Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas will host the world’s first cruise-based, all-champions Latin dance competition on January 16, 2014.

Cruise and Ferry reports that the dance competiton will onclude contestants such as Thailand’s World Youth Latin champions Koupey Sahaifa and Sutatip Bunwila, Amateur Latin champions Johnston Lim and Nicole Tan from Malaysia and Japan Open champions Artyom Kilmenov and Giula Nuzio from Italy, among other top competitors in the ‘Battle of the Giants’ Latin Dance Championship.

Passengers onboard Mariner of the Seas will be able to vote for winners at the "Come Dancing on Mariner of the Seas" event. 

The latin dance competition is open to all guests on Mariner of the Seas and will also feature champions’ previews and dance workshops, including technique tips for Cha Cha, Rumba and Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Mariner of the Seas will be calling at Port Klang in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi during the four-night roundtrip from Singapore.

It's Friday and hopefully your post-Halloween candy hangover wont interefere with enjoying some great photos our readers sent in from their Royal Caribbean cruise vacations.  In fact, every week we ask our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean photos to share with everyone!

First photo this week belongs to Jill Snyder who is excited for her March 2014 Royal Caribbean cruise so decided to make this Crown and Anchor jack-o-lantern.  Cool!

This photo was sent us by Kevin Damghani of Brilliance of the Seas in Boston with the sun rising.  Beautiful shot!

I really like the composition of this photo from Ross and Pam of their Radiance of the Seas cruise to Bora Bora with the mountain in the background.  I'm sure most guests were off the ship exploring, but this is a heck of a view from the pool.

Speaking of pool photos, here's one from Victor of the H2O Zone on Oasis of the Seas.  I'm not sure about everyone reading this, but I could go for a day with this view right about now.

If we didn't include your photo this week, then that means you need to send it in to us for use on a future Friday Photos post.  We want to see your favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos and you can use this form to send them to us.

Royal Caribbean revealed yesterday the design for its new parade float that will be a part of the 87th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

Royal Caribbean is calling its float "A World at Sea" and was designed by the creative artists of the Macy’s Parade Studio and will bring the cruise vacation experience to midtown Manhattan and beyond via three distinct postcard scenes which take place onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. The rotating scenes depict three “WOW” moments found only on Royal Caribbean, including the cruise line’s signature FlowRider surf simulator, thrilling zip line and iconic rock climbing wall.

The float will also be a big advertisement for Quantum of the Seas, the brand new cruise shop that will have its inaugural cruise in November 2014.  Royal caribbean is promising a "special, surprise performance" along with the float.

The 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationwide on NBC-TV on Thursday, November 28, 2013 from 9 a.m. to noon in all time zones.

Just because you're on a Royal Caribbean cruise doesn't mean holiday traditions stop. Today is Halloween and over the years, Royal Caribbean takes some time to celebrate onboard and encourages its guests to do so as well.  

Here are a few fun photos of Halloween celebrations onboard Royal Caribbean ships.

Photo by SA_Steve

Photo by SA_Steve

Photo by Jim McCluskey

Photo by Iglu Cruise

Photo by Tuba Akgün

The latest Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast episode is now available for your listening pleasure.

Episode 13 is now available for downloading and it's a look into one our listeners' upcoming cruise.

In this episode, we invited listener Michael Poole to join us and preview his upcoming cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.  Michael is embarking on this exciting vacation this weekend and he's shared with us what balcony he booked, his dining plans onboard, activities he wants to try and more.

We are also answering more listener emails this week all about Royal Caribbean cruising.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 13. 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!

Quantum of the Seas Experience Advisor and interior designer Genevieve Gorder has released her second episode that looks at what inspired her for the ship's design in New York City.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas left from Hong Kong's brand newKai TakCruiseTerminal today, the first cruise ship to do so.

Mariner of the Seas took its 3,000 passengers on a cruise heading toward Taiwan,and the sailing was jointly arranged by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Taiwan Bureau with Royal Caribbean.

Mariner of the Seas left Hong Kong for Kaohsiung and Keelungin Taiwan on a five-day, four-night cruise.  Mariner of the Seas will return to Hong Kong on November 2nd and then turn around for another cruise to Kaohsiung before returning on November 5th.

This week Royal Caribbean announced when its Voyager-class ships will get 75 new staterrooms per ship as part of its planned refurbishment but did not offer much detail beyond that.  We now think we know where these staterooms will be added.

Thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com reader Jimbo, it looks like the new staterooms are being added to deck 3 and deck 12.

Comparing old deck layouts of Navigator of the Seas versus what is on the current site, there's a number of staterooms being added.

