If you're looking for a cougar cruise, there's a new one that has been announced, but you will need to get to Spain to experience this one.  Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas will depart from Barcelona and cruise April 16-21, 2011. 

This cruise comes after cougar cruises have been banned by the three largest cruise lines in Australia, and also by Carnival, the world's largest cruise line, in the USA.

"We are pleased that Royal Caribbean will be hosting our European Cougar Cruise," says Rich Gosse, Executive Producer of http://www.cougarevents.com. "While it is perfectly acceptable for middle-aged men to date women their daughter's age, women don't have the same privilege. After the tremendous success of the world's first International Cougar Cruise, December 2009, aboard Carnival, we were shocked that they refused to allow another. If there had been problems on the first Cougar Cruise we would understand being banned. But hundreds of our cougars and cubs onboard were well-behaved, and there were absolutely no problems. We expect the same will be true with the European Cougar Cruise."

Interested in going on the cougar cruise? You can book it by going to http://www.SinglesTravelCompany.com

Photo by Cloneguy800

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending in the summer of 2011 as many cruise ships to Europe as ever before. Eleven ships will be in operation in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, the company said in Frankfurt, Germany.

That's three more ships than in the current summer season 2010. Also announced, the Brilliance of the Seas in the winter season 2011/12  will be reinstated in the Persian Gulf. The first tour to/from Dubai begins in November 2011 and that two months earlier than in the coming winter season.

Photo by Amanda Conte

The very successful debut of the Oasis of the Seas also came with some new amenities and entertainment options that were never seen on the Royal Caribbean fleet and now Royal Caribbean is set to copy some of those new innovations to existing ships.

Starting in early 2011, passengers will soon enjoy new dining opportunities, entertainment, children’s programming and other enhancements on select Royal Caribbean ships already in service.  These vessels include Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas.

Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas will receive...

• Broadway show (yet to be named and Liberty of the Seas only)
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Large 18.5-foot video screen overlooking family pool area
• LCD wayfinder system
• Cupcake Cupboard restaurant
• Vintages lounge will be redone

Friend of the blog, Melissa DiCato of Possible Vacations has graciously taken some time to write this guest blog entry!  Today, she looks at what Royal Caribbean is doing to keep things new and fresh across their fleet of ships.  Take it away Melissa!

Royal Caribbean is doing all they can to ensure all of their clients’ needs are being well taken care of.  Oasis of the Seas has been such a huge success for Royal, they are starting to take the ideas that were only implemented on Oasis of the Seas and place them on the rest of their fleet.  Below you will find a breakdown of what you can soon find onboard Royal Caribbean Ships.

Liberty & Freedom of Seas

• Broadway Shows
• Nursery
• Outdoor Screens
• Cupcake Cupboard
• Vintages
• Way Finder (currently only on the Oasis of the Seas, this device is located next to all elevators to help clients find their way around the ship)

Fleetwide

• Family Library
• Royal Bedtime stories
• Sitters @ Sea (Sitters will come to your stateroom and watch your children while you enjoy the night with your loved one)
• Nintendo Wii

Family programming – Royal Babies & Royal Kids

• Fisher-Price toy lending program
• Crayola beginning workshops
• Babies 2 Go! (pre-order service for parent to order baby food and diapers)
• Stroll & Roll

Dinning

• My time dinning
• Exclusive food experiences
• My family time dining (for family with children ages 3-17)
• Expedited service
• Adventure Ocean pick-up (youth counselors will come and pick up your children and take them to their kids clubs)
• Leisure dinner for parents

Suite Enhancements (Grand Suites & Higher)

• Distinct Seapass cards
• Luggage Valet
• Complimentary Dry Cleaning
• Cocktail Reception in Captains Quarter
• Reserved seating in shows
• Upgraded suite amenities
• Breakfast & Lunch in specialty restaurants

If you are looking to take a Royal Caribbean Cruise, these enhancements will be sure to delight any family at sea.  Every cruise ship will offer you something a little unique and different which is why people cruise time and time again.  Most families enjoy taking cruises because they can just sit back and relax while everything around them is taken care of, including their most precious cargo…their children.  Something to consider is taking a Royal Caribbean themed cruise such as Romance, Music, Cruise4Haiti amongst many others.

