At the 6th Annual Leisure Travel Leaders Awards, Royal Caribbean won two big awards for the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean won "Best Cruise Line Overall" and "Best Contemporary (Mass-Market) Line.

Leisure Travel Leaders awards are based on a survey sent to the more than 20,000 home-based travel agent readers of Agent@Home magazine, the more than 29,000 leisure-selling travel agent readers of Vacation Agent magazine, and the 65,000-plus travel agent readers of Travel Pulse Dailon TravelPulse.com. 

At the 19th World Travel Awards in Delhi, India, Royal Caribbean was honored with two awards for excellence in their cruise line.

Royal Caribbean won the World's Leading Cruise Brand and World's Leading Cruise Line awards.  Winners were determined by voting of accredited tourism professionals from around the world as well as readers of the World Travel Awards.

Accepting the awards was Royal Caribbean's Regional Director of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Helen Beck.  

Royal Caribbean has been honored with a number of awards by Cruise Critic for its 2012 Editors' Picks.

Royal Caribbean won awards for the United States and United Kingdom categorizations.  Royal Caribbean won the award in the following categories:

Best for Families (USA)

Royal Caribbean's appeal ranges from casual dining venues and cabins that sleep five or more to family-friendly recreational activities, such as ice-skating and simulated surfing. But its real gem is its kids programs, which are divided into five age classifications, entertaining kids from six months to 17 years old. 

Best Entertainment (USA)

While Royal Caribbean's already-iconic Oasis and Allure of the Seas -- with their comedy clubs, jazz bars, evening promenade parades, nighttime high-diving performances, ice-skating shows, pubs with folk music and actual Broadway productions -- deserve the nod, we also applaud the line for incorporating a similar variety of options on its (somewhat) smaller vessels. 

Best Suites (UK)

Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas set the bar high with their outstanding Loft Suites and Family Suites, but the three ships in Royal’s Freedom class -- Independence, Liberty and Freedom -- also boast some outstanding suite accommodations, including the Presidential Family Suite (1,215 square feet, balcony 810 square feet), which is unique in the industry. 

The Cruise Critic Editors' Picks Awards are selected by the team of editors at Cruise Critic.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, was recognized by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) South Florida with the chapter’s Hospitality Legend award.

Freed oversees Royal Caribbean's sales department as well as Royal Caribbean's Trade Support and Services division. She also leads the Loyal to You Always committment to the travel agent community.

Carmen Ackerman, President of HSMAI South Florida, presented Freed with the award during the association's Best in Hospitality banquet to benefit the HSMAI South Florida scholarship fund for future hospitality leaders.

In her community, Vicki serves on the board of the Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options (JAFCO) and she is a trustee of the United Way of Miami-Dade County. Previously, she served on the Florida Commission on Tourism for ten years, the board of directors for the South Florida Chapter of Make-a-Wish Foundation for nine years and the board of directors for the Association for Travel Marketing Executives.

Royal Caribbean has been awarded a Peer Award for Excellence for its online Cruising for Excellence training platform in the Technology for People category.

Royal Caribbean's Cruising for Excellence program is an online option for travel agents to give a realistic onboard experience, which allows agencies to show off its ships to their agents without having to bring all those agents physically onto a ship. 

Royal Caribbean trade training manager Michelle Russell commented on the win, "I am exceptionally proud of each and every member of the trade training team who all deserve a share of this prestigious award.Our trade partners are vital to our brand’s continued growth and we are committed to supporting them with training, ship visits and innovative marketing. Consistent trade feedback on Cruising for Excellence has been fantastic and the investment in training to bring our ships to life continues to convert yet more agents to be great Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises ambassadors. This award is a reflection of that I am honored that the judging panel at the Peer Awards for Excellence recognizes our efforts and the quality of our offering."

Cruising for Excellence has so far trained over 20,000 travel agents since its 2006 launch. It is now available in 13 different languages.

Travel Weekly has awarded Royal Caribbean 15 Magellan Awards for the year.  Radiance of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas were singled out among the awards along with Royal Caribbean's "The Sea is Calling" advertising campaign.

“We are much honored to be recognized again by Travel Weekly’s distinguished panel of industry experts and judges,” said Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Royal Caribbean International. “We are particularly encouraged that revitalized Radiance of the Seas won Gold for Overall Contemporary Ship. Radiance of the Seas is a glowing example of our ongoing ship revitalizations to introduce some of the most popular Oasis-class amenities across the fleet and make every ship our best ship for vacationers to enjoy.”

