Royal Caribbean has announced a memorial service to remember Mike Semler, who recently passed away suddenly last month.  Semler was Royal Caribbean's Wichita call center director.

Royal Caribbean said the public service will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, at the Beech Activity Center, 9710 E. Central in Wichita, Kansas.

Semler, 50, was the director of trade support and service and was director of the facility in Wichita, which he helped to launch in 1999.

An active community leader, Semler held board appointments for United Way of the Plains, Kansas Communities in Schools, Go Witchita, and most was Chairman of the Kansas Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In lieu of flowers, the family has established that donations may be made to either the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Kansas or the Kansas Humane Society. Donations may be sent to:

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Kansas
2016 N. Amidon
Wichita, KS 67203
Please indicate that it is in Memory of Mikel Semler.
Credit card donations may be made via phone at (316) 838-9474.

Royal Caribbean will be part of the conference line up at Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific conference and trade show later this year on September 17-18, 2012.  The second annual event will take place in Singapore is set to bring the cruise industry together to look at the emerging Asia-Pacific cruise market.

As part of the conference, Royal Caribbean's Managing Director for Asia-Pacific Gavin Smith and Adam Armstrong, Commercial Manager for Australia & New Zealand will join a panel of other cruise executives to look at the what the Asia market means.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain released a statement about the death of Mikel Semler, who was the Director, Trade Support and Services for Royal Caribbean Cruises.

“It is with great sadness that I report to you that Mikel Semler passed away unexpectedly this weekend. Mike started his career with us 13 years ago (before the delivery of VOYAGER OF THE SEAS) when the concept of our Wichita call center was still just a work in process. He oversaw the creation and development of this important business center. Over the years, Mike built up the size and importance of Wichita as a key part of Royal Caribbean’s ability to handle the needs of our rapidly growing guest base. Currently, the center has over 400 employees handling almost four million calls per year.

At the same time, Mike made sure that the office was a proud supporter of his local community, becoming an active leader and promoter of Wichita and the surrounding community. He was most recently the Chairman of the Kansas Chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation. He also held board appointments for United Way of the Plains (having previously served as its Chairman), Kansas Community in Schools and Go Wichita, a local travel and tourism association.

We will all miss him as a work colleague and friend after his many years of loyal service to Royal Caribbean. His dedication and commitment to our company was an integral part of our success and growth.

It seems hard to imagine it, but Mike was just here in Miami for a two day retreat of the company’s executives. His good humor and focus on the future helped lift all of our spirits and raised the demands we placed on ourselves.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends during this most difficult time. They will remain in our thoughts and prayers.” 

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas rescued a sailor racing in the Newport Bermuda Race after he became dehydrated.

The chairman of the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race, John Osmond, said at 3:00 am on Monday Nathan C. Owen reported to be suffering the effects of dehydration.  

Enchantment of the Seas transferred him from his 46-foot sloop "Seabiscuit" at about 200 miles northwest of Bermuda in rough seas.

Enchantment of the Seas was on its way from Bermuda to Boston, Massachusetts when officials at Bermuda’s Rescue Coordination Center contacted the Enchantment of the Seas' captain and requested that the ship be diverted to rescue and treat Owen.

In connection with the release of "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted",  Royal Caribbean is offering a content to sail with Alex, Gloria, King Julien and the Penguins on select ships featuring the DreamWorks Experience offered exclusively on Royal Caribbean.

You can visit Facebook.com/RoyalCaribbean to enter the contest through June 20 for your chance to win the "Madagascar at Sea" sweepstakes.  The two grand prizes are a seven-night cruise for four to Europe or the Caribbean, while one daily winner will earn a $25 gift card for correctly answering trivia about the cruise line and the “Madagascar” franchise.

To celebrate the release of “Madagascar 3” Royal Caribbean ships featuring the DreamWorks Experience, Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, will host special screenings of the movie in 3D throughout the summer, plus offer exclusive content – including movie trailers and behind the scenes videos – as well as the chance to win prizes, such as movie posters, DVDs, character photos and more during daily trivia and other onboard activities.

