We're going BIG on this week's podcast!

We're proud to release episode 3 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast, which is now available and ready for downloading.

In this episode, we're discussing the cruise ship that has changed the world of cruising and arguably had the biggest impact on the cruise industry in recent years, Oasis of the Seas.  Joining me is Beci Mahnken of MEI-Travel, and we're talking about what makes Oasis of the Seas such an amazing ship to sail on.  We're also sharing tips for those who go on an Oasis of the Seas cruise along with more of your listener feedback.

Here is the podcast page for episode 3.  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!

Royal Caribbean is known for its amazing cruise ships but another Royal Caribbean creation is worthy of equal admiration, the private destination of Labadee.  Located in Haiti, this "island" (it's actually a peninsula) is a private retreat for Royal Caribbean guests who sail western Caribbean itineraries.  Featuring beautiful beaches, shopping and lots of activities, Labadee is a great beach destination.  

For those who will take their first trip to Labdee, here's a primer to get you ready for this beautiful island paradise.

Getting around Labadee

Labadee is fairly easy to navigate, but it helps to know what to expect before you arrive.  Your ship will dock at the pier, so getting on and off Labadee is quite simple.  

Once on shore, you will find Labadee broken up into a few different areas.

• Dragon's Plaza
  • This is where you enter/leave Labadee from the dock and is named after Dragon's Breath, a rocky cove near the ocean that sounds like a dragon when the ocean hits the rocks.
• Buccaneer's Bay
  • This where you go to embark on most acquatic excursions, such as jet skiing, parasailing and more.  You can also book excursions here.
• Barefoot Beach Club
  • Private beach for suite guests that features cabanas for rent.
• Town Square
  • Many of the restaurants, bars and other facilities are found in this area.
• Adrenaline Beach
  • Beach located underneath the zipline and in front of the roller coaster.  
• Columbus Cove
  • Beach area that has water toys, such as the floating mat and aqua park

The Beaches

By far, the number one reason to go to Labadee is to spend time at the beach.  Labadee has a number of beaches for you to try and there isn't any bad beach, but which beach you go to may depend on what you're interested in doing on your day.

In our experience, we've found the beaches to be swimmable but a little rocky.  It may be easier (and less painful) if you bring water shoes with you so you can avoid worrying about the rocks.  

Dragon Tail Beach

The largest stretch of beach is on the north shore of the peninsula and spans nearly the entire width of the peninsula.  This beach is fairly centrally located and offers good surf, swimming and snorkeling.  

There are no water toys here, so it's best for those who want to relax and enjoy what the beach has to offer.  Because it's centrally located and fairly close to the pier, it tends to be the most crowded.

Loungers and sun shelters are available for rent.

Barefoot Beach Club

This beach area is reserved for guests who have booked cabanas, which is usually available to guests who are suite guests.  We have had luck in the past showing up to the beach early and requesting to rent a unbooked cabanas.

The beach is fenced off from the rest of Labadee and in addition to the open-air cabanas, offers waiter service to each cabana.  In addition, there is private beach access for guests admitted to the Barefoot Beach Club area.

The cost of a cabana at Barefoot Beach is $225-250, depending on location.  Each cabana can accommodate four to five guests. The daily rental fee includes a dedicated cabana attendant, complimentary bottled water, complimentary floating mats and snorkeling equipment, a beverage menu (prices charged accordingly), and an upgraded lunch menu at the private BBQ facility.

Nellie's Beach

Located adjacent to Barefood Beach, Nellie's Beach is a small cove that also has cabanas (16 at last count) for rent.

The daily rental fee for cabanas on Nellie’s Beach is $175-200, depending on location.

Columbus Cove

If you want to water toys with your beach day, then this is the place for you.  Columbus Cove features the Arawak Aqua Park along with Dragon’s Splash Waterslide.  

Columbus Cove runs along the the southern part of the peninsula. The beach water is sheltered and there is a white sandy beach with trees that go down to the water's edge. This area has its own bar and dining facility.

Adrenaline Beach

If you want a more secluded beach experience, Adrenaline Beach generally has the least guests because it is the furthest beach from the ship and has no water toys.  

