There was one giant guest aboard a recent Royal Caribbean cruise that probably stuck out from all the other guests considering it was 6.5 feet long and tentacles.

Two rare giant species of squid are on their way to the Smithsonian Institution’s preserved cephalopod research collection in Washington DC.  The effort is a joint collaboration between Royal Caribbean, Department of Environment and the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

The squid, which are about two metres long, are described by local scientists as being in excellent condition and will provide important scientific data as these two deep sea cephalopod species are rarely encountered as adults.

Dr Janice Blumenthal was happy with the assistance Royal Caribbean provided to allow for the specimens to be studied further, "It was a pleasure to work with all the Royal Caribbean staff to arrange this unique transfer. They were extremely efficient in arranging the complex logistics of transporting the rare squid aboard their ship and importing them into the United States – though this was of course the first time any of us had attempted this."

Another episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure!

Episode 12 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for downloading and streaming.

On this week's episode, Matt compares the various classes of Royal Caribbean cruise ships to share the differences and similarities between each class.  There's also a recommendation for which class is better for first time cruisers and which class of ships is better for veteran cruisers. 

We will also share more listener feedback, including your questions and comments.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 10. 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 is actively under construction at the Meyer-Weft shipyard in Germany and today we have a new video to show off the ship's progress.

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas was the means by which the French Riviera Cruise Club worked with Royal Caribbean to continue delivering huminitarian aid to Haiti for the second year in a row.

Games and toys were collected by the club to be loaded on board Liberty of the Seas, a regular caller at Villefranche-sur-Mer, on Tuesday for shipment to Haiti.

Last year the French Riviera Cruise Club donated books and school materials collected in Villefranche with the help of the municipal council and the Centre de Découverte du Monde Marin. The items were delivered to Haiti just before Christmas.

During this operation, Royal Caribbean took the opportunity to raise awareness among the elementary school children of the importance of respecting the countryside and protecting the environment.

The donation enabled the completion of a library. Extra books were sent to other public schools, and medical aid was provided to the Red Cross.

This year, the school director and some of the teachers requested toys and games for the children, prompting the current donation.

National Cruise Week begins today and Royal Caribbean is joining in with a cruise sale of up to $100 onboard credit on seven-night cruises that sail during summer 2014.

The sale is valid on 7-night cruises departing between June 1 and August 31, 2014.

If you book between today and October 25 an interior or ocean view stateroom, guests will receive $50 onboard credit with code SPO1.

Guests that book a balcony or suite stateroom will receive $100 per stateroom with code SPO2.

The National Cruise Vacation Week offer is applicable only on new individual bookings and the option code must be registered at the time of booking.

It's been quiet in terms of Quantum of the Seas news but we got a few tidbits this week related to Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship that is actively under construction.

Ship builder Meyer Werft launched the Quantum of the Seas webcam, which will offer periodic photo updates of how the ship's construction is progressing.  The photo of the webcam may only update one per week or so, but it's still a welcome addition to be able to see Quantum become a reality.

The other Quantum of the Seas news is a report that previously scheduled itineraries for that included a stop in Samana, Dominican Republic are being cancelled next year.  Itineraries that had stops scheduled in Samana have now mostly replaced the Samana port call with an additional day in San Juan or a sea day.  

What else was in the news this week? Read on…

Royal Caribbean News

• There's a report that indicates Allure of the Seas will go to Europe in 2015.
• Royal Caribbean is in talks with Curacao to build a new mega cruise ship pier.
• Royal Caribbean's third quarter financial earnings report is scheduled for October 24.
• Royal Caribbean won the Best Entertainment award for the third year in a row.
• Like night photos of cruise ships? Check out our Jewel of the Seas night photo gallery.
• Royal Caribbean's CEO was none too happy with the shutdown of the United States governement in the past two weeks.
• Here's our full review of the Seaview Cafe.

Royal Caribbean Podcast

The eleventh episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available and this week we are sharing our first time on Royal Caribbean stories.

