The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) has awarded Royal Caribbean NAMEPA’s 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award.

Royal Caribbean won the award for in recognition of the cruise line's efforts for preserving the marine environment as exemplified by a commitment to a program which has specific objectives set for environmental performance and improvement, and which is innovative and goes beyond minimum environmental compliance.  Specifically, the judges noted Royal Caribbean's Save the Waves program as helping to change "Hearts and Minds" of its guests.

The 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award will be presented at NAMEPA’s Awards Dinner to be held in New York following NAMEPA’s seminar on Corporate Risk Management, which will focus on the need of the maritime industry to evaluate risk in a challenging operating environment.

Royal Caribbean's vice president of Environmental Stewardship, Jamie Sweeting, spoke about accepting the award, "We are delighted that the North American Marine Environment Protection Association has awarded Royal Caribbean with the 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award.  Royal Caribbean is dedicated to helping to protect the marine environment, and we are committed to caring for the unique and beautiful places we visit throughout the world. It is an honor to be recognized by NAMEPA for our commitment to protect, conserve and support the environment."

At the Seatrade Europe in Hamburg, Germany the Seatrade Insider Cruise Awards 2011 were awarded and for Port of the Year, Falmouth was named the winner for 2011.  

Falmouth opened earlier this year on the coast north of Jamaica. Established by the Port Authority of Jamaica in partnership with Royal Caribbean and opened in March, Falmouth Harbor Theme represents an investment of about U.S. $ 270 million, with a pier with two piers, shops, restaurants and transportation center. Later phases of development planned for the immediate future include attractions, hotels, residences and more shops and restaurants.

Falmouth, located on the north coast of Jamaica, is located between the popular destinations of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, making it a convenient point of entry and exit to the island. In addition, cruise ships have more than 60 shore excursions to choose from, including walks around the city.

Royal Caribbean's LCD wayfinder system, developed by Four Winds Interactive, has won three awards for technological excellence from the Digital Screenmedia Association and Hospitality Technology magazine.

The LCD wayfinders were first installed on Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Allure of the Seas ships but have been rolled out to other ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet since. The wayfinders are interactive screens that enables customers, guests and employees to find their way around the ship using a touch-screen display. FWi designs and implements the software that makes these self-service kiosks work.

Digital Screenmedia Association recognized FWi’s work with Royal Caribbean for two of its awards: The 2011 Screenmedia Integration Award and the 2011 Industry Excellence Award for Best Travel/Hospitality Deployment – Digital Signage. The Screenmedia Integration Award is one of the top three annual awards bestowed by DSA.

The Digital Screenmedia Association was impressed by the system, describing it as, “highly intuitive, yet complex passenger-facing communication network onboard Royal Caribbean’s newest, most technologically advanced cruise ships, Oasis and Allure of the Seas.”

In addition, Hospitality Technology awarded Royal Caribbean's wayfinder system in the magazine's annual Visionary Awards for outstanding vision and achievement in delivering technological excellence. Hospitality Technology described the wayfinder system as a “network of digital signage displays and touchscreens that enable guests to obtain directions, gauge real-time dining options, learn about the day’s events and activities, and find answers to common questions.”

The cruise magazine Cruise International is asking its readers to vote for their favorite cruise line in a number of categories and Royal Caribbean has been nominated for a few of them. 

Royal Caribbean recieved nominations for

• Cruise Line of the Year
• Most Outstanding New Ship of 2010/11
  • Allure of the Seas
• Innovation of the Year
  • Rising Tide Bar - Oasis of the Seas
• Hidden Gems – the places you can only reach with cruise
  • Labadee, Haiti
• Coolest Cruise Captain
  • Herman Zini - Allure of the Seas
• Best Value Cruise Line
• Best Dining
  • 150 Central Park
• Best for Kids
  • Adventure Ocean & Dreamworks
• Best Entertainment Activities
  • Flow Rider, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing Walls
• Best Live Performance
  • Chicago
  • Hairspray
  • Saturday Night Fever

Want to vote?  Click here to cast your vote for these and other categories.

Parenting.com recognized Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas as one of the "Best Cruise Ships for Families".  In a survey of their top picks for best cruise ships to bring a family on, Allure was picked for among other reasons, the Dreamworks film connection.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a Royal Caribbean ship that doesn’t indulge pint-sized passengers, but Allure and Oasis are the latest and greatest in the 22-ship fleet.

Parents of infants will appreciate Royal Caribbean’s Babies 2 Go program, which allows you to order organic baby food, and Huggies diapers, wipes, and creams for delivery to your stateroom. Don’t worry about packing toys either. The cruise line’s Fisher-Price Toy Lending Program lets you borrow them like library books.

Cruising site Cruise Critic held its first annual Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards, where it polled its readers on a number of topics related to cruising and Royal Caribbean did exceptionally well, especially in the large ship category.  

