanettes/Beach Lounger bar".

Promise of a Barefoot Beach restroom facility

For the past year or longer an outhouse has been stationed on the previous tram route that is about a 2 minute walk from the cabanettes.

Sean's tram driver indicated that there are immediate plans to construct a restroom facility at the cabanettes, which would be a highly welcome change.
 

If you are a fellow sushi lover, then you will feel right at home at Royal Caribbean's premier sushi restaurant Izumi.

The next time you make a reservation at Izumi, be sure to consider these fun and tasty aspects of the restaurant that are worth trying!

5. Complimentary edamame

Some of the best things in life are free and when you eat at Izumi, you will get a great starter for no additional cost.

Izumi currently offers complimentary edamame (a preparation of baby soybeans in the pod boiled in water together salt, and served whole).

Not only is this a tasty choice for starting your meal off right, but they are priced right too!

4. Eating at the bar

Eating sushi is an experience and if you like a little show with your meal, try eating at the sushi bar.

Sitting at the sushi bar will get you a front row seat to the sushi chefs creating their masterpieces.

And let me tell you, making sushi is no pedestrian task.  Sushi is as much an art form as it is a kind of food and watching sushi being made is really entertaining!

3. Signature Rolls

If you consider yourself a sushi fanatic, then you will need to flip your menu over to the signature roll section.

The signature rolls often are larger and offer superior flavor than the other rolls on the menu.  It really is the best offering Izumi has.

In addition, be sure to inquire if there are any sushi specials.  From time to time, Izumi will offer certain rolls that are not on the regular menu and these special rolls can be terrific choices too.

2. Teppanyaki experience

In addition to just sushi, select Royal Caribbean ships offer teppanyaki style dining at the restaurant's hibachi section.

Izumi's hibachi is a fun and creative experience, where your chef cooks your food in front of you with a splash of entertainment thrown in.

Hibachi dining is a great way for family and groups to enjoy a meal together and if you want to have a memorable dining experience .

The hibachi meals have a cover charge of $25 for one choice of meat, or $30 two choice of meat. Choices include Beef, Chicken, Lobster or Shrimp.

Each meal includes soup or salad, edamame app, fried rice or lo mein noodles, cooked veggies and dessert.

1. Hot rocks

Whether you eat sushi or not, no trip to Izumi is complete without an order of hot rocks.

Hot rock (Ishiyaki) plates are rocks that are heated to 575 degrees °F, where guests take raw meat and vegetables and cook them on the rock, right at your table.

This ultimate-self serve meal is a really fun way to enjoy a Japanese delicacy.  Each plate comes with lemon ginger vinaigrette, sweet soy sauce and Thai sweet chili dipping sauces.

Guests have the choice of mixed seafood, chicken breast, chicken and beef skewer rock or beef tenderloin.

The hot rocks are perfect for those that do not enjoy sushi necessarily or just someone looking to try something different!

We get a lot of questions on the blog, and a common question is about what to do if the dining choice for dinner that a guest wants is not available.

Sometimes a guest will book a Royal Caribbean cruise, but discover that a particular traditional dinner seating is not available.  Or perhaps My Time Dining is booked up.  Is there any chance to change it?

The answer is, there are two strategies to use when trying to get into the dining option you really wanted.

Add yourself to a waitlist

When a particular dining option gets filled up, Royal Caribbean will allow guests to be added to a waitlist.

These waitlists are virtual queues, where if another guest leaves that dining option for some reason (usually due to cancelling or transferring their cruise reservation), the next guest "in line" can take their spot.

To be added to a waitlist, you need to contact either Royal Caribbean directly or have your travel agent do it on your behalf.

Once you are added to the waitlist, you should see a notation on your reservation in the My Cruises section of Royal Caribbean's web site.

In many cases, the waitlist will eventually come through and you will be automatically added to the dining option of your choice  You will likely not be notified of the change, so you will have to log in periodically to your cruise reservation to see if something has changed.

The fallback: speak to the head waiter

Sometimes, the waitlist option does not work and your next best option is to go speak to the head waiter on embarkation day.

