Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein said in a recent interview that Royal Caribbean's newest megaships, Allure and Oasis of the Seas, are drawing a much younger age group than traditionally seen. 

On an overall basis the average age of an RCI cruiser is 44. ... But on Oasis and Allure, the average age of people booking and taking trips is 39 or 40. We're seeing a much heavier family involvement on these ships. I believe the family vacation experience on these ships is competitive with anything that exists on land.

In addition to younger people going on a cruise, Goldstein was convinced that overseas cruising (outside the United States) is a place of tremendous growth for the company.  In fact, next summer, Royal Caribbean will have 11 of their 22 ships in Europe.

The biggest trend in the cruise industry right now is globalization. That is what's happening. For the first 30 years of the cruise industry as we know it, the American market was very dominant, and although marketing took place in other countries, particularly the U.K., it was limited. For the most part, people had to travel long distances to get on cruise ships and they were mostly occupied by U.S. customers. In the last 10 years, that has started to change in a meaningful way.

A lawsuit has been filed against Royal Caribbean because of an incident aboard Monarch of the Seas in September 2005 when a toxic gas leak onboard killed three and injured several crew members.  The lawsuit alleges that Royal Caribbean knew about the gas leak and believes that Royal Caribbean endangered the lives of thousands of passengers and numerous employees by continuing to operate the unsafe vessel for several months before completing the repairs.

Florida trial attorney John H. “Jack” Hickey filed the lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court this week. 

“Royal Caribbean engaged in gross misconduct so reckless that it constituted a conscious disregard or indifference to the life, safety, or rights of every single person on that ship,” said Hickey who is representing former Staff Captain Bjoern Eidissen of Norway in legal action against RCCL. “There were indications that hazardous conditions were building on the ship for several months, even before the leak, but the company never warned passengers and staff about the presence of harmful toxic gases.

The accident occurred in the Port of Los Angeles in September 2005 when according to the complaint, Royal Caribbean failed to maintain the permanent ballast tanks onboard the ship.  These tanks, which contain mixtures of gray water, puper water and sea water, creates hydrogen sulfide that with prolonged exposure can result in  severe brain and lung damage while a high concentration can cause death.

Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida has extended its deal with Royal Caribbean that allows Universal to sell its customers on an extended vacation option that includes a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean allows Universal to continue selling land-and-sea vacation packages that combine three or four night stays at a Universal Studios resort with a three or four night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas.

Dubbed the "Way More than a Cruise" package, the deal is Universal's response to the popular similar offering that Walt Disney World has used with Disney Cruise Line.

Cruise Critic, a world reknown cruise resource site, has announced the winners of its 2010 Editors' Picks Awards winners today and Royal Caribbean took home a few honors.

The annual awards evaluates cruise lines and ships according to the types of passengers to whom they cater. Then they compared, like-for-like, aiming to honor the very best cruise companies and highlight their particular strengths.

Royal Caribbean had the distinction of winning a few of these awards, such as...

• Best for Families – Royal Caribbean
• Best New Ship – Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas
• Best Pool Scene – Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas

Information Week recently profiled Royal Caribbean's CIO Bill Martin.  Here are some highlights from the run down.

Top Initiatives: 

• Allure of the Seas: Delivery of the newest ship in the our international fleet and sister ship to Oasis of the Seas. Allure is our fifth ship to utilize a fully converged IP network that delivers in-stateroom entertainment and Wi-Fi throughout the vessel. It also uses VoIP for a wide range of wireless applications.
• Celebrity Eclipse: Delivery of the newest ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet and the third Solstice-class ship. The Solstice class also features a fully converged network.

The next big thing for my industry will be ... consumer-facing technology. Our Oasis class of ships had a dramatic impact on how we could leverage technology to improve the guest experience with back-of-the-house automation. Further development of BI also will be big.

CNN interviewed Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein to talk about where Royal Caribbean is right now and its future.  Topics of the interview included the state of the cruise industry, the arrival of the Allure of the Seas and an unusual debate over which really is the largest cruise ship.  Here are some highlights of the interview from Adam.

There will always be some percentage of the business that comes in the form of discount. It's the nature of the business that there will be some of that, but I think it's fair to say that while there still are attractive offers and discounts available on the marketplace today, they're not as broad or as deep as what we were doing in the midst of the recession or in the deepest part of the recession.

Goldstein on adding Starbucks to other ships in the fleet: We need to see what happens here because this is a test case.  We're focused on Allure of the Seas and then if it is a big success we'll look at other possibilities.

Goldstein on adding ships larger than Allure: In the near term, no. We don't have any current plans to go beyond Oasis class. In fact, we've said that we're not currently thinking of adding to Oasis class.

The CleanSea Shipboard Wastewater Treatment System that can be found onboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and the soon to ship out, Allure of the Seas, has received certification from Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

This certification follows successful testing of the CleanSea system to verify that the effluent produced by the system meets MEPC 159(55) regulations. These regulations stipulate that the effluent has met or exceeded certain characteristics, verified over a 10 day period. The Headworks Bio CleanSea system produces excellent quality effluent with all parameters under the maximums by 30-90%.

These water systems handle all of the all black water, hotel grey water, laundry grey water, galley grey water, and decanted bioresidue wastewater produced during operation. The system, which is 100% redundant, is rated to handle 3,000 m³/day (790,000 GPD).

Jamil Murni, from Houston, Texas has been sentenced to four years in jail for defrauding Royal Caribbean.  Murnii was a fuel buyer for Royal Caribbean who concocted a scheme to defraud the cruise line of more than $600,000, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Murni created a fake fuel purchasing company called "Sea Fuels Trading" and applied to have it become a fuel provider for Royal Caribbean. He then used his position with the cruise line to secure contracts with his company.  He then purchased fuel from competitors and sold it back to Royal Caribbean for a higher price.

As part of his punishment, Murni will have to pay back $610,228 in restitution to Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean took delivery of its newest ship, Allure of the Seas, sister ship to the much touted Oasis of the Seas from the STX Europe shipyard in Turku, Finland.

After nearly two years of construction, STX handed over Allure of the Seas to Royal Caribbean, who will now begin the process of readying Allure of the Seas for her inaugural cruise later this year. Allure is scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on November 11. It's maiden voyage is set for Dec. 1.

Among new offerings on Allure is the first Starbucks at sea, the first GUESS store at sea, a Brazilian churrascaria restaurant, a Mexican cantina and a hot dog stand. The ship also will be the first to feature DreamWorks Animation characters such as Shrek, part of a new partnership between DreamWorks and Royal Caribbean.

Guests cruising aboard Royal Caribbean's new Allure of the Seas will have the opportunity to have their usual morning coffee as Starbucks will launch its first coffee shop at sea. 

“We are always looking for unique ways and places to connect with our customers and deliver the Starbucks Experience,” said Chris Carr, senior vice president and general manager of Starbucks Licensed Stores. “Starbucks presence aboard Allure of the Seas is another place where our customers want and expect us to be.”

Starbucks will serve it's usual line of coffee drinks on the Royal Promenade from 7am to 11pm each day.  The Seattle's Best Coffee will remain on the ship (Seattle's Best Coffee is a subsidary of Starbucks) and be served in the Adagio main dining room, conference rooms and the ship's signature specialty restaurants.

“We are passionate about delivering the WOW,” said Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of Hotel Operations, Royal Caribbean International. “Opening the first ever Starbucks at sea is another example of how Royal Caribbean is delivering distinctive beverage and dining options to our guests and exceeding their expectations. We are offering something that no other cruise brand can.”