Taking your first Royal Caribbean cruise is such an exciting opportunity and naturally, there are plenty of questions and concerns first timer cruisers may have.

One of the best resources for planning a Royal Caribbean cruise is a knowledgeable travel agent, who can guide you through the process and not just get you a low rate for your cruise, but also offer advice and assistance in making the planning part of your cruise super simple.

We asked a few travel agents what their advice would be for someone that is going to taking their first Royal Caribbean cruise.

Jason Poole of Cruise Planners: "Book early. The days of last minute deals are quickly coming to an end. Don't assume the price on the website is the price you will pay. Travel agents have access to special rates for their clients."

Stephanie Miller of MEI Travel: "Each sailing can be different due to the ship, itinerary, activities, ports visited and time of year. Be sure to ask an agent or educate yourself as to which sailing is best for you! Once you have the right expectations you can sit back and just enjoy."

Missy Geary Bonnice of Storybook Destinations: "Best tip-use an agent. Not only do they have knowledge of each ship (and with Royal Caribbean, there is a lot to know!), but they can also make sure you're getting the best deal possible, and it won't cost you anything! But if we are talking an onboard tip, I would say not to plan too strict of an itinerary. There is so much going on each day, just go with the flow and enjoy!"

Christy Pudyk of Vacations by Christy: "Read the Cruise Compass each night- it will be delivered in your cabin each night. Most things in it do not have an additional charge- it will be indicated if there is a charge. And you can't possibly do everything offered. Take the pictures with the photographers. They don't charge for them unless you want them! Take advantage and get family shots."

Michelle Cunningham of MEI Travel: "Take photos on your smart phone of the following things: Your passport your drivers license kids birth certificates. Line up and take a picture of all medicine that you're on and then tell your love ones that you've done that in case they need it

What tips would you offer to a first time Royal Caribbean cruiser? Share them in the comments!

Royal Caribbean moved one step closer to making Miami its home base for its cruise ships after plans for a new PortMiami cruise terminal got an early approval.

The Miami Herald reports the proposed plan was "embraced" by county commissioners because it means a reversal of the trend Royal Caribbean has had of sending its biggest and best cruise ships to nearby Fort Lauderdale.

Royal Caribbean COO Adam Goldstein spoke to county commissioners on Wednesday, "It’s not that we’re leaving Port Everglades.  But the majority of our business will now shift here to PortMiami for the foreseeable future."

Royal Caribbean's proposed plan will result in a $100+ million cruise terminal.  Port officials estimate that the new berth and terminal will generate about $8 million in new rent to the county, and boost overall cruise traffic by 20 percent with an additional 1 million passengers a year. 

Royal Caribbean is offering a bonus Summer Splash Sale, where guests can get bonus onboard credit on top of the current BOGO Plus deal.

Guests that make new bookings between September 17-21, 2015 for 6-9 night Caribbean, Europe and Alaska sailings departing May 1 – Sept 30, 2016 will receive $100 per stateroom onboard credit.

Plus, Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas sailings qualify for an additional $100 per stateroom onboard credit.

Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates, restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Upgrade offers), and Next Cruise offers. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discounts, and Shareholder benefits.

Offer open to residents of the United States and Canada.

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

Episode 111 is available for downloading, where we have a preview of what guests can expect aboard Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas.

Matt and Don talk about Don's recent cruise on Adventure of the Seas and go over some of the changes to the ship, as well as discussing some of the popular things to do aboard.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 111. 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 announced today that Anthem of the Seas will offer the DreamWorks Experience, which offers family friendly activities and entertainment centered around famous characters from the DreamWorks catalog of films.

Guests on Anthem of the Seas can enjoy events and activities based on DreamWorks Animation's popular feature-film characters, including

• DreamWorks Character breakfast in the main dining room
• ‘meet and greet’ experiences throughout the day
• activities, games and adventures rooted in the popular DreamWorks Animation films at Adventue Ocean.
• guests can watch the latest DreamWorks Animation films at the ship’s movie theater or on a dedicated DreamWorks TV channel in their stateroom.

"Anthem of the Seas already offers an unprecedented line-up of entertainment activities on board for our guests," said Mark Tamis, senior vice president, hotel operations, Royal Caribbean International. “With the addition of the DreamWorks Experience guests of all ages will be even more wowed with everything Anthem has to offer.”

