Royal Caribbean announced better than expected fourth quarter and full year 2010 results.  Its fourth-quarter net income climbed to $42.7 million or $0.20 per share from $3.4 million or $0.02 per share a year ago.

Royal Caribbean revenues for the fourth quarter were up to $1.6 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in the 2009 fourth quarter.  Royal Caribbean attributes this increase to additional ship capacity and yield improvements.  

Royal Caribbean also mentioned that during the fourth quarter, weather issues affected some of the ships and that affected the Net Yields a little bit as it increased 3.2%, but if you take away the weather issues, Net Yields on a Constant Currency basis would have increased 4.7%, in line with previous guidance.

Thanks to better energy consumption innovations, Royal Caribbean's quarter's fuel expenditures were about $4 million better than initially predicted.

In addition to the fourth quarter results, 2010 yearly results were in and net income for 2010 was $547.5 million, compared to net income of $162.4 million for the year 2009. Moreover, 2010 revenues increased to $6.8 billion, a 15% increase, compared to 2009 revenues of $5.9 million.  Royal Caribbean's net cruise costs excluding fuel declined for the third year in a row.

Royal Caribbean is going to try out adding cabins for solo travelers in the spring of this year on Radiance of the Seas, according to a report by USA Today.

Radiance of the Seas will add three windowless "inside" stateroom cabins specifically for guests who are traveling alone.  To accommodate this change, Radiance of the Seas will enter dry dock in late May, have the new cabins installed and depart in early June. She will then spend the coming summer sailing in Alaska.

Single cabins are a new fad in some cruise lines and until now, Royal Caribbean did not have any.  The reason for this is because the the cruise business model revolves around cabins designed for two or more people.

Royal Caribbean  this week opened its new office in Mexico City, located on the Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho, where employees working in sales, marketing and business operations of the three cruise brands operated by Royal Caribbean:  Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises Club.

Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said the company appreciates its strong market position in Mexico and its new office will increase revenue, expand offerings of destinations and increase the number of passengers.

Royal Caribbean is updating its customer loyalty program, the Crown & Anchor Society, offering guests new ways to earn points and new advantages. Starting today, members accumulate points based on the number of nights of their cruise and not according to the number of cruises they've taken. In addition, the program now has two new levels of membership: Emerald, between Platinum and Diamond, and Pinnacle Club - an exclusive club for guests who traveled more than 100 times with Royal Caribbean - after the Diamond Plus.

These new changes to the Crown & Anchor Society take effect for sailings on or after January 21, 2011.

Thus, every night on board ship, Royal Caribbean is equivalent to a point in the program and double cabins higher the score. All current members of the program will be transferred automatically to the corresponding level according to the accumulated number of nights and no associate will lose their current status.

Moreover, innovations also include new benefits, such as a free automatic upgrade to associates; customization preferences; States may indicate a "friend" to go out and earn the same $ 25 onboard credit.

"These latest enhancements to the Crown & Anchor Society will further help recognize our loyal guests when they sail with us," said Betsy O'Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International. "We continuously listen and respond to our members' feedback and have updated our loyalty program to provide a more equitable way for our members to advance to the next level.  This program evolution is part of the Royal Advantage, our dedication to innovate our amazing ships and unprecedented programs to offer guests the best cruise vacation. It's important to understand that Crown & Anchor Society members will continue to enjoy all of their current program benefits and status, plus having the opportunity now to advance to the next tier even faster than before. For this one-time conversion, we have grandfathered everyone's status in the program."

To celebrate the incredible loyalty of program members, Royal Caribbean is introducing a limited time offer: 'Bring a Friend' and receive $25 to spend onboard. Members will be rewarded for introducing new guests to Royal Caribbean International for new bookings made between January 12 and April 30, 2011. The promotion will offer a $25 onboard credit per stateroom to Crown & Anchor Society members when sailing with their 'first to Royal' friends or family, for up to five staterooms per sailing, depending on the length of their cruise. Full details, terms and conditions and registration for promotion can be found online at www.RoyalCaribbean.com/BringaFriend.

