If you've been a reader of this blog for a while, you may know that my last trip to Johnny Rockets on Freedom of the Seas did not go so well.  So when my Navigator of the Seas cruise came around, I was quite content not stopping here if things didn't work out scheduling wise.

A few nights into the cruise, my wife and I were at the main dining room and I was enjoying my meal when I finished my entree and still felt a little hungry.  I then thought about what I wanted and for whatever reason, I started craving a burger.  

I mentioned this notion to my wife who also said she was in the mood for french fries.  So we decided to skip dessert (to the horror of our waiter) and took the elevator straight up to Johnny Rockets.  

I was hoping for a short wait and for the food here to finally redeem itself.

Atmosphere

Johnny Rockets across Royal Caribbean's fleet of cruise ships is pretty much the same look and feel.  Based on the restaurant chain on land, you'll find a vibe to the place, with lots of chrome and red leather.  

The seating is mostly booths, both inside the restaurant and outside.  It was still a little too breezy to eat outside so we opted to remain inside.  There are also stools at the bar that you can sit at, which if there is a wait, you can go right up to and seat yourself.

Johnny Rockets plays music from the 1950's and 1960's primarily and while there are jukeboxes at every booth to pick music from, none of the jukeboxes seemed to actually work.

As we walked into Johnny Rockets at around 9:30 or 10:00pm, there was no wait and just a few people eating.  We chose a booth inside and took a seat.

Eats

Everyone who eats at Johnny Rockets get a plate of french fries and onion rings along with dipping sauces.  You can get as much of this as you want.  Unlike other times, the fries and onion rings tasted freshly made.  No 99% breading, 1% onion in these rings.  And the fries did not taste like they had been under heat lamps all day.

For my wife, who was craving the fries, it hit the spot.  Even I enjoyed a few of these, especially the onion rings.

For our main courses, I wanted a burger but felt a little guilty having a burger after eating dinner so I decided I would order two items and just sample each.  That was the plan anyway.

I ordered the double burger and the chicken sandwich.  A couple of bites of both and I'd be satisfied.

To my delight, both sandwiches came out really, really good.  The burger meat was very moist and had a lot of flavor.  Without realizing it, I had polished off about three quarters of the burger before I decided my "sampling" was done.

The chicken sandwich was also really good and there was no tough, chewy parts of the chicken filet here.  Once more, I ate more of this than I had originally planned.

My wife went with the grilled cheese sandwich as she wanted something lighter than a burger to eat.

Grilled cheese is a pretty simple sandwich and my wife reported it tasted quite good.  The right amount of grilling without burning the bread and not too much cheese in the middle.

It was kind of a shock to me, but we walked away with a satisfying and really good meal at Johnny Rockets!

Overview

I was pleasantly surprised with my experience at Johnny Rockets on Navigator of the Seas.  Not only did it "hit the spot" for my craving, but it also restored my faith in Johnny Rockets on Royal Caribbean cruise ships being a good idea.

Perhaps the Johnny Rockets experience varies from ship to ship and maybe going in the evening improved our chances.  

I know what many of you are thinking, "Matt, how could you not have a milk shake?" and we were so full by the time we got our food that a milk shake was just too much.  And I never doubted the awesomeness of Johnny Rocket's milkshakes because even on my worst Johnny Rockets experiences, the milk shakes remained quite good.

I enjoyed my meal at Johnny Rockets and while I don't think it's somewhere I would go to have dinner, it is a great spot for lunch or late night snacking. Its hours of operation are much later than the main dining room or Windjammer.

We have a brand new Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast episode for everyone to enjoy today!

Episode 32 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available and this week we are looking at the most challenging aspects of planning a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Matt shares what he finds the most difficult aspect of planning a cruise and also reads what other Royal Caribbean Blog members thought their most difficult challenges were too.  Together, Matt offers advice and hints to overcome these obstacles.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 32.  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!

Resolve Marine Group provides state-of-the-art experiences for Royal Caribbean crews.

When Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas stops in for its revitalization, it will take place at Sembcorp Marine's Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.

