Italian ship builder Fincantieri has for years occupied the top of the top spot as the builder of cruise ships in the world, but Meyer Werft, its direct competitor just robbed them of that distinction. 

German ship builder Meyer Werft leaves Fincantieri and STX behind them as the biggest ship builder in the world. This transfer of power came when Royal Caribbean signed an order with the German builder in April.

Meyer Werft will be very busy until 2015 with the construction of a cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines 2000 cabin ship and a sister ship of the AIDAmar line in 2013, and then  the 2050 cabin ship of the new class of Royal Caribbean and onemore for NCL in 2014.

Following that, another order for Royal Caribbean will take place in 2015. 

In an effort to attract more foreign tourists, the South Korean Justice Ministry proposed a measure to allow foreigners visiting on cruises to disembark without a visa for short stays.

The “tour landing permit” system will allow those on cruise ships to disembark in South Korea and stay for up to three days without a visa, if the cruise company or the ship’s captain applies for and receives the permit beforehand, officials said.

The move is good news for Royal Caribbean because they had about 55,000 tourists from China to Busan, South Korea in 2010 and have always complained about the lengthy visa problem.

Lisa Yun, Head of Royal Caribbean's marketing team in South Korea, is excited about the proposal, “Our cruise runs from China to Busan, so the majority of our customers are Chinese, but visas for entering Korea causes a lot of woes, as the application is a time-consuming and complicated process".

"It will be a huge help for us to expand in the Chinese market."

The city council in Savannah, Georgia agreed last night to expand the cruise ship task force.  Alderman Tony Thomas claims several cruise lines are interested in cruising down the Savannah river and Royal Caribbean is on that list.

Royal Caribbean spoke with Thomas several weeks ago about the prospect of having a ship stop in Savannah.

The increased cruise ship task force will help answer some lingering questions for the city council such as how much a cruise terminal would cost, and how much business would cruise ships bring to downtown Savannah.

The key to any cruise business coming to Savannah will be the creation of a cruise terminal, even a temporary one.  There are three locations being considered, such asthe Georgia Ports Authority Ocean Terminals 1 and 2, which already dock large ships and cruise lines who stop in Savannah.  Another idea is across the river in Hutchinson Island or the Savannah River Landing next to the Marriott off River Street.  None of the options are perfect and all would require a fair amount of work to get them ready.

Thomas indicated that it could take 12-24 months before the city council could come to an agreement and real work could begin.

A message on Royal Caribbean's website is warning those scheduled to sail on Monarch of the Seas on July 8th that the anticipated launch of the last space shuttle flight on the same day is expected to create major traffic delays.

Royal Caribbean is recommending its passengers provide ample time to get to the port prior to the 4:30pm departure time.

Furthermore, Royal Caribbean warned it would not delay the departure of Monarch of the Seas due to traffic congestion.  If you're scheduled to be on this cruise, it would be wise to arrive many hours before the required time.

Monarch of the Seas is scheduled to sail out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, July 8. The final space shuttle launch is also scheduled for Friday, July 8. Port Canaveral historically experiences heavy traffic volume before and after the shuttle launch. Since the shuttle launch on July 8 is the last launch, the Port is expecting extremely heavy traffic in the area.

We ask that guests who are scheduled to sail on Monarch of the Seas on July 8, provide ample time to arrive at the port for boarding. The ship's 4:30 p.m. departure will not be delayed due to the launch traffic. As a reminder, all guests must be checked in and onboard the ship 60 minutes prior to sail time.

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Commercial Development John Tercek and Chairman of Adjara's government Levan Varshalomidze signed a memorandum of cooperation in the development of the Batumi port to allow the port to accomodate large cruise ships.

Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia.

Varshalomidze told reporters that together with Royal Caribbean International will do everything to Batumi became more attractive for passengers of cruise ships.

"We will work together to build this port city to international standards and will return the old traditions. Together we are working on putting Batumi in the Black Sea region as the most attractive city for cruise ships," - said President of the Government of Adjara.

