Cruises from one port in 2024 will require you to use the Royal Caribbean app to check-in.

Royal Caribbean announced it will require app check-in only for cruises departing from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Traditionally, guests had the option to do check-in via the website, app, or even wait until they arrived at the cruise terminal.

With this new change, anyone booked on an Alaska cruise from Vancouver can check-in only with the Royal Caribbean app up to 45 days before departure or until 9 a.m. local time on the sailing date.

If a guest cannot check in via the app, they have the alternative option to check in once at the terminal.

The Royal Caribbean app has some functionalities for check-in that are not available on the website, including:

• Passport scanning to capture the details of your passport. You’ll still need to present your passport at the terminal, but the data entry is handled for you in the app.
• The ability to take or upload a photo of yourself, which is a security requirement before boarding.
• Reminders to complete a few quick health questions in the app before your cruise.

The news was conveyed to travel agents in a weekly email newsletter.

There was no explanation provided, other than stating, "When your clients check in on the app they spend less time in the terminal and more time on vacation."

At this time, no other cruise ports require the guest to use the Royal Caribbean app only for check-in.

The Royal Caribbean app is available in the Google Play and App Store as a free download.

Higher app prominence

Royal Caribbean's app has become more and more important to the guest experience.

Development of the app over the last few years has accelerated, as its role was first elevated due to a need to offer more contactless options as the cruise industry emerged from the industry shutdown of 2020-2021.

Since then, Royal Caribbean has seen its app as a way to improve the guest experience. Specifically, the app features are meant to expedite processes and simplify things.

Core functionality includes being able to browse ship activities, conduct the muster drill, and a guest-to-guest chat feature.

Royal Caribbean has quietly rolled out an express boarding option in Miami, but it requires the user to complete all the steps of check-in via the app, including scanning the passport.

Read more: The extra step you should take before your cruise for the fastest way on a ship

In 2020, the app was required for sailings from Singapore, but the app has never been required in other ports.

How to check-in with the Royal Caribbean app

Up to 45 days before your cruise begins is when you can start checking in for your cruise. 

Similar to checking in for a flight, the app asks for important travel information that is required in order to sail. By doing the check-in before the cruise, it saves time at the cruise terminal doing exactly the same thing.

To begin the check-in process, you just need to click the purple globe icon at the bottom of the app.

For each guest, there are three sections to complete:

1. Travel Info
2. Arrival Time
3. Health & Safety

Starting with Travel Info, you can use the drop-down arrow under "Scan your passport" to select the desired document type.

To scan the passport, the app will start the camera on your device. Aim the camera at the information page of the passport. Line up the bar on the screen with the bottom two lines of information of the passport. This is called the “Machine Readable Passport Zone” (MRZ).

You have the option to take a selfie photo with the app. You could skip it, but you'll then need to take the photo at the cruise terminal. Alternatively, you can return later in the app to upload a photo as well.

There is other required information, including your country of residence and where you were born.

You can also enter your Crown & Anchor Society loyalty number on this screen.

Following that, you will need to enter your home address, emergency contact information, and add a credit card for onboard expenses.

Section two allows you pick from an arrival time. This is when you can select a time to arrive to the cruise terminal on embarkation day.

The final section is to be completed within 24 hours of embarkation, and has a health questionnaire to fill out.

That's it! You'll have a SetSail pass at this point that you can use to check-in when it's time to go to the cruise terminal.

A new update to Royal Caribbean's app could save you time waiting in line on your cruise ship.

Souvenir photos have long been a cornerstone of the cruise ship experience, where passengers pose in front of backdrops with the ship's photographer to possibly purchase a print or digital download later.

Royal Caribbean's app now has a photos option on at least one ship that could make reviewing these photos much easier.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader and forum moderator Lovetocruise2002 spotted the new icon while sailing on Wonder of the Seas.

It's not clear which ships support this new feature in the app. It's not uncommon for some ships to support certain app features.

When you click the icon, photos you've taken that have been tagged by facial recognition appear in the app.

