After growing 20% annually over the past ten years and reaching a level of 800,000 tourists per year, the pace of cruise expansion in Brazil is expected to encounter a sharp slowdown in the 2011-2012 season.

On Wednesday morning, representatives from Royal Caribbean met with officials from the Brazilian state of Alagoas to discuss a possible cruise terminal in the state capital.

The visit aimed to examine the possibility of sending Royal Caribbean ships to Alagoas, and consider the application of investment for building a passenger terminal.

Royal Caribbean continues its project of promoting social lunches for organizations located in ports where its ships make stops, this time in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The The Brazilian Association of Representatives of shipping companies (of which Royal Caribbean is a member) estimates that the six destinations of the state of Rio in Brazil that are scheduled to receive ships (Rio de Janeiro, Buzios, Angra dos Reis, Jaguanum Island, Big Island and Cabo Frio) will receive a total of almost 1.210 million of visits in the 2010/2011 season, which begins in Brazil in October.

Royal Caribbean announced that during the next tourist season, several of its ships will make stops between Montevideo and Punta del Este in Uruguay. The announcement was made this past week by Michael Ronan, Royal Caribbean's Vice President of Government Relations, Caribbean, Latin America & Asia, in a meeting with national authorities that included President of the PNA Engineer Alberto Díaz, Vice-President Juan José Domínguez, Fernando Repremar Penalty SA, Uruguay agents

The Brazilian Cruise Associaton has announced that the port of Rio de Janeiro is expected to welcome almost 500,000 cruisers for the 2010-2011 season, which begins in October. About 17 ships will make a stop in Rio and according to the Brazilian Cruise Association, 479 000 cruisers will disembark in Rio de Janeiro. This number represents a 7% increase compared to the quota registered last season.