Introduction: Royal Caribbean Cruises and the Top Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships
Everyone deserves a little bit of time off from their hectic lives, and there is nothing more relaxing and refreshing than enjoying a cruise through some of the most beautiful ocean areas around our globe.
Royal Caribbean cruises have been chosen by millions of people for their vacations around the world, and the Royal Caribbean cruise line is one of the most well-known and respected options when it comes to sailing the seas.
Finding cheap Royal Caribbean cruises, however, isn’t always easy and depends on finding the time to research Royal Caribbean reviews to find the best way to enjoy top Royal Caribbean cruises.
In this brief article, AdvisoryHQ will look at how to enjoy the best Royal Caribbean cruise ships and how to find the best Royal Caribbean cruise deals. We will begin by looking at the history of the Royal Caribbean cruise line before turning our attention to some facts and figures on Royal Caribbean cruises.
For people looking for cheap Royal Caribbean cruises, we will explore when is the best time to find the best Royal Caribbean cruise deals.
Next, we’ll look at where to search to find the best Royal Caribbean deals as well as look at some of the Royal Caribbean cruise reviews so that you can determine if Royal Caribbean cruise ships are right for you and your next vacation.
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History of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
The Royal Caribbean cruise line has been in existence since 1968. serving millions of customers around the world with some of the best cruises available. Royal Caribbean cruises operate worldwide under the business name Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
In 1997, Celebrity Cruises was bought out by Royal Caribbean Cruises, making Royal Caribbean the second largest cruise operator in the world. During the last decade and a half, the Royal Caribbean cruise line has been buying out several smaller cruise operators, including Island Cruises and Pullmantur Cruises based out of Spain.
As Royal Caribbean Cruises has continued to expand, they have also begun creating new cruise lines based in different parts of the world in order to serve a larger audience of customers.
The Royal Caribbean cruise line recently created the CDF Croisières de France as a subsidiary cruise line aimed at the French market as well as the TUI-AG, which is aimed at the German-speaking world.
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Some Facts and Figures on Royal Caribbean Cruises
One of the biggest draws of Royal Caribbean cruises is their continually expanding Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Many of the Royal Caribbean reviews find that the most intriguing aspect of sailing the seas with Royal Caribbean cruises is their luxury cruise ships that are widely considered to be the youngest afloat among the large cruise ship operators.
There are 25 Royal Caribbean cruise ships on the Royal Caribbean International Line, along with ten others that formed part of the Celebrity cruise line. Most of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been built from the year 2000 onward, with many of their most recent additions, such as the Ovation of the Seas. being completed in 2016.
Additionally, the largest Royal Caribbean cruise ships, such as Harmony of the Seas. is able to hold well over 6,000 passengers along with over 2,000 crew. These monster ships, besides their size, also contain some of the very best luxuries and accomodations a traveler could wish for.
Royal Caribbean cruises employs over 64,000 people and had total assets numbering over 20 billion dollars in 2014. They are one of the largest tourism companies in the world and operate worldwide.
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When Is the Best Time to Find Royal Caribbean Cruise Deals?
If you are looking for cheap Royal Caribbean cruises, the most important thing you can do is make your vacation plans early and plan on booking your trip well ahead of time.
The earlier you book, the better chance you will have of finding quality Royal Caribbean cruise deals. As the date of your trip gets closer and closer, inventory drops and prices will go up. Waiting for the last second is never a good idea if you’re a bargain hunter.
Nonetheless, another way to find quality Royal Caribbean deals is waiting until the absolute last second. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to get away from work for a couple of weeks at the last minute — but if you can do that, many times you can find great Royal Caribbean deals on cruises that don’t fill up.
In order to add passengers to an empty ship, Royal Caribbean cruises will often drop prices a couple of days before the start date of a cruise to try and get some last minute sign ups.
If you are simply looking for Royal Caribbean deals during certain times of the year and want to plan well ahead of time, try to book a trip when most kids are in school. The summer months are often the priciest option.
According to Royal Caribbean Blog. “Supply and demand dominates Royal Caribbean pricing strategy and so cruises during Christmas, Spring Break and the Summer can [be] much more expensive than other times of the year.
If you have the flexibility to go when kids are still in school, you can save lots of money. Likewise, cruising during hurricane season can net you savings along with immediately after or before major holidays when most people do not have vacation time.”
Another strategy to finding Royal Caribbean deals might be to consider buying during “wave season,” a time of year when the seas are a bit choppier. Between January and March, many cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean cruises, might very well lower their prices in order to get more people to come aboard during this relatively slow period.
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How Do You Find Royal Caribbean Deals?
Fortunately, there are a number of different strategies to try and get quality Royal Caribbean deals besides just booking at certain times of the year. Many times, Royal Caribbean cruises will highly advertise trips on their newer and fancier ships.
