Royal Caribbean is offering three themed cruises in South America for the 2014/2015 cruise season. The cruises are called Royal Life, Royal Gourmet and Royal Dance.

Royal Life will be a seven-night cruise out of Santos, Brazil on February 1, 2014 and will stop in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Punta del Este.  This cruise will offer exercise regiments as well as light and healthy food choices.

Royal Gourmet will be a cruise sailing on March 13, 2014 with stops in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Punta del Este.  Royal Gourmet will bring together a number of major Brazilian chefs that will offer unique programming.

For Royal Dance, Royal Caribbean is partnering with the Dance Studio of Dance Fernando Campani.  The cruise will offer the studios' intense class schedule, with a 14-night trans-Atlantic itinerary that will end in Barcelona, Spain.

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas arrived today in Salvador for her ninth season in Brazil after travelling from Europe.

Splendour of the Seas' first cruise in Brazil this season will begin on December 8th and offer three to seven night cruises to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

As part of Splendour's return to Brazil, a small commemorative event was held announcing the ship's arrival.

Splendour of the Seas is returning after having had a revitalization that breathed fresh life into the ship, which added a number of new ammenities to the ship such as restaurants and onboard activities.

Royal Caribbean has announced the winter 2014-2015 Brazil and South America cruise schedule for Splendour of the Seas.

Splendour of the Seas will sail roundtrip out of São Paulo, Brazil and offer three- to eight-night cruises with port stops at Buzios, Ilha Grande, and Ilhabela. In addition she will offer seven-night Argentina and Uruguay cruises, calling at Punta Del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Included in this schedule is a special eight-night holiday cruise that leaves on December 27, 2014 and will visit the ports of Porto Belo, Buzios, Ilha Grande and Ilhabela, and herald in the New Year at Rio de Janeiro to catch the world-famous fireworks show at Copacabana Beach.

Splendour of the Seas’s winter 2014-15 Brazil and South America cruises are now open for sale. 

Lisa Bauer, Royal Caribbean executive vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, commented on the news, "We are glad to bring Splendour of the Seas back to Brazil for an eighth winter season.  Splendour of the Seas combines a vast array of new and modern features and conveniences, exciting itineraries, and our world-renowned friendly and engaging GOLD Anchor Service to deliver a unique South America vacation experience that can only be found on Royal Caribbean. And our award-winning family programming will help make a vacation to the region an unforgettable experience for all ages."

Royal Caribbean has signed an agreement with Assist Card Brazil, one of the largest provides of travelers assistance in the world.  The partnership is the consolidation of a global agreement existing between the two companies.

In Brazil, Assist Card has developed a specific product for Royal Caribbean, which covers medical care in the event of accident or illness during travel, medicines, dental care, transportation and repatriation, among other benefits. The contract - which is exclusive to June 2014 - aims to serve approximately 50,000 Royal Caribbean guests at this time.

"Besides the increase in the amount of product coverage, the big news is the benefit Cashless where travelers no longer have to pay for medical services performed on board and request a refund by returning to the country," explains Roberto Oliveira, Commercial Manager of Assist Card Brazil.

Assist Card is the largest travel assistance company in the world, for over 40 years in the market offering local solutions to emergencies abroad, at no additional cost to your customer. Currently, the company is present in 110 countries, which provides the unique ability to work in minutes almost anywhere in the world. For years, the company performs more than 200,000 visits to people traveling.

The company operates 24 hours every day, making call in the language of its seven million customers worldwide and offers access to more than 155,000 service providers of international medical and dental care, legal and baggage. In addition to these services, the company also offers Trip Cancellation Insurance, Personal Accident and Baggage among others.

Royal Caribbean is looking to fill 500 vacancies with Brazilians interested in working onboard their cruise ships around the world.  Positions in food service, housekeeping and management are all available.  The term duration for each of these jobs is a 6-8 month contract, with the possibility of renewal and growth at the conclusion of the contract.

Those interested in a position must be at least 21 years old and be fluent in English.  Expertise in some areas may be needed but regional recruiter in South America, Sandra Farias, stresses that it takes something more, "Must have technical knowledge, but also have to be very dynamic, proactive, enjoy working with services and have a good attitude."

