Voyager of the Seas' Adriatic cruise season has come to a close after her stop in Ravenna, Italy. Voyager of the Seas has wrapped up its inaugural season in the region, after debuting in the city of Ravenna back on May 30, culminating in 20 stops to Ravenna from May to October, for a total of nearly 77,000 passengers.

For the winter season, Voyager of the Seas will move back  to the Caribbean from November to March 2012, where she will do 7-night itineraries.

Royal Caribbean will also debut another ship in 2012, Serenade of the Seas between May to October 2012 and will stop in Ravenna five times during her  12-night itineraries in Spain, Italy and Croatia.

Royal Caribbean announced that Voyager of the Seas will receive the DreamWorks Experience package next year after the cruise giant reached an agreement with DreamWorks to extend the agreement that was already in place.  Voyager of the Seas will soon offer DreamWorks parades, character breakfasts and other special events.

Voyager of the Seas will become the fifth ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet to receive the DreamWorks addon.  Royal Caribbean is hoping the addon will give Royal Caribbean more interest in the Asian cruise market as Voyager of the Seas debuts in Asia next year.  

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein spoke about the new deal, “Expanding the DreamWorks Experience to Voyager of the Seas further illustrates our commitment to the China market, and the Asia and Australia region. This is really going to set us apart as an international cruise line that delivers the very best in family entertainment for guests around the world."

To celebrate Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas' arrival in New Orleans, country music sensation Martina McBride will perform aboard the mega-ship on November 19.

McBride will perform in Voyager of the Seas' Lyric Theatre before the ship leaves New Orleans for a Western Caribbean sailing.  Royal Caribbean noted that seating for the concert is only available to invited guests.

Royal Caribbean spokesman Harry Liu explained why the concert will be limited, "We wish we could invite everyone to join us in celebrating Royal Caribbean's return to New Orleans. Seating, however, is limited in Voyager of the Seas' Lyric Theater, so select-status guests of the Nov. 19 sailing and non-sailing VIPs will have priority to tickets for Martina's performance."

The City of New Orleans has been hard at work refurbishing and expanding its Julia Street Cruise Terminal so that New Orleans can put itself back on the map as a cruise line hub and give The Crescent City a shot in the arm after Hurricane Katrina decimated the cruise business here.

The good news is officials working on the project expect the work to be complete just in time to welcome Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.

Port of New Orleans spokesman Chris Bonura is excited to welcome one of Royal Caribbean's massive liners to New Orleans, "It's the largest ship that we've ever home-ported here in New Orleans.  It's 1,020 feet and it holds approximately 3,110 passengers."

Believe it or not, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas has been in operation for over a decade now, having debuted in November 1999 and Jackie Roseboom wrote about how well the Voyager Class namesake has held up over the years.

Voyager of the Seas was a real catalyst for Royal Caribbean as Roseboom points out, "It spawned an unprecedented building boom in new, large cruise ship construction – five other Royal Caribbean fleet mates alone are larger today."

Of course, there's still plenty to do on Voyager of the Seas from ice skating, to shopping, to great specialty restaurants.  Even though the ship may be over 10 years old, it's still a crown jewel in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Robin Robinson posted a summary of the excursions on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas Adriatic Sea itinerary.  This cruise itinerary is a departure from the traditional Mediterranean cruises most people consider so Robinson decided to see what it was like.

Some highlights if the cruise include

• Koper, Slovenia
  A peek into a medieval town, Koper and nearby Piran offer an authentic look at these seaside villages.  
• Ravenna, Italy
  Famous for its mosaics and World Heritage sites, Ravenna has a lot to offer from historical sites to Royal Caribbean's Racing Legends shore excursion, this tour also visits the Ferrari Museum in nearby Modena.
• Venice, Italy
  Royal Caribbean offers an overnight stay in Venice so you can experience this historic city by day and by night.

Royal Caribbean is planning a spending spree to upgrade its fleet of cruise ships over the next three years to help keeps its older ships competitive in the cruise market.  