Guests can favorite the photo by clicking the heart icon, which makes it easier to spot the best photos later for ordering.

In testing on Wonder, Lovetocruise2002 reported guests would still need to go to the photo area if you had purchased a photo package.

Providing copies in the app potentially saves time for guests, as they no longer need to go to the photo station to review photos.

Not only is there only one area on the ship to go to review photos, but the photo area becomes inundated with other guests on the final day who all want to see how their photos came out.

Royal Caribbean has taken steps to speed up this process over the years, including going to digital copies instead of prints, utilizing facial recognition to group photos quicker, and adding more photo kiosks.

The app could potentially reduce demand for kiosks.

Cruise fans seem to love the new approach. LandstromCruise wrote on the Royal Caribbean Blog message boards, "This will be so much easier than running to the crowded photo area to try and view them.  This will make my wife happy! "

Jax also liked it, "This makes me very happy. I suggested improving this process on my post cruise survey last time."

asquared17 also likes how much more convenient this new option is, "This takes out a lot of the guess work when it comes to finding out which ones we will keep!"

Is a photo package worth it?

You could buy individual photos on your cruise, or buy a photo package that includes unlimited prints or digital downloads. But is this a good investment?

Given that a single 8x10 print will cost about $20, a package sounds like a more affordable way to get more for your dollar.

The price of a photo package will vary from ship to ship, but prices for an upcoming Independence of the Seas cruise are:

• 5 photos: $79.99
• 10 photos: $127.99
• 20 photos: $174.99
• 50 photos: $209.99

The photo package will include any photo that you, or anyone else from your cabin, are in the photo. Meaning, as long as someone from your cabin is in the photo, it could be included in your photo package.  If you have multiple cabins booked, you'd need another photo package for people in those cabins (unless someone from your cabin happens to be in their photo).

Just like Royal Caribbean drink packages, if you take the time to get enough photos for your photo package, it could be a great investment.

There are photo stations set up around the ship each evening, along with photographers on the dock when you disembark the ship.

In order to get enough photos for the package to make financial sense, you'll need to coordinate your plans so that you have time to stop for at least a few photos each evening. 

The evening photographers are the main draw to souvenir photos, and they're only around in the evening right around dinner time. Lines can sometimes be quite long for photos, especially on formal night.

While you could certainly take your own photos, many guests enjoy the fun backdrops you can only find at the photo stations. Moreover, the photographers have above average cameras, professional lighting, and do a good job of positioning everyone to produce great looking results.

One issue with the photo package is if you're traveling with a large group. While a photo package for a family staying in the same cabin makes sense, photo packages for groups spread across multiple rooms can make things quite pricey. So either your friends and family also buy a photo package, or only you come home with the printed memories.

If you want to get a photo package, always pre-purchase before the cruise to save money.  There's almost always a discount offered online, and it makes a difference.

You'll also want to plan your day around getting photos taken, so you can get the best value out of the cost. This sounds easy while you're still at home, but there's so much happening on a cruise, you'd be surprised how difficult it can be to muster the motivation to get everyone dressed and ready for photos every day.

It looks like Royal Caribbean is about to drop a fee it had been charging guests.

Royal Caribbean's app has a chat feature that currently costs $1.99 per guest, per day to use it.

While at a question and answer session aboard Wonder of the Seas on Thursday, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley told travel agents in attendance the line will remove the cost to use the chat feature.

According to travel agents in attendance, Mr. Bayley said the change will go into effect beginning January 1, 2023.

Following up on a promise

This isn't the first time Mr. Bayley talked about removing the fee for the chat feature.

At a similar event held on Odyssey of the Seas in 2021, Mr. Bayley said the cruise line would change the chat feature to free.

 "I remember that we had a lot of arguments internally within the company about a dollar ninety nine."

"I'm tempted to say we'll drop it, but nobody seems to be reacting against it. So we'll we'll drop it. Yeah. I think that will be good."

It now appears that promise is coming to fruition. 

Why a free chat feature makes a difference

By making the chat feature free, this opens up the function to many more passengers.