The DreamWorks Experience will begin being offered on Anthem of the Seas when she begins sailing from her homeport of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, NJ.

We love to broadcast live on YouTube and on one recent broadcast, we received a question about what is the best advice for someone going on their first 7-night cruise.

It got us thinking, because there is so much that goes into a Royal Caribbean cruise that we wanted to pick out the really important tips to share for someone about to take their first 7-night cruise.

Read the Cruise Compass

Each evening, your stateroom attendant will deliver to your stateroom the Cruise Compass, which is a daily guide to the news, events and activities that will be occuring on your ship the next day.

Royal Caribbean packs a lot of things to do into each day and you are best served by reading it each evening to be aware of what is happening onboard. 

The Cruise Compass is more than just knowing what time bingo is at.  It offers you insight into tomorrow's weather, which bars will have drink specials, shore excursion information and more.

Some events are not repeated while other activities can change daily, so it is in your best interest to track what is happening so you do not miss any of it.

Pack for two formal nights

A typical Royal Caribbean 7-night cruise will feature two formal nights, so be sure to pack accordingly.

Usually, the first formal night will be on the second night, whereas the second formal night can vary between the fifth or sixth nights of your cruise.

What is formal night? Formal night is an evening where the dress code at the main dining room is more upscale.  For men, this means collared shirts with nice pants (tie and jacket optional) and for ladies, it is a nice cocktail dress, dress or something else similar.

TRUTH ABOUT DRESS CODES

Keep in mind that formal night dress attire only applies to the main dining room and no where else on the ship.  

If you prefer not to dress up for formal night, there are other dining options onboard that you can go to.

Explore the ship early

Your seven night Royal Caribbean cruise will be over before you know it, so be sure to explore the ship properly early so you do not miss out on any of it.

These ships are really big and that means there is a lot to see and do onboard.  Do yourself a favor and explore the ship as much as you can in the first day or two of the cruise so you can easily navigate the ship as well as learn about what is offered onboard.

Embarkation day is always the best time for exploring your ship, so take advantage of your first day onboard by arriving to the ship early (before noon) and just walk around.

You will discover bars, restaurants, public spaces, cinemas and more that you will likely want to stop by later on in the cruise.

Most Royal Caribbean ships now offer interactive wayfinders, that allow you to navigate your way around the ship quite easily. Take advantage of them on each deck to more easily acclimate yourself to the ship.

Bonus tip: Speaking of early, be sure to arrive to your ship early on embarkation day.  Between 10am and 11am is a great time to beat the crowds and start your vacation sooner!

See the shows

Something Royal Caribbean really excels at is entertainment and on a 7-night cruise, there are lots of great shows to take in.

Ice skating shows, Broadway shows, featured productions, comedians and more are available to see and they are all included in your cruise fare.

Do yourself a favor and see the shows, even if you just go for a little bit to get a taste of what to expect.  They really are great spectacles and each show offers a little something different.

Onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise, you will find singing and dancing, comedians, magicians, acrobats and more.  

Royal Caribbean really does a great job with putting these shows together and the production values and acting are top notch in all of the shows.

Sign the kids up for Adventure Ocean on embarkation day

If you have children, be sure to stop by Adventure Ocean and sign them up for the complimentary kids program Royal Caribbean offers.

The Adventure Ocean program is designed to let kids explore, play and have fun and it really is a fun way to spend a week at sea.  

Kids will love it because it's a chance to meet and play with other kids their age and parents will enjoy the time to themselves.

If you wait until day two or later, everyone else will already be situated and your child may feel like a wallflower, especially if they are shy.

Adventure Ocean is included in your cruise fare, so stop by the Adventure Ocean room on embarkation day to check the facility out as well as get any questions answered.

Understand how unlimited beverage packages work

Royal Caribbean's unlimited alcohol and beverage packages have never been more popular and they can be a great way to lock in a single price for the duration of your cruise.

The key thing to remember about a 7-night cruise is that you want to make sure you will be able to leverage these drink packages on all 7-nights, otherwise the package may not make financial sense.

On 4-night cruises, the drink package value can be easily gotten but 7-nights is a longer time onboard and "drink fatigue" can set in.

Between having limited time to drink onboard during port days and the daily need to drink to "get your money's worth", we have talked to plenty of guests who would have been better off financially after a 7-night cruise by buying their drinks a la carte.