Image source: Pixabay
While these Royal Caribbean cruise ships do certainly offer the newest technologies and finest luxuries, the older Royal Caribbean cruise ships are certainly not shabby.
Booking a trip on an older ship might very well save you a couple hundred dollars while still getting you a quality vacation on the high seas.
Also, you might be able to find quality Royal Caribbean deals through using your credit card rewards. A number of credit card companies have specific reward programs that are tailored toward folks who love a good cruise vacation.
More specifically, Bank of America has a card that is partnered with the Royal Caribbean cruise line and will allow you to earn points toward onboard credits and, if you use your card enough, even a free cruise.
Lastly, you can find Royal Caribbean cruise deals through travel agents. While many people balk at the idea of paying someone to search for deals that you might be able to find by yourself online, travel agents do have a number of channels that they can explore that you might not be aware of.
According to Cruisecritic. com. “it’s in an agent’s own best interest to find their clients the best deal and sometimes the time and research you’re saved from doing is worth more than the onboard credit.”
Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews
As with anything you purchase, it always pays to read up on the reviews beforehand. There are a number of websites online with Royal Caribbean reviews from both a professional standpoint and from an independent, bias-free customer’s perspective.
You can find Royal Caribbean cruise reviews based on each and every individual Royal Caribbean cruise ship. There are also Royal Caribbean reviews of the company as a whole.
Two of the best websites to find great Royal Caribbean cruise reviews are Cruisereviews. com and Cruise Critic. With both of these websites, you can search for Royal Caribbean reviews on individual ships, individual trips, or the overall quality of Royal Caribbean cruises.
They also can help you find a cruise to several different destinations around the world, including the Caribbean, Asia, and the Bahamas.
According to their website. “Royal Caribbean operates one of cruising’s most intriguing fleets. Ships range from mid-sized and middle-aged to state-of-the-art and over-the-top mega-ships. The line continuously updates even its oldest ships, bringing onboard some of the most popular features from its newest vessels.
The line boasts the three biggest ships in the world — Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas.”
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Conclusion – The Best Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships and the Top Royal Caribbean Deals for a Fantastic Vacation Getaway
There is no better way to get away from the hectic rat race of life than enjoying a quality cruise on one of the absolute best cruise lines. Royal Caribbean cruises have long been an industry leader offering some of the absolute best ships, the best destinations, and the greatest deals.
Some of the top Royal Caribbean cruise ships include activities such as indoor sky diving, rock climbing, multiple pools, and a glass capsule that rises over 300 feet above sea level to offer its visitors a 360-degree panoramic view of the ocean.
Finding the best Royal Caribbean deals takes a little bit of time and dedication, but there are a number of ways to get on board one of the top cruise ships in the world without breaking the bank. Choose the time for your vacation wisely, and, if you have the flexibility, consider waiting for last minute deals to pop up.
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Over the years Royal Caribbean has developed a number of "signature" restaurants that you will find on most of the newer ships in addition to the regular dining rooms. Signature restaurants include "Chop's Grill" for premium dining. The newest ships have premium and even gourmet dining options, while the older ships have fewer options. The company is now in the process of retro-fitting some of the older ships with newer restaurants - and for that reason it is inportant to check out each ship individually to see what is included.
Kid's Excursions
Royal Caribbean's Adventure Ocean youth program has age-specific facilities and programs supervised by youth counselors for Aqaunauts (age 3-5, must be toilet trained), Explorers (age 6-8), Voyagers (age 9-11), Navigators (age 12-14) and Teens (age 15-17). A new program for infants and toddlers 6 months to 3 years, in partnership with toymaker Fisher-Price, offers children accompanied by an adult 45-minute playgroups involving storytelling, creative arts, music and a variety of Fisher-Price learning toys and games. Adventure Ocean runs year-round in the Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska. Organized activities are offered from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. with group babysitting from 10 p. m. to 1 a. m. for a fee. Teen centers are now open past 2 a. m.
Private babysitting is offered from 8:00 a. m. to 2:00 a. m. provided sitters are available, for children from six months old at $8.00 per child per hour, with a minimum of three hours and a $2.00 per hour charge for each additional child.
The Vision, Voyager and Radiance-class ships all have private teen clubs and discos, and supervised teen activities are available on RCI's private islands.
On Voyager and Radiance-class ships, Adventure Ocean Computer Centers have age-appropriate software and staff-guided tutorials.
There' a special menu for children -- Captain Sealy's Kids Galley Menu, to name names. A Fountain Soda Package can be purchased for the cruise. The package includes fountain sodas and juices at all bars, lounges, dining rooms and private destinations. Kids 17 and younger pay $4.00 per person per day plus a 15% gratuity. For teens 17 and older, and adults, the charge is $6.00 per person per day plus the 15 % gratuity.
