Preliminary construction of the new cruise port facility in Bayonne, New Jersey was halted on Friday after it was discovered plans for the port makeover included the removal of hundreds of memorial pavers that surround the September 11 "teardrop" memorial.

Residents were "outraged" according to NJ.com, after learning the $50 million project would include the "temporary" removal of about 300 pavers.

Frank Perrucci, chairman of the Sept. 11 Bayonne Remembers Committee, said he was told by workers at the site that the construction project would cut through a portion of Harborview Park -- where the "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" memorial is located --  and would mean the "temporary" removal of about 300 pavers.

The memorial will not be affected and workers indicated that the pavers would be put back into place when the construction is complete in May.

The cruise port makeover includes a new Cape Liberty Cruise Port terminal building, a parking garage, an overflow paved parking area and berth improvements on land owned by Port Authority.

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on January 27, 2014 at 10am to discuss its fourth quarter 2013 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Happy weekend Royal Caribbean fans!

The news this week was all about over sixty passengers on Majesty of the Seas coming down with Norovirus during a 4-night cruise from Miami.

Norovirus is something that happens now and then on different cruise ships and the media loves to harp on these stories and make a bigger deal than it really is. Nonetheless, the people affected by the outbreak had responded well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship.

Royal Caribbean is also taking steps to disinfect the ship as well as sanitize the terminal area to prevent the disease from affecting anyone else.

Royal Caribbean News

• In the UK, Royal Caribbean has a new e-brochure for iPad.
• Quantum of the Seas could be used as a backdrop for a music festival in Germany.
• Royal Caribbean released a new webisode starring Genvieve Gorder about Quantum of the Seas' design.
• Video of Quantum of the Seas' bow sections being towed to the shipyard.
• Everything you wanted to know about onboard credit.
• Cabanas on CocoCay information.
• Ever wondered why there are classic cars on Royal Caribbean's Royal Promenade?
• How to find last minute deals on Royal Caribbean cruises.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

Have you listened to the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast yet? Our second episode came out this week and it's all about Royal Caribbean's staterooms.

Matt looked at the different categories of staterooms Royal Caribbean offers, the differences between them, what you need to know about the special categories and booking tips for getting the staterom you want.

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

Royal Caribbean is celebrating National Hobby Month by encouraging everyone to try some hobbies on their ships.

Royal Caribbean also posted about why traveling off the beaten path can be a good idea.

Parents Magazine posted why we loved our Royal Caribbean cruise.

Adam Goldstein posted a new blog post about how the Radiance class didn't turn out like they wanted.

Dozens of cruise passengers on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas started feeling sick during a 4-night cruise from Miami.  Royal Caribbean confirms 66 passengers have reported the symptoms of Norovirus.

In addition, two crew members have also felt ill.  

Royal Caribbean believes the cause to be norovirus, according to the company’s statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta describes norovirus as a very contagious bug that can be spread by infected persons, in contaminated food or water, or through contact with contaminated surfaces. The CDC says norovirus affects nearly 20 million people in the U.S. each year, and results in between 570 to 800 deaths.

The cruise line said passengers affected by the illness had responded well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship.

The company said it enhanced cleaning on board the ship during the cruise to help prevent the spread of the illness.

After the ship docked, the company said it “conducted an extensive and thorough sanitizing on board the ship and within the cruise terminal, to help prevent any illness from affecting the next sailing.”

Passengers who boarded The Majesty of the Seas Friday received a letter asking if they had experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days. Those who felt uncomfortable were allowed to reschedule their trip, the cruise line said.

During the roll out of Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, it will be involved in a music concert in Papenburg, Germany as a backdrop.

The event, "NDR 2 Papenburg Festival: The yard is calling!", will be held on September 6 at the Meyer Werft shipyard with "the imposing backdrop of the luxury liner Quantum Of The Seas."

There's no indication how much the new ship will be involved in the event.  It may just be a coincidence that Quantum of the Seas will be outside when the concert is scheduled or perhaps Royal Caribbean is deliberately using the event to market the new ship.  

If you've been on a Royal Caribbean Voyager, Freedom or Oasis class ship, you will have noticed a classic car on the Royal Promenade.  If you've been on more than one of those ships, you may have noticed that the cars featured on each ship are different.  So why does Royal Caribbean feature classic cars on its Royal Promenades?

The answer takes us back to 1997, when Royal Caribbean was building Voyager of the Seas.  The lead architect for the Royal Promenade, Njal Eide, had built a model of the Royal Promenade, and in the middle of the model, he had placed a nice little model of a Morgan Sportster complete with leather belt across the hood. 

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain saw the car in the model and asked Njal about it because unknown to Njal, Fain was a big fan of the Morgans.  Njal just thought it looked right and that's why he included it.

Fain was so impressed that he donated his own Morgan car that he had received for his 40th birthday some years back.

From that point on, having a vintage car was so popular that Royal Caribbean continued with the tradition with later ships in the Voyager, Freedom and Oasis classes.

If it's Friday, that means it is time to share some more awesome photos our readers have sent in of their Royal Caribbean cruise vacations!  As always, we want your photos too, so send us your best Royal Caribbean photos so we can share it with the world.

Let's get right into this week's batch of photos!

Our first photo this week is from Corry E, who sent us this photo from his Oasis of the Seas cruise to St. Maarten.  I have to say that St. Maarten is one of my favorite islands and it looks like Corry and Mrs. Corry had a great time there!

Next is a photo from Kayla, who writes, "This was at a beach break excursion in Falmouth, Jamaica when we were on Voyager of the Seas. The beach and the authentic jerk chicken lunch was amazing!"

I love having authentic food when I'm visiting a port and it's hard to beat good food and a beautiful beach.  Ya mon!

