Royal Caribbean News Round-Up: November 5, 2023

Happy Sunday! Temperatures may be dropping, but there is plenty of Royal Caribbean news to share.  This is your weekly summary of all the Royal Caribbean news from this past week, perfectly fitted for your consumption.

The daily gratuity rate is going up for your next Royal Caribbean cruise.

Beginning November 11, 2023, the automatic daily gratuity will go up to $18 per person per day for those staying in Junior Suites or lower cabins. Passengers in suites will pay $20.50 per person per day.

The old rate was $16.00 and $18.50, which was set back in September 2022.

Royal Caribbean News

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 517th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available to enjoy, where Matt reviews his Canada & New England cruise.

Having taken his first cruise to the east coast of Canada, Matt shares what stood out from this sailing.

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.

New RCB Video: Is it possible to cruise too much?

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Is it possible to cruise too much? — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

2025 Alaska cruises

New Alaska cruises are available to book for the 2025 cruise season.

Royal Caribbean opened the new sailings this week, which are spread across four ships: Anthem of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, & Radiance of the Seas.

The new Alaska 2025 cruises are available to book between May and September 2025.

Royal Caribbean clarifies loyalty and suite lounge access

Royal Caribbean updated when it would limit the amount of top tier cruisers that could go to its loyalty lounges.

Effective immediately, if there is a sailing with a large amount of top-tier members, some of them may not be able to go to the Crown Lounge between 5pm and 8pm. During those hours, only Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club members have access. 

During the rest of the day, there would be no restrictions.

7 things that surprised me on my first Canada & New England cruise

Even though Matt has cruised a lot, taking a Canada & New England cruise had its own set of surprises.

From the beautiful landscape, to the terrific dining, and welcoming people, it was a fantastic kind of cruise.

Many parts of the seven-night cruise surprised Matt, such as how gorgeous everywhere we visited is how valuable time was ashore.

What our readers regretted packing for their cruise

Packing for a cruise isn’t always the easiest thing, especially with overpacking.

Overpacking your suitcase can be stressful, and it just adds heft to getting to and from the ship.

Our readers shared hundreds of comments on the things they brought on a cruise and instantly regretted.

Royal Caribbean adds new express pass

Look for a new way to speed up the check-in process.

There’s a new Express Boarding option being tested on Freedom of the Seas, that will reward those that do all the check-in steps pre-cruise with an easier way to get onboard.

Guests with this option can look for Express Boarding signs inside the Cruise Terminal.

Royal Caribbean will make specialty restaurants reservable pre-cruise if you have a dining package

Royal Caribbean is experimenting with a new way to allow guests that purchase a specialty dining package to make reservations pre-cruise.

The test is being conducted on Wonder of the Seas only, but the expectation is for it to be available across all ships in early 2024.

With this new upgrade, you’ll be able to book reservations pre-cruise for specialty restaurants if you buy a dining package.