Royal Caribbean has scheduled to announce its fourth quarter 2010 financial results with analysts for Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 10:00am.  

J.P Morgan expects "solid 4Q10 results" based on strong demand and ticket prices in the quarter. Despite rising price of crude and bunker fuel, J.P Morgan thinks the higher costs will be offset by "strong operating momentum" of Royal Caribbean's young and innovative fleet of cruise ships.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Add another award to Royal Caribbean's collection.  On Monday in London, England, Travel Weekly honored select companies at a spectacular Globe Travel Awards ceremony.  During the ceremony, Royal Caribbean picked up an award for best mainstream cruise company.

On hand to accept the award was Royal Caribbean's Associate Vice President & General Manager at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Jo Rzymowska, "This award shows how important agents are to us. We don't get everything right all the time but what we do is listen to the trade and this award means we get it right".

Given the situation of flood victims of the rains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Royal Caribbean is gathering donations of food or personal hygiene products that are sent through the Red Cross St. Paul.
Among the items needed most are bottled water, powdered milk, cups and plates and disposable baby diapers of all sizes.
The company will receive donations until Thursday, April 20. Delivery shall be made from 10:00am to  6:00pm hours in the office of Royal Caribbean, located at Alameda Santos, No. 74, 13th floor.

Royal Caribbean is joining two other cruise lines in ending or reducing their travel to Mexico from southern California, a trend that some in the industry attribute the growing violence in the country has scared off tourists.

Royal Caribbean's luxurious Mariner of the Seas departs on Sunday for her last journey from the Port of Los Angeles to the west coast of Mexico, said port spokesman Phillip Sanfield.

The ship then moved his base to Galveston, Texas, offering seven-night trips to the western Caribbean, the company said.

Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines are also pulling their ships from the area.But the loss of Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Star and Carnival Splendor represents most of the cruise ship traffic in Southern California to Mexico, which has been beaten by the violence and slow U.S. economic recovery.

"Certainly, Mexico has some problems," said Sanfield.

Luxury cruises in Southern California have traditionally made stops in Mexican tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, which have prevented some of the worst drug violence that has swept Mexico in recent years.

"However, people are taking a broader view (...) to violence in other parts of Mexico," Sanfield said.

An estimated 755,000 cruise passengers passed through the Port of Los Angeles last year, but expects that number to drop to 605,000 in 2011, said the port. Only the Mariner of the Seas transported 320,000 passengers in the port in 2010, and Royal Caribbean has had a presence in place for most of the past 20 years.

"They have been one of the main pillars, and we hope you come back here in the future," Sanfield said. "Each time a cruise ship visits a port in southern California, contributes 1 to $ 2 million to the local economy."

Drug-related violence in Mexico began to grow in 2006, the year that President Felipe Calderon sent the army to fight the cartels. On January 8, in the latest bloodshed that has occurred in a tourist destination in Mexico, 14 decapitated bodies were found in the resort of Acapulco.  The bodies were found near a shopping mall, with handwritten messages signed by the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

Stewart Chiron, an industry analyst CruiseGuy.com, said that apart from the poor economy, another factor contributing to the decline in travel to Mexico is that passengers are just tired of these routes.

Agilysys, Inc has announced that Royal Caribbean will use its InfoGenesis Point of Sales (POS) system on seven of its cruise ships.

Allure of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Azamara Journey, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit will all utilize the system.

Travel Weekly named Royal Caribbean the Best Cruise Line in its eighth annual Travel Weekly Readers' Choice Awards.  Royal Caribbean picked up numerous honors, chief among them best Best Cruise Line Overall.

In addition, Royal Caribbean won the following awards

• Cruise Line, Domestic
• Cruise line, Caribbean
• Cruise ship, rookie: Oasis of the Seas
• Cruise ship, overall: Oasis of the Seas
• Cruise line, sales and service

Winners were determined first by Travel Weekly readers who wrote in names of companies they believed best exemplified a particular category.  The leader vote getters were selected from the bunch and voting on finalists took place this fall.