Howdy fellow Royal Caribbean fans!  Exciting news today for all you commuters, walkers, runners, gym-goers, and other assorted podcast listeners!

The Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is back with another fun episode! The 4th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and ready for downloading!

In this episode, Matt talks about everything Royal Caribbean's private destination of Labadee has to offer, including the beaches, what there is to do there and the food and drink available.  We're also sharing listener feedback and inviting everyone to share their first Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 4. 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!

STX France is making preperations to begin construction on Royal Caribbean's third Oasis-class cruise ship by first building a frame to help build the massive ship.  In order to accomodate the massive ship, STX France is constructing a new portico, which started arriving this week.  Formal construction on the portico will begin starting next month. 

Once the portico is complete, STX France expects the shipyard to begin construction of the new Oasis-class ship in the first quarter of 2014.

The new STX France portico, ordered specifically for the new Oasis class ship but will be used for other future builds, just arrived in Saint-Nazaire from China in the last few days.  It weighs 160 tonnes and measures 44 by 10 meters.

The old portico was built in 1968 and was one of the oldest in the world.

Royal Caribbean has announced the winter 2014-2015 Brazil and South America cruise schedule for Splendour of the Seas.

Splendour of the Seas will sail roundtrip out of São Paulo, Brazil and offer three- to eight-night cruises with port stops at Buzios, Ilha Grande, and Ilhabela. In addition she will offer seven-night Argentina and Uruguay cruises, calling at Punta Del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Included in this schedule is a special eight-night holiday cruise that leaves on December 27, 2014 and will visit the ports of Porto Belo, Buzios, Ilha Grande and Ilhabela, and herald in the New Year at Rio de Janeiro to catch the world-famous fireworks show at Copacabana Beach.

Splendour of the Seas’s winter 2014-15 Brazil and South America cruises are now open for sale. 

Lisa Bauer, Royal Caribbean executive vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, commented on the news, "We are glad to bring Splendour of the Seas back to Brazil for an eighth winter season.  Splendour of the Seas combines a vast array of new and modern features and conveniences, exciting itineraries, and our world-renowned friendly and engaging GOLD Anchor Service to deliver a unique South America vacation experience that can only be found on Royal Caribbean. And our award-winning family programming will help make a vacation to the region an unforgettable experience for all ages."

The cruise business in Australia is booming and things could get even better if the Royal Australian Navy goes ahead with plans to leave Sydney's Garden Island.

Doing so would increase the berthing capacity for the city, which is characterized as "desperately needed".  Among those calling for the Navy to leave is Royal Caribbean's Regional Vice President for Australia, Gavin Smith.

"None of our ships will fit under the Harbour Bridge," said the line's regional vice president Gavin Smith.

“Modern cruise ships are too big to do so. To continue to grow we need certainty, in particular berthing certainty. Asian ports have provided this in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai with brand new dedicated cruise terminals. More and more cruise ships are visiting these ports as a consequence.

“Sydney, as the gateway to the Australian cruise industry, needs to respond to this competition within our region. This will ensure that the other cruise destinations in Australia and New Zealand can share in the economic growth of the local industry.”

Sydney's current cruise terminal is over 50 years old.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced on Tuesday that a taskforce would be set up to consider moving some or all of the navy fleet to Queensland.

Rap music pioneer "Rev Run" from the group Run D.M.C. and his family are on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas as part of a Bermuda cruise.

Rev Run and his family, who includes his aspiring rapper son Diggy Simmons, took the Dolphin Quest shore excursion in Bermuda and swam with the dolphins over the weekend.

Christine Mihelcic of Dolphin Quest said it was an honour to have the Simmons family at the facility, and they were a kind and loving family.

Rev Run — aka Joseph Ward Simmons — is one of the founding members of the hip hop group Run D.M.C, and also appeared on an MTV reality entitled “Run’s House” along with his family.