Old Navigator of the Seas deck plan for deck 12

New Navigator of the Seas deck plan for deck 12

New Navigator of the Seas deck plan for deck 3

Old Navigator of the Seas deck plan for deck 3

It's almost November and that means time is running out of 2013, but that also means that we're close to 2014 and already next year is shaping up to be a big year for Royal Caribbean.

If you're considering booking a Royal Caribbean cruise for 2014 and want to be a part of Royal Caribbean taking a step forward, then consider these cruises (assuming there's still availability).

5. Refurbishments for Adventure of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein recently referred to the Voyager class of cruise ships as one of the strongest cruise ship classes Royal Caribbean ever built and starting in 2014, these ships will start to get upgrades.

As part of the fleet-wide refurbishment to add Oasis-class ammentieis to older ships, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas (more on this later) and Voyager of the Seas will get some upgrades all around the ship.

In addition to a facelift, the Voyager class ships will get 75 new staterooms on each ship, which means more people can enjoy these newly refitted ships!

4. Explorer of the Seas will move to Port Canaveral - November 2014

Port Canaveral has been a popular port for cruises and Royal Caribbean is upping the ante by adding a third cruise ship.  Joining Freedom of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas will offer four- to nine-night cruises.

The Port Canaveral cruise market is always competitive and by offering Explorer of the Seas here, guests can expect more variety in terms of itineraries and cruise ship options.  

Explorer of the Seas has been a popular ship for a long time in New Jersey and this will be the first Voyager-class ship in Port Canaveral since Mariner of the Seas was repositioned.  Plus, three Royal Caribbean ships out of one port that has easy access to a major airport (Orlando)? Sounds like a great option!

3. Oasis of the Seas goes to Europe - September 2014

Ask any Royal Caribbean fan that lives in Europe, and they'll tell you they are excited to finally get the chance to cruise on Royal Caribbean's flagship class.  For the first time ever, an Oasis-class cruise ship will cross the Atlantic and offer a few European cruises.

Oasis of the Seas is really headed to Europe for a quick refurbishment, but Royal Caribbean is offering a few cruises around that drydock stop.  It's just a few cruises before she heads back west to Florida, but if you want to cruise on Oasis of the Seas without having to fly around the world, this is your opportunity.

2. Navigator of the Seas refurbishment ends featuring virtual balconies first - February 2014

If you ask me, the coolest new feature of the Quantum-class cruise ships is the virtual balcony staterooms and before they debut on Quantum of the Seas late in 2014, you can see them first on Navigator of the Seas.

Navigator of the Seas is scheduled for a revitalization in February and when she is done, she'll get the usual Oasis-class upgrades along with one extra change: virtual balconies.  Royal Caribbean is using Navigator of the Seas as a "test bed" for the new technology to figure out any technical issues first here before the grand reveal of Quantum of the Seas.

So if you can't wait for Quantum of the Seas or don't want to pay the premium price she will command, Navigator of the Seas will offer a preview.

1. Quantum of the Seas inaugural cruise - November 14, 2014

There's no question that the event of the year will be Quantum of the Seas first cruise on November 14, 2014.  Royal Caribbean will put the full court press on when it comes to marketing this ship and her first voyage will be an opportunity for Royal Caribbean to pull out all th stops.

Inaugural cruises are always a big deal and there's no doubt Quantum's ceremonial events leading up to the first official cruise will be a sight to see.  

If you want to be a part of history and in the center of it all, this is the cruise for you.  

The weekend is almost here and that means its time to share our readers' Royal Caribbean photos that they have sent in.  Each week we ask everyone reading this to send us your best, favorite and fun Royal Caribbean photos to share with the world.

Once again our readers have responded with some great choices to share so let's jump right in.

Our first photo is from Ross and Pam and it's of Radiance of the Seas at Bora Bora for their 25th anniversary.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate an anniversary than on a cruise ship!

Bradford Benner sent in the next photo, which is him having room service in their Aqua Theater Suite on Oasis of the Seas.  It looks amazing!

Our next photo is from Paul Kitchener and he wrote up a story to share: This shot shows Ålesund: A young port town with an unusually dramatic story to tell. The storm-full winter night of January the 23rd 1904, a devastating fire raged through the streets of Ålesund. During 16 hours, the whole centre of the town - 850 houses - burned to the ground and left 10.000 people homeless. Today tourist are dropped by cruise ships including Adventure of the Sea (one of the largest to come to port) to enjoy a mixture of Art Nouveau and traditional style buildings.

Lastly we have a photo from Harry A. Yerikyan, taken on his Allure of the Seas cruise.

If we didn't include your photo this week, then that means you need to send it in to us for use on a future Friday Photos post.  We want to see your favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos and you can use this form to send them to us.