Unlike nearby Dragon Tail Beach, there are no barrier rocks to block the ocean so the surf here can be stronger. As such, Royal Caribbean lists this beach more for sunbathing than swimming.

Loungers and sun shelters are available for rent.

Eating on Labadee

Like onboard Royal Caribbean's ships, there is complimentary food offered on Labadee, although the availability is limited to certain hours.  In addition, waiter and bar service is available throughout the island.

Lunch is available at a number of locations throughout the island, although the food is mostly the same barbecued meats and salads.  Lunch is served buffet style.

Since your cruise ship is docked, getting back on the ship is relatively easy and we suggest going back to the ship for lunch because of the better quality food available there, as well as shorter lines.

We would be remiss if we did not mention the labadoozie.  You will see and hear references to this drink all over.  The labadoozie is the official drink of Labadee and is a frozen alcoholic drink that features a number of fruit juices and rum, served in a sports drink bottle.  You can also order the drink without alcohol.  Haing a labadoozie while in Labadee is a must-do!

Things to do on Labadee

Royal Caribbean offers a number of activities for its guests to try on their cruise and there's usually something to suit each taste.

Dragon's Tail Roller Coaster

Located 680 feet up on Santa Maria’s lookout mountain, you will find the Dragon's Tail roller coaster, which is an alpine coaster.  You may have seen these sort of rides at some ski resorts during the summer months. 

Essentially it's a single car vehicle that races down a track at 30 miles per hour and features 360-degree turns as well as dips, waves and curves, you can catch glimpses of the ocean.

Minimum age to be a single rider is 12 years old. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 may ride in the same cart with their parent/guardian. Maximum occupancy per cart is 2 persons with a maximum combined weight of 360 pounds. Total ride time is approximately 3-5 minutes.

Dragon's Breath Zip Line

If you want to soar above Labadee and get a spectacular view in the process, then the Dragon's Breath Zip Line is for you.  The zip line takes you 500 feet above the beach as you reach speeds of 40-50 miles per hour.

The zip line is 2,600 feet long and begins atop lookout mointain.  The zip line is advertised as one of the longest zip lines in the world, and will take you above the ocean and land.  Your flight lands at Dragon's Breath Rock.

Arawak Aqua park

For kids, it's touch to beat the water park available at Columbus Cove.  Floating trampolines, pyramids and water slides await you as you jump, climb and splash to your heart's content.

Admission to Arawak is limited by times, which helps keep crowding issues down. We've generally found the cost here to be fairly inexpensive and a great way for kids to burn off extra energy.

Dragon's Breath Point

Not everything in Labadee requires an adrenaline rush, and a prime example of this is Dragon's Breath Point.  As the water flows in and out among the rocks, you hear a "hissing" noise that sounds like "dragon's breath".  What's happening is the air is compressed in small caves under the rocks and is forced out through cracks in the rocks. It is worth the walk to hear it.

The surrounding area is quite beautiful and you should bring a camera to snap a few photos of the beautiful vistas you will find here.

We geeks are a passionate bunch, and one geek in particular decided to combine his passion for Royal Caribbean with his passion for the video game Minecraft.

Essentially, Minecraft is a building game similar to Legos, where people construct anything they can dream of with bricks.  Just like Legos, you have to do it one piece at a time.  A user named "Dasbouwer" built a 1:1 scale replica of Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas in the game.

A thumbs up for the geeky cool factor!

Royal Caribbean announced today it was reneweing its multi-year partnership with Bank of America, which will include the launch of new credit cards that will offer benefits for Royal Caribbean cruises.  The agreement will also bring new credit cards for sister brands Azamara Club Cruises and Celebrity Cruises.

Dubbed, "MyCruise Rewards",  the program will allow cardmembers to redeem points not only for the cruise brand they pick, but also across the other two sister companies that are owned by the Royal Caribbean parent company.

