At the 2016 Travel Weekly Readers Choice awards, Royal Caribbean came away as being named the Best Cruise Line Overall for the 14th consecutive year.

Royal Caribbean also claimed the top spot in a few other categories including

• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean
• Best Cruise Line Sales & Service
• Best Overall Individual Cruise Ship (Allure of the Seas)
• Best New Cruise Ship (Harmony of the Seas)

"It is such a great honor to sweep the top categories in the cruise sector of these notable awards selected by Travel Weekly readers and so many valued travel agents," said Vicki Freed, senior vice president, Sales and Trade Support and Service, Royal Caribbean International. "Being recognized as ‘Best Cruise Line Overall’ since the inception of the Readers Choice Awards, as well as ‘Best Cruise Line Sales & Service’ for nine years in a row, is testament to our incredibly strong relationships with travel partners built on years of working together, learning together and innovating together. We thank Travel Weekly and valued agents for their ongoing support, and will continue to deliver on our commitment and promise to our travel partners’ success."

Travel Weekly honored the winners of its Readers Choice Awards at a gala dinner and ceremony on December 15 at the Conrad Hotel in New York. Winners were selected in 78 categories, ranging from hotels to tours to airlines to GDSs to cruise lines, represent the best of the best in travel.

Royal Caribbean has won another impressive award this year, taking out Australasia’s Leading Cruise Line at the prestigious World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia, presented in Danang, Vietnam.

The award is determined from votes cast by travel and tourism professionals throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, as well as the general public.

"It’s been an incredible year for Royal Caribbean, and we are honoured to have such a prestigious international award under our belt," says Adam Armstrong, Managing Director of Royal Caribbean Australia and New Zealand.

"Australasia has really shown us the love since the arrival of our first ship down under nine years ago, and we can’t wait to welcome our guests back onboard our award-winning, innovative ships again this season – set to be our biggest ever."

GayTravel.com announced that Royal Caribbean International is the first and only cruise line to receive the distinction of being Gay Travel Approved.  According to the group, Royal Caribbean "has shown an ongoing commitment to the LGBTQ community by demonstrating a spirit of diversity and inclusion on all of its 25 ships that visit exciting destinations around the world."

The Gay Travel Approved Seal of Approval is awarded by GayTravel.com to select travel partners that offer a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ travelers. This accolade is reserved for travel partners whom a panel of experts, editors and tastemakers have deemed deserving of a higher level of recognition by the LGBTQ community.

"Royal Caribbean has always been known and recognized for extraordinary service that is warm and attentive and remains committed to creating a diverse, welcoming environment on each and every one of our ships," said Grant Van Ulbrich, Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Royal Caribbean. "To take our efforts to the next level, we recently introduced a new Diversity and Inclusion department and one of its first priorities is to focus on continued training and education for our international crew members."

"This designation has been a long time in the making," said Steve Rohrlick, CEO of GayTravel.com. "Our GayTravel Cruise Guru Stephen Prisco has sailed on more than one hundred Royal Caribbean cruises.  The recent appointment of Grant Van Ulbrich as the first openly-gay Diversity Executive on a major cruise line and the steps he is implementing are indicative of Royal Caribbean International's commitment to the LGBTQ community. It is therefore our distinct pleasure to bestow GayTravel Approved 2016 to Royal Caribbean International."

At the eighth annual Cruise Critic UK Editors' Picks Awards, Royal Caribbean came out on top for two categories related to accomodations.

Royal Caribbean won for Best Cruise Line Inside Cabins and Best Cruise Line Suites.

Cruise Critic described why Royal Caribbean won for each category.

Inside rooms:

Royal Caribbean proves inside cabins can be fun and functional. Several of the cruise line's ships include interior staterooms with virtual balconies that have floor-to-ceiling HD-TVs showing real-time views of oceans and ports -- complete with the sound of the waves. Royal Caribbean also has inside cabins that can accommodate single travelers, a relative rarity at sea.

Suites:

Royal Caribbean offers many options when it comes to its suites, with staterooms like the luxurious two-level Royal Loft Suite, as well as the innovative Presidential Family Suite, exclusive to Harmony of the Seas. The cruise line's Royal Suite Class ups the ante, with a customized menu of inclusions, amenities and services that make the experience feel special and personal.

The awards are selected by a global panel of impartial Cruise Critic editors and celebrates excellence in cruise travel and features a host of categories dedicated to ocean, river and luxury cruising.

Here's the full list of Cruise Critic UK Editors' Picks award winners.

At the TTG Travel Awards 2016, Royal Caribbean was named the Best Cruise Operator, which marks the ninth time in a row the cruise line has won the award.

Royal Caribbean was recognized for offering the best product, services and facilitires.  Ovation of the Seas, the newest Quantum Class ship, highlighted the awards by being the newest and largest ship in Asia. The award is also recognition for Royal Caribbean for being the most professional sales and marketing team in terms of innovative ideas and servicing.

At a ceremony in Bangkok, Royal Caribbean has been voted unanimously by readers of TTG Asia, TTG China, TTG India, TTGmice, TTG-BTmice China, TTGassociations and TTG Asia Luxury for the award. 