Photos of Quantum of the Seas' engines being delivered have surfaced on a photographer's web site, who appears to be working for the Meyer Werft shipyard.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid Fiebak Photography

Photo courtesy of Ingrid Fiebak Photography

Photo courtesy of Ingrid Fiebak Photography

The photos are dated for August 23, 2013 and look like the engines are now in place on Quantum of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean fans excitement for Quantum of the Seas has been pretty high since the first details of the ship were announced earlier this year and today we know one more detail about the ship.  Specifically, we know one feature that will not be on the brand new ship that is under construction.

In his monthy questions and answers, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein confirmed there are no plans by Royal Caribbean to add a water slide to Quantum of the Seas.

When asked if Royal Caribbean has any plans to add water slides to any of its ships, Golsteing replied, "At this time we don’t have plans to build water slides; however, we will send this suggestion along to our New Build team."

Quantum of the Seas will begin sailing from the New York area in November 2014. Her sister ship, Anthem of the Seas, and a third Oasis Class ship will begin sailing in 2015 and we have a third Quantum Class ship on order.

Sit back and catch up on this week's Royal Caribbean news.  We've gone through and hand-picked some fun articles for you to take a look at in case you missed any of it.

We're big fans of Royal Caribbean's private destination of Labadee and this week we posted an in-depth first timer's guide to this little piece of paradise.

From the different regions of Labadee, to what each beach offers, this is your virtual tour guide to what to do when you arrive here.  Just as important as the beaches, we did not neglect to mention to try at least one Labadoozie while you're there!

Here we go, let's dive in!

Royal Caribbean News

• Going to Europe next year? Royal Caribbean is offering free shore excursions for kids on its 2014 European cruises.
• Royal Caribbean has renewed its partnership with Bank of America and expanded its credit card reward program.
• Here's our list of the top 10 classic Royal Caribbean television commercials. Have you seen them all?
• Royal Caribbean was beat up in the media this week so Matt posted an op-ed piece defending Royal Caribbean.
• Looking to take better photos on your next Royal Caribbean cruise? Timothy Corbin shares some helpful tips.
• Have you taken a ride on the carousel on the Oasis-class ships?
• Don't miss this week's batch of photos our readers sent in for Friday Photos.
• If you're going to Labadee, be sure to consult our first timer's guide to Labadee.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The third episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available and we're going BIG, discussing Oasis of the Seas.

Joining us on this week's show is Beci Mahnken of MEI Travel, and we looked at why Oasis of the Seas is so impressive, innovations on the ship and we also shared tips for what not to miss onboard.

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

Someone created a 1:1 scale replica of Quantum of the Seas in Minecraft. 

USA Today has a list of the best fast food at sea, which includes the Boardwalk Dog House.

Cruise Critic has information on everything you need to know about repositioning cruises in 2013.

Royal Caribbean is offering a "Kids Tour Free" offer for its 2014 Europe cruises, where new reservations for 2014 Royal Caribbean European cruises will recieve free shore excursions for kids 12 and under when two adults in the same stateroom book the same excursion.   In order to take advantage of the Kids Tour Free offer, guests must purchase their Europe cruise from August 24 through September 30, 2013 and can book their shore excursion through December 15, 2013.  

In addition, Royal Caribbean is offering guests $1,000 off any balcony or higher stateroom when they book their seven-night or longer Europe 2014 cruise between August 24 through September 30, 2013 and theirair travel through Royal Caribbean’s ChoiceAir program from August 24 through December 15, 2013. Royal Caribbean is also giving vacationers the opportunity to book their cruise with a 50 percent reduced stateroom deposit.

Guests interested in taking advantage of the “Kids Tour Free” offer should visit RoyalCaribbean.com/KidsTourFree for more information.

Royal Caribbean Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Lisa Bauer, commented on the new sale, "As kids head back to school, it’s the perfect time for families to start planning their next vacation, especially when you can take advantage of a value driven offer like Kids Tour Free.   Europe cruise vacation is the ideal itinerary to bring text books to life as young minds explore one of our many educational and enriching ports and shore excursions. Plus, the best way for families to enjoy all that Europe has to offer is to combine it with a diverse array of onboard activities from the Flowrider surf simulator and rock climbing wall to a Broadway show and spectacular entertainment for an experience only found on Royal Caribbean."