The US Virgin Islands is popular among Eastern Caribbean cruise stops and the island of St. Thomas is an American owned island with Caribbean flair.  Great beaches and shopping highlight what there is to see and do here.

St. Thomas Benefits

• Beaches: St. Thomas features some very beautiful beaches, including Magens Bay, which is among the most beautiful beaches in the world.  There's also other beaches here that offer beautiful water color and very fine sand.  When you think of a Caribbean beach, St. Thomas is the sort of beach experience you will have in mind.
  • Best public beach: Magens Bay or Coki Beach
• Shopping: St. Thomas offers a lot of shopping options around and near the cruise terminal.  Being an American island, the prices here are fairly close to what you'd expect to find back on the mainland.  The island boasts good prices on jewelry, liquor, linens, china and crystal.  By far jewelry is what is in demand here and there are lots of places to check out.  There is no sales tax in the United States Virgin Islands so you can take advantage of the $1,600 duty-free allowance per family member (remember to save your receipts).
• Proximity to St John: It's common for St. Thomas to have many cruise ships in port but St. John is very close and there are water taxi options that take just 20 minutes to get over to the island.  For those that have visited St. Thomas before, St. John is close enough to allow for two ports in one.

St. Thomas Detractions

• Traffic: Like many small Caribbean islands, traffic can snarl up the roads often and quickly.  This is especially true in the late afternoon, which is typically when cruise ships leave port. If you are planning to use a third-party excursion or going to explore on your own, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back.  
• Crowds: During the busy season, it is not uncommon to have six or more cruise ships docked in port on any given day and that leads to a lot of people in one place.  St. Thomas has cemented itself as a cruise destination and many cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, send many of their ships here.  More than likely you will feel engulfed in a sea of other tourists.

What to do in St. Thomas

On your next Royal Caribbean cruise to St. Thomas consider these activities

• Beach visit to one of their beautiful beaches, including Magens Bay, Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach
• Take water taxi to St. John
• Duty-free shopping in Charlotte Amalie
• Go to Mountain Top (it's a bit of a tourist trap, but the view is worth it)

Royal Caribbean ships stopping in St. Thomas: Freedom of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas & Legend of the Seas

Today marks the beginning of Royal Caribbean's WOW Sale, where Royal Caribbean claims to find some of its best offers to book a cruise.  The 3-day WOW sale touts savings of up to $200 per cabin.

For the sale, booking your cruise during this sale will get onboard credits depending on the length of your cruise.

• $50 for 3-5 night cruises
• $100 for 6-9 night cruises
• $200 for 10+ night cruises

In addition to the onboard credit offer, customers can also book their cabin for 50% of the normal deposit price.

This WOW sale is valid on all Royal Caribbean cruises departing between September 1, 2013 - August 31, 2014.  Sale ends on June 12, 2013

It's worth noting that Royal Caribbean says the WOW sale cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion, including Crown & Anchor, Shareholder Benefit, Future and Next Cruise offers.

Will you be booking a cruise because of this sale?

Photo sent by Kenneth Kinzig 

Royal Caribbean Italy general director Gianni Rotondo says that Naples, Italy plays a strategic role in Royal Caribbean's 2013 cruise plans with 84 ports of call, which will bring more than 250,000 cruise passengers through the city.

Liberty of the Seas will be one of four Royal Caribbean ships to call on Naples this year.  In 2014, Naples will be a port of call when Oasis of the Seas arrives for a short European cruise season as well. All of this is "a great opportunity for the city in terms of economic return and tourism development."

The company has bet their cruise strategy on Naples, in the belief that "the whole South of Italy", said Rotondo, "has great potential and we hope to increase more and more our presence in the area thanks to the significant synergies with the local authorities" .

Through August 30 guests aboard Liberty of the Seas can take a seven-day cruise with stops in Barcelona (Spain), Toulon (France), Villefranche (France), La Spezia, Civitavecchia and return to Naples.
 

Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas will offer an inaugural transatlantic cruise on November 2, 2014 out of Southampton, England.

The eight-night cruise was announced today by Royal Caribbean and will go leave from Southampton on its way to Bayonne, New Jersey, where it will arrive on November 10.