Sean Treacy, Managing Director, Singapore & Southeast Asia of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. who received the award said, "It’s a great honour to receive this prestigious award for the ninth consecutive time. It shows Royal Caribbean’s growing strength as the leading cruise brand of choice in Asia with our amazing ships and revolutionary onboard experiences. We will continue to deliver to everyone “the One holiday” with “endless adventures". 

"We thank all our partners for their strong confidence and support, in our journey in making the cruise industry more vibrant and our brand a top vacation choice across the region. Come 2017, we can look forward to another exciting year together with even more sailings and most of all, celebrating Royal Caribbean’s 10 th anniversary in Asia!" he added.

The TTG Travel Awards are given out annually to honour organizations in Asia Pacific’s travel industry fortheir strong commitment towards service excellence.

Royal Caribbean is celebrating a double win at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards 2016, which marks the first time the cruise line has taken home both honors.

Royal Caribbean was awarded Best Cruise Operator – International, and Best Cruise Operator – Domestic. 

Since 2005, Royal Caribbean has been the proud recipient of Best Cruise Operator award wins five times. 2016 marks the first time the line has secured both the international and domestic prize, a particularly special achievement, according to Adam Armstrong, Royal Caribbean’s managing director in Australia and New Zealand.

“These awards are significant because they demonstrate recognition from the travel industry. Our travel agent partners play a huge role in the success of our cruise brand sailing here in Australia and around the world.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised and solidifies our commitment to delivering our style of innovative and international holidays at sea. We are truly grateful to the industry for their ongoing support.”

“Our congratulations go out to all other finalists and winners of the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards,” Armstrong concluded.

The Ethisphere Institute has named Royal Caribbean a member of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Company list, which recognizes companies that define and advance the standards of ethical business practices.

This is the first time Royal Caribbean has been recognized and is one of only two companies in the Lodging, Leisure and Recreation category to make the list.

"Tomorrow or 10 years from now, there is no substitute for doing the right thing," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "Customers expect it, shareholders demand it, and we try to live it every day."

"Companies rely on Ethisphere to continually raise and measure the standards of corporate behavior. Those that demonstrate leadership in areas like citizenship, integrity and transparency create more value for their investors, communities, customers and employees, thus solidifying a sustainable business advantage," explained Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "Congratulations to everyone at Royal Caribbean Cruises for being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company."

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research and vetted and refined by the expert advice from Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel. The EQ offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.

At the 2016 Irish Travel Industry Awards, Royal Caribbean was the winner of, "Best General Cruise Company" category.

#RoyalCaribbean win best general #Cruise company @ITAATweets #irishtravelawards @CEVMansionHouse @cruises_for_you pic.twitter.com/0yd9SHrDCB

— Pamela Brownlee (@PamelaBrownlee1) January 21, 2016

Cruise & Ferry Category @holworldshow Best General Cruise Company:Royal Caribbean @RoyalCaribbean #IrishTravelAwards pic.twitter.com/1oXn2x5mW2

— Irish Travel Agents (@ITAATweets) January 21, 2016

A special event was held at the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland on January 21, 2016, where Royal Caribbean was honored with the win.

The Irish Travel Industry Awards are the premier awards for suppliers and Travel Agents in Ireland. The Awards are designed to showcase excellence in the delivery of international travel services to both leisure and business customers travelling from Ireland.

Royal Caribbean came away a big winner at the 2016 Travvy Awards, which were held at Gotham Hall on January 6th, 2016 in New York City.

Photo by Vicki Freed

Royal Caribbean won a total of six awards in these categories

• Best Overall Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean
• Best Contemporary Cruise Line
• Best LGBT Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in Europe
• Best Cruise Line for Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, posted on Facebook how proud she was of the wins, "I am so proud and humbled to announce the awards Royal Caribbean was honored with at last night's Travvy Awards Event! We can not thank you enough for your continued support and love. Thank you Travel Partners."

The Travvy Awards recognize the highest standards of excellence in the industry today and honor travel companies, travel products, travel agencies, travel executives, travel agents and destinations for their outstanding achievement.

At the Travel Weekly Readers Choice 2015 awards, Royal Caribbean came away as being named the Best Cruise Line Overall for the 13th consecutive year.

Royal Caribbean also claimed the top spot in a few other categories including

• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean
• Best Sales & Service
• Best New Cruise Ship (Quantum of the Seas)

“It is such a great honor to be chosen in so many categories by Travel Weekly readers, our valued travel agent partners,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president,Sales, Trade Support and Service for Royal Caribbean International. “We are very proud to have won the Best Cruise Line Overall award throughout the life of this recognition program, as well as the Best Sales & Services award for eight years in a row. We thank Travel Weekly and travel agents for their ongoing support.”

Travel Weekly honored the winners of its 13th annual Readers Choice Awards at a gala dinner and ceremony Tuesday at the Conrad Hotel in New York. Winners were selected in 67 categories in the airline, car, hospitality, rail, GDS, agent education, tour, cruise, destination and theme park sectors. The awards are presented to suppliers considered by Travel Weekly readers who led the way in product and service during the past year.