The Vision, Voyager and Radiance-class ships all have family staterooms.
RCI has a seven-night "Orlando Experience" package, a seven-night program featuring a four-night Sovereign of the Seas cruise from Port Canaveral, accommodations at the Portofino Bay Hotel a two-day pass to Universal Studios, $20 meal voucher at Hard Rock Cafe, one-day admission to the Guinness World Records Experience attraction and a 15% discount on Alamo car rentals.
Special Programs
RCI owns two private resorts, CocoCay in the Bahamas and Labadee, Haiti, to which it delivers its delighted passengers. Its "ShipShape" fitness program includes full jogging track, workout classes, full gym, spa and solarium. Golf Ahoy! offers scheduled golfing in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico, and Hawaii. Climbing walls, so popular on the Voyager and Radiance-class ships, have been added to the entire fleet. Hats off to Royal Caribbean, incidentally, for not piling on a lot of equipment "rental" fees on ice skates and roller blades.
That RCI is extraordinarily committed to the comfort and pleasure of its differently abled passengers is clear from its multifaceted Accessible Seas Program, which, for instance, added Braille deck numbers to staircase handrails on all of its ships in 2003.
The Academy at Sea offers passengers a chance to learn about a variety of topics -- Theatre Production; Beauty; Health and Fitness; Hospitality and Beverage; and Photography -- on sea days. The highly informative yet informal classes are taught by onboard staff and are well attended. A new program, Vitality at Sea, offers special cuisine and various activities throughout the ship, all identified by a green logo.
The Experience
When Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines was founded 1969 by a diverse collection of Norwegian companies, the name and company focus was intended to meld the majestic reputation of the Norwegian royal class with the dawning age of dedicated Caribbean cruising out of Miami. Today, RCCL is also a major player in Alaska, Mexico, New England/Canada, Hawaii, Australia, Europe and Asia, too, but being merely another cruise line is not what they are most noted for; the mainstay of their reputation is for building ever larger and more innovative vessels that offer more features per ship than most cruise lines can manage to extend across an entire fleet. They were the first to put rock climbing on a ship, a skating rink, and on their newer ships, Oasis-class, they even have inward facing balcony cabins, a large outdoor “Central Park" and a "Surf-Rider Wave Pool.
The newest class, introduced in late 2014, includes a simulated sky-diving experience (a wind-tunnel the keeps the guest aloft), bumber cars and "NorthStar" - a pod on a crane that lifts up to 12 guests high above the ship for spectacular views, and the first inside staterooms with full-size “virtual balcony” picture windows that are really video screens to show you the view outside as if you had a real window.
Obviously, the focus at Royal Caribbean is on creating a shipboard experience that rivals the ports of call; the "ship as the destination" cruise. This is now common among mainstream cruise lines; Royal caribbean, and its rivals; Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Royal Caribbean in the best line for "tech-savvy" cruisers who really enjoy a fun atmosphere. The ships are big and somewhat crowded, but with something to appeal to everyone in the family, but it is hard to compete with Carnival's simple concept; build fun ships with good food and a very friendly and competent staff. Carnival may be arguably "more fun" based solely upon their attitude, while Royal Caribbean is “high-tech with something for everybody."
But for avid cruisers - a Royal Caribbean cruise should not be missed! If any ship deserves to be tried at least once it is one of Royal Caribbean's mega-ships. These ships define the concept of "the ship as the destination" more than any other in the world, with onboard water parks, ice skating, rock climbing, surf riding, a variety of pubs, large casinos, and simply the biggest ships imaginable; larger than Carnival's biggest by almost double. Even if you don't care to get wet, skate or climb rocks, don't dismiss the people-watching wow factor.
The oldest ship in the fleet is the Majesty of the Seas, built in 1992 at 73,000-tons, and at the time no one could believe a cruise ship could ever be so big. The ship also had the first atrium at sea, a concept other cruise lines scurried to copy. Now she is last of Sovereign-class. In 2007 she received a facelift and today she sails an eclectic combination of itineraries from three and four-night cruises to Nassau from Miami.
With the Vision-class ships (Vision and Splendour of the Seas launched in 1995, 1996), Grandeur and Enchantment of the Seas (1996, 1997) and Rhapsody and Legend of the Seas (1997, 1998), Royal Caribbean made their signature Viking Crown Lounges more easily accessible by perching them atop the "Centrum" (the atrium) giving the ships an easily identifiable space age look. These ships also used more glass than had heretofore been thought possible, delighting their passengers with remarkable sea views.