Royal Caribbean is welcoming 90 students from colleges across the United States to begin Royal Caribbean's annual summer internship program called, "Emerging Leaders".  The program considered 1,300 applicants and ultimately chose a few of them to participate in the program through July 27.  Emerging Leaders allows students the opportunity to apply key concepts learned in the classroom within a fast-paced, invigorating corporate environment.

Martine Pasquet, Royal Caribbean's Director of Human Resources commented on the nature of the internship, "The interest in our Emerging Leaders program is a clear testament to our reputation as an employer of choice, the success of our prior years’ internship programs, and our management team’s interest in taking the time to coach and mentor this next generation of leaders.  Having these highly talented students here enables us to gain fresh insights into some of our challenges, and also allows us to identify a future talent pool.”

The Emerging Leaders internship began in 2008 and this year's program has expanded to include two branch programs: the Bacardi USA Partnership and the Posse Foundation Partnership.

The Bacardi USA/Royal Caribbean partnership will allow eight University of Miami MBA students to be selected to experience business from two different company and industry perspectives during the summer program and will have the opportunity to work directly with many of Royal Caribbean's senior leaders.

With the Posse Foundation, one of the most comprehensive college access and youth leadership development programs in the U.S., Royal Caribbean will partner to help Posse Scholars and Alumni transition from being leaders on campus to being leaders in the workforce. 

Royal Caribbean's performance of Hairspray will be performed live at the Tony Awards this year.  The cast aboard Oasis of the Seas will take place in the ship's Opal Theater and broadcast live to the show.

Royal Caribbean has been named an official partner of the 66th Annual Tony Awards, which will be part of the live broadcast airing on CBS from the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Sunday, June 10, 2012.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the news, "We couldn't be more excited to partner with the Tony Awards to give the audience a taste of our genuine Broadway productions, which include Saturday Night Fever, as well as the Tony award-winning musicals Hairspray and Chicago: The Musical. These amazing performances, along with a host of other entertainment options including our unparalleled DreamWorks Experience, our dive and aqua shows plus ice skating performances, afford our guests an unparalleled vacation that is second to none."

Royal Caribbean has said that Vision of the Seas will dock in Bergen, Norway and Brilliance of the Seas will dock in Flam, Norway this morning as planned, despite a strike by pilot boat skippers in Oslo.

The strike is expected to spread across Norway by Thursday.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez issued a statement regarding the situation, "Both ships are expected to depart their ports of call today as scheduled. However, we are currently preparing contingency plans in the event the strike continues and either ship is unable to make their next scheduled port of calls in Norway."

The strike comes at the peak of the Norwegian fjord sailing season and threatens to disrupt the tourists coming to see them.

Vision of the Seas is scheduled to call to Geiranger, Norway, on Thursday, May 31, then spend Friday, June 1, at sea and conclude its sailing in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday, June 2.

Brilliance of the Seas is scheduled to call to Bergen, Norway, on Thursday, May 31, spend Friday, June 1, at sea and conclude its sailing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Saturday, June 2.

Royal Caribbean is sending Mariner of the Seas to China in 2013 to join sister ship Voyager of the Seas that was already going to the Far East.  Together, Royal Caribbean will be able to offer cruises to Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Mariner of the Seas will arrive in China in June 2013 and offer a number of itineraries from 3 to 12 nights.  The addition of Mariner of the Seas will offer additional capacity to a Chinese cruise market that is growing quickly.  Mariner will also adopt the same product customizations that Voyager of the Seas made to adapt to the Chinese marketing, such as Chinese-style menus, enhanced retail and entertainment offerings and language services.

To get to China, the ship will depart the Caribbean in April and head to Singapore and onto China via Dubai and the Suez Canal.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the move, "2012 is for our company the year of China."

“We see Asia in general and China in particular as a major strategic objective for our company,” Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain said. “China has proven to be a very special market.”

Royal Caribbean senior vice president of marketing Betsy O'Rourke has decided to resign from Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the resignation and said O'Rourke's last day on the job will be May 25, 2012.  The company has no immediate plans for a successor.

O'Rourke had the job since 2009 and reported to Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein.  Her role with the company had been overseeing Royal Caribbean's overall marketing program including brand strategy and positioning, consumer and trade advertising, web and loyalty marketing, research, brand development and communications.