Through MyCruise Rewards, cardholders can earn discounts on cruise-related packages and redeem points for cruises, stateroom upgrades, specialty gifts, and onboard credit across all three cruise lines. The new cards provide double points for purchases on Azamara, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, and one point for every dollar spent on all other purchases.   

Carol Schuster, Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President, Marketing commented on the deal, "We know how important choice is to our guests, so the new cardmember benefits introduce a variety of rewards, such as more than 100 redemption options, making it easy and fun for our guests to enjoy flexibility as they treat themselves while vacationing with our brands."

Card offers, including fees and rates, can be found at www.royalcaribbean.com/mycruiserewards.

More and more, people want to take better photos while on their Royal Caribbean cruise vacation because the Internet and social media are showing us some amazing shots others are taking.  Since camera technology is rapidly becoming easier and cheaper to use, the question of, "how can I take better photos?" is being raised by more passengers.

Timothy Corbin is an extremely talented photographer, who posts his photos online and recently took a Royal Caribbean cruise on Oasis of the Seas. Corbin brought back some really impressive shots and so we sat down with him to give the rest of us insight into how to take really beautiful photos like him.

Photo by Timothy Corbin

Royal Caribbean Blog: If someone comes up to you and tells you they are going on a Royal Caribbean cruise and want to take beautiful photos, what are you recommendations?

Timothy Corbin: I would say , always take into consideration the time of day and the light available,  sunrise , sunset and what photographers call blue hour are great times to take photos anywhere . On a cruise with so much subject matter available to shoot it all comes down to what you see as beautiful , first and foremost have fun on the cruise and the great photos will come easily. 

RCLBlog: Is there a mistake you commonly see vacationers doing that could be easily avoided when taking photos? 

TC: Well I find many people do not take the time to frame their photo and look at every corner of the frame to see what will show up in the background and in the photo minus the subject , its a very common mistake.  

For me at least i try not to have too many people in my photos as I tried to capture the beauty of the architecture and work that went into the cruise ship . This is not always easy obviously , but my trick is very simple , I shoot just around dinner time or early morning when most people are inside the ship and its alot easier to have less people distracting the image, but that isnt always the rule, sometimes you need people in your photo to add to the story behind the shot , so it all comes down to the scene you are shooting and the invisible words you are portraying through the photo.

Photo by Timothy Corbin

RCLBlog: Can someone take great photos with point and shoot cameras or even camera based phones?  Or are DSLR cameras the only solution?

TC: You can take great photos with any camera , its a matter of whether you wants prints of that photo or not. Obviously if you want prints the better quality camera you have will result in better prints.

RCLBlog: You took a cruise on Oasis of the Seas last year and took some amazing photos.  What part of the ship did you find the most photogenic? 

TC: The boardwalk for me was most appealing especially at night with all the colour and lights, Royal Caribbean did a great job here as well as throughout the ship, by manipulating your mind from the fact that  you are actually on a cruise ship and transporting you to a very fun and enjoyable environment.

Photo by Timothy Corbin

RCLBlog: What was your favourite part of your Oasis of the Seas cruise?

TC: Without a doubt the Solarium!

RCLBlog: When going on an island, what equipment do you bring with you to take the sort of scenic photos you've really done well with?

TC: Well I am a landscape photographer and I bring all of gear with me including tripod. I pre planned for every island that we visited and where exactly I wanted to photograph.

Most people maybe will not be this hardcore about taking photos on the islands but that was my intention so I made the best of it in the time we had as I was not interested in shopping . If youre intention is capturing great photos i suggest you plan in advance the places you want to shoot as time is limited on the islands. We did of course enjoy the beautiful beaches in between taking photos.

Photo by Timothy Corbin

We want to thank Timothy for taking the time to share his insight with us.  Be sure to check out Timothy's photography site at inplain-sight.com for more examples of his beautiful work.

We had fun this week sharing lots of Royal Caribbean news from many aspects of the company's operation.  From Barbados to St. Lucia to New Jersey, there's lots to catch up on this week if you missed any of it.

Let's dive in!

