Royal Caribbean was forced to cancel stops at Piraeus, Greece (Piraeus is the cruise port that serves Athens) yesterday and today because striking taxi drivers blockaded the port, preventing passengers from getting to their tours.

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas was due to stop in Piraeus on Monday.  Royal Caribbean had hoped to arrange transportation to the Athens Metro for its guests who wanted to see Athens on their own, but a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman cited, “When the ship arrived, the taxi drivers were blocking the entrance/exit to the port. Because of this, guests could not get off the ship and so had a day at sea.”

The good news is the strike is due to end at 5am tomorrow, in time to allow Splendour of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas to dock.

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.”

After growing 20% annually over the past ten years and reaching a level of 800,000 tourists per year, the pace of cruise expansion in Brazil is expected to encounter a sharp slowdown in the 2011-2012 season.

The estimated expansion in the supply of beds is only 1.6%. The main reason is the infrastructure deficiencies in Brazilian ports, which have no more room for receiving large ships. Given this scenario, the will mark the  first time a cruise season will have fewer vessels than the last.

Industry executives say that the trend, if the port infrastructure remains the same, the industry is to rearrange its size, because it may have grown more than the capacity of ports includes . 'The sector's growth will curb. There is no investment in ports. The system is at the limit, "says the president of the Association of Marine Cruises (open), Ricardo Amaral, also director-general of the Royal Caribbean in Brazil.

Cruise passenger traffic is up for Royal Caribbean at Port Canaveral, Florida.  The amount of passengers for Royal Caribbean's ships based out of Port Canaveral is up 1 percent for the year at nearly 360,000.

This figure is slightly skewed when you consider the fact that Royal Caribbean ships have made nine more voyages out of the port so far this year.  Royal Caribbean has matched competitor Carnival Cruise Lines in replacing smaller ships with larger ones at Port Canaveral during the past two years.

Royal Caribbean currently home ports Freedom of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas out of Port Canaveral for year round trips. 

Port officials also report total cruise revenue is up year to date about 19 percent.

On Wednesday, residents of Key West, Florida discussed plans to dredge the channel to allow larger cruise ships to visit the city.  Royal Caribbean warned without such a dredging, Key West would simply be passed over by it and other cruise lines.

According to a reconnaissance study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the project would be economically viable and cost about $35 million.

There are opponents to the plan who cite economic and environmental concerns.

Key West's Director of Port Operations, Jim Fitton, is worried that without dredging the channel, Key West will simply be bypassed by Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines on their way to Mexico.

Fitton told the room of residents, "They'll bypass us and go straight to Mexico. Royal Caribbean used to be our biggest client. In a couple of years, it'll be down to no boats; that's where we're going. "

Some residents wanted to know who exactly made the statement that Key West would be crossed off itineraries.  In response, Fitton named Royal Caribbean's vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia Michael Ronan.

In an email Ronan sent to Fitton earlier this month,  "All ships we have built and are planning to build since 2005... cannot call Key West under present channel conditions. We operate our newest, largest ships in the Florida/Gulf and East Coast itineraries.

As we bring on our newer vessels they replace older, smaller ones on the preferred U.S. itineraries. We presently operate routes that would call Key West if the channel could accommodate them.

With the opening of the new larger locks in the Panama Canal [scheduled for a 2014 completion] our ship designs for the forseeable [sic] future will be of a size that will not be able to call Key West if the channel is not modified. "

Royal Caribbean has changed the way guests pay for a few of its specialty restaurants.  Chops Grille, Rita's Cantina and the Seafood Shack have all changed from a one price for everything to a "surcharge plus a la carte" menu.  Basically you will now pay a fee to dine at these restaurants and then pay a price for each item you order on top of that.

Royal Caribbean had recently increased the the fee to dine at Chops Grill from $25 to $30 per person earlier this year. Rita's and the Seafood Shack also changed earlier this year when they charged a $3 up-front service fee, and all items are a la carte. In addition, a 15 percent gratuity may be added to the bill.

