Our latest Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast has been released! Check out Episode 91 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast right now.

This week's topic

Royal Caribbean offers so much onboard entertainment and one of the most popular ones is the casino.  Slots, blackjack, roulette, poker and more are available on all Royal Caribbean ships to try your luck.

In this episode, Matt talks about what is offered in the casinos, the kind of experiences you can find as well as a look at Royal Caribbean's high roller club.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 91. 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 made headlines when it announced its next Oasis-class cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, would have water slides and now it looks like sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas will also get them.

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley told TTG that water slides were also likely to be fitted on Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Michael Bayely said, “I’d like to bring water slides to the Oasis-class - on Allure and Oasis as well, all four ships [a fourth ship is due for delivery in 2018].”

There's also the possibility that water slides could be added to the Quantum-class as well, “We haven’t asked the question with our design team yet about how we would put them onboard, but if we could then we would.”

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is an impressive cruise ship and today, we have a great statistical look at Anthem of the Seas with this fun video. Enjoy!

Royal Caribbean has cancelled this week's Majesty of the Seas cruise due to an oil leak.

Cruise Critic is reporting Majesty of the Seas will have to undergo an unplanned dry dock to, "resolve an issue that is causing a small amount of bio-friendly oil to leak."

Majesty of the Seas will head to Freeport, Bahamas to have the repair work done.

According to Cruise Critic, passengers on the cancelled sailing will get a full refund and a certificate for a future cruise worth 100% of their cruise fare for the cancelled cruise.

There is no word yet how long the repairs will take.

Royal Caribbean is launching a new TV commercial with music from "We Will Rock You," the Queen musical now playing onboard Anthem of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean senior vice president of sales Vicki Freed describes the new commercial as, "It's kind of hip and edgy, and appeals both to Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers, and even millennials are attracted to it."

Royal Caribbean is working on a new inclusive amenity program for passengers that book a suite aboard select Royal Caribbean ships.

Speaking at cruise3sixty, the conference sponsored by Cruise Lines International Association, Royal Caribbean senior vice president of sales Vicki Freed made the announcement that would expand suite-only perks beyond the exclusive restaurant, Coastal Kitchen, offered on several ships.

"We really want to make it a wow," Freed said. "The announcement should come this fall to roll out in 2016."

"It will include private areas just for suite guests and a more inclusive vacation experience," she said, declining to reveal more at this time.

But she noted that Royal Caribbean ships have many more suites than people might realize.

"We have more suites on our ships than any one all-suite ship has," she said. "People would not normally think of Royal Caribbean as being top-heavy with suites, but Oasis and Allure of the Seas have 260 suites in six categories."

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is packed with new innovations, entertainment and more technology than you can throw a stick at, but we spotted something pretty darn cool to look for onboard too: a "stowaway" piano player.

The idea is there is a piano player with a far-out piano that will move around the ship and perform for guests but encouraging guests to not report him.  

The piano is no ordinary piano.  It has hidden compartments and functions and can dispense various things, such as lollipops for kids or appear to overheat because of "intense" piano playing.

This neat form of street theater will appear around the ship at different times during the cruise.

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Entertainment, Nick Weir, came up with the concept for the "stowaway piano player" and it's yet another example of unique entertainment you can only find on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Do you want to find the stowaway piano player? Let us know be leaving a comment!

This week's podcast episode is ready to go, as we present episode 90 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for your downloading pleasure.

This week, Matt looks at the top 5 things to do aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.  This ship changed the definition of what a cruise ship can offer and Matt has sifted through everything onboard to find the top 5 experiences he enjoys the most.

There's also lots of reader emails to share this week about everything Royal Caribbean.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 90. 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!

Royal Caribbean hosted a spectacular naming ceremony onboard the world’s most innovative ship, Anthem of the Seas led by Godmother Emma Wilby. Wilby is a British travel agent who was selected for the honor in a singing competition for travel agents.

During its first quarter financial results call yesterday with analysts, Royal Caribbean announced it was doing away with the last-minute cruise discounts on cruises more than two to four nights in length.

The definition of last minute cruises are cruises that might be 10, 20 or 30 days from the sailing date.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain called the long-held practice “disruptive” to loyal customers and travel agents during a conference call on first-quarter earnings.

“We think that getting our customers out of this used-car salesman kind of mentality will be overall good for the brand, good for their experience,” Fain said. 

Fain did concede the new strategy could have a negative impact in the short term because guests who would have been driven by late discounts would not have incentive to book. 

“Obviously, the reason that we have been doing last-minute discounts is because the ship wouldn’t otherwise be absolutely full, and so while the number is small, we’ve used it to top up,” he said. “There’s less topping up, so you don’t get the revenue from those last passengers. It may take a little while for travel agents and consumers to understand just how serious we are about this.”

The news is not a shock, considering Royal Caribbean has indicated a number of times over the last year that they aim to eliminate last minute cruise discounts.