Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest ship and the largest cruise ship in the world, made its first stop ever at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands earlier this week.

To commemorate the occasion, Allure of the Seas Captain Herman Zini told those in attendance "Thank you once again for the continuous focus you have on making the destination better and better.".  A plaque commemorated the event as well.

Royal Caribbean vice president of government relations was excited about the stop in St. Thomas, "The passengers want to take the greatest ship in the world to the greatest destination in the world".

The people of St. Thomas and every port Allure stops at have very good reason to be excited.  Both Allure and her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, are expected to bring $1.5 million in revenues to the territory during each port call - $78 million a year.  In addition, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Associatian reports the average cruise passenger spends $193 while in the U.S. Virgin islands and crew members spend about $150.  Adding to the potential riches, the ship itself brings revenue through taxes and fees that Royal Caribbean is responsible for in accordance with docking and berthing the ship.

By 2012, Royal Caribbean estimates about 875,000 passengers will visit St. Thomas on an annual basis.

The brand new 32-acre Falmouth port in Jamaica will finally open next month.  The construction of the port has been a $220-million project developed by Royal Caribbean in partnership with the Port Authority of Jamaica.  

The first ship to dock will be Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, and her guests will have access to walking tours of the 240-year-old town, as well as access to 60 attractions in the surrounding area and in Ocho Rio and Montego Bay.

The city of Fort Lauderdale, home to Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, is seeing increasingly large growth in terms of the amount of passengers that pass through the city on their way to a cruise and the city is looking to capitalize on the big business.

In just two years, Port Everglades will become the busiest cruise port in the world and city officials want to get as many of those millions of cruise passengers to stay in their city and spend money locally.

To get things going, city officials agreed in principle earlier this week to start a new bus service to take people from cruise ships into Fort Lauderdale before they take their flights home from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.  Routes would run to downtown and the beach.

How big of a number are we talking here?  It's expected to exceed 3.5 million passengers per year once Allure of the Seas starts regular cruises and many more will follow as a result of a recent deal with Carnival cruise line that will bring an additional 25.5 million cruise passengers over the next 15 years.

In the next five years, Royal Caribbean is going to look to expand its itineraries to include stops in Africa, according to its UK and Ireland trade trainer.

At the recent Association of Cruise Experts cruise expo, Leon Hand admitted Africa remained an area which Royal Caribbean needed to “make a dent in”.

“It’s at the food for thought stage,” he said, “but we are certainly thinking about it. We know that Africa is an emerging market, and it’s somewhere we will be looking at adding [to our itineraries] in the next five years.”

While Africa is on the horizon, northern Europe is booming as a popular port stop with Russia and Scandinavia in particular growing in popularity among cruisers from the UK.  In addition the Mediterranean, non-European union countries continued to lead the way, such as Croatia, Egypt and Turkey.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas will arrive in Cartagena, Columbia on Monday with about two thousand foreign tourists at the opening of the season 2010 -2011.

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas is going to call the port of Incheon, South Korea not just a port of call but their home port very soon.  Incheon port authority officials are hoping to welcome even more cruise ships by expanding facilities and adding more immigration booths.

Thus far 15 cruise ships have made a call to Incheon this year and with more passengers from Europe and North America traveling to South Korea for tours, Incheon officials hope to develop more local tours to encourage tourists to stay in the area.

A ship like Legend of the Seas generates a lot of revenue for the city, as each time she pulls into port, approximately W1 billion (US$1=W1,114) in financial effect hits the city.

Unfortunately the brand new port at Falmouth, Jamaica is still not ready for cruise business yet, a fact that cannot sit well with Royal Caribbean.  Royal Caribbean has tried infusing the project with millions of dollars to get things going and the port is still not ready for cruises due to a number of construction delays.

All was expected to be ready in time to welcome 1,800 passengers from P&O's Aurora and another 1,250 from Holland America's Ryndam on November 3, but those visits have now been cancelled and the ships will divert to Ocho Rios.

The new plan is to have Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas make the inaugural visit to the port on January 7, with Oasis and Allure following in March.  A Royal Caribbean spokesperson had this to say about the progress and future of the port.

Australia’s youngest and newest superliner, Rhapsody of the Seas, sailed into Newcastle Harbour at Dyke Point for the first time.

Rockland, Maine is set to vote on a proposal to limit the number of cruise ships that can visit the city each year after the debate was sparked last year when Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas made it's inaugural visit to the city.

On October 18, Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas is set to return but city commissioners are considering a proposal to limit only allowing three of the biggest ships per year -- one in May and two in October.

Rocklan's mayor is in favor of the proposal because of the strain on the area where passengers unload from cruise ship.  The mayor cites the harbor infrastructure is getting old and any repairs that would be needed would be footed by the taxpayers.  Local businesses are against the proposal, claiming the restrictions would ruin the city's chances of becoming a regular cruise ship destination.

Mayor McNeil says she expects at least one councilor will try to eliminate the restrictions on the large ships. The Chamber of Commerce says it has no problems with the rest of the plan, just the portion that would limit the number of ship visits.

Royal Caribbean is considering a new hub in the United Arab Emirates.  Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President Michael Bayley hinted at the possibility of a new hub in the country.

During the maiden docking of Brilliance of the Seas in Dubai, Royal Caribbean revealed plans ready for a Dubai-Mumbai cruise starting in 2011 .  

Hamad Mohamed bin Mejren, Executive Director, Business Tourism at the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said that Brilliance of the Seas' seven night sailings would include Dubai to Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.  These stops are among the most popular with tourists.