There is no simple answer for everyone, but our advice is to consider that you will be on your ship for 7-nights and whether you want to be drinking 5-6 drinks per day, every day.

Learn more

There is much more you can learn about a 7-night Royal Caribbean cruise and here are some additional resources to help you.

• All about the Cruise Compass
• What time to board your Royal Caribbean cruise
• Should you buy the unlimited alcohol packages?

Royal Caribbean provides a world-class entertainment experience at sea featuring Tony-award winning Broadway shows. With favorites like Chicago: The Musical, Hairspray and Mamma Mia Royal Caribbean productions continues to raise the bar in entertainment.

Royal Caribbean cruise ships provide an advanced level of health care options that you might not be aware of.

Royal Caribbean provided a look at the medical facilities onboard, that can handle minor issues like sunburn or sea sickness, but also heart attacks, severe hemorrhages, heart attacks and respiratory failure.

They vary in size and layout, but all the medical facilities on Royal Caribbean ships meet or exceed the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Health Care Guidelines for Cruise Ship Medical Facilities.

All Royal Caribbean ships carry defibrillators and electrocardiogram machines, as well as digital X-ray equipment.

New ventilators have been installed to handle a range of respiratory treatments, and complete formularies are stocked in the shipboard pharmacies.

Telemedicine enables doctors on board to consult with specialists on shore, as needed, over the Internet.

Since Royal Caribbean added Sabor Modern Mexican to a few of its cruise ships, guests have been loving this new specialty restaurant for everything it offers.

On your next visit to Sabor Modern Mexican, be sure to try these favorites, regardless of if it is your first visit or just first visit that day!

5. The dessert tray

Let us start with the last part of the meal, dessert!

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of a meal at Sabor is the amazing desserts they have.  

Royal Caribbean has a rich history of offering amazing desserts and the dessert cart at Sabor is one not to be missed.

Your table will be served a small sampling of each dessert, so everyone at your table can sample a little of everything. 

There are a lot of great choices but the churros and chocolate banana empanadas are slap-your-grandma good.  

4. Chips and fresh salsa

Fair warning, I am a self-admitted salsa fiend.

It seems like the stuff out of a jar you can get at home just does not cut it when you get "the real thing" and Sabor Modern Mexican definitely offers some fresh and tasty salsa.

The salsa you find at Sabor Modern Mexican is served at your table right when you are first seated, and it's some of the best salsa we have had outside of Mexico.

Tomatoes, cilantro, onion all combine to make some of the best dip for your chips we have run across (yet).

My recommendation is save some salsa (or ask for more) for your entrees and liberally drizzle your tacos, quesadillas and anything else you can put in your mouth with salsa for an even more amazing taste. 

3. Tequila flights

Anyone that really knows good tequila will tell you not all tequilas are made the same and the stuff you might remember from college or that trip to Senor Frogs is not quite the same as real top self tequila.

On the menu you will find two tequila flights to choose from: the vertical or horizontal flights.

Each flights offers a sampling of some great tequilas, including Don Julio Reposado, Sauza Hornitos Reposado and Corazón Reposado.

After sampling these tequila shots, I think you will find not only a smooth and enjoyable drink but also you will be in the right "frame of mind" for much of the evening!

2. Hand crafted margaritas

To compliment those tequilas, you have to try the hand crafted margaritas that can only be found at Sabor Modern Mexican.

There are usually two margaritas available on the menu that your waiter will make right in front of you.

You get the entertainment of having a cart full of margarita ingredients wheeled in front of your table and an explanation of what ingredients are being added to the concoction.

Of course, the pay off is enjoying these magnificent drinks that are a Sabor Modern Mexican exclusive.  

Salud, amor y pesetas. Y tiempo para gastarlas!

1. Hand crafted guacamole

Perhaps the pièce de résistance of Sabor Modern Mexican is the food they are best well known for, the hand crafted guacamole.

No meal at Sabor is complete without a waiter bringing a cart full of avocados, tomatoes, limes and more to your table to create some of the freshest guacamole you will ever eat.

Light and incredibly tasty with a slight kick to it, you can have the Sabor staff make the guacamole exactly to your liking.  Want extra tomatoes? No tomatoes? Really spicy? They can do it all for you.

In short, the guacamole at Sabor Modern Mexican is not to be missed and something we have dreams about well after your cruise.  It is the kind of food you will be thinking about well after your meal and the impetus for booking additional reservations!