Since most guests do not purchase an internet package, that limits communication options for passengers while onboard a ship.

Moreover, having a free chat feature allows kids to use the chat feature without their parents having to spend anything extra.

How Royal Caribbean's chat feature works

The chat in Royal Caribbean's app works very similar to other texting apps you may have used in other apps.

Royal Caribbean's chat offers one-to-one guest chat, along with group chats.

Once onboard the ship and logged onto Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi  network (no internet package required to use the app), other guests will show up as offline or online but are only online if they have the app opened and to the “chat” window.

If your travel agent linked your reservation before sailing with a friend or family the will automatically show up in your list of contacts. You also have the option of adding other guests.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

In addition to uploading a photo of your Covid-19 vaccine, Royal Caribbean has added the optional ability to upload a photo of your booster card.

A third vaccine dose, or booster as it is commonly referred to, is not required by Royal Caribbean except in certain European countries, so the cruise line has added a new field to submit proof of a booster in those scenarios.

The new booster proof field appears to be available for most, if not all, sailings. 

Providing a vaccination record is a required field in the pre-cruise check-in guests can complete in the Royal Caribbean app, with the booster field marked as optional.

Thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader smokeybandit for noticing the new functionality has been added.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

The advantage of uploading vaccine proof before the cruise

Whether boosters are required or not, uploading proof of Covid vaccination can expedite the check-in process in the cruise terminal.

Just as taking a selfie photo means one less thing to do in the terminal, a photo of the vaccine card allows Royal Caribbean to verify a passenger's vaccination status.

It's acceptable not to upload a photo of your vaccine card in advance, but you will have to wait for the port agent to take a photo while in the terminal.

Guests will still need to bring their vaccine card with them, but taking the photo at home will allow the embarkation process to move just a little bit faster since the terminal staff will not have to take time to take photos of everyone's card.

Will Royal Caribbean require booster shots?

As of right now, Royal Caribbean has no plans to require a booster shot for most sailings, including cruises from the United States.

Ever since boosters became available, Royal Caribbean has been steadfast in labeling them as optional and recommended, but not required, for cruise ship passengers.

In all the health protocols released this year, Royal Caribbean, "strongly recommends" guests get boosted before their cruise. In fact, they have been warning future protocols may require boosters as far back as February 2022.

Boosters are now part of the mandatory vaccination program for crew members. Royal Caribbean began a booster campaign for its crew several months ago.

Crew members have the option to get their booster in their home countries prior to rejoining the ship. Or they will be given the opportunity onboard.

Royal Caribbean has updated its app so kids that are fully vaccinated can upload photos of their vaccination card.

Up until now, the app did not give parents the option of uploading a photo of their child's vaccine card in the app because there was legacy logic that did not ask for children's vaccine cards due to the Covid-19 vaccine being only available for kids 12 and up.

In the months since the vaccine has been approved for kids as young as 5, the app did not open up the option for kids vaccine cards to be uploaded, which meant an extra step of verification in the cruise terminal on embarkation day.

Now, the Royal Caribbean app allows the option for kids under the age of 12 to upload a photo of their vaccine card.

Thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader smokeybandit for noticing the 1.31.2 update added the function in Royal Caribbean's app.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

Why you should submit a photo of your vaccine cards

By submitting your vaccine card via the app, you can speed up the check-in process.

Just like taking a selfie, it's necessary to take a photo of the vaccine card so that Royal Caribbean can verify a passenger's vaccination status. Those that do not upload a photo via the app, will have to wait for the port agent to take a photo.

Guests will still need to bring their vaccine card with them, but taking the photo at home will allow the embarkation process to move just a little bit faster since the terminal staff will not have to take time to take photos of everyone's card.

How to upload your vaccine card photo

The vaccine card photo upload is part of the four-step check-in process in Royal Caribbean's app.

You can upload a photo when you first complete the online check-in process, or go back later to add a photo.

The third step is to upload a photo of your vaccine card, along with entering the vaccine manufacturer and date of last dose.

After uploading a photo, the app will put it into a waiting status as it gets manually verified.

