With the support of Royal Caribbean, WWF-Australia will step up efforts to help combat the illegal trade of hawksbill turtles in Asia-Pacific - the number one threat to the critically endangered turtle.

For the first time in the region, WWF-Australia will work with partners to test ground-breaking technology to extract DNA from tortoiseshell products, such as earrings, bracelets and other trinkets. The collaboration will develop a DNA database to help identify hawksbill populations most at risk from the illegal tortoiseshell trade by tracing hawksbills products from their point-of-sale to where they were poached.

“Despite international trade being banned over twenty years ago, poaching and the sale of hawksbill products still takes place in our region. It is unclear where poaching is most prevalent, but with the help of the turtle DNA test and database we’ll be able to map poaching hotspots and work with local governments in the Asia-Pacific region to combat these illegal activities,” said Christine Hof, Marine Species Project Manager, WWF-Australia.

Hawksbill turtles are one of the most beautiful and important species in the ocean, playing a vital role in maintaining the health of our oceans; from promoting coral growth through their appetite for algae, to supporting vital feeding grounds for reef communities.  However, over the last 100 years the hawksbill population has declined by more than 75% and it’s estimated there are only 4,800 breeding females remaining in the Pacific Ocean.

The hawksbill faces a unique threat as it is the only sea turtle species that is hunted for its shell, commonly known as “tortoiseshell”, which is made into souvenirs frequently sold to travelers while on holidays overseas. 

“Hunted and traded for their shell, Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered. Ending this trade will take a coordinated effort. We are extremely passionate about this partnership with WWF-Australia, and need to act now to ensure these prehistoric sea creatures have a future,” said Susan Bonner, VP and Managing Director, Royal Caribbean Australia & NZ.

The partnership will also increase awareness of the issue amongst those travelling throughout Asia-Pacific. RCL and WWF-Australia intend to educate millions of supporters and travellers about this illegal trade by providing them with the information they need to identify illegal tortoiseshell products and avoid buying them, with the launch of an extensive consumer campaign.

A hawksbill turtle adoption programme will be available to all Australians in 2019. Adoption of a hawksbill turtle via Royal Caribbean will support WWF-Australia’s essential conservation work – protecting the habitat, preserving their food sources and ensuring the safety of threatened species locally and globally.

RCL has a long history of innovation, and is committed to protecting the communities and environments in which it operates. From wastewater and waste management, to energy efficiency and sourcing practices, RCL is dedicated to continually improving operations, to minimise its’ environmental footprint and increase support for conservation.

“We have a responsibility to the guests who sail with us, the people who work for us, and the communities we visit, but most importantly we have a responsibility to the magnificent oceans, which are at the very essence of our business,” said Bonner.

In 2016, RCL and WWF embarked on a five-year global journey to help ensure the long-term health of the world’s oceans. The RCL and WWF-Australia local partnership to protect the hawksbill turtle will run in the Asia-Pacific region for the next three years.

For more information visit www.royalcaribbean.com.au/wwf.

Australian comedian Celeste Barber accepted a thrill-seeking challenge by Royal Caribbean to complete as many as possible onboard Royal experiences in one day. The clincher is, Celeste is on dry land.

Royal Caribbean Australia has partnered with the Instagram star to show how fun the activities are onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise.

“How could I resist this challenge? On a Royal Caribbean cruise you have so many great activities all in close proximity. I was totally up for the challenge of attempting to do all the awesome things you can do on a Royal Caribbean cruise but doing them all in one day on dry land. Bring it on!” said Celeste Barber.

Celeste attempts to replicate a variety of Royal Caribbean’s unique onboard activities including RipCord by iFLY, FlowRider, and a show-stopping stage show performance. The Bionic Bar, and Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver also feature in the series. Celeste puts her own comical twist on the activities, and takes her family along for the crazy challenge.

“I worked out pretty quickly that trying to do all these activities on land with my family was completely exhausting and was going to leave me broke so the idea of doing them all on a fancy cruise with a glass of wine nearby was far more appealing. Also, you had me at free kids club!” said Barber.

Thrilling activities, game-changing technology, unparalleled entertainment, and vibrant dining options come together to create the ultimate, contemporary cruising experience – only found on Royal Caribbean.

“My husband, kids and I all get excited by different things and activities on family holidays and on a Royal Caribbean cruise #hothusband can surf and skydive, my kids can run riot in the pools and games arcade while I can grab a cocktail from a robot mixologist (I know, what?!), and watch a live show. Then we can all meet up and eat all the carbs at our favourite Jamie’s Italian.  I can’t imagine any of us ever getting bored on a Royal Caribbean cruise!” said Barber.