The cost for the transatlantic first starts at $1049 per person and is on sale now.

Quantum of the Seas will be the first of three Quantum-class ships, none of which are built yet.  Quantum of the Seas will make her debut in November 2014, with sister cruise ships Anthem of the Seas following in spring 2015 and a third, unnamed Quantum class ship in mid-2016.

Royal Caribbean has announced its next WOW Sale, with offers of up to $200 onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposits for sailings departing on or after September 1, 2013.

This WOW sale is valid on all worldwide sailings of three nights or longer departing after September 1, 2013.

• Cruises of 3 to 5 nights get US$50 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 6 to 9 nights get US$100 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 10 nights or more get US$200 onboard credit per stateroom

The onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposit offers are applicable to all Royal Caribbean International cruises that sail on or after September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014, including cruisetours. Offer is available only in the U.S. and Canada and applies to all categories available. All bookings must be made and the required deposit must be paid by June 12, 2013, by 11:59 p.m. local time to qualify for the promotion.

What is a WOW Sale? Are WOW Sales good deals?  Read our Cruise 101: WOW Sale post to get information on what this deal is all about.

Royal Caribbean has reached an agreement with Steiner Leisure Limited to be the exclusive provider of spas, salons and fitness centers and related beauty, wellness and medi-spa services and products on Royal Caribbean vessels currently sailing, as well as the Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, scheduled to enter service in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Steiner Leisure President and Chief Executive Officer Leonard Fluxman spoke about some of the new innovations that will debut on Quantum of the Seas that will be "environment of firsts". Among these firsts is Vitality Powered by Technogym®, the first fitness center on board Royal Caribbean to feature the modern professional equipment from this industry leader.

Quantum of the Seas will feature a two-level, state-of-the-art Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center that offers two private fitness consultation rooms and a dedicated Flywheel™ indoor cycling studio, as well as our Smile Spa, barber shop, Thermal Suite, and relaxation lounge. Passengers will have the opportunity to choose from a comprehensive array of Elemis® face and body therapies, Bliss® treatments, and medi-spa services, performed in one of our 19 serene treatment rooms.

Fluxman commented on the new agreement, "For many years, we have enjoyed offering Royal Caribbean's guests our growing variety of healthful options for decompressing, revitalizing and luxuriating.  We look forward to being a memorable part of the vacation experience of Royal Caribbean travellers, and continuing our collaboration with this conceptually and stylistically innovative brand."

In addition to Quantum and Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean extended their original agreement with Steiner for all of its cruise ships through 2017. 

Last year Royal Caribbean sparked a lot of discussion when it paid for a product placement spot in the middle of the Tony Awards, the yearly award show for Broadway shows.  This year, Royal Caribbean is back as the official cruise line of the Tony Awards but there won't be a not-so-subtle ad in the middle again.

Last year Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein came out in swimwear and introduced a "Hairspray" number from a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which turned out to be a paid sponsorship. The number drew criticism for its in-show commercialism in the otherwise proper Tonys. 

Proponents of the segment felt it was done in good taste and helped show off that cruise ship entertainment can be more classy than usually given credit for.

Tony award producer Glenn Weiss commented that there wont be a repeat performance this year, "It's not anything that's being repeated."

Royal Caribbean officially opened booking for it's newest cruise ship that is still under construction, Quantum of the Seas, to the general public.  Last week members of Royal Caribbean's loyalty program were given special access to book the new ship ahead of everyone else.

Royal Caribbean has cruises available from November 2014, when the ship debuts, through April 2015.  Quantum of the Seas' inaugural cruise is not listed as available for sale on the Royal Caribbean web site, which may indicate the inaugural cruise has sold out already.

On the Bahamas cruises, the ship will call at Port Canaveral, Fla., Nassau and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas. The Eastern Caribbean cruises will include San Juan, Puerto Rico; Samana, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas; St. Kitts; and St. Maarten. The Southern Caribbean cruises will call at San Juan, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and St. Kitts. On most sailings, the ship also will visit Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private beach on the north coast of Haiti.

If you're interested in booking your spot on one of the first cruises Quantum of the Seas embarks on, you can call Royal Caribbean directly, consult a travel agent or book online.