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas proved to be a real winner with fans as it swept the large-ship class with three category wins, as well as the top ranking for the overall category of Best Large Cruise Ship.

Royal Caribbean's winnings weren't limited to just Oasis of the Seas, it did very well in a number of category including the "Best Overall Cruisers' Choice Award", where four out of the top five ships were Royal Caribbean ships.

Here are the results where Royal Caribbean finished well in

Best Large Cruise Ships – 2,000+ passengers

1. Oasis of the Seas
2. Serenade of the Seas
3. Celebrity Equinox
4. Allure of the Seas
5. Freedom of the Seas
6. Celebrity Solstice 
7. Celebrity Eclipse
8. Golden Princess
9. Liberty of the Seas
10. Jewel of the Seas

• Freedom of the Seas (5th)
• Liberty of the Seas (8th)

Best for Dining– 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (4th)
• Serenade of the Seas (6th)

Best for Embarkation - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Serenade of the Seas (2nd)
• Allure of the Seas (6th)

Best for Entertainment - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Allure of the Seas (2nd)
• Freedom of the Seas (4th)
• Voyager of the Seas (9th)
• Liberty of the Seas (10th)

Best for Families - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Liberty of the Seas (2nd)
• Mariner of the Seas (6th)

Best for Fitness  - 2,000+ passengers

• Liberty of the Seas (1st)
• Freedom of the Seas (2nd)
• Oasis of the Seas (3rd)
• Independence of the Seas (4th)
• Serenade of the Seas (7th)
• Mariner of the Seas (8th)
• Jewel of the Seas (10th)

Best for Public Rooms - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (2nd)
• Serenade of the Seas (3rd)
• Freedom of the Seas (6th)
• Allure of the Seas (7th)

Best for Service  - 2,000+ passengers

• Serenade of the Seas (1st)
• Oasis of the Seas (3rd)
• Freedom of the Seas (4th)
• Allure of the Seas (7th)
• Mariner of the Seas (8th)
• Voyager of the Seas (9th)
• Jewel of the Seas (10th)

Best for Shore Excursions - 2,000+ passengers

• Serenade of the Seas (6th)
• Voyager of the Seas (10th)

Best for Value - 2,000+ passengers

• Monarch of the Seas (5th)
• Radiance of the Seas (6th)
• Majesty of the Seas (10th)

At this year's Seatrade Awards Ceremonial Dinner, Royal Caribbean was awarded  the "Investment in People" award for its “Building On Talent” leadership development program.

The Building on Talent program was created as a partnership between Royal Caribbean executives and Human Resources and is a multi-dimensional leadership development initiative.  The program identifies people in Royal Caribbean who are high-potential leaders and develops bench strength so leaders can potentially assume multiple roles throughout the company. Building on Talent's reach is global, both shipboard and shoreside, and cascades from senior executive to professional levels.

Royal Caribbean vice president, global chief and human resources officer Maria Del Busto was honored to receive the award on behalf of the company, “This special recognition is truly a testament to Royal Caribbean's continued dedication to nurturing our company's talent and creating our leaders of tomorrow.  By strategically managing our talent, and thoughtfully planning the successors of our key leadership roles, Royal Caribbean will be better positioned for the future.”

Royal Caribbean won a 2011 RFID Journal Award for Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service.  The award was for Royal Caribbean's use of RFID technology to enable guests to prepay for unlimited soft drinks, and to then serve themselves fountain beverages without having to wait on a service bar line.

Royal Caribbean's RFID readers are built into the soda fountains that have antennas installed in the drip trays. 

Royal Caribbean's director of fleet beverage operations Bob Midyette claims each beverage container has a built-in near-field EPC Gen 2 RFID inlay from Alien Technology.  Back-end software confirms the guest's ID number and allows the fountain to dispense a 16-ounce drink.

"The system allows us to improve service to our guests," Midyette explains, "and enhance sales with something that feels like magic."

Cheers magazine has awarded Royal Caribbean a 2011 Cheers Beverage Excellence Award for "Best Chain Hotel Beverage Program".

The awards celebrate chain based establishments that provide excellent beverage service.

The criteria for these awards are a particular program's creativity, originality and impact on the sales and profitability of a full-service restaurant operation. Other factors considered are the level of marketing support, staff training and overall operator commitment to the initiative that lead to its success.

The Cruise Passenger Ratings Survey, by www.cruise.co.uk, has awarded Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas the best service award.  Adventure of the Seas has the distinction of being the only award winner not to sail from the UK.

Adventure of the Seas is a Voyager Class ship built in 2001 and is currently sailing out of San Juan, Puerto Rico before it moves to Malaga, Spain later this year to begin a Mediterranean itinterary.