Royal Caribbean announced today a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to bring free Wi-Fi access to underground subway platforms in Manhattan and Queens, New York.

The new partnership is part of an advertising intitiative by Royal Caribbean to bring attention to the brand new cruise ship coming to the New York City area, Quantum of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean is planning ads on billboards, screens and digital displays across the city.

The free Wi-Fi is part of the advertising deal because Royal Caribbean will be introducing super fast high speed internet aboard Quantum of the Seas.

This is not the first time Royal Caribbean has advertised heavily with the MTA. In February 2012, Royal Caribbean transformed select MTA subway cars into cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean released a new Dynamic Dining Q&A document and one bit of news to come out of is the fate of traditional dining on Freedom of the Seas.

The document reads:

As leaders in innovation, Royal Caribbean International is reimagining dining at sea with the launch of Dynamic Dining aboard the Quantum class of ships. This revolutionary program also will be introduced to the Oasis Class, the world’s largest and most innovative class of cruise ships, during their upcoming scheduled dry docks. Dynamic Dining is a strategic initiative for Royal Caribbean and based on the positive response from our guests, it is our intention to implement this program across as many of our ships as possible, as part of our Royal Advantage program — our ongoing commitment to offer the best experience in the industry to our guests. At this time, there are no plans to implement Dynamic Dining on Freedom of the Seas during her upcoming dry dock due to certain limitations including time restrictions. We will continue to communicate any implementation of Dynamic Dining across the rest of the Royal Caribbean fleet as those decisions are made.

Royal Caribbean has scheduled Freedom of the Seas for a drydock refurbishment in January 2015 and there was speculation that perhaps Freedom of the Seas would be getting Dynamic Dining just like Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas debuts and we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about this amazing ship. Check into the blog every day for something new to read about Quantum of the Seas.

Installing Quantum of the Seas' North Star

We've got a brand new video to show off all about what it took to install the North Star on Quantum of the Seas.

The video focuses on the engineering process of constructing such an amazing piece of equipment onboard Quantum of the Seas as she gets ready to make her world debut.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, is engaged in sea trials, but will be returning to Hamburg, Germany on October 19 for a final inspection.

Before the cruise ship can be handed off to Royal Caribbean, ship builder Meyer Werft will conduct a final inspection. At this time, changes to the emission control system and final adjustments to the bow thrursters.  

Meyer Werft is expecting to deliver Quantum of the Seas to Royal Caribbean on October 25, 2014.

Meyer Werft also expects to deliver sister ships Anthem of the Seas and Ovation fo the Seas in the spring of 2015 and 2016, repsectively.

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

Episode 63 is available for downloading which has a look at the internet options while on your Royal Caribbean cruise.

How does a European Royal Caribbean cruise differ from a North American cruise?  We seek to answer this question on this week's podcast where Matt invites a podcast listener with experience with both kinds of cruises to discuss the differences and similarities.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 63. 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!

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas debuts and we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about this amazing cruise ship. Check back every day for something new!

Spa Junior Suite

How can Royal Caribbean make a junior suite a better experience than it already is? By adding a jacuzzi to it!

On Quantum of the Seas, there's a brand new category of stateroom called the Spa Junior Suite with Balcony.  This new stateroom category has never before been offered on a Royal Caribbean ship.

The Spa Junior Suite comes in at 267 square feet and offers a large, spa-inspired split bath with soaking tub.  There's also a shower with frosted glass wall that allows natural light from living area.

You will find the toilet and second sink in a seperate half bath as well.

For those that want to really relax in their stateroom without worrying about getting a spot in the jacuzzi's up on the pool deck, this is the way to enjoy your junior suite.

Thus far, we do not have any photos or renderings of what this new stateroom will offer but it just sounds like a very intriguing category of stateroom to try!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

Hurricane Gonzalo has forced Royal Caribbean to change the itinerary of the largest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas.

Allure of the Seas will modify its itinerary for its western Caribbean sailing.  She will now visit Falmouth, Jamaica on October 15 and Cozumel on October 17.

The storm has already forced Royal Caribbean to change the itinerary of Jewel of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas.

Forecasters expect the hurricane to strengthen from its current Category 1 status and move toward Bermuda later this week.