“As demonstrated by Celeste, endless experiences await guests onboard our ships, allowing travellers to holiday like never before. We’ve got you covered in terms of diversity, abundance and value. And the best part – as I’m sure Celeste would attest to – everything is conveniently located right at your fingertips,” said Susan Bonner, VP and Managing Director, Royal Caribbean Australia & NZ.

RCL Cruises has announced Susan Bonner has officially moved into position as Vice President and Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

Susan is responsible for the business operations of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises in the region, reporting to Gavin Smith, Senior Vice President International.

“With the highest market penetration for cruising of any country, I’m looking forward to continuing the incredible momentum our brands are experiencing in this region,” said Susan, “We truly believe there is a cruise out there for everyone, and our three distinctive lines offer award-winning cruise experiences to put us top of mind when Aussies consider their next holiday.”

Susan comes to Sydney from Royal Caribbean’s Miami office, where she served as Vice President of Celebrity Cruises’ Revenue Management and Onboard Revenue, and was integral in launching the line’s luxury Solstice Class ships. Prior to that, she led the Revenue Management and Onboard Revenue performance of Royal Caribbean International during the line’s historic introduction of the Quantum Class megaships.

Susan is a passionate advocate of gender equality, women in leadership and workplace diversity, part of an empowering female line-up at RCL which includes the first female CEO of a publicly traded cruise company, Celebrity Cruises’ Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, and an Australian office in which two thirds of the management team are women.

Bonner pursued her higher education by studying marketing at the prestigious Tulane University in New Orleans. As well as holding a passion for travel and cruising, Susan is a hot yoga enthusiast and the proud mother of a 19-year old son who attends military school back in the US.

Royal Caribbean's cruise season in Australia concluded on Sunday night, as Explorer of the Seas departed Sydney harbor to head east to Seattle.

Over the course of the summer season down under, Royal Caribbean offer 96 cruises throughout Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia during the 2017/18 summer season, delivering an injection of around AUD$198 million into the Australian economy in passenger spend alone. Around 330,000 guests sailed on Royal Caribbean, which made it the largest cruise line in Australia (in terms of capacity) over the 2017/2018 summer season.

During the summer season, Ovation of the Seas returned for her second and longest season in Australian waters. Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas sailed 36 South-Pacific itineraries.

Next year, Ovation of the Seas will return for her third and longest season yet based down under.  Radiance of the Seas will offer Royal Caribbean’s very first departure from Melbourne, as well as three one-way cruises departing from Auckland.

In 2018/2019, Explorer of the Seas will return down under for her fourth season.  Sister ship Voyager of the Seas will temporarily homeport in Asia for the 2018/19 season, before returning fresh from a multimillion dollar modernization next year.

Royal Caribbean announced its 2019/2020 cruises in and around Australia. Bookings for the 2019/20 Australia summer season open on Tuesday April 10, 2018.

The 2019/20 season will kick off with the arrival of Radiance of the Seas to Sydney on October 9, 2019, Ovation of the Seas on October 20, 2019, and Voyager of the Seas will begin her season with a three-night sampler cruise on November 30, 2019. Together, the three ships will offer 61 sailings, ranging from two to 19 nights, and sailing to nine different countries including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Singapore, Indonesia, the USA and Vanuatu.

Ovation of the Seas returns for her fourth and longest season yet down under, following her maiden season in Alaska in the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Ovation of the Seas, will offer guests a range of South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand itineraries – including five incredible New Zealand and South Pacific hybrid sailings, nine New Zealand voyages and new 18 and 19-night sailings between Sydney and Hawaii calling in Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora in French Polynesia.

Voyager of the Seas returns to her homeport of Sydney after a one-year hiatus, fresh from a multi-million dollar revitalisation in late 2019. She will replace sister ship Explorer of the Seas, which returns to cruising in Europe and the Caribbean in 2019/20.

“Voyager of the Seas will be making her grand Aussie comeback in 2019, boasting a stack of new features following a multi-million dollar makeover – all part of our Royal Amplification programme, which will see us invest US$900 million in modernising our fleet,” said Adam Armstrong, managing director Australia and New Zealand.

Australia’s second largest ship, Voyager of the Seas will be back to focus on South Pacific and Sampler voyages, with a range of two to 14-night sailings. Along with onboard amenities like the FlowRider surf machine, rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink, Broadway-style shows and full sized sports court, she’ll boast plenty of brand new features yet to be announced, all destined to appeal perfectly to the Australian market. She will also offer more short “sampler” sailings than ever before – ideal for the new-to-cruise – as well as a six-night Tasmania sailing, an eight-night Queensland sailing and two epic repositioning voyages between Singapore and Sydney.

Radiance of the Seas returns for her ninth season and will offer her usual New Zealand program as well as an expanded range of South Pacific sailings calling to destinations such as Noumea, Mystery Island and Port Vila.