In November 1999, RCI launched the highly anticipated Voyager of the Seas, at 138,000-tons and 3114 passengers it was by far the biggest cruise ship ever. The ship introduced such further innovations as an indoor promenade area – an open space running the length of the ship big enough for parades, like a virtual shopping mall at sea. The ship had the first ice skating rink, a rock climbing wall, and a rollerblade rink. Such was the Voyager's class's immensity that it actually had its own Zip code -- 33132-2028.
Smaller, but offering enhanced entertainment options similar to the Voyager-class, the Radiance-class vessels that debuted in 2001 sported all glass elevators facing the sea, and were propelled by a new smokeless and vibration-free engine, with Azipod propulsion. This class of ships, including Radiance (2001,)Brilliance (2002), Serenade (2003), and Jewel of the Seas (2004) are considered the “right-size” ships for being new but smaller, so you get the best in technology and more personalized service.
By the end of 2003, Voyager also had four sister ships in service; which until the delivery of Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 in December 2003, they were the biggest passenger ships in the world. But then Royal Caribbean reclaimed the record of “world’s largest cruise ship” with its first Ultra Voyager ship, Freedom of the Seas launched in 2006 and now with a sister ships, Liberty of the Seas, launched in May of 2007 and Independence of the Seas launched in 2008. Fully 18 stories high, Freedom-class ships carry 3,430 passengers (double occupancy) and 1,400 crew.
In 2010 the world's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, debuted to great acclaim. This is is 220,000-tons, almost one third larger than any other cruise in the world. Its sister ship, Allure of the Seas, is said to be just a few microns bigger, barely enough to measure. These two ships are truly the wonders of the cruise world, with completely different designs and a vast array of entertainment options. I call them the ships everyone should try at least once. Please read the special reviews just for these Oasis-class ships.
The new "Quantum-class ships debuted in 2014, with sister ship Anthem coming in 2015. A third ship of the class is also on order, as is another ship of the Oasis class - both yet to be named.
With an average passenger age of 42, about five years younger than the industry average, these are wonderful ships for families with children of all ages, including teens, who have their own private club and disco.
Alternative restaurants with menus that don't change over the course of the cruise are available on all ships, each charging a $20 to $40 per-person cover. Make reservations as early as possible in your cruise or you may get locked out. But a new concept being introduced slowly is "Dynamic Dining" where guests dine in a different restaurant each night - each with a unique culinary theme. Unfortunately, the reality did not live up to the concept - people found they preferred some restaurants over others, so some reservations became mandatory, and the people who did not make them found themselves eating in the less desirable restaurants more nights than planned.
All staterooms come with a queen bed that can be converted to single beds, private bathroom, phone, closed-circuit television, mini bar and hair dryers. They are decorated in bright colors presumably intended to evoke the Caribbean. As the ships get newer the staterooms tend to get larger, and so Quantum will have the largest staterooms on average of any Royal Caribbean ship yet.
Cabins
Older ships have somewhat small staterooms by industry standards, while the lines newest ship, Quantum (coming in 2014) will have the largest staterooms on average of any Royal Caribbean ships.
Stateroom design did not change much at all through the early 2000s - until Oasis came along with a variety of inside facing balcony cabins and some spectacular suites. The newer Quantum class has similar suites, but the standard staterooms are a bit smaller in width. However, all Royal caribbean staterooms are utile with plenty of storage and comfortable amenities.
Some of the ships have beautiful, two-story loft suites - the ultimate in cruise luxury for a mainstream cruise ship. Family suites are available on all ships larger than 140,000-tons.
Fellow Passengers
Who doesn't belong on a Royal Caribbean ship? They have something for everyone and it is almost impossible to imagine not having a great time. They are active, sports oriented ships for the most part, not for retirees looking for the library.
Shore Excursions
RCCL offers the active cruiser moderately priced excursions with plenty of water sports, golfing, and sightseeing, all of which may be booked online several months before sailing. Newer options include canopy tours and adventure tours like rafting.
Past Passenger Programs
Royal Caribbean has one of the more complicated loyalty programs - the Crown and Anchor Society. There are six different levels. It is one of the more popular programs because Diamond class members get a daily cocktail party - in their own private lounge on some ships.
The many benefits you can receive as you go up the ladder include:
- Laundry and WiFi access A free 7-day cruise (after about 150 days at sea) The nightly cocktail parties, Private ship tours Stateroom upgrades
. and many, many more benefits. Visit the web site for all details.
Tipping
Royal Caribbean suggests a per person per day gratuity of: $3.50 for the stateroom attendant ($5.75 for those in suites); $3.50 for the waiter; $2.50 for the Assistant Waiter; and.75 for the Head Waiter. These may be paid in cash or charged to your onboard account. For children sailing as third or fourth passenger in the stateroom, tipping is at the parents' discretion.
A 18-percent gratuity is automatically added to all beverage tabs. Gratuities for room service, spa, casino and other staff are at your discretion.