Currently the shipyard expects Voyager of the Seas in for its work in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Kevin Douglas, Vice President of Technical Projects and Newbuild for Royal Caribbean said, "Sembawang Shipyard is a very technically competent and efficient shipyard, and, as such, is one of our preferred partners. We are very happy to work with them again as part of Royal Caribbean International's ongoing fleetwide revitalization. The shipyard will help introduce on Voyager of the Seas many of the innovative and most popular onboard amenities that debuted on the Oasis-class of ships, as well as brand new innovative concepts that will greatly elevate the experience for our guests."

This isn't the first Royal Caribbean ship to get work done here.  Sembawang Shipyard carried did the revitalization work on Rhapsody of the Seas in 2012 and the Legend of the Seas in 2013.

The revitalization work being done on Voyager of the Seas is part of a fleet-wide effort to upgrade all of its cruise ships to add features and amenities first found on its Oasis-class of ships.

So you're about to book a Royal Caribbean cruise and you get to the part where you need to decide which stateroom to book.  Suddenly, you have multiple options for each category of stateroom and you wonder, "what is the difference?".

Four basic categories

There are four basic stateroom categories on any Royal Caribbean cruise ship

• Inside staterooms
• Ocean View Staterooms
• Balcony Staterooms
• Suites

Sounds simple enough but within each of those basic categories are a number of sub-categories to further define what you are booking.  At its very basic level, not all staterooms in one these four basic categories are the same.

Stateroom differences

When you compare sub categories of staterooms, you will need to compare a few different aspects of the stateroom to see what is most important to you.

Square footage

Generally speaking, the most basic differential for any stateroom category to the next is how much square footage the room is.  Usually, the more space a stateroom has, the more expensive the stateroom is. 

When we are talking about square footage, we are also talking about balcony size.  For staterooms that have balconies (balcony and suite categories), the size of your balcony may be just as big a difference as how large the living space is.

Location

Just like real estate, where your stateroom is located can factor into a difference in category (and price).  

The general thought is everyone wants to be mid-ship and high up for the stability and view, respectively.  Being in the middle of the ship means everything is equidistant from you and it's easiest to get everywhere.

Of course, some staterooms may be right in the middle but have outside factors that make it less desirable.  This includes balconies with obstructed views or staterooms above or below restaurants or public areas (noise bleed). 

Capacity

How many people you want to put into one stateroom will also dictate a difference between the rooms.  

Family staterooms offer much more space and capacity than regular staterooms but at a higher total cost.  Suites offer even more space, at an even higher cost than family staterooms.

Amenities

What you get in your stateroom also factors into the different types of rooms to choose from.

Virtual balcony staterooms are a new category of inside staterooms, where you will get a virtual view of the ocean as opposed to other inside staterooms with no such add-on.

Suites differentiate themselves by offering more than one bathroom, Jacuzzi, separate rooms and more.

Royal Caribbean has selected Meru 802.11ac as its standard for wireless LAN (WLAN) connectivity on all new onboard deployments. 

Royal Caribbean had been using Meru 802.11ac since 2011 on some ships but will now make it its fleet-wide standard.

The new wireless internet technology helps Royal Caribbean saturate its cruise ships with a WiFi signal and has become an important revenue source for the cruise line.  For guests, it has meant an easier means of staying connected while at sea.

The Meru wireless LAN supports up to 8,000 passengers and up to 24,000 clients on a typical Royal Caribbean ship. Guest migration to 802.11ac clients will occur over time but those using 802.11n devices already see clear benefits, including faster data rates, when using the new 802.11ac networks. In its 802.11ac pilot on Navigator of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is seeing 20 percent higher throughput with 802.11n wireless clients.

Royal Caribbean director of IT operations, Gregory Martin, commented on the decision, "Our wireless environment is changing all the time, and Meru's MobileFLEX architecture gives us the high performance and reliability that we need to ensure guest satisfaction and staff productivity.  Deploying Wi-Fi onboard ships is difficult, due to the all-steel construction and closed spaces, but Meru worked very closely with us to ensure comprehensive coverage and to optimize performance of voice and video, the key drivers for our 802.11ac implementation."

I'm a proponent of "getting out there" and trying local foods when exploring the ports of call Royal Caribbean ships take you to.  To me, eating at a Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville or McDonalds while in a foreign port is a wasted opportunity.  So when I went to Cozumel last month while on Navigator of the Seas, I got a chance to go back to my absolute favorite restaurant and see if it holds up.  

