Royal Caribbean has launched a new sale for all of its 6-night or longer sailings for the new Wave Season.  Wave Season refers to the time in the first few months of the year when cruise lines see their biggest surge in bookings for the year to come.

Royal Caribbean is offering customers who book a 6-night or longer Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe or Transatlantic sailing in 2013 up to $400 onboard credit per stateroom.

For Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean & Transatlantic Sailings

• Outside cabin: $50 per stateroom
• Balcony cabin: $100 per stateroom
• Suite cabin: $200 per stateroom

For European sailings

• Outside cabin: $100 per stateroom
• Balcony cabin: $200 per stateroom
• Suite cabin: $400 per stateroom

Bookings must be made between January 1, 2013 and February 15, 2013. Offer is valid on 6-night or longer Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe, and Transatlantic sailings between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013.

Royal Caribbean offered an inside look at how they use software to manage their fleet of cruise ships to CIO.com.  It's always interesting to see how Royal Caribbean manages to perform its daily operations given how many thousands of passengers it has to accomodate.

The case example begins with Allure of the Seas, where Royal Caribbean director of software engineering Jose Machado and IT manager James Defendis offered a tour of the ship's IT resources.

Royal Caribbean provides the software to run the hotel, from reservations to guest relations to point-of-sale software at the shops. In addition, Royal Caribbean provides Internet for guests, email for employees and, as well as software to count the number of checked-out towels at the pool.

As an example of how Royal Caribbean develops its technology quickly, the 32" wayfinder LCD screens throughout the ship are developed using emerging Linux touchscreen technologies.  To get this product to their ships quickly, Royal Caribbean essentially "rents" expertise to accelerate the development process. The applications that will never be seen by guests, on the other hand, including staff email, the reservation system or the towel check-out, have a lower priority, he says. They need to function, and the cost of maintaining them needs to be stay lower than the cost of a rewrite.

Royal Caribbean has deployed iPads to every suite onboard Allure of the Seas as well as Oasis of the Seas.  Challenges with having iPads work the way the company want popped up immediately.

Beatriz Rivero, the project's program manager, describes operational challenges such as testing streaming video on multiple devices on a floor running simultaneously. (To address this, Royal added routers and reserved extra bandwidth.) The devices also have cameras, which pose a privacy risk: Next week's guests seeing last week's guests personal photos. Royal deals with this by treating an iPad like a pair of bed sheets—each device is replaced with a fresh one and wiped. Meanwhile, the technology group is working with vendors to lock down local-save features.

Our friend Beci from MEI-Travel took a cruise on Liberty of the Seas last month and shared these great photos with all of us from her cruise.  Here's a quick look around the ship!

Inside Johnny Rocket's

Pool play area

Special wine dispensers in Vintages

Looking down the Royal Promenade

Christmas decorations on Royal Promenade

Boxing ring in gym

Swinging chairs on pool deck

Solarium pool

Pool deck

Casino

Schooner Bar

Looking up at the elevators

FlowRider

Vintages Wine Bar

Looking down from elevators

Hoof & Claw bar

Cupcake Cupboard

Cupcakes!

Royal Caribbean ordered a third (and possibly fourth) Oasis-class cruise ship earlier this week and already many of our readers are wondering about what the new ship's name will be.  Perhaps recent trademark filings by Royal Caribbean will give us a clue.

Back on Friday, November 2, 2012, Royal Caribbean applied for trademarks for the following ship names.  Could one of these be the next name for the new third Oasis-class ship?

• Anthem of the Seas
• Ovation of the Seas
• Passion of the Seas
• Pulse of the Seas
• Quantum of the Seas
• Vantage of the Seas

For Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean held contests to name the ship.  It is not known if Royal Caribbean will use one of these six names or hold another contest to name the ship.

The new Oasis class ship that Royal Caribbean ordered from STX France will begin construction in September 2013.  Plans for the new ship will be drawn up in January 2013.

Officials from STX France have said the deal is worth in excess of one billion euros ($1.3 billion) and represents more than 10 million man hours in work over the next three years for the shipyard and its sub-contractors.

The third Oasis-class ship will be delivered to Royal Caribbean in mid-2016. If Royal Caribbean exercises the option for a fourth Oasis-class vessel, it would be delivered in mid-2018.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault commented the deal is "oxygen" and "a lot of hope" for the region and French industry as a whole.

Meanwhile in Finland, some are upset that STX Europe shipyard in Turku missed out on the order, given that the Finnish shipyard was Royal Caribbean's first choice for where to build the ships.  Given that once STX in Turku finishes its current order for Viking River Cruises, there is not much else on order with the shipyard.  

Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs, Jan Vapaavuori held a press conference in Helsinki today to discuss why Finland opted not to bankroll the new ship order.  In addition, Vapaavouri says Finland will inquire within the European Union to ensure STX France played in accordance with EU rules.  Vapaavuori emphasized that the Finnish government did everything in their power to obtain the cruise ship order for the Turku shipyard.

Royal Caribbean announced today it has secured a deal with STX France to construct a third Oasis class ship that will be delivered by mid-2016.

The ship will be the same size as the Oasis and Allure of the Seas, and will accommodate 5,400 passengers.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain commented on the news, "The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have fundamentally transformed the cruise experience for our guests. These ships have consistently generated outstanding guest satisfaction ratings and continue to produce superior financial results. We are thrilled to be adding a sister to this extraordinary class of vessels at a compelling price. Being back building in France just adds to the pleasure."