As well as her additional eight to 11-night South Pacific sailings, Radiance of the Seas will sail a three-night Sampler cruise, a 16-night Top End sailing from Sydney to Fremantle, and an epic 18-night Bottom End sailing from Fremantle to Sydney. Guests can also cruise on six, 9 to 13-night New Zealand sailings and two 18-night Hawaii repositioning sailings.

Royal Caribbean's Ovation fo the Seas is helping test a new satellite tracking system that aims to be even more precise and accurate than any system before it.

Ovation of the Seas is testing the highly accurate positioning technology, as part of the trial of a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) for the Australasian region. Standalone GPS positioning is giving you five to 10 metre level positioning, whereas SBAS allows for corrections at the 10 centimere level to the entire area.

SBAS technology was used by Acoustic Imaging in consultation with the Port Authority of New South Wales to help dock Ovation of the Seas on its most recent visit to Sydney Harbour.

The Chief Operating Officer of Port Authority of New South Wales and Harbour Master, Philip Holliday said Ovation of the Seas is one of the biggest cruise ships to dock in Sydney Harbour during the cruise season.

"Sydney is extremely busy during the cruise season; we have enormous cruise ships coming in virtually every day and intermingled into all of that is ferry and recreation traffic. It's a busy working harbour," Mr Holliday said.

The lead scientist of Acoustic Imaging's maritime programs, Nicole Bergersen said the docking of Ovation of the Seas, which is over 330 metres long and too tall to sail beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was a unique opportunity to test how the use of SBAS technology could potentially benefit the ports of Sydney Harbour.

"The berth box inside Circular Quay is marginally smaller than the Ovation of the Seas, so the Ovation of the Seas is actually parking with nose protruding out in front of that parking spot. We're on a level where metres matter, and centimetres matter." Ms Bergersen said.

"What SBAS is allowing us to do is have the pilot rely just on the information on the computer screen and if we can enable instrument navigation, then the pilot no longer needs visibility to be able to steer a ship.

"That's going to allow the Port Authority of New South Wales to bring in more ships, more frequently and in adverse conditions."

Royal Caribbean is offering families a newpromotion, withkids' cruise fares from just AU$29/NZ$39 a day, plus up to 30% off for mum and dad with the launch of the Annual Family Sale.

The deal also includes up to to 30% off for mum and dad with the launch of the Annual Family Sale. Available to book until 9 April 2018, the Annual Family Sale is applicable to all local sailings departing Australia between September 2018 and April 2019.

“We know how precious family holiday time is. It‘s essential to find the perfect holiday option that offers the right balance of activities and down-time for the whole family. That’s what makes a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s incredible range of three Australia-based megaliners the ultimate holiday destination,” said Adam Armstrong, managing director, Royal Caribbean Australia & NZ.

Prices start at AUD$1,689/NZD$1,859 per person for adults and from AUD$169/NZD$189 each for kids on an 8-night South Pacific cruise on Ovation of the Seas, based on quad-share accommodation. The roundtrip cruise departs Sydney on 9 April 2019 and calls at Noumea in New Caledonia and Mystery Island in Vanuatu.

Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas was the staging ground for the Biggest Game of Hide and Seek, with Ben Harrison, age 26, from Hornsby NSW, taking home the AUD$10,000 prize, and a family cruise for four, all thanks to his stealthy hiding techniques.

In an Australian first, Aussies aged eight and over boarded the megaship docked in Sydney Harbour to play a huge version of the iconic childhood game, as part of a unique competition to celebrate 10 years of Royal Caribbean sailing Down Under.

Two games were held – one for adults aged 15 and over and another for kids aged 8-14. Competitors were picked from over 20,000 entrants and came from far and wide; NSW, QLD, NT, SA, WA, VIC - to seek out the best hiding spots onboard in an attempt to outwit the “Seekers”, Australia’s national Hide & Seek team The Nascondingos, who competed in the 2017 annual World Championships in Italy.

12-year-old Ryan S from Kincup in regional QLD took home the kids’ prize which was a family cruise for four, after hiding from the Nascondingos under a couch. Runner up Benjamin H from NSW is also taking his family on a holiday.   

Winner of the adults’ game, Ben Harrison aka ‘Big Red’ used sheer distance as his tactic, attempting to get as far away from home base as he could in the allocated hiding time. He chose curtains to hide under in rounds one and two, and in the third – his winning spot – Ben managed to squeeze underneath a table that was concealed by a curtain. After being awarded his novelty size check, Ben said “It’s a pretty big accomplishment. I am very surprised, I still have butterflies in my stomach. I’m very very happy”. He and fiancé Jess will be putting the $10,000 towards their wedding at the end of the year, and will use the cruise for their honeymoon.