Atmosphere

Located a few blocks from the main street of Cozumel, Comidas Caseras Tonita is a family run restaurant that serves up freshly made, authentic Mexican dishes.  

Part of what makes Comidas Caseras Tonita so appealing is just the look of the place.  Walking in, I feel like someone took their dining room and opened it up for the public to come by.  

We had eaten here back in 2011 while on Freedom of the Seas and fell in love.  I think reviewing a restaurant after having such a good experience makes it tougher for the restaurant to do well because expectations are that much higher.

Just like our last trip, none of the people that work at Tonita speak any English.  It's pretty easy, nonetheless, to order but then again we ordered everything off the menu with no special requests.  I suppose if you wanted them to not add salt or put the cheese on the side, you should Google the translation and memorize it prior to eating here.

The cooking is done in the rear of the restaurant with a mother/daughter team (at least, I think they are mother daughter.  Two women and one looks older than the other) that make everything as the order comes in.

Where you are seated is pretty basic, with plastic tables and chairs adorned with a basic tablecloth.  Tonita didn't bother investing in better furnture because, well, it's Mexico and this is pretty good. All around the restaurant are old posters and advertisements for cruise ships and cruise lines (mostly Carnival), reflecting Cozumel's role as a tourist hub.

Eats

Your menu comes in both Spanish and English, which helps in the ordering process since you can look at what you want in English and then refer to what the name of it is in Spanish by looking at the other side of the menu.

Tonita serves up a number of Mexican dishes, including breakfast.  There aren't any descriptions, so it's really up to you to guess as to what exactly the dish will be but I find that kind of fun.  I think most people know they are in the mood for chicken, shrimp or fish so they can order appropriately.

To start off with, we ordered a couple of sodas, which came in glass bottles.  Note that Diet Coke is called Coke Light in Mexico.

For appetizers, we ordered chips, guacamole and salsa.  If you order nothing else, please do yourself a favor and order the guacamole and salsa because they are the best guacamole and sals I've ever eaten and the gold standard I compare everything else to.

Like all the food at Tonita, the guacamole and salsa is made fresh after the order is placed. Nothing out of a can and nothing out of a fridge.  I joked with my wife I should have asked the staff to allow my wife to observe them making it so that she can remember how to do it at home.

A word on the freshness, I think they were out of tomatoes because nothing happened for about 10 minutes until another girl came into the restaurant and delivered a bag of tomatoes (among other food) and only then were the appetizers made.  Wow!

Not to be forgotten, the chips are also freshly made there.  No bagged chips here!

For our entrees, I ordered the fish Mexican style while my wife ordered the grilled chicken.  Because I had so fallen in love with the appetizers on our last visit, my memory of the entrees became somewhat fuzzy so I barely remembered how good anything was.

First up was my Mexican style chicken, which is essentially a grilled white fish cut up into strips and covered in a tomato cilantro blend, served with rice and beans.  

I have no clue what fish they used but it was tender and tasted great.  It didn't taste like fish with tomatoes, but rather something unique on its own (tomato fish?).  I ate every bite.

Remember how I keep mentioning the freshness of the fish?  The table behind us ordered a whole fish and the waitress brought out three uncooked and I presume recently caught fish for the man to choose from. 

My wife's chicken was equally impressive and while it didn't rewrite the book on grilled chicken, I really believe the freshness of the ingredients and the mild spices they used to cook the chicken gave it a little something else.

We also had fresh tortillas to eat our entrees with, which is a great way to enjoy the sides with the food (and I had saved a little salsa and guacamole for it too).

Overall

After my second visit to Comidas Caseras Tonita, I stand by my assertion that it is my favorite Mexican restaurant I have ever been to and the gold standard I hold all other Mexican food against.

The combination of atmosphere, fresh ingredients and euphoria of being on a cruise vacation all made this yet another great meal.  

Also noteworthy was the price because, if memory serves me correctly, I spent $20 for the entire meal, including gratuity.  That is a great deal.

If you are going to Cozumel on a cruise (or for any other reason) and want to have real Mexican food, this is the place to go.  

Location: Calle Rosado Salas 265 between avenidas 10 and 15.