According to John Tercek, they familiarized themselves with the tourism potential of the city and the pace of development. "The memorandum creates the possibility of launching the first phase of work. We fully explore the perimeter of the port, the arrangement will provide the infrastructure. We will hold talks with the major cruise companies, to one of the stops of their ships was Batumi," - said a representative of Royal Caribbean International.

This spring, a delegation of Government of Adjara participated in the largest travel trade show in Miami, where they had preliminary discussions.

Valdo Spumante, a leading winery in Italy, has partnered with Royal Caribbean to bring its wines aboard their ships.  The label "Veneto" winery will be offered by the glass in the Champagne Bar across Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Pierluigi Bolla, president of Valdo Spumante was excited about the deal, "Business, international fame and prestige. On the Royal Caribbean ships we will find a perfect fusion. Needless to say, this agreement takes us a strong value in all points of view: that the cruise industry is a thriving market which, if properly manned, may enable the company to `reap excellent results." 

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending Rhapsody of the Seas into drydock following the 2011-2012 Australian cruise season for a multi-million dollar revamp.

Work on overhauling the ship will take three to four weeks in March 2012 in what Royal Caribbean is calling a "major revitalisation".

Adam Armstrong, Royal Caribbean's Australia commercial manager described the changes, "This will be major revitalisation. We will be extensively reworking the entire ship. Cabins, entertainment and dining will all be completely renovated.”

Armstrong added that while the Rhapsody will still look like her old self when the work is done, she will boast “a few more special pieces”

Royal Caribbean has signed a deal with Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia to revitalize three of its ships in Cadiz, Spain.

A delegation of nine people from  Royal Caribbean visited the Cadiz shipyard on June 21 and 22 to settle the contract that allow the maintenance and modernization of three ships at dock in the capital. The delegation was led by Revitalization program director, Petteri Keso, as well as the director of fleet maintenance in Europe, Tracy Murrell.

Royal Caribbean representatives inspected for two days the Navantia facilities and warehouses, where more than 450 containers come with the equipment necessary to tackle the repairs.

Navantia believes they helped sign Royal Caribbean thanks to their experience working on other cruise ships such as  Norwegian Jade, NCL America, Milenium, Celebrity Cruises, and the Grand Voyager, the Grand Mistral and Grand Celebration of Iberocruceros.

This history has served, among other things, to capture the interest of Royal Caribbean's represenatives. The represenatives from Royal Caribbean have also confirmed the first ship to enter the Cadiz shipyard will be Splendour of the Seas to recieve major repairs and modernization.  Splendour will arrive in November to undergo a modernization plan that includes the habitability of the ship, "which will be completely renovated."

Royal Caribbean has also reserved time for the repair of two other ships, which will undergo a revitalization plan.  Then in May 2012 Grandeur of the Seas will enter the dock followed by Serenade of the Seas in November.

Royal Caribbean is launching a new art program dubbed, Art on Royal, on all 22 of its cruise ships.

Art on Royal integrates art-inspired events with tours, seminars, and auctions and features selected artists from the Royal Caribbean Art Collection.  There will also an opportunity to view and purchase a one-of-a-kind piece of their choice featured in the gallery.  This includes signature Royal Caribbean artsits such as Romero Britto and Thomas Kinkade.

This new art program was developed originally for Oasis of the Seas with partner Art Actually.  Art on Royal is currently available on Adventure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas, and will be on more ships by the end of the year.

American health inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently inspected Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas as part of its Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).  The good news is Oasis of the Seas scored a perfect 100 on the test.

The inspection took place on May 28, 2011 and the CDC says a score of 86 or higher is satisfactory, so Oasis' score of 100 is a great achievment.  The VSP is aimed at ensuring cruise ships are clean and healthy for guests to enjoy, "assists the cruise ship industry to prevent and control the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships".

Oasis did suffer a few minor violations, which are common to have on most ships, and were corrected.  None of the violations were enough to bring Oasis' total score down after inspectors finished looking over the ship.