Gold Magellan Awards

• Radiance of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship
• Oasis of the Seas - Overall - Eco-Friendly "Green" Cruise Ship 
• The Sea is Calling - Advertising/Marketing Campaign 
• The Sea is Calling - TV Commercial 
• The Sea is Calling... - Vicki Print Advertising 
• Oasis’ 150 Central Park - Contemporary Ship - Restaurant Design 
• DreamWorks Experience - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
• Hairspray - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
• Royal Promenade -Contemporary Ship - Atrium Design 
• Royal Loft Suites - Contemporary Ship - Suite Design

Silver Magellan Awards :

• Allure of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship 
• Sea Views - Overall - Blog 
• Crown & Anchor Society - Overall - Loyalty Program 
• Vitality at Sea Spa - Contemporary Ship - Spa Design 
• Madagascar 3 - Web Marketing/Advertising

Market21, a leading advisory firm in the use of advanced marketing tools, ranks Royal Caribbean first in the use of advanced marketing among American cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean won on overall strength of performance. Some other lines were leaders in specific areas, but Royal Caribbean posted a strong across the board performance. They will have to remain on guard to keep up with competitors moving ahead with innovations such as: Norwegian, Crystal, and Disney.

Market21 used the Cruise Line Marketing Review, which measures 12 domestic lines against 18 criteria to determine how well they were performing using the current technologies, and how well they are prepared to move up to the newer technologies as they develop.

The report shows the strengths and weaknesses of the individual lines and the opportunities that are possible for both the individual lines and the industry as a whole. Reaching out to the customer in the manner in which they expect/desire to be addressed is important for current customers and to expand the customer base.

Travel+Leisure magazine has posted their annual awards for the best travel in the world, and Royal Caribbean made the list.

For the category of "Top Large Cruise Ships", Royal Caribbean made the #9 spot.

Here are the full results

1. Crystal Cruises 89.90
2. Regent Seven Seas 89.36
3. Azamara Club Cruises 87.31
4. Oceania Cruises 86.05
5. Disney Cruise Line 84.96
6. Cunard Line 83.26
7. Celebrity Cruises 81.61
8. Holland America Line 80.37
9. Royal Caribbean 79.40
10. Princess Cruises 79.08

Royal Caribbean's ninth spot finish was identical to last year's awards, although its score did dip slightly from last year.  Sister companies Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises placed in the list as well, with Azamara moving up one spot from last year.

The scores are results of reader surveys from the Travel+Leisure Magazine.

Bermuda's Minister of Business Development and Tourism, Wayne Furbert presented the 2012 Royal Caribbean International Hospitality Awards on board the Celebrity Summit. Royal Caribbean's Vice-President of Government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, Michael Ronan joined other members of Bermuda's government to present the awards.

The winners of the Hospitality Awards were

• Nikhil Hassell, who received $5000 and is attending Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Dwayne Fubler, who recieved $10,000 and is attending Florida International University
• Simon Benevides, who received $5,000 and is attending the University of Guelph, Ontatio, Canada

“To date, this program has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds to 65 young Bermudians to assist them in tourism related studies,” said the Minister. “I am pleased to join with Royal Caribbean in awarding three deserving young Bermudians with scholarships.”

The Minister concluded by saying the Government is committed to helping young Bermudians achieve excellence in the hospitality industry. “This initiative celebrates that achievement and I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line International for their significant contribution and support that they continue to share.”

Royal Caribbean has once again won first prize in the 2012 Canadian Travel Press Agents’ Choice Awards, which is the ninth consecutive year that's occured.

Royal Caribbean Canada director of sales and marketing Lisa Connell commented on the honor, "We are thrilled to receive such a special award from our valued travel agent partners who help make Royal Caribbean International one of the world’s top global cruise brands. It’s been an exciting year with the introduction of a dedicated sales team catering to Canadian travel agents and vacationers in order to further Royal Caribbean International success in this market.”

“We are honored to be recognized as the top cruise line for the ninth consecutive year by our valued travel agent partners in Canada,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of Sales, Trade Support and Services, Royal Caribbean International. “This recognition re-affirms our ongoing and unwavering support of the travel agent community - what we call Loyal to You Always. Our commitment to building meaningful relationships through personal interaction with travel agents is one of the ways that sets Royal Caribbean apart.”