Once you board your Royal Caribbean cruise, go to the main dining room in the afternoon to speak to the head waiter.

There should be a head waiter on duty in the main dining room for a few hours in the afternoon.  

Politely explain your request to the head waiter and ask if there is a way to be moved to the dining option you prefer.

In our experience, this fallback usually gets the job done.  Royal Caribbean wants their guests happy and the head waiters have a good sense of the guest dinner distribution.

Can I move between My Time Dining and Traditional Dining during my cruise?

Royal Caribbean says once you are in one of the dinner options, you are primarily limited to it.

The policy does state they can honor requests to change only once based on availability.

Read more: My Time Dining versus Traditional Dining

More dining room tips

Check out these other helpful posts about dining on a Royal Caribbean cruise!

• Top 10 insider tips for Royal Caribbean's main dining room
• Five ways to save money on food and drink on your Royal Caribbean cruise
• Top 10 Royal Caribbean dining tips

Hopefully one of these two choices will get you the dining preference you really want!

Royal Caribbean revealed the details of its scheduled refurbishment for Liberty of the Seas that will take place during her month-long drydock in January 2016.

When Liberty of the Seas returns from her drydock in February 2016, she is going to get quite a lot of new aquatic based activities including:

• Collection of waterslides called the Perfect Storm
  • Two new racer slides called Cyclone and Typhoon which will be located at the aft of the ship alongside the Flowrider surf simulator
• Tidal Wave, first Boomerang style slide at sea
  • The new hair-raising slide features a steep drop that propels riders up a near vertical wall for a moment of weightlessness and into free fall. 
    
• An adult-free zone with the introduction of Splashaway Bay, an aqua park featuring an interactive kid’s play area with water cannons, geysers and much more.

​

Royal Caribbean had announced in July 2015 it would add a water slide to Liberty of the Seas.

The addition of Splashaway Bay and the Perfect Storm water slides are both features that were originally announced for Harmony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean did a similar addition when it introduced new features to Navigator of the Seas during her refurbishment in advance of those same features being introduced later on Quantum of the Seas.

There will also be new restaurants added to Liberty of the Seas

• Sabor Modern Mexican
• Giovanni's Table
• R-Bar

Royal Caribbean is also adding 26 new Panoramic Ocean View staterooms, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass walls, providing guests with breathtaking, unobstructed views as well as an additional 53 staterooms throughout the ship.

Liberty of the Seas will sail seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries every Sunday from Galveston starting from November 2015 , visiting exciting warm weather getaways in the Caribbean including: Belize City, Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; Falmouth, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatan, Honduras.

Are you excited for these new additions coming to Liberty of the Seas? Tell us in the comments!

Royal Caribbean will kick off a big new sale next week that offers 30% off all ships and nearly all sailings.

The new cruise deal runs between October 12 and November 9, 2015 and applies to all ships and sailings departing on or after November 12, 2015, with the exception of China departures.

Guests will get 30% off the standard cruise fore for all guests in a stateroom plus

• $100 onboard credit per stateroom on Oasis or Allure of the Seas 7-night Caribbean sailings departing May-Sept. 2016
• $100 OBC per staterooms for any 2016 Alaska Cruisetour packages and stateroom category
• Purchase air from Royal AIR2SEA on Offer eligible Europe sailings departing April through Nov. 2016 onboard Jewel, Rhapsody, and Vision of the Seas and receive an EXTRA per stateroom cruise fare savings of up to $1,000:
  • Suites: $1000 cruise fare Savings per stateroom
  • Interior/Oceanview/Balcony: $500 cruise fare Savings per stateroom
• Bookings made Oct 12-18, 2015 for eligible sailings departing Dec 15 – 31 2015 or 2016 offer includes an onboard credit up to $500 OBC per stateroom
  • 6 nights or more
    • Interior, Oceanview, Balcony, Junior Suite: $200 onboard credit per stateroom
    • Grand Suite or above: $500 onboard credit per staterom
  • 5 nights or less
    • Interior, Oceanview, Balcony, Junior Suite: $100 onboard credit per stateroom
    • Grand Suite or above: $250 onboard credit per staterom

The 30% off discount is applied to the standard cruise fare for all guests in a stateroom, including third and fourth passengers; No category restrictions. All other charges, including, but not limited to, taxes, fees and port expenses, are additional and apply to all guests.

