Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas is building upon its success in 2010-2011 by promising a bigger and better season in 2011-12 with double the number of port visits

The port of Newcastle in Australia has been a very popular destination with Royal Caribbean guests as the season has sold out on cruises that have stopped in the New South Wales town.

Royal Caribbean Australia Commercial Manager Adam Armstrong is happy to know their guests are finding what they want, “Royal Caribbean Cruises searches the world for amazing destinations to give our guests a truly memorable holiday experience. Newcastle has it all: beautiful beaches, a buzzing harbour and city life with plenty to see and do, and most of all - friendly, welcoming residents. It is no wonder Lonely Planet voted Newcastle one of the top ten cities in the world. It is a popular stop with most of our guests disembarking to explore the city and beyond to the Hunter Valley, returning with only good things to report. It is why Royal Caribbean has doubled the port visits to Newcastle when Rhapsody of the Seas returns for the next cruising season."

When she returns in November, there will be four port calls in total in her 2011-12 season.  THe popular Newcastle stop is part of the 11 night Queensland itinerary.

Shane Nelson, of Kennett, Missouri, won a cruise vacation for two aboard a Royal Caribbean ship after buying a $5 "Missouri Lottery's 25th Anniversary Cruise" Scratchers ticket.

Nelson plans on taking his girlfriend on the cruise and was excited to spread the news of his winnings.

"I had to tell someone; I couldn't contain myself," he laughed, sharing that he next called his mother, who was "beside herself she was so happy" about his win.

Interestingly enough, Nelson had never been on a cruise before but will now have the chance to. His winnings are valued at more than $19,000 and include an ocean-view balcony stateroom, round-trip first-class airfare, deluxe hotel accommodations the night prior to the cruise, ground transportation to and from the ship, a new set of luggage, $1,000 onboard spending credit and $500 cash.

Royal Caribbean announced new itineraries for 2012 that will sail from Baltimore, Maryland to Bermuda aboard Enchantment of the Seas.

The announcement adds a new set of six-night cruises to Bermuda as well as eight-night Bermuda and Northeast United States cruises that will sail out of Baltimore in the spring and summer of 2012.  Enchantment's new six-night itinerary will make 3-day calls to Kings Wharf, Bermuda

In addition, Royal Caribbean is also planning to send Explorer of the Seas, which is based out of Bayonne, NJ, on a new seven-night round trip cruise in September and October of 2012 that will feature three days in Bermuda.  The new itineraries will include five and nine-night Bermuda & Caribbean itineraries through the spring and summer of 2012.

Adding to the news, Jewel of the Seas will continue its ninth season of sailings out of Boston, MA of roundtrip seven-night Canadian cruises.

The Alicante Port Authority announced today that Royal Caribbean has agreed to have Independence of the Seas make six stops at Alicante, Spain in 2012 after an agreement was reached between the two entities.

This agreement has been announced in the course of the exhibition "Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, which since yesterday and tomorrow is held in Miami, and where the APA participated as part of the Spanish delegation.

Through this collaboration, the Independence of the Sea will arrive at the port of Alicante on six occasions between the months of June, July and August 2012.

Independence of the Seas was considered the world's largest until the construction of "Oasis of the Seas" in November 2009.

With another Royal Caribbean ship moving from the Caribbean to Europe in the summer of 2012, the Caribbean Tourism Organization has expressed concern over the growing momentum to take business away from their region of the world.

Royal Caribbean announced earlier than Serenade of the Seas would be leaving the Caribbean in favor of a European itinerary and the CTO is taking steps to develop alternative strategies, with the goal of becoming more competitive in the cruise line business during the summer period.

The Caribbean is still an in-demand place to visit and remains highly rather and Caribbean cruises form a significant part of tourism in general.  Supporting this data is the fact that arrivals increased by 6% in 2010, which continues to build upon strong tourist figures that have been steadily accumulating over the past four decades.

Of particular concern is the Southern Caribbean, which experiences good demand in the winter but the summer season is disadvantaged by the geographic factor and the high cost of fuel.

Royal Caribbean International has released today its new iPhone application in Spanish, a free download that allows users to manage and view any information about the company's cruises.

Director of communications for Royal Caribbean in Spain, Marc Pedrol, noted that the application is a new active channel with which to maintain contact with the cruisers.

"We've always made innovation one of our core values ​​and this tool allows us to take a step further in this direction. We want to be close to our customers and we can see from how many more channels the better," he said.

The search for cruise is one of the strengths of this application that the user can obtain information on the available outputs and real-time price of all the routes chosen by the cabin for travel.

Also possible to other information on Royal Caribbean International as news, promotions, ports of call, complete descriptions of ships and cabins and all the entertainment and dining options on board.

Among the most intriguing sections of the application is a WebCam, you can see live the life of the ships 'Oasis of the Seas' and the 'Allure of the Seas'.

Royal Caribbean has decided to end port of calls in Barbados after moving Serenade of the Seas to Europe for the Summer 2012 cruise season.

The move has upset Caribbean officials, namely the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which has expressed concern about the loss.  CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley said they are aware that repositioning is a normal course of business within the cruise sector, particularly during the summer months.

Royal Caribbean is tapping famous Hollywood actor James Brolin to star and direct a new series of video clips that can be seen online. Called "Ocean Views", these webisodes will be available on March 14 on the Royal Caribbean's web site as well as its YouTube channel.

The episode Brolin will star in and direct is called "Royal Reunion", which will tell the story of how many different generations of family are taking a cruise on Allure of the Seas.  Joining Brolin in the cast will be other actors such as Dean Cain and Amy Yasbeck.

Brolin's episode is one of many in the video series that will feature actors starring and directing in their own episodes.  Jenny McCarthy will act in and direct a video called “The Allure of Love,” which also takes place on the ship; it is a comedic look at a star-crossed romance.  Other stars set to appear include Samantha Bee, Adam Carolla, Paula Deen and Albert Pujols.

After announcing a new class of cruise ships last month, Royal Caribbean signed an agreement with German shipyard Meyer Werft to build them.  Previously the two companies had  signed a letter of intent but Royal Caribbean has now signed an agreement that will solidify the deal.

The new class of ships, called "Project Sunshine", will be a 4,100 passenger ship that is scheduled to be delivered in the fall of 2014.  The agreement also allows for an option for a second ship for delivery in spring 2015.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism Richard “Ricky” Skerritt announced that Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, will make a stop to St. Kitts in December 2011.

Allure will make a stop at the island's Port Zante cruise pier on December 30.

Royal Caribbean's vice president of Government Relations, Michael Ronan, is excited about the news of bringing Allure to St. Kitts for the first time, "Royal Caribbean International is delighted to bring the world-renowned Allure of the Seas to St. Kitts. While Allure of the Seas is the world’s largest and most revolutionary cruise ship, the ship’s ports of call are also very important to our guests. We look forward to bringing more of them to beautiful and vibrant St. Kitts."

Royal Caribbean now expects 45 ports of call to St. Kitts in the 2011-2012 season by its ships, doubling the 2010-2011 season when just 20 calls were made there.