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean celebrated a huge milestone this week when it welcomed its 50 million guest.
• The city of Bayonne approved the loan to Royal Caribbean to expand Cape Liberty to make room for Quantum of the Seas.
• Speaking of ports, Royal Caribbean is considering partnering with St. Lucia to build a new cruise terminal.
• Need more Caribbean news?  Royal Caribbean will once again offer year-round cruises to Barbados.
• We shared some great photos by our readers in this week's Friday Photos.
• Here's a video of how Royal Caribbean is designing Two70 aboard Quantum of the Seas.
• Do you love escargot when you're on a Royal Caribbean cruise?  We think it's a classic Royal Caribbean food.
• We launched a complete listing of Oasis of the Seas deck plans for you to easily see where everything is onboard the ship.

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 specialty restaurants.

We looked at how specialty restaurants have become very popular recently, what restaurants are currently available and what the future holds for these eateries.

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 new podcast episode with a review of cruising on Jewel of the Seas

USA Today has a new photo tour of Grandeur of the Seas.

Travel Biz Monitor has more information on a deal for cruisers from India to save 20% on their next Royal Caribbean cruise.

The Bayonne City Council unanimously approved a loan to Royal Caribbean  to provide "non-recourse financing" for Royal Caribbean's plan to expand at Bayonne's Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor. 

Joe Ryan, Bayonne spokesman, indicated the city would act as "conduit" for the project funds, allowing Royal Caribbean to take advantage of the city's favorable financing rates for the $50 million project that includes a new terminal and parking facility.  The city council approved the request Wednesday night.

"(This deal) means we're not responsible for the debt," Ryan said. "So in this case the city is assisting with the application on behalf of Royal Caribbean, but we would not be responsible for handling the debt. Royal Caribbean is." 

In addition, Royal Caribbean will pay Bayonne a $250,000 application fee and $50,000 annually to monitor the financing. 

City officials estimate the new port facility will be finished just in time for the launch of Quantum of the Seas in November 2014.

Welcome back to Friday Photos, our weekly showcase of Royal Caribbean photos that were taken by readers of this blog.  

Every week, we ask our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean vacation photos to be considered for this post and you're welcome to send yours in as well. We'd love to feature photos of the ships, excursions, activities onboard and anything else that reminds you of a great time while sailing with Royal Caribbean.

So without further adieu, here is this week's batch of photos.

The award for "photo from the furthest place" goes to John Paul, who sent this photo in from his Legend of the Sea's Borneo Explorer cruise.  It's taken on Palawan Island in the Philippines and proves simple camera tricks are always amusing.  

Adam Gilmor took this photo while on Allure of the Seas in St. Thomas. I don't think I'll ever get sick of scenic vista photos from the Caribbean.

I really love this photo that John McCormack sent in of Brilliance of the Seas docked in Valetta, Malta in December, 2010 for repairs after extensive damage suffered by hurricane force winds outside Alexandria, Egypt.  Great colors!

This photo is from Patricia Hall, who took this photo from Italy.  She was sailing on Brilliance of the Seas and while at a port stop in Naples, took the Amalfi Coast tour.  As the Italians say, bella!

Next is a photo from Dawn Lytten, who took this photo on a recent Cruise on Freedom of the Seas back in June.  The car on the Promenade is always a great photo spot.

Daniel Stober sent in this photo looking at the ship's wake.  I know I've definitely caught myself staring at the wake.  There's something mesmerizing about it.

This photo of the Wayfinder interactive LCD screens from Oasis of the Seas are always fun...and make me wish I was onboard right now to see what's going on.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their photos this week.  Be sure to send your photos in as well by using this form.

Royal Caribbean has announced it will hold a Super Saturday Sale with deals on fall cruises for all of its ships, including Oasis of the Seas for as little as $749 per person.

In addition to the lower fares, Royal Caribbean is offering on-board credit for anyone who makes a booking during the Super Saturday Sale.  

• Inside and oceanview cabins will receive $25 in onboard credit
• Balcony cabins and suites will get $50 in onboard credit.
• Bookings on Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas will receive double the onboard credit.

The sale applies to cruises between August 23, 2013 and October 31, 2013.  Sale is for residents of North and South America and cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.