This offer will apply to single guests paying 200% single supplement on eligible sailings.

This new sale is combinable with Future Cruise Certificates, Letters of Credit, NextCruise bookings and Crown & Anchor Society savings benefits.

The 30% Savings and AIR2SEA Offers are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). However, the OBC offers are combinable with 30% Savings and 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, Crown & Anchor Discount programs or rates. Single occupancy guests paying 200% cruise fare are eligible for Offer.

Royal Caribbean Blog contributor Michael Poole is on Majesty of the Seas this week.

Today we are docked in Key West, Florida from 10:00 am - 5:30 pm.  It was fun being able to connect with friends at home with full phone service again, since we were in Florida. 

I spent my morning up in the Viking Crown lounge enjoying my daily Starbucks.  I purchased my coffee daily at $3 from the café, and it was worth it for me. 

Immigration Process

At 9:30 am, they started the immigration process, which was a little unorganized. 

They had two locations you had to attend one for United States citizens and another line for everyone else. 

Surprisingly the line for non-United States citizens was extremely long, had no idea I was cruising with that many people from other countries.  

I decided to enjoy some champagne in the Schooner Bar and I’d head out later.  Somehow, I must have missed the announcement that all guest are required to take part in the immigration process, even if you were staying on board. 

I was enjoying my morning and just caught the immigration officers packing up when I went down at noon.  They informed me I would have received a $200 fine had I missed them, so maybe that’s why I saw everyone in lines all morning! Hey at least I made it just in time. 

Key West, Florida

I didn’t have any real plans for my day in Key West, I just wanted to explore the streets. 

I walked around for around an hour before coming across the famous Sloppy Joes. 

The restaurant has been opened since 1930’s and many of the bartenders have been there for 30+ years.  They had live music going and it had that fun Key West feeling.  I didn’t try any of their food, since I ate lunch on board at the Windjammer, but many were and it looked good too. 

If you are curious about the bar they have four live webcams on their website and they are pretty fun to watch everyone having fun. 

Afternoon on board

This afternoon. I decided to lay on the pool deck and enjoy the last few hours of sunrays I had left. 

Something a little different happen to me, I was enjoying a cold beer in a pool lounger when I was approached by a bar staff.  He asked for my sea pass card to bring me another beer, I said okay.  He comes back with a bucket of three beers, and I had the drink package. 

Usually Royal Caribbean only lets you get one drink every 5 minutes, to help prevent people from sharing.  I laughed and thought well it is the last day of my vacation, why not. 

Evening Events

Tonight, I just wanted to be social with the friends I had made and enjoy the evening. 

I tried to go settle my on board account with guest services until I saw their line; it was crazy down there.  So those who need to take of things at guest services my advice to you is go early.  

I spent part of my evening in the Viking Crown lounge, saying good bye to the friends I’d met, most were staying on for a few more sailings, living the good life.  It’s part of the reason I enjoy cruising so much, is all the people you meet from all over the world. 

For dinner I was back in the main dining room for my final meal. 

It was pasta themed menu, who couldn’t enjoy that! 

I knew I wanted the tiger shrimp, but I kept thinking about the lasagna too, so I ordered both!  Yes, I was that guy but why not it’s one of the many perks of cruising. 

Once again tonight the waiters sang for us, and it was fun to recognize the ones that have been serving us for the past week. 

That wraps up my 4-day cruise on the Majesty of the Seas, and wow, did it go by fast. 

I hope you enjoyed following along with me, as much as I loved sharing.   Let me know if you have any questions about the ship, my stops, or solo cruising. 

Until next time, see you out at sea!  

Live Blog Index

• Live blog introduction
• Day 1 -  Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - Nassau
• Day 3 - Coco Cay
• Day 4 - Key West

In just about a month, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas will be arriving at her new homeport of Cape Liberty, New Jersey, and it will mark her debut in the United States.