So why the change in pricing structure?  Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Janet Diaz told Cruise Critic that, "increases bring the cover charges in line with the premium and exclusive offerings found at our specialty dining venues, which offer a high quality experience at phenomenal value.  A la carte allows guests to better customize their experience and what they would like to pay.  Rather than charging one cover charge for a person who may just want a salad and another guest who may want shrimp, there are different price points based on what a guest orders, similar to land-based restaurants." 

Diaz also mentions that the price change wasn't generating sufficient gratuities for the restaurant staff, which added to the reason to change, "We looked at what gratuity split is taken out of a typical traditional cover charge and applied a similar formula to the a la carte menus, making the necessary adjustments based on concept, service level, etc. With this system it allows to cover for the gratuity, while keeping the menu pricing at the lowest level possible."

Very little is missing for the Genoa, Italy debut of Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. From July 23 to September 3, Royal Caribbean will have Mariner of the Seas docked in Genoa for guests to board for its seven night itineraries in the Western Mediterranean, to Cannes, Ajaccio, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

Aboard Mariner, the Italian spirit is everywhere: from entertainment (activities and TV programs) to food and wine, to the staff - with a team dedicated to the Italian guests - to the guaranteed excursions in each port of call in Italian. On board the attractions that have revolutionized the cruise product: the climbing wall at 60 meters above sea level, the regulation basketball court, the ice rink.

The first departure from Genoa will be celebrated as early as July  22 with a major event dedicated to the trade, called Friday Night Fever for more than 500 travel agents and journalists. On July 23, in Genoa, Mariner will be celebrated with the exchange of crest and plaques - officiated by the Captain of the ship - between city and port authorities and ship's officers, as tradition dictates for the first stop of a ship in a harbor.

Royal Caribbean announced at a Miami-Dade County committee meeting yesterday that they have negotiated an agreement with Miami-Dade County and Port to keep its corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida. Royal Caribbean also struck a deal to continue using a cruise terminal there as well.

Prior to the announcement, some speculated about Royal Caribbean's plan to keep its headquarters in Miami with the building lease coming to an end in 2011 and 2014.  Back in 2010, Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain declined to comment on on future plans about the headquarters or future sailings from Miami.

Royal Caribbean senior vice president of land operations, Craig Milan, talked about the negotiations to keep Royal Caribbean in Miami, “We’ve been going through this negotiation process for many months now, and like any long-term relationship, you have your ups and downs.  Fort there’s been a lot more ups than downs, so we’re really thrilled we’ve come to this agreement and we’re going to be here for a long time to come.”

Considering Royal Caribbean had placed its largest and newest ships (Oasis and Allure of the Seas) in nearby, and competitor, Fort Lauderdale, it made sense perhaps for Royal Caribbean to move its headquarters north as well.

Classic rockers ZZ Top, Foghat, George Thorogood and other classic rock stars are set to headline a Royal Caribbean cruise in December.

Liberty of the Seas will host the Rock Legends Cruise for a 4-night cruise leaving December 1.  The rockers are also joining in on this gig raise money for the Native American Heritage Association.

The full list of acts include

• ZZ Top
• George Thorogood and the Destroyers
• John Kay and Steppenwolf
• The Marshall Tucker Band
• Dickey Betts & Great Southern
• Foghat
• Molly Hatchet
• Johnny Winter
• The Edgar Winter Band
• The Outlaws
• Artimus Pyle
• Blackfoot
• Pat Travers
• Devon Allman’s Honeytribe
• SwampDaWamp
• The Chris Hicks Band
• Preacher Stone
• Ryan Balthrop
• Whiskey Myers
• Crossfyre

The cruise will stop in Nassau, Bahamas and Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas.

If you're interested in booking, you can get more information on the Rock Legends Cruise site.

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas made a stop today in Taichung, Taiwan. The city's deputy mayor characterized the passengers as mostly from Europe, China and Australia.

To welcome the passengers, Taichung City Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun greeted them at the port and gave the tourists an aboriginal-style welcome, offering them Taichung's famous sun cakes and seasonal fruits such as lychees.

In addition, the city provided ground transportation services for the Chinese tourists on board, who were visiting Taiwan under the recently introduced individual traveler program.

Legend of the Seas is scheduled to depart Taichung for Keelung Port later in the day. It was its eighth call at Taichung Port, the most recent being in March 2009.