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.

Royal Caribbean is looking for help naming a new cupcake in its Cupcake Cupboard restaurant that can be found on Oasis class sized ships as well as some other ships after recent upgrades.

Here are the cupcake ingredients

Cupcakes
2 cups (465 g) gluten-free flour
½ cup (115 g) brown sugar
2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) baking soda
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon (2.5 g) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
½ cup pumpkin purée, canned
¾ cup milk or buttermilk or soy milk
1/3 cup (90 ml) vegetable oil
½ cup (115 g) dried cranberries

Frosting
1 batch of light buttercream frosting mixed with ½ teaspoon nutmeg

If after reading this (and drooling), you have an idea of what this cupcake should be called, you can post your answer on this Royal Caribbean Facebook post.  Submissions must be sent by July 25th and the winning name for the new cupcake will be available on Oasis, Allure, Freedom of the Seas & Liberty of the Seas starting in October.

Four cruise ships are visiting Portland, Maine this week and Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas will be the largest ship of the group to visit the New England city.

Enchantment of the Seas arrives in Portland on Saturday, July 16 with its 2,250 passengers.  It will stop for the day before leaving later in the evening for Bar Habor, Maine.

Royal Caribbean is asking its guests to name its new lifestyle magazine that will be found aboard its ships in passenger staterooms.

You may nominate 5 names per person.  The winning magazine name will be used for Royal Caribbean's onboard Lifestyle Magazine.  In addition  the winner will recognized in the Crown & Anchor Society newsletter as well as in the magazine.

This contest has a wide range of impact because the winning name will be in every stateroom, on every ship, showcasing destinations, dining, behind the scenes coverage and more. 

Entries must be made by July 22, 2011.  You can enter the contest here.

At the recent Latam Summit, Royal Caribbean's Manager Global Marketing & Communications, Rebecca Barba, was a speaker on the panel “Panregional marketing approaches”.  Royal Caribbean's prominent role in Latin American tourism has made them an important panregional advertiser.

During the panel's discussion, Barba took the audience through a Royal Caribbean marketing campaign that they ran last May and June called  “Integrated Pan Regional Campaign-Grandeur of the Seas”.   The Spanish advertising campaign was based on the theme “¿Sabias que existe un mundo donde tu familia puede ahorrar?” (“Did you know that there is a place where your family can save?”).

This promotion for Grandeur of the Seas promoted a sale offer to buy a cruise package with Royal Caribbean.  The advertising campaign was comprised of

• Television
• Print Ads in Spanish
• E-mail marketing to Crown & Anchor members
• Online Advertising
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Barba spoke about how Royal Caribbean was looking at media to partner with and how it was critical that the media properties generate its own high quality content.  Barba also made the distinction that a balance between local and panregional advertising is very important.