This photo is from Bryce Griffler, taken during his Majesty of the Seas cruise while snorkeling at CocoCay.  Bryce has mastered the art of fitting in with the fish.

Harry Yerikyan sent us this photo from the Royal Promenade on Allure of the Seas.  I've always enjoyed seeing a different classic car on the Royal Promenade on each ship.  Thanks Harry!

Our last photo comes from Tom & Diane Trudnowski of Freedom of the Seas tied up.  Today sure sounds perfect for a port day!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos this week. Have a great weekend and be sure to send us your photos so we can post them next week by using this form.

Royal Caribbean UK is now offfering a new brouchure for families that is in digital format, perfect for today's generation of iPad enthusiasts.

Travolution reports that Royal Caribbean is calling it an "industry first" by having an e-brochure that offers videos and interactive content to help showcase the family-friendly features offered by the cruise line.

With the new e-brochure, you can get access to special early booking offers and a selection of the most popular family-friendly itineraries.

Other features of the e-brocure app are planning guides for parents and a link to the Royal Caribbean's kid-friendly Penguin Ahoy! app.

Marketing and PR director Jo Briody said: “Our new tablet friendly brochure is designed to allow families to plan their holidays together, and to showcase all of our family friendly videos and onboard features in one place.

“We hope that its ease of use and inspiring content will urge more families to consider a cruise for the first time."

The new app is free and available from the iTunes app store.

If you've ever sailed with Royal Caribbean or been researching a cruise with Royal Caribbean, you have heard about other people getting onboard credit for their cruises.  In some cases, it can be hundreds of dollars.  So how does someone get onboard credit and for how much?

What is onboard credit?

Let's start with defining what onboard credit is.  Royal Caribbean can offer guests onboard credit, which is money pre-paid into your onboard account to be used on the cruise.  

It's "free" money that you can spend anywhere onboard your Royal Caribbean cruise, including at Labadee or CocoCay (Royal Caribbean's private islands).  Basically, if it goes on your SeaPass card, you can use your onboard credit.

You don't have to specify to use your onboard credit, Royal Caribbean automatically starts deducting from it as you charge to your onboard account.

How do you get onboard credit?

There's a number of ways to get onboard credit for your Royal Caribbean cruise.  Some or all of these methods can be combined but it all depends on everyone's specific case.

Booking a cruise onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise

This won't help you for your current or upcoming cruise, but if you on a Royal Caribbean cruise and book a new cruise reservation or a NextCruise Certificate, you are entitled to up to $200 per booking.

Crown and Anchor Society Advertised Promotional Sailings 

Royal Caribbean's loyalty program, Crown and Anchor Soceity, will offer promotions to encourage bookings such as onboard credit.  The exact amount of onboard credit will depend on the promotion.

WOW Sales and other cruise deals

Royal Caribbean offers cruise deals throughout the year and often will throw in onboard credit as a way of getting more people to book. 

The price of the cruise may be unaffected but Royal Caribbean has offered in the past hundreds of dollars to get guests to book more cruises.  

Royal Caribbean Visa card points

Royal Caribbean's Visa card offers reward points for the money you charge to the card.  As you reach certain point milestones, you can redeem the points for onboard credit.

Apology from Royal Caribbean

When bad things happen that is out of the ordinary, Royal Caribbean will try to make things right by offering guests onboard credit to offset the problem.  

Incidents like poor service, billing inaccuracies and other frustrations are often handled with onboard credit (in addition to remedying the situation as best they can).  

Travel Agent promotional offer

Travel agents often can offer customers onboard credit through many different ways.  It can sometimes be a result of a group booking space or the amount of money you spend or the category of stateroom you book.

The exact amount offered varies from sailing to sailing, but onboard credit is one way travel agents differentiate themselves from one another and take steps to earn business.

Bring a friend

For each stateroom first time Royal Caribbean passengers book that you refer, Royal Caribbean will offer you onboard credit as a reward.  

You will receive $25 in onboard credit for each stateroom your friends reserve on your cruise booked. You may refer up to a maximum of 5 staterooms for any length of cruise.

The first-time guest must be sailing on the same ship and sail date as you, the member.

You can register for this credit by going to RoyalCaribbean.com/BringAFriend.

Can I combine onboard credit offers?

Yes, in many cases you can combine onboard credit offers.  There are some offers that do not allow you to "stack" onboard credit offers, so you will need to read the fine print of each offer to see which is more lucrative for you.

What can I spend my onboard credit on?

You can spend your onboard credit on virtually anything you can charge to your SeaPass card.  This includes, but not limited to....

• Spa services
• Beverages (alcohol or not)
• Souvenirs
• Specialty restaurants
• Gratuities

The truth is you don't select an individual purchase to spend your onboard credit on.  Rather, if you have $100 in onboard credit and you spend $500 total on your SeaPass account, you will be charged $400. Any purchases you make with your SeaPass card first deduct from the onboard credit and then when your onboard credit runs out, charges to your account normally.

Regardless of if the purchase is paid for by your onboard credit or not, each purchase will still appear on your bill.

When do I get my onboard credit?

When you begin your Royal Caribbean cruise, onboard credits are applied as the ship's computer system downloads each guest's account information from Royal Caribbean's central servers.

It's not uncommon for Guest Service to not be able to verify your onboard credit amount until the evening of your first day onboard.  Don't worry, they are usually pretty good with making sure it's there.

It may be smart to have printed copies of the onboard credit you are entitled to, just in case there is an issue but you should be able to verify the correct amount is in your account by the end of the first day.

Quantum Experience Advisor, Genevieve Gorder, is back today with a new webisode detailing her trip to Papenburg, Germany, with Royal Caribbean's newbuild and design team to see Quantum of the Seas first hand and finalize the last few details for the Lofts and Suites.