This $300 million revitalization called "Royal Advantage", will allow most of its Vision, Voyager and Radiance class vessels to get a series of upgrades including

• Restaurants from Oasis Class of ships
  • Chops Grille steakhouse
  • Rita's Cantina Mexican restaurants
  • Izumi Restaurant (sushi)
  • Chops Grille (Steak house)
  • Park Café (sandwiches and salads)
  • Boardwalk Doghouse (brats and wieners)
• New cabin designs
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Wi-fi throughout ship
• Digital Wayfinding Systems
• Oversized LED video screens on pool decks

There's more planned but no details are available quite yet.  These changes sound quite similar to the changes that have already been made to ships such as Radiance of the Seas mostly recently.

These overhauls will require each ship to enter into a lengthy drydock process where the ship will get its upgrades.  The schedule of upgrades are as follows

1. Splendour of the Seas - November 2011
2. Rhapsody of the Seas - March 2012
3. Grandeur of the Seas - May 2012
4. Serenade of the Seas - November 2012
5. Legend of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
6. Vision of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
7. Navigator of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
8. Voyager of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
9. Explorer of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
10. Adventure of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
11. Brilliance of the Seas - 2013 or 2014

We know that the overhaul for Splendour, Grandeur and Serenade of the Seas will take place in Cadiz, Spain after Royal Caribbean signed a deal to have those ships rehauled there last month.

Royal Caribbean also mentioned that Independence of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas will receive smaller, less significant upgrades.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein is excited about the changes that will help keep the cruise line competitive, "The Royal Advantage revitalizations takes many of the best features that we have created in recent years and introduces them across our fleet, offering our guests enhanced vacation choices around the world."

Photo by Carlos Carvalho

If you're a country music fan, there are two Royal Caribbean cruises in January 2012 that could be perfect for you.

First up is "Country's Family Reunion and Larry's Country Diner Cruise" aboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas that departs January 16, 21012.  This five-night cruise to the Western Caribbean will feature Country Music stars

• Gene Watson,
• Larry Gatlin
• Moe Bandy
• T. Graham Brown
• Barbara Fairchild
• Teea Goans

The cruise will also include activities such as

• 4 live shows (2 CFR shows and 2 LCD shows)
• An exclusive cocktail party to meet the stars
• Opportunities for photos, autographs and signings
• Country music workshop

Another country music cruise is setting sail on January 28, 2012 aboard Voyager of the Seas out of New Orleans. The "Opry Country Classic Cruise" will feature  country music stars such as

• Jean Shepard
• Jeannie Seely
• Jan Howard
• Mandy Barnett
• T.G. Sheppard
• Host: Ralph Emery

Some of the onboard activities are

• private shows where the artists perform their own hits as well as country classics throughout the wee
• country karaoke
• mingle during an exclusive cocktail party
• meet the artists you enjoy

New Zealand officials are excited for the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas in 2012 as it's confirmed that the largest ship to ever cruise the region will be making a stop in Dunedin.

It was speculated that Dunedin would be a stop a few weeks ago and with the itineraries announced for Voyager of the Seas' visit to Australia and New Zealand earlier today, people in the Kiwi nation are excited.

Royal Caribbean indicated that the first visit to Dunedin will be on November 17, and will visit the city five more times after that.

Dunedin Chief Executive of Tourism, Hamish Saxton, thinks the cruise industry is doing well and the fact Voyager of the Seas is now going to visit Dunedin is further endorsement of the burgeoning New Zealand cruise market.

"The frequency of the trips to New Zealand and the inclusion of Dunedin is terrific news.

Cruise arrivals are continuing to grow, particularly after some more challenging years, [and] the growth in cruise ship passengers is tremendous." Dunedin had previously coped well with cruise arrivals totalling more than 5000 passengers, Mr Saxton said.

"This ship going to be a spectacular sight in our spectacular harbour."