Walking directions: Walk south from the plaza on avenida 5 Sur for 1 block, then turn left on calle Salas and walk east 1 1/2 block and the restaurant will be on your left.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas has wrapped up her first cruise season in Singapore.  It began in November and was part of the winter/spring cruise season and made stops at Shanghai on an 8-night cruise with calls at Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Hong Kong and Xiamen.

Mariner of the Seas' season included 29 sailings, which was comprised of 3, 4 and 5 night itineraries.  Highlights included the festive cruises for Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year with special entertainment and feasts, as well as theme cruises namely the world’s first all-champions Latin dance competition cruise in January and the Valentine’s Cruise.

Mariner of the Seas is headed to Shanghai for the summer and fall but will return to Singapore in November 2014, where she will offer 3 to 5 night cruises with Kuantan the newest port-of-call, on top of Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Langkawi and Phuket. 

Mariner of the Seas will also add more long scenic sailings of 7 nights to her repertoire of Southeast Asian itineraries, due to popular demand. These come with overnight stays at Phuket or Bangkok (Laem Chabang) as the highlights, which offer more time for guests to explore these popular 2 ports-of-call from day to night as well as the ship’s wide range of amenities and activities. Examples are the 7-Night Spice of Southeast Asia cruise to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang, Langkawi and Phuket (overnight) on January 19 and 26, 2015 and the 7-Night Thailand & Vietnam cruise to Bangkok (Laem Chabang) (overnight) and Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) on February 11. 

Hope you had a great week (maybe one week closer to your next Royal Caribbean cruise?) and you had a chance to keep up with what's new with Royal Caribbean this week. But if not, here's a roundup of this week's news.

The big Royal Caribbean news this week was the new promotion offering kids sail free on select Royal Caribbean cruises from May through December.

The deal boils down to the third and fourth person in any stateroom are free and it turns out they don't even need to be kids!  

In addition, Royal Caribbean is also offering 50 percent-reduced deposit per guest.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean could be adding an even bigger cruise ship to Port Canaveral
• Our list of the top 5 Royal Caribbean unlimited alcohol package drink values
• An in-depth look at Royal Caribbean's kids club for 3 to 5 year olds
• Our complete review of Izumi on Navigator of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean has come out against a new soccer stadium plan for Miami
• Our guest blogger Michael has been live blogging from Brilliance of the Seas this week

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The thirty-first episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and we're reviewing our recent cruise aboard Navigator of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt looks at everything there is to do onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise. It's an in-depth look at all the onboard activities Royal Caribbean offers, from bellyflop competitions to towel folding demonstrations to bingo.  On any given day there's a lot to do on any Royal Caribbean ship and these activities should definitely not be overlooked.

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 Radio has a listener review of their cruise on Oasis of the Seas.

In The Loop Travel has a review of their cruise on Navigator of the Seas.

Hi blog friends! I’m sorry for the delay but I was just having too much fun in Cozumel, Mexico.

Last night I had a great dinning experience in Chops Grill, which is a specialty restaurant with a cover charge of $30 per person. I had the not so traditional Caesar salad, along with the 10oz filet.

This has become one of my favorite venues over the years with Royal Caribbean, because the quality of the food is simply outstanding. But right when I thought it couldn’t get any better they bring out the crème brûlée, which I might add was on fire! What a great meal and if you are new to cruising or thinking about treating yourself, this is the treat.

Okay enough of talking about food, but I could just go on and on about it. Today was our day in Mexico and I pre-booked the beach day at Nachi-Cocom for $55 per person. This offers all the food and alcohol you can consume along with a beach chair and shade.

One of the unique things about this option is they only let 100 guests per day book this resort. I’ll also note the service is simply outstanding and they work to ensure you are satisfied. If you are seeking a quite day by the beach this is defiantly something to look into, and to me the cover charge is worth the peace and quiet. 

I also got pretty excited to see Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas in port with us today. She made us look so little docked next to her. I will say those Freedom class ships are something special.

Today we are on our final day at sea; gosh these days are flying by! No big plans for my sea day other than soaking up some sunrays. But I might add its one of my favorite events about cruising is the Quest. I’ll be sure go into more detail of this tomorrow and hopefully come home with the 1st place metal.

Until next time, Bon Voyage!