Just how impressive a spectacle is Royal Caribbean's newest Oasis class ship, Harmony of the Seas? There's a new visual means of understanding how big she is with this new infographic!
In anticipation of Harmony of the Seas' arrival in Europe in May 2016, Royal Caribbean compared Harmomy of the Seas to well known European landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa and Big Ben.
Royal Caribbean will offer a brand new aquatic adventure park on its third Oasis class cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.
Harmony of the Seas will be the first ship to feature Splashaway Bay interactive aqua park for kids.
Royal Caribbean describes Splashaway Bay as, "a vibrant waterscape for kids and toddlers with sea creature water cannons, winding slides, a gigantic drench bucket and a multi-platform jungle-gym to keep everyone entertained for hours."
We first posted photos of Splashaway Bay last week and today we have more confirmation about what guests can expect for this special area.
In addition, Royal Caribbean reiterated its three new water slides known as The Perfect Storm, as well as The Ultimate Abyss slide that features a 100 foot plunge.
Ultimate Abyss is a 10 story slide that begins in the Pool and Sports Zone at the aft of the ship down to the Boardwalk neighborhood below.
The Perfect storm slides of Cyclone, Typhoon and Supercell will offer guests even more thrills, with Supercell featuring a champagne bowl swirling guests around as they descend into their approach towards a big splash finale.
Harmony of the Seas will debut in May 2016 for her inaugural summer season in Europe before heading to her homeport of Port Everglades, Florida in November 2016 to begin offering seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings.
A Royal Caribbean cruise is a fantastic family vacation, even if your family consists of babies or toddlers.
Assuming your infant is old enough legally to cruise (6 months old from North America, 12 months for international and repositioning cruises), taking your toddlers on a Royal Caribbean cruise is a great idea.
Despite some folks advocating to. "wait for your kids to be old enough to remember the cruise", there are many good reasons to take a little one on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
A parent's best friend is the Royal Babies & Tots Nursery, which is a facility created just for children up to 36 months old.
The nursery allows parents to drop their infants and toddlers off in a supervised environment, where the kids can watch TV, play with other children, explore and nap.
The nursery will offer parents a drop-off option in the daytime and evening, while always maintaining an optimum staff-to-child ratio.
For a modest fee per hour ($8 at the time of this blog post), parents can reserve time for their kids here to give parents some time alone to enjoy what Royal Caribbean offers or explore a port.
The nursery staff are trained child care professionals and they will make sure your child is taken care of in the time they are there. Parents also get a special mobile phone to use on the ship in case the nursery needs to call them or if the parents want to call and check in on things.
The Royal Babies & Tots Nursery is available on select Royal Caribbean ships
If you are looking for more personalized child care or perhaps are sailing on a Royal Caribbean ship that does not have a nursery, then the in-room babysitting program is for you.
The program is simple, go to Guest Services during your cruise and ask about availability for a babysitter. Guest Services will ask various qualified crew members if they are available to babysit and if there is a match, the crew member will meet you at your stateroom to watch the kids.
Royal Caribbean charges $19 per hour (at the time of this blog post) to watch children in a stateroom and what is great about in-room babysitting is it allows the kids to remain in their comfort zone and sleep or nap in their own beds.
Just like the nursery, in-room babysitting allows parents time to enjoy dinner, a show or a night out on the ship alone.
Any parent knows a great deal of the bulk with traveling anywhere with a toddler is all the supplies you need. Diapers, baby food and wipes are just a few of the things you will typically need when you travel.
Royal Caribbean offers parents the Babies 2 Go! program, where parents can pre-purchase Huggies diapers, wipes and cream, and Gerber organic baby food that will be delivered straight to your stateroom when you arrive on the cruise and even during your cruise.
This gives parents piece of mind for lessening the amount of stuff to pack, especially if you are flying to your cruise port and are limited by how much you can pack due to airline restrictions.
You can purchase the packages by calling (800) 722-5443 in the U.S. or Canada.
On select Royal Caribbean ships, guests will find a special pool just for little ones that are still wearing diapers.
The baby pool is an ankle deep pool, where infants and toddlers can crawl around and splash to their heart's content.
Parents can sit on the pool's edge or with their child in the pool as the kids enjoy cooling off, just like the big kids.
If you ask me, the best reason to bring your baby on a Royal Caribbean cruise is for the memories you will make. Just because they are young does not mean they cannot have a great time onboard the ship or in the ports of call you will visit.
