Royal Caribbean

Within the past six months, I've sailed on two of Royal Caribbean and Carnival's oldest ships: Vision of the Seas and Carnival Elation. Though both ships launched within two months of each other, they couldn't be more different. From the overall atmosphere to the quality of the dining and cabin experience, one clearly came out on top. 

When people think about cruise ship drink packages, they typically envision morning mimosas, afternoon cocktails by the pool, and fine wine during dinner. Of course, this luxury on a cruise comes at a price, usually at least $60 per day—if not more. 

Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas returned to Miami, Florida, after completing the cruise line's first-ever world cruise. Passengers spent 274 days traveling the globe exploring diverse cultures, marveling at iconic landmarks, and creating lifelong bonds with other guests, so it's no surprise that returning to land has been a hard adjustment for some. 

With some cruises towering almost 240 feet above the water line, the engineering marvels have some tricks up their sleeves to maneuver through tight spaces, such as underneath bridges. 

Last year, Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship had to navigate under Denmark's Great Belt Bridge en route from Finland to Spain.  

While successful, the operation took a lot of planning and coordination between the crew, ranging from those working in meteorology to operations. 

Royal Caribbean's nowhere near done with building Icon Class ships. 

The cruise giant announced plans to build a fourth Icon Class ship to be delivered in 2027, with options for a fifth and sixth Icon Class ship at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. 

I’ve just returned from my first Celebrity cruise, and there were a few aspects of my cruise vacation that I preferred over Royal Caribbean.

From the time I started cruising, I’ve booked the majority of my cruises on Royal Caribbean. Despite having twenty excellent cruises with the line, I occasionally like to switch up my vacations. Thus, I recently booked a 7-night Norwegian fjords itinerary on Celebrity Silhouette.

Star of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's second Icon Class cruise ship, but this new cruise ship is anything but a copy of the first ship.

Instead, Royal Caribbean identified a series of focal points to help evolve Star of the Seas and offer guests a similar yet new product. 

I’ve sailed on nineteen Royal Caribbean cruise ships, but none were quite like Utopia of the Seas. After spending a weekend onboard the cruise line’s party ship, there were a few things that surprised me about the experience.

Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas rescued 77 migrants in the Ionian Sea during a 7-night Greek Isles cruise. 

Greek authorities alerted the ship of an overcrowded sailboat in distress, as reported by ABC News. The migrants were transported to Kalamata, the nearest major port in Greece, causing Odyssey to cancel a scheduled stop in Santorini.