The Nascondingos have heralded it their hardest game yet, “There was just a lot of ground to cover. We’re short twitch athletes and we’re used to five-minute rounds. These 20 minute rounds covering eight football fields really put us under pressure. It was far more challenging than we thought it would be. Curtain and couch hiding were the most popular spots” said Alan Jones, Nascondingo’s Captain.

From attempts to host unofficial games in a certain Swedish furniture store, to a campaign for Hide and Seek to appear as an official exhibition sport in Tokyo in 2020, the event took place as the game gains traction as a serious sport among people of all ages.   

MC for the day, TV personality Jason Dundas said of the frivolity; “I’ve been travelling the world filming Getaway from over 100 countries for 11 years and I’ve never been on a cooler ship and had more of a fun experience onboard in my life”.

Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas will return to her homeport of Sydney, Australia on Thursday December 7, 2017, which will mark her second season of cruising down under.

After making her way from Singapore via Fremantle, Adelaide and Hobart, Ovation of the Seas returns to her Sydney summer home port for her second and significantly longer season down under.

Celebrating her second birthday in April 2018, she is the first brand new cruise ship to be based here and represents the single largest investment in Australia’s cruise industry.

At 348 meters long, 18 decks high and weighing 168,666 tons, Ovation of the Seas is the world’s equal-fourth largest cruise ship and the largest cruise ship to ever sail Australian waters, with capacity for 5,000 guests and 1,500 crew.

“The return of our billion dollar baby, Ovation of the Seas, marks a particularly special milestone for us at Royal Caribbean and for Australian travelers, because it also marks our 10th season down under,” says RCL Cruises managing director, Adam Armstrong.

“Ten years ago, our philosophy was to bring the world’s most cutting-edge cruise product to Australia’s doorstep. In 2007, we embarked on a cruising revolution with the mighty Rhapsody of the Seas and today, we continue this proud tradition of delivering Australians with the world’s best holidays at sea with the ground-breaking, all-new Ovation of the Seas, one of our four Australian-based megaliners,” Armstrong said.

With capacity for close to 5000 guests, Ovation of the Seas will deliver significant economic benefits to the state each time she calls. Her first visit to Sydney for the season is expected to inject $2.5 million into the NSW economy in passenger spend alone, and $33 million into NSW throughout the season with 13 turnarounds at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Ovation of the Seas arrives in Sydney at 6:30am with 4800 guests onboard hailing from more than 30 different countries. She will dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal until 6:30pm, before departing on a 10 night New Zealand cruise.

Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas will return to Fremantle, Australia on Wednesday November 29, 2017, marking the ship's second season down under, as well as Royal Caribbean’s 10th season in the region.

Making her way from Singapore to her Sydney summer home, Fremantle is Ovation of the Seas’ first Australian port of call for her second and significantly longer season down under.

At 348 metres long, 18 decks high and weighing 168,666 tons, Ovation of the Seas is the world’s equal-fourth largest cruise ship and the largest cruise ship to ever sail Australian waters, with capacity for 5,000 guests and 1,500 crew.

“The return of our billion dollar baby, Ovation of the Seas, marks a particularly special milestone for us at Royal Caribbean and for Australian travellers, because it also marks our 10th season down under,” says RCL Cruises managing director, Adam Armstrong.

“Ten years ago, our philosophy was to bring the world’s most cutting-edge cruise product to Australia’s doorstep. In 2007, we embarked on a cruising revolution with the mighty Rhapsody of the Seas. Today, we continue this proud tradition of delivering Australians with the world’s best holidays at sea, with the ground-breaking all-new Ovation of the Seas, one of our four Australian-based megaliners,” Armstrong said.

Her visit to Fremantle is expected to inject over $800,000 in passenger spend alone.

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia welcomed the return of Ovation of the Seas to WA: “Fremantle was Ovation of the Seas’ first Australian port of call on her maiden voyage down under last year. It’s a privilege to welcome her back again,” Mr Papalia said.

“Cruise shipping is crucial for the State’s tourism industry. In 2016-17, WA’s nine port destinations had 143 cruise ship visits, an 18 per cent increase from 121 calls the previous year. Those 143 visits generated $387.4 million for the WA economy and supported 1,300 jobs.

“The State Government recognises the importance of cruise shipping to WA, recently announcing improvements to some regional port destinations to ensure the sector’s sustainability in the future,” Papalia concluded.

Ovation of the Seas arrives in Fremantle at 8am, cruising from Singapore to Sydney with 4800 guests onboard hailing from more than 30 different countries. She will dock in Fremantle until 5pm, before making her way to Adelaide on 3 December and Hobart on 5 December, en route to her Sydney home on 7 December 2017.