Photo by Royal Caribbean

Anthem of the Seas' arrival stateside is a big deal because there will be a brand new cruise ship for guests to try out in one of the most populous parts of the country.

In anticipation for Anthem of the Seas' arrival, we are counting down the top reasons you ought to be excited to welcome Anthem of the Seas "home".

5. The biggest ship to call New York home

With Anthem of the Seas arrival in the New York City metro area, Anthem of the Seas will be the largest and most innovative ship ever to homeport in the New York region.

Folks living in the North East definitely hold themselves in high regard and having a significantly larger Royal Caribbean ship than ever before means there is a lot to enjoy about her.

4. Lots of WOWs

​Of course, this massive ship contains lots of WOWs onboard and there ought to be enough to enjoy on Anthem of the Seas to satisfy the Big Apple's appetite.

Onboard Anthem of the Seas, guests will find quite a variety of onboard activities, dining options and places to relax.

There is no way to fit them all into one post but here are the ones not to miss:

• We Will Rock You, the Olivier Award-winning musical
• Bionic Bar
• Bumper cars
• Two70 theater
• Music Hall
• iFly skydiving simulator

3. Seeing the New York City skyline from North Star

Few skylines are as easily recongizable and beloved as the New York City skyline, but you have to see it from over 300 feet above sea level!

North Star is Royal Caribbean's amazing observation capsule, that takes guests smoothly into the air to provide breathtaking views of New York City, the Statue of Liberty and the surrounding areas.

Once you see New York from North Star, it will give you a view of the area that you have never experienced before.

2. The arrival of Dynamic Dining Classic

Dynamic Dining is not new to the United States but Royal Caribbean has introduced a new option to Dynamic Dining for those that want a more traditional dining experience.

Onboard Anthem of the Seas, guests can choose Dynamic Dining Classic if they prefer the traditional main dining style with the same dining time each night, with the same wait staff and dining companions throughout the cruise. 

Guests will rotate through restaurants onboard the ship, giving them the Dynamic Dining experience coupled with the traditional dining memories they have enjoyed on past cruises.

Dynamic Dining Classic is available on a first come, first serve basis. 

1. Longer itineraries

Photo by Miguelángel

Royal Caribbean designed Anthem of the Seas for longer itineraries and that means this new ship will take New Yorkers, New Jerseyians and Connecticitians to more exotic and beautiful destinations than ever before.

Anthem of the Seas will offer cruises to 

• The Caribbean
• The Bahamas
• Canada & New England
• Bermuda

Anthem of the Seas offers sailings that are 7-, 8-, 10- and 12-nights that are sure to meet the needs of all Royal Caribbean fans looking to get away.

Sailing from the northeast means no plane rides south required and more time onboard, enjoying the ambiance and views only a cruise ship can provide.

What are you most excited about to experience on Anthem of the Seas? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Royal Caribbean is famous for the onboard innovations it offers its guests, including ice skating at sea!

Being in the middle of the Caribbean or Mediterranean does not mean you can't put on a pair of skates and go ice skating like it's December in Minnesota.  

If you want to enjoy ice skating as part of your Royal Caribbean cruise (it's complimentary), here are some important things to know.

Ships offering ice skating

Select Royal Caribbean ships offer ice skating, so be sure you are booked on one of these ships in order to enjoy it

• Voyager of the Seas
• Mariner of the Seas
• Adventure of the Seas
• Navigator of the Seas
• Explorer of the Seas
• Freedom of the Seas
• Liberty of the Seas
• Independence of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Allure of the Seas
• Harmony of the Seas
• Sympohony of the Seas

Long pants are required to skate

Regardless of how good or bad you are at ice skating, all guests must wear long pants to skate.

Be sure to pack accordingly, especially during summer months when you may not be thinking about packing pants.

You also should pack a pair of socks to wear with the skates.

Helmets are provided for you

Royal Caribbean requires all ice skaters to wear a helmet while skating.