Royal Caribbean employs workers from many other countries but Brazil tends to fill a number of vacancies because of their positive people skills, "Normally, Brazilians are more charismatic and offer a more personalized service, attention to duplicate the guest, "he says.

For the duration of their contract, the workers will work onboard Royal Caribbean ships.  At the end of their contract, they are evaluated and return to their home country on vacation for at least two months.  Those workers that are the highest rated may have their contract renewed and even promoted. 

To apply for a position you must submit resume to Royal Caribbean by email to [email protected]. The selection is to work in the second half of this year, but has no end date. In addition to salary, employees also can increase earnings from tips.

Royal Caribbean is offering two themed cruises in South America for the 2013/2014 cruise season.  Royal Life will be offered in February with Royal Dance in April.

The Royal Life cruise is a 7-night cruise out of Rio de Janiero on February 16, 2014.  The cruise will offer scavenger hunts for families, spinning classes, pilates and yoga sessions.

For the Royal Dance cruise, it will be a repositioning cruise between Santos, São Paulo and Barcelona, Spain.  This 14-night cruise is a partnership between Royal Caribbean and the Dance Studio of Fernando Campani.  Onboard, the cruise will offer various music rhythm classes to passengers.

Both themed cruises will be offered on Splendour of the Seas on itineraries in South America.

Brazilian Judge Juarez Fernandes Folhes of the 14th Civil Chamber of the Court of Rio, upheld a ruling against Royal Caribbean Brazil that compensated a cruise ship passenger, Solange Maria Cordeiro da Silva, for $ 10,000 in damages.

According to the decision, while onboard Royal Caribbean's ship, Solange had a strong allergic attack caused by painting repairs that were made by Royal Caribbean in the corridors near his cabin.  He contends the paint fumes ended up affecting his physical health negatively.

For the judge, the conduct of the company to paint  the inner walls of the vessel while passengers are onboard, is incompatible with the nature of the services provided by the cruise company, "It is unreasonable that a ship entertainment, fully functioning, complete paint repairs during the voyage, leaving his crew at the mercy of odors and discomfort generated by the use of toxic dyes."

Royal Caribbean claimed that the fact that the paint used have caused allergic reaction was exclusive fault for what happened, because if the passenger had reported the possibility of allergic reactions by using products such as paint, the company would had changed its procedures.

However, the judge found that Royal Caribbean has a strict liability on the procedures to take and respond to the physical integrity of its passengers. He also highlighted the moral and material damage that the passenger could no longer enjoy the services he was entitled to under the cruise contract because his health was compromised.

Royal Caribbean will offer in 2012/2013 cruise season the option for customers to get married onboard its ships.

Splendour of the Seas arrives in Brazil on December 9 and will offer three choices of wedding packages: Royal Package, Royal Happiness and Royal Romance Eternity.

The ceremony lasts approximately one hour and is performed by one of the officers of the ship while the ship is moored in one of the ports allowed - Santos, Rio de Janeiro or Salvador.

In addition to the guests who can accompany them on the cruise, the couple can invite up to 40 guests not cruising to attend the celebration, and reservations must be made ​​up to two months in advance. 

More information on the Brazil wedding packages are available online.

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas arrived on Wednesday for the first time in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil to begin cruises in the area.

A note from the Secretary of State for Tourism, Danielle Holder Novis, says that the arrival of the Royal Caribbean ship was "an achievement of the State Secretary of Tourism of Alagoas and the Municipal Tourism Promotion of Macedonia, who articulated the process."

The 2011/2012 cruise season is the largest that took place in Brazil and according to the Brazilian Association of Maritime Cruises (Abremar), Maceió will receive a visit from nine ships in 37 occasions, totaling over 100,000 cruisers in the capital of Alagoas.

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending Splendour of the Seas to Brazil for the Brazilian summer season, starting in December 2012.

Splendour of the Seas will arrive in December 2012 and remain in Brazil for the longest season ever, until April 2013.  

Vision of the Seas will also offer cruises from Brazil, with 10 and 11 night itineraries to the Caribbean between November 2012 and March 2013.