Don't worry that it remains in the "waiting" phase for a little bit. Eventually the card will either be accepted or you will be asked to submit it again.

The Royal Caribbean app is an integral part of a cruise experience. Most passengers onboard will find themselves using the app multiple times a day to reserve shows, see what dining venues are open, check their account balance, and much more.

The Royal Caribbean app is free to download and is available on both Android and iOS devices. To download the app, simply head to the App Store or Google Play store. Once you have the app downloaded and opened, you will be prompted to sign in with your Royal Caribbean account. You do not have to have an internet package to use the Royal Caribbean app.

Knowing the ins and outs of the app’s features can make your cruise vacation a lot smoother. Let's jump in and take a look at the features on the Royal Caribbean app.

Calendar and Planner

When you open the app, you will be brought to the main page which is home to your daily planner, calendar, and helpful information for your cruise. This page is the main hub for the app and is where you can see the daily schedule of activities onboard.

To view the schedule of activities and events, swipe up on the words “Daily Planner”. Here, you can scroll through each day to view everything happening onboard. You can also select the “filter” button to filter by category, such as entertainment, fitness, and activities.

If you see an activity that looks interesting, you can press “Add to Calendar” to add it to your own personal calendar within the app. This can be a great way to keep those activities that interest you organized, and you will also receive a notification on your phone thirty minutes prior to a scheduled event.

Another thing you can do in the Daily Planner is reserve activities, shore excursions, and entertainment. Our recommendation is to open the Daily Planner shortly after embarking the ship and look for any activities or entertainment that require a reservation.

Popular activities like the North Star and RipCord by iFLY offer both complementary and paid options, but the complimentary reservations usually fill up very quickly. Shows can also fill up quickly, so it is a good idea to make reservations early to help ensure you can see and do everything you want on the ship.

Royal Caribbean usually adds activities to the Daily Planner in the days leading up to your sailing, so it may appear blank if your sailing date is further away.

Also located on the main page of the app are buttons that bring you to pages where you can access check in, safety, health, dining, and account information. Here is a brief overview of each of those pages:

Safety

The safety page is very important, as this is where you will complete the eMuster drill prior to sailaway. Royal Caribbean’s new eMuster is a three step process in which you watch a safety video, listen to the emergency horn, and visit your muster station once onboard the ship.

Our recommendation is to complete the eMuster as soon as possible once onboard. You may even choose to complete the first two steps before arriving at the terminal so that all you have to do once onboard is visit your muster station.

Check out our full article on the new eMuster drill for a more in-depth look at the process.

Health

Royal Caribbean is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy experience for every passenger. The health page lists information on embarkation requirements, onboard protocols, and port and shore excursion limitations. It also provides information on what to do if you are feeling unwell onboard.

This is a great place to browse prior to your sailing to ensure you are aware of all current protocols and documentation requirements. Protocols can change frequently, so knowing what is required of you before you show up at the terminal will make sure you do not run into any unexpected surprises.

Royal Caribbean will also send out regular emails detailing current protocols and health information, so checking your email frequently can be another way to stay updated.

Check-in

The check in page is where you can complete the check in process prior to embarkation.

On this tab, you will input your documentation and contact information, as well as select an arrival time at the terminal for embarkation day.

Before you check in on the app, be sure to have your passport and vaccination card on hand.

Account

The account page is where you check your account balance throughout the cruise. It can be a good idea to check this page periodically to ensure you are aware of how much you are spending onboard and that there are no mistakes.

If you notice any unexpected or incorrect charges, you can get them resolved at Guest Services.

Dining

Feeling hungry? The dining page is the most convenient way to learn about which dining options are available onboard.

You can see which restaurants and venues are open, make dining reservations, and view restaurant menus. 

Digital key and stateroom controls

Select Royal Caribbean ships offer a digital key option, where you can choose to open your stateroom door using your app in addition to your SeaPass card.

In addition, some staterooms may offer stateroom controls, where you can control the temperature, lighting, curtains, and television through your app.

Virtual Reality Games

Depending on the ship, there may be other pages available to you in the app.