The portrait sessions in the evening are among the best opportunities to get professional photos of your kids dressed up. Moreover, these portrait sessions can give you momentos from an early age that you will look back on fondly for many years.
In addition, there are intangible benefits to bringing a baby with you on a Royal Caribbean cruise, such as meeting their favorite DreamWorks characters, or their first visit to the beach and ocean. Perhaps it's a ride on the carousel or enjoying the parade on the Royal Promenade.
Your child may not remember every moment of the cruise, but bringing them on a Royal Caribbean cruise is a positive experience for families and one of the best ways to spend together on a vacation.
Have you brought a young one on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Share your experience in the comments!
Royal Caribbean has signed a multi-million dollar marketing deal with the Singapore Tourism Board and Changi Airport Group to promote cruises from Singapore.
The new deal runs between 2015 and 2018 and is expected to attract over 170,000 foreign visitors to Singapore to take a Royal Caribbean cruise, which should constitute growth of over 50 percent.
Royal Caribbean will be increasing the number of cruises from Singapore during this same period, to over 40 a year. Mariner of the Seas is currently offering cruises from Singapore at a pace of about 30 cruises per year.
Mariner of the Seas' next Singapore season which will be the largest ever starting from this October, will feature more long cruises of seven to 15 nights, aimed at attracting more overseas fly-cruise guests.
The new marketing campaign will consist of research studies and channel development activities in markets around the world, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Europe and North America.
Royal Caribbean managing director for Singapore and Southeast Asia, Sean Treacy, commented on the deal, "Having deployed ships here regularly for the last seven years, Royal Caribbean now looks forward to its next phase of significant growth in Singapore. Our three-year deployment plan is our strongest commitment ever to this market and we see great potential in Singapore as a source market and regional cruise hub. We highly appreciate this collaboration which will be a tremendous support for our business goals in Singapore and Southeast Asia, as well as the strong efforts of the Singapore Government for being so proactive in driving the cruise business in the country."
Providing a link between Royal Caribbean International, Singapore and its regional neighbors is Changi Airport’s strong connectivity to 320 cities worldwide, along with some 6,700 weekly flights, giving Singapore a strategic advantage to effectively tap fly-cruise traffic from across the globe and serve as a cruise hub for Asia.
Sit back and catch up on this week's Royal Caribbean news. We've gone through and hand-picked some fun articles for you to take a look at in case you missed any of it.
Royal Caribbean rolled out its new suite program called Royal Suite Class, where guests who stay in suite staterooms will receive a whole slew of new benefits.
Royal Suite Class is an ambitious new program that offers three tiers of service to suite guests and fills a void in Royal Caribbean's offerings that previously overlooked cruisers willing to pay a lot for unmatched service.
Guests may begin making reservations for the new Royal Suite Class starting on September 8, 2015, with sailings beginning May 2016.
The program will be available on Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas.
During the past week, we featured new blog posts just for folks that are new to cruising or new to cruising with Royal Caribbean.
We love to share why cruising is so much fun and help those new to Royal Caribbean understand the basics so their first cruise can be a big success.
Here's what we covered this week...
This week, Matt talks about his favorite spots on a Royal Caribbean cruise to enjoy live music.
In this podcast episode, Matt shares why he loves live music on a Royal Caribbean cruise so much and then lists his top 5 live music experiences.
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.
This Island Life writes about their cruise on Quantum of the Seas.
Cruise News says Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines are monitoring the situation in Tianjin, China.
Two sections of Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas were floated out earlier today at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and we have a photos of what will eventually be part of the third Quantum class cruise ship.
Photographer Björn Haß took these photos as the blocks were floated out of the construction building to make way for a new Norwegian Cruise Line ship.
All photos by Björn Haß
Thanks to Dr. Kris Leppien-Christensen for providing this Cruise Compass.
Royal Caribbean's third Quantum class cruise ship is under construction and earlier today we got a view of two of its "mega blocks" floated out of the shipyard.
Photo by Björn Haß
Photographer Björn Haß took this wonderful photo of the two blocks at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany as the blocks were floated out to make way for the Norwegian Escape to be floated out.
Once the Norwegian ship is out of the building hall, these two mega blocks will be brought back into the hall for further construction.
Ovation of the Seas is scheduled to be delivered in April 2016.