This is for your safety because with ice skating, you have to not only worry about what you are doing but what others are doing as well.

Falls happen a lot during the course of an ice skating session, so there is no excuse for not being safe.

Have you ice skated on a Royal Caribbean cruise before? Tell us about it in the comments!

Royal Caribbean Blog contributor Michael Poole is on Majesty of the Seas this week.

Good Morning from Royal Caribbean’s beautiful private island called Coco Cay.  This is one of my favorite places to visit and has been for years. 

I wanted to get off as early as I could to take some pictures of the island before other guests were around.  I’d also recommend getting off early to just explore before it gets crowded. 

One thing that’s different about Coco Cay is you don’t actually dock at the island, because there is no pier.  In fact, you take a tender boat over to the island, which can me less than enjoyable at times if there are lines. 

However, when you go down early there were no lines and I enjoyed the short ride over to Coco Cay.  Also a great time to take pictures of the ship, so take your camera. 

Once I stepped onto the island I saw a table selling coolers/buckets of beer for $30 and buckets of water for $20. 

They did have a new all blue cooler with the Royal Caribbean logo on the bag, I wanted one but since I had the drink package it’s not worth it for me. 

Now it was time to explore the island and head over to barefoot beach.  Years ago you could sit on Barefoot Beach and be the only one there, now more people have discovered it.  If you still want to check it out you just go down to the shoreline and walk right, you can’t miss it. 

They also have hammocks near by to take an afternoon nap, now that’s what I call paradise. 

After exploring a bit I decided it was time to grab some of their island BBQ lunch.  They were serving hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, and bbq chicken. 

I’m going to try to be as honest as I can about the meal, well I didn’t like it.  I’m sure if I got a burger you can’t really go wrong there or even a hotdog.  I took a couple of bites and just threw it out, I’m not a picky eater at all, but I decided I’d eat back on board. 

They did have some great looking pasta salads and fruit, just didn’t try any to give feedback on. 

Now that it’s in the afternoon hours I decided to head back to the ship and have lunch at Johnny Rockets. 

This restaurant has a cover charge of $6.95 per person and includes their tips in the cover charge.  I asked them about the price; because that’s a dollar more than I’ve seen on other ships and they said it’s been that price for a while on Majesty of the Seas. 

This surprises me because every time I saw the restaurant it was always empty. 

I enjoyed the smoked house burger that comes as a double but I just asked them to make it as a single. 

They also brought out endless French fries and onion rings; I had to tell them no more!

I also enjoyed the worlds famous apple pie with ice cream, this is a must have if you eat here trust me. 

After all the sun and food it was naptime for me. 

Evening Events

Tonight, I decided to explore some other things around the ship instead of going to the Viking lounge for the Diamond event. 

They had some really fun music in the centrum playing Bob Marley theme songs.  Sadly, there is really nowhere to sit and enjoy the music like on the Vision and Radiance class. 

I also spent some time in the Schooner Bar listening to the piano bar and it was for a great evening.  Someone even requested him to sing Rocky Top, and being a Vol myself I got really excited and started to sing along.   

Dinner was in the main dining room again and we had a new couple sit with us, but they also didn’t know English, at this point we could only laugh. That’s okay the solo group was there and we all enjoyed the meal. 

I ordered the French onion soup, (I kept thinking about the one Chops Grille serves!) the roasted duck, which was so tender it just fell off the bone. 

After our meal the servers started singing and dancing around the dining room, always a fun for them and the guest. 

To close out my evening, I attended the Quest adult game show at 11:15.  Sad to report I didn’t play, the lounge was so packed and when I arrived it was standing room only at that point. 

So the key to playing is go a little early, but it’s almost just as fun to watch. 

If you are not familiar with the show, I recommend you go next cruise, just leave the kids in the room.  To keep it a surprise for those who have never been, we will just leave it at that. 

That wraps up my full day in Coco Cay and back on board, tomorrow we head to Key West, Florida!  

Live Blog Index

• Live blog introduction
• Day 1 -  Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - Nassau
• Day 3 - Coco Cay
• Day 4 - Key West