Royal Caribbean has changed its onboard re-booking program, NextCruise, once again to offer the bonus on the cruise you are currently on instead of the future cruise.

Under the new terms of NextCruise, when you book a specific sailing while onboard a Royal Caribbean ship, the onboard credit amount you are entitled to will be added to your SeaPass account on the sailing you are on.  Under the old program, the bonus was applied to your onboard account when you took the upcoming cruise.

This change only affects cruises you book that have a specific sail date.  The open booking option will not change with this program.

The deposit will be nonrefundable and will be equal to the amount of onboard credit you get.

The amount of onboard credit you will receive is as follows:

• 5-7 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $50
  • Balcony/Junior Suite: $100
  • Grand Suite and above: $200
• 8-10 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $100
  • Balcony/Junior Suite: $150
  • Grand Suite and above: $300
• 11-14 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $150
  • Balcony/Junior Suite: $200
  • Grand Suite and above: $400
• 15 nights or longer cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $200
  • Balcony/Junior Suite: $250
  • Grand Suite and above: $500

Tip of the hat to Katina Bradley for alerting us to this news.

Hey everyone! Episode 85 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure.

This week, we're sharing the details about our cruise on Quantum of the Seas to the Caribbean that begins this weekend.  Let's look at why we picked this cruise, the cool things to do on Quantum of the Seas and our plans for each port of call.  

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 85. 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 is allowing its Crown and Anchor Society members the first chance to book their spot aboard Harmony of the Seas.

Harmony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's third Oasis-class cruise ship, will have her inaugural cruise in June 2016.  The ship combines features found on older Oasis-class cruise ships as well as some innovations first introduced on the Quantum-class of ships. In addition, there are water slides aboard the ship, which is a first for Royal Caribbean.

Those Crown and Anchor members interested in booking can call Royal Caribbean directly, consult a travel agent or book online.

The general public will be able to book their cruise on Harmony of the Seas starting on March 19.

Royal Caribbean revealed today the full deck plans for its third Oasis-class cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.

The deck plans list all of the onboard restaurants, bars, lounges and entertainment the ship will offer.

Harmony of the Seas will feature many restaurants from the Quantum-class of ships as well as the new water slides that will be on the ship.

You can view the full deck plans on Royal Caribbean's site.

Royal Caribbean and Florida International University (FIU) will unveil a 130,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art rehearsal and production studio on Friday and announce details of a new partnership that will include collaborative research and talent development.

The Royal@FIU World Stage Collaborative will include paid internships, custom curricula and behind-the-scenes access to Royal Caribbean’s experts and facilities.

Students will gain hands-on experience in cruise line operations, stage management, lighting, stage design, audio engineering and production. In addition, FIU faculty and staff will have access to Royal Caribbean marketing and sales data from its six cruise brands to conduct original research and present findings to Royal Caribbean.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 10:15 a.m. to noon Friday at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus.

Royal Caribbean has donated recovery money to the victims of the cyclone in the south Pacific that has devastated Vanatu.

Royal Caribbean donated AUD$100,000 to the Australian Red Cross.

Royal Caribbean Australia issued a statement on what the company is doing to help.

We are deeply saddened by the devastating situation in Vanuatu. Our thoughts and prayers are with the wonderful people of this country who have long given a very warm welcome to our ships. 
  
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will give AUD$100,000 to the Vanuatu cyclone relief efforts. We are seeking further information regarding how our friends and guests can also support the people of Vanuatu at this time. 
  
Communication remains difficult but we are working with our partners on the ground to ascertain the situation in Vanuatu. We want to ensure that any visits from our ships will help rather than burden the people of Vanuatu. 
  
All sailings will embark as scheduled from Australia and we will advise our guests of any itinerary changes to future cruises if they occur, in order to provide them with a safe and comfortable holiday but also support and help the people of Vanuatu in the best way possible. 
  
The relief donation is in addition to the recently announced partnership with the Vanuatu Government under which Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will invest AUD$3.8million in shipping infrastructure in Vanuatu. 

Royal Caribbean's donation follows fellow cruise line Carnival Cruise Line, who also donated money to aid the area.

Another week has come to an end and we've gone through and hand-picked some fun articles for you to take a look at in case you missed any of it.

The big Royal Caribbean news this week was Anthem of the Seas had her conveyance up the River Ems and is poised now to begin her sea trials.

Anthem of the Seas' conveyance was an impressive operation, requiring her to go backwards up a narrow river with the aid of tug boats at about 2-3 knotts.  It also produced some great photos and videos that we shared on the blog this week.

Anthem of the Seas is scheduled to be handed over to Royal Caribbean in mid-April.

Royal Caribbean News

• It looks like Royal Caribbean will send Ovation of the Seas to China when she debuts.
• Royal Caribbean announced its 2016 Europe and Alaska cruises.
• Royal Caribbean rolled out a new promotion, BOGO50.
• Harmony of the Seas will debut in Europe before coming to the United States.
• Harmony of the Seas bookings will be available on April 2nd.
• A tropical depression in the south Pacific altered two Royal Caribbean ship itineraries.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The eighty-fourth episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this we're talking about WOWbands.

In this episode, Matt looks at why these new silicone bracelets represent a big step forward for guests.  From convenience of use to the technology behind them, Matt shows why WOWbands help make everything onboard easier and what the future may hold for them.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Currents has a list of 8 reasons an interior stateroom can be perfect for any cruiser.

Travel Weekly reports Royal Caribbean will require passenger emails from now on.

CNN reviewed Quantum of the Seas and all she offers.

Could Royal Caribbean be sending its brand new cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, to China?  

A marketing document by Royal Caribbean UK's travel agent support website has posted a schedule of deployments coming for 2016 cruises and Ovation of the Seas is listed under the China cruises.

The document claims Ovation of the Seas will join Legend of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas and its sailings will go on sale in August.

If true, this will be another salvo by Royal Caribbean in its effort to dominate the emerging cruise market in China.

Ovation of the Seas is the third Quantum-class ship and is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2016.

Tip of the hat to cruiseboy305 for finding the news.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has indicated this document cited in the article is "an unfortunate mistake".  Furthermore, Royal Caribbean is still finalizing their deployments and we can expect an official answer in the next month's time.

Royal Caribbean released a new "vinfographic", where they take you through what goes into a conveyance for a ship like Anthem of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas just completed her conveyance to the North Sea and is now one step closer to launch.

Check out these photos Royal Caribbean provided of Anthem of the Seas' journey.