As we noted yesterday, today begins Royal Caribbean's new Free Shore Excursion Weekend Sale, where for three days only, guests that book 5-night or longer sailings will receive up to $150 credit toward shore excursions.
To qualify for this promotion, you must purchase any sailing 5 nights or longer, departing on or after September 14, 2015, excluding China departures and Ovation of the Seas sailings departing between December 15, 2016 and January 23, 2017.
Royal Caribbean will provide a shore excursion credit up to $150 per stateroom
Shore excursion costs exceeding the onboard credit amount are the guest’s responsibility. Onboard credit is applicable only to shore excursions purchased onboard the ship; Onboard credit is not applicable to shore excursions purchased prior to cruise departure nor to any other charges.
Cruise must be booked Aug. 14-16, 2015.
Shore Excursion offer is combinable with standard/full fare rates, restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO) and NextCruise 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 open to residents of the United States or Canada.
Royal Caribbean Blog writer Michael Poole is back today to give you a look at what a day at CocoCay looks and feels like!
Chances are you have heard a lot about Royal Caribbean’s private island Labadee, but Royal Caribbean's other private destination is called CocoCay.
Sure they have many similar features about them and quite a few differences, but I’m going to refer you back to Royal Caribbean Blog podcast episode 73 for that discussion. Today, I’m going to discuss what a day in CocoCay is like and what a first timer can expect while spending a day in paradise.
The only real downfall of CocoCay is the tender ride over to the island. Due to the depth in the water the ships must anchor a few hundred yards out and a small tender boats run back and forth.
These tender boats are owned and operated by Royal Caribbean and there is no charge for the short ride over. One of the biggest complaints of the tendering is the lines can back up during peak hours. The peak hours are when you first arrive and generally an hour before you leave.
Once you get on the tender boat you will be able to capture some great views of the ship and island, so get that camera out!
As you are pulling up to the island you will notice some cabanas to the left facing the anchored cruise ship. These are available to rent for $250, generally only open to suite guests and then any remaining cabanas are open to everyone else.
Having never rented on myself, I can’t provide a lot of feedback on them, but in CocoCay you don’t have any access to water in the Cabana area.
Now that you have arrived in CocoCay, the first thing you must be thinking is where do I go?
Sure you have a few options, but most people tend to walk to the left where you will find the first beach area. This is going to be the most crowed area in CocoCay, but there are a lot of beach chairs.
If laying in the sun is not something you enjoy they have a hundreds of shaded hammocks around the island, which is truly paradise.
My favorite place to explore in CocoCay is a beach called, Barefoot beach. I always tell my friends when we arrive you have to take your shoes off!
This beach is going to be the longest walk, but the most secluded from others. The best way I can describe getting there is walk to the shore line, and keep walking right you will run into it within 10-15 minutes. I will note there are no bars or restrooms around you, but not a deal breaker for me.
If you happen to bring the kids with you they have a large aqua park available to reserve. The cost for one hour of playtime is $22 and it’s a blast, even for the adults!
I must admit I went out to play with my younger sister last month and really enjoyed it, but it’s some workout. I would suggest you reserve online prior to the cruise or once on board, they were sold out all day, while we were in CocoCay.
Some other options you can find on the island are sea doo rental, kayaking, and parasailing, though many of these are for the adults.
CocoCay offers a complementary buffet style lunch on the island at 11:00am. Some of the items you can find here are: baked bbq chicken, ribs, hamburgers, fruit, baked-beans and mac-n-cheese.
Is this going to be the best meal you have all week, not a chance, but it can be fun to eat on the island.
Now that you have lunch down you must try their signature cocktail on the island, it’s called the Coco Loco. It’s a frozen island drink and I warn you, chances are you are going to want more than just one.
If you have the premium or ultimate drink package these are included, otherwise they are $12 each.
Generally after lunch you can find me napping somewhere around the island, but that’s why I love it so much there it’s simply paradise.
My favorite place to relax in the afternoon is an area covered in hammocks. Remember when we first arrive in CocoCay I mentioned everyone goes to the left, however if you turn to the right that’s where you will find hammocks everywhere.
There is actually a small bridge and once you walk over it you will see all the hammocks. I relaxed here last time and actually spotted a few iguanas.
That wraps up our day in Royal Caribbean’s private island of CocoCay. Have you ever visited CocoCay before? What did you enjoy doing while you were there?