Including today's contract and existing ship orders, projected capital expenditures for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 are $1.3 billion, $700 million, $1.2 billion, $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. The company's annualized capacity growth rate from 2012 to 2016 remains at a historically low rate of 3.5%.

Royal Caribbean was negotiating with STX Europe in Finland to construct the third vessel, but a deal could not be worked out with the Finnish government.

Royal Caribbean has a one-year option to build a fourth Oasis-class ship from STX France, which would be delivered in mid-2018. 

An injured pelican that landed on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas is being treated at BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty and emergency hospital in Tampa on Thursday.

The pelican injured itself when it flew into the Jewel of the Seas' superstructure and subsequently landed on the ship.  The bird was originally from Holland Island, Maryland and was  tagged by the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory back on September 7th.

Doctors from BluePearl Veterinary Partners avian and exotics medicine team are treating the bird for dehydration and after a physical examination determined the bird has a minor wing injury that will require rehabilitation.

According to Royal Caribbean, the pelican landed on deck 12 of the port-side of Jewel of the Seas shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The ship was returning to its seasonal homeport of Tampa after calling at Cozumel, Mexico, on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean International staff transferred the injured bird to Hillsborough County Animal Services during a port call in Tampa, Thursday at approximately 10 a.m.

The pelican is scheduled to be transferred to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary Friday where the bird will receive rehabilitation treatment.

Royal Caribbean cruises out of Baltimore are expected to continue despite a potential labor strike at the port.

The International Longshoreman's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance are working against a December 30th deadline to reach a new labor agreement.  A strike or lockout have been threatened by both sides if a deal is not reached in time.

Cruises would continue under a International Longshoreman’s Association strike. A lockout, however, threatens to shut down all business at the Port of Baltimore.

It is unlikely the International Longshoreman’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance reach a deal before Sunday’s deadline, said Douglas N. Wolfe, general manager of Ceres Marine Terminals Inc. at the Port of Baltimore. Ceres employs about 170 cargo and container handlers at the port through the ILA, Wolfe said. 

Wolfe says that the Port of Baltimore will find a way to get passengers and their bags on those cruise shipss even if there is a lockout.

“I don’t see the cruise business being affected,” Wolfe said. “It think people will go on cruises. I know my company is dedicated to getting people to work.”

Mary Joan Levin, owner of the Baltimore-based travel agency Royal Travel Planners, said cruise lines would likely bring in their own workers or fly passengers to other departure ports in case of a lockout.  Either way, she hopes cruising will continue in the face of a possible strike or lockout.

When you choose a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, it's important to know what's special and unique about that ship so you can take advantage of it.  Today we will begin a look at the ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet and what is fun and exciting about it, starting with Freedom of the Seas.

Best place for sail away: the helicopter pad

Most guests enjoy Freedom of the Seas leaving port from their balcony cabin or the pool deck, but a lesser known fact is you can enjoy sailaway from the helicopter landing pad on the bow (front) of the ship.  

You can get to this special spot by walking all the way forward on deck 4 outside. There will be stairs that go up to the next deck, and farther forward is the helipad.

In addition, some nights the helipad is open to passengers at night which is perfect for star gazing.  Which night the helipad is open will vary from sailing to sailing.

FlowRider

One of the unique entertainment offerings on Freedom of the Seas is the FlowRider, which is a surfing simulator located on the back of the ship.  This is a free activity where you can try to learn to surf in a controlled environment.  There are also private and group FlowRider classes offered.

Lines for the FlowRider can be long for most of the cruise.  Try to hit it up as soon as you embark upon Freedom of the Seas on the first day or during port days.

Buy One, Get One Free Margaritas

Lately the "On the Air" bar on Freedom of the Seas has been offering buy one, get one free margarita drinks, which is fantastic deal for those that enjoy having adult beverages during their cruise.  We've seen this deal offered throughout the cruise as well as starting on the 2nd or 3rd day.  Check with the bar or your cruise compass when you board, but it's hard to go wrong with free drinks.

Freedom of the Seas Entertainment

Freedom of the Seas offers some unique entertainment that is only found on a few other ships in the fleet

• Ice skating show (Freedom-ice.com)
• DreamWorks parade in Promenade
• DreamWorks character breakfast (free with reservation)
• Marquee (stage show)
• Now You See It (stage show)
• Headliner Show
• Once Upon a Time (stage show)

Boxing Ring

Freedom of the Seas offers a boxing ring for passengers to use inside their massive gym.  Here you can take boxing lessons, which can be a fun workout.  Passengers can take individual or group boxing lessons for an additional cost. 

Ben and Jerry "Sweet"

On the promenade there is a special stateroom that overlooks the promenade area, cabin 6305, which is unique because it is themed to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop that is below it. The cabin lies directly above the Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop on the Royal Promenade. And because on the porch of Ben & Jerry's two life-size cow figurines, the passengers look through their window behind these cows.

If you happen to stay in this stateroom, you will get certain extra amenities such as complimentary Ben & Jerry's ice cream as well as access to the concierge lounge.  

Freedom of the Seas quick info

Formal Nights: Day 2 (Monday) and Day 6 (Friday).  Monday is also the Captain's Reception

Specialty Restaurants: Chops, Portofino & Johnny Rockets
Other food that costs extra: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Cupcake Cupboard, Cafe Promenade (coffee), Vintages (wine)