For example, on Quantum class ships, you can use the Two70 button to participate in Expedition Two70: An Augmented Reality Feature.

On Oasis class ships, you can click on the games button, head to the Boardwalk neighborhood, and point your phone’s camera at game posters near Playmakers to launch various games on the app.

Deck Maps

Another useful feature on the app, especially on the first day of your cruise, is the ability to view the ship’s deck maps. You can access this page by clicking on the small ship icon near the top of the screen.

The deck maps page offers detailed, deck by deck plans of your particular ship. We recommend browsing through the deck maps prior to your cruise to familiarize yourself with the ship’s layout and offerings. Whether you need to meet at a restaurant for dinner, find the Escape Room in time for your reservation, or you simply get lost, the deck maps can point you in the right direction.

Also located on the deck maps page are buttons for activities, dining, entertainment, shops, shore excursions, spa, fitness, and services. Each of these selections will bring up a list of what is offered onboard in each category, along with where on the ship a particular place is located. If you click on the Windjammer, for example, you can read a description of the venue and click the “Find on Deck” feature to see exactly where the Windjammer is located on your ship.

Profile Page

The avatar icon near the top of the screen brings you to your individualized page where you can access information on your profile, stateroom, check in, reservation, dining, internet, and recent charge activity. You can also access your SetSail Pass from this page, as well as switch between sailings on the app if you have multiple cruises booked.

Chat Feature

In the top right corner of the app, you will see a message icon. This is how you access the app’s chat feature. The chat feature allows you to chat with other guests onboard without having to purchase an internet package. This can be a good option for large groups who need a way to contact each other throughout the day. However, this feature is not free and comes at an additional cost of $1.99 per passenger, per day.

Do I need to use the app?

Some passengers may not own a smartphone or are hoping to shut their phone off for the duration of the cruise. While the app is not required, it offers a much more convenient way to access your cruise information, upload and view documents, and reserve activities.

If you’re not using the app, you can make reservations in person, print your SetSail Pass, and browse the paper Cruise Compass to view daily activities, but this will often be more of a hassle than using the Royal Caribbean app.

Those who are looking to stay disconnected on vacation may want to consider using the app but not purchasing an internet package. By doing so, you won’t be distracted by your phone, but will still be able to utilize the app’s features.

The Royal Caribbean app is getting updates all the time, and some cruisers have noticed a change to the option to upload a photo of your Covid-19 vaccine card.

In September 2021, Royal Caribbean added a new way for passengers to upload a photo of their vaccine card directly into the app to speed up the check-in process in the cruise terminal.

The ability to upload a photo is not yet possible for every ship, but it is being offered on more ships once available.

When the feature was added in September, the app would immediately move your status to green to indicate you are done, but now cruise fans are noticing it changes to a gray hourglass status instead to indicate your card is being validated.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader David Beers reached out to Royal Caribbean to get an idea of what this change means exactly, especially as it relates to checking in for a cruise.

Jheanell Pagon from Royal Caribbean's Executive Office indicated the vaccination submission status has been updated so that the cruise line can manually check the validity of the card being uploaded.

"After reviewing your correspondence with our Port Operations team, they advised they recently deployed a new feature in the Guest Check-in App to include a Vaccination Submission Status. So now, the status We are validating your card is the normal new status you’ll see once you enter your vaccine record during Online Check-in."

"Once submitted, it then takes us 24 to 48 hours to approve since we are manually checking the validity of each card."

Guests will still need to bring their vaccine card with them, but taking the photo at home will allow the embarkation process to move just a little bit faster since the terminal staff will not have to take time to take photos of everyone's card.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

In an effort to make the check-in process easier, Royal Caribbean has added a new feature in its app to scan a copy of a passenger's Covid-19 vaccination card.

Ever since Royal Caribbean restarted cruises, vaccinated guests have had to get their vaccine cards photographed by the terminal staff. 

With this new feature in the app, guests could instead take a photo of their card just like they take a selfie photo to speed up the embarkation process.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader twangster spotted the feature for a Freedom of the Seas cruise on October 8, but it is not appearing for all sailings.