Thanks again to Melissa for her great blog entry.  You can find Melissa on Twitter as well as on her own blog, Possible Vacations: Friends sharing travel stories.

If you affiliate yourself with the Tea Party movement, then there's a Royal Caribbean cruise for you.  Conservative publishing site WorldNet Daily is sponsoring a special cruise dubbed "The WND Tea Party at Sea" to be held aboard Liberty of the Seas September 19-26, 2010.

This cruise will feature teaching sessions by Joseph Farah, Alan Keyes, Jerome Corsi, David Kupelian, and Aaron Klein, all of whom are contributors to WorldNet Daily, a site with politically conservative tenancies.

The cruise follows the WorldNet Daily "Taking America Back" conference, a three-day extravaganza at Miami's Doral Resort and Spa (home of the Blue Monster golf course). The conference spans Constitution Day, Sept. 17, and features a current elected representative, Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.); a couple of formers, Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.) and Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.); and a couple GOP hopefuls (Floridians Allen West, seeking a House seat, and Alexander Snitker, running for Senate). And, for all of you who have been wondering, "Where's Ann Coulter lately?", the conservative commentator will be on board, too.

If September 2010 doesn't work for you, there's another cruise being held by the same organizing group in January 2011 for "true patriots who are passionately committed to the principles of liberty and freedom as granted to us by the Founding Fathers."  This cruise will feature Keyes as well as former Georgia congressman Bob Barr and Gary DeMar, founder of American Vision.

CruiseLineFans posted an article that is looking at the effects of cruising on Europe and the overall trend that cruise lines are experiencing to move their ships to Europe to meet the growing demand there.  In the article, there's a mention about Royal Caribbean's strategy of increasing their presence in Europe and competing against not only their traditional counterparts (NCL, Carnival) but also stalwarts of European cruising such as P&O, Thomson and others. 

Royal Caribbean International will have eleven ships in Europe in 2011, with the latest addition being Mariner of the Seas, having left Los Angeles for Rome. Mariner will sail from March to November 2011, while the Liberty of the Seas will be based in Barcelona and the Independence of the Seas now will sail year-round from Southampton, England.

Royal Caribbean will also base a ship in Palma, the traditional base for tour operator ships (such as TUI/Thomson, with whom they halve a half interest in TUI Cruises) and also to take on Aida Cruises.

Quick note for anyone sailing on Liberty of the Seas, comedian Lewis Black will be headlining a seven-day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas on Nov. 7, sailing out of Miami.

Joining Lewis will be some other comedians including

• John Pinette
• Dom Irrera
• Kathleen Madigan
• John Bowman
• Larry Wilmore
• Ted Alexandro
• Joe Grifasi
• Mark Linn-Baker
• Vic Henley

The summer of 2011 will have some very big cruise ships stopping in Barcelona, Spain and Liberty of the Seas, a Freedom Class ship, will be included. Aside from Oasis and Allure of the Seas, it's the next largest Royal Caribbean ship with a capacity of 3,600 passengers.

The Miami Herald had a quick write up about the things to see in Barcelona, a city known for its beauty, and one of the most popular European cities for Americans to visit in Europe.

Downtown, near the port and especially along the famed walking street Las Ramblas, Barcelona pulses with strolling crowds of all ages. You'll find engaging street entertainers, including mimes dressed like the Tin Man or a flowering plant, each hoping for a contribution. Nearby are outdoor markets, churches, parks, and dozens of fine restaurants.

Liberty of the Seas will sail on Saturdays to Toulon, France; Nice; Civitavecchia and Naples.