In this episode, Matt shares his first experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise, including why he booked it, what he liked about it and why Matt decided to cruise with Royal Caribbean again (and again and again).  We also have lots of your listener feedback to share too!

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 has a post up about how formal wear has changed on cruises.

Kuki has a new post wondering if ship libraries are wasted space.

Cruise Director Richard Spacey wrote about cruise vacation etiquette.

Dhani Jones, Quantum of the Seas advisor, is on a Fox Sports Radio podcast describing his work with Royal Caribbean.

MyNews13 has information on Port Canaveral is hosting an annual convention to discuss port expansion.

It's possible Royal Caribbean will be sending the largest cruise ship in the world. Allure of the Seas, to Europe in 2015 according to port information.

According to a ship docking schedule for cruise ports in Italy, Allure of the Seas is scheduled to dock in Naples in October 2015.

The news of Allure of the Seas going to Europe at all has not been confirmed nor announced by Royal Caribbean but cruise schedules are often produced well in advance to secure a spot.  

One possible scenario is Allure of the Seas is going to Europe for routine drydock maintenance and will offer a few cruises while "in the area", which is similar to what Oasis of the Seas has planned for next summer.

We love to share your Royal Caribbean photos every Friday and give everyone a quick "mental escape" to look at some stunning photos.  We want your photos too, so send us your best Royal Caribbean photos to share with the world.

Let's start things off with a photo from Bill Brown of Allure of the Seas docked in Nassau along with some other cruise ships.  Allure just makes the others look so small and cute.

Next is a photo from Bradford Benner, who wrote to us with this description, "our three balcony a open on the enchantment aft that we had to close as they have not taken the time to fix to sately keep open, would have been a better cruise if we could have had them all as one."

Ross and Pam sent us this shot of Radiance of the Seas at Moorea.  I love large-scale photos like this that show off the scale of the ship and its surroundings.  Perfect!

Next is a photo of Voyager of the Seas docked in Valencia, Spain in 2012 as part of a 42 day voyage from New Orleans to Singapore(!) sent to us by David Domanski.  I'm not sure if I'm more jealous of the great photo, the ship or the amazing itinerary they were on.

Victor Sacal sent in this photo of his loft suite from Oasis of the Seas and this just reaffirms the idea that I need to book myself one of these suites.  Right after I can convince my wife we can live on Ramen noodles for a while to help pay for the cruise.

Rounding things out this week is a photo from Tom & Diane Trudnowski of sunset, as seen from their balcony on Freedom of the Seas.  Great shot, especially with the reflection in the water and the color of the ship.

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 is offering a one-day sale on Saturday, October 19, 2013 for those looking to book a cruise in November or December of this year.

Book a Royal Caribbean cruise on October 19th that departs between November 1 – December 31, 2013 and you can get up to $100 onboard credit. If you book a cruise that departs from November 1 – December 20, you will receive up to $50.  But if you book a cruise that sails around the holidays, between December 21–December 31, and Royal Caribbean will double the onboard credit offer to $100. 

• Inside & Outside Staterooms will receive $25 onboard credit
• Balcony and Suite Staterooms will receive $50 onboard credit
• Holiday Inside and Outside Staterooms will receive $50 onboard credit
• Holiday Balcony and Suite Staterooms will receive $100 onboard credit

Offer applies to new individual bookings (not applicable to groups) made on October 19, 2013 from 12:00AM-11:59PM ET for all sailings departing Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2013. Onboard credit is per stateroom.

Ship builder Meyer Werft has announced their web cam is up and running in Hall 6 to document the build process of Quantum of the Seas.

The web cam is available via the Meyer Werft web site, although it is worth noting the web cam is not a live cam, but rather a static photo that is updated periodically, usually once per week.

With the cam online, anyone can monitor the progress Quantum of the Seas makes as it is put together. The cam will be available until the ship work in dry dock is completed.