When enabled, guests can take a photo of the front and back of the vaccine card, as well as select which vaccine manufacturer they have.

Guests will still need to bring their vaccine card with them, but taking the photo at home will allow the embarkation process to move just a little bit faster since the terminal staff will not have to take time to take photos of everyone's card.

Royal Caribbean has worked steadily to speed up the check-in process in its app by allowing guests to do as much as they can at home to save time at the terminal.

With new features and capabilities coming to Royal Caribbean's app as a result of ensuring health and safety are the top priority. This includes a variety of new changes:

• Enforced check-in times at the cruise terminal
• Muster 2.0 enhanced safety drill
• Digital Key and stateroom controls
• Wellness check and health questionnaires 

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

Ever since Royal Caribbean restarted cruises again, it has been a bit of mystery when online check-in would open, but now that appears to be a lot easier to anticipate.

Before the cruise industry shutdown, online check-in was standard across the fleet to open right at the 90 day mark, but the exact date of when online check-in would open these days has been less standardized.

A new update to the Royal Caribbean app looks to now give guests advanced notice of the date online check-in will become available.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Jason Lickert alerted us to a new option for sailings listed in the Royal Caribbean app that have not yet opened for check-in now have a date when it will open.

In the Royal Caribbean app, select a sailing that has not opened for online check-in yet.  Instead of a message saying check-in isn't available, there is now a date listed of when it will become available.

Thus far, the date only appears in the app, and not after logging into Royal Caribbean's website.

While there is no pattern yet as to when online check-in will be available, at least there is now a date for guests to plan to log back in rather than randomly checking if it is available.

Online check-in is more important to guests now because the check-in times at the cruise terminal are enforced, and with check-in times beginning later than they did before the cruise industry shutdown, early check-in times go quickly.

The reason why check-in times are now enforced is to ensure social distancing in the cruise terminals. Royal Caribbean wants to avoid there being too many people congested in one particular area.

Once online check-in is available, time slots for arrival to the cruise terminal are shown in 30 minute windows.

If you arrive before or after the set time, you will be asked to wait outside until it is your turn.

The reason why an early check-in time matters is the earlier you board, the more time you have onboard the ship on the first day.  In addition, travel plans getting to the terminal may mean a later check-in time requires you to spend time outside the terminal instead of onboard the ship.

The next time you go on a Royal Caribbean cruise, expect to be able to use the guest-to-guest chat feature onboard.

One of the projects Royal Caribbean was working on during the cruise industry shutdown was getting its chat feature ready to be used on all ships, and going forward, the cruise line says it will be available in the Royal Caribbean app when you sail.

While on Freedom of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Group Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider confirmed the chat feature is ready for use fleet wide, "As we bring every ship back, every ship, will have chat."

In fact, Mr. Schneider said the chat feature was ready to be roll out to the fleet just before the global health crisis forced all the ships to shutdown.

There is a cost to use the chat feature, which is $1.99 per guest, per day. You do not need to purchase internet access in order to use the app features in the app. In fact, you can use the app on a tablet or other non-cellular device.

Chat has been something Royal Caribbean has been working on since at least 2019, with it being in a beta test on Harmony of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. 

The chat in Royal Caribbean's app works very similar to other texting apps you may have used in other apps.

Royal Caribbean's chat offers one-to-one guest chat, along with group chats.

Once onboard the ship and logged onto Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi  network (no internet package required to use the app), other guests will show up as offline or online but are only online if they have the app opened and to the “chat” window.

If your travel agent linked your reservation before sailing with a friend or family the will automatically show up in your list of contacts. You also have the option of adding other guests.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

With new features and capabilities coming to Royal Caribbean's app as a result of ensuring health and safety are the top priority. This includes a variety of new changes:

• Enforced check-in times at the cruise terminal
• Muster 2.0 enhanced safety drill
• Digital Key and stateroom controls
• Wellness check and health questionnaires 

Dependency on the smart phone app has never been greater because so many new features are being incorporated onto it.