Royal Caribbean has released their schedule of cruises to the Caribbean for 2013-2014 and are now open for bookings.

Royal Caribbean is planning cruises for Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas to bring a total of 140 sailings across 31 itineraries what will make stops at 20 different ports.

New to the schedule will be cruises out of New Orleans, Lousiana aboard Serenade of the Seas.  The first cruise out of the Big Easy will be a 9-night Caribbean cruise on December 12, 2013 that will stop at Key West, Nassau, Labadee & Ocho Rios.  Following that cruise, Serenade will alternate between 7-night cruises to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean.

It will be business as usual for Oasis and Allure of the seas.  They will continue their popular 7-night western and eastern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades, Florida.

Also calling Port Everglades home will be Independence of the Seas, who will offer 6-night cruises to the western and eastern Caribbean.

Freedom of the Seas will continue to operate out of Port Canaveral, Florida and alternate between 7-night eastern and western sailings.  

Finally, Navigator of the Seas will debut in Galveston, Texas with two western Caribbean cruises.  Both are 7-night sailings and one itinerary calling at Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, while the other at Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (Belize) and Cozumel.

Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas will homeport in Messina this summer and the mayor officially welcomed the new ship.  At a ceremony this morning, Messina Mayor Giuseppe Buzzanca celebrated the occasion along with the Commissioner of the Port Authority, Dario Lo Bosco, and the Director General of Royal Caribbean Cruises John Rotondo.

The choice by Royal Caribbean of Messina confirmed the strengthening of the commitment on the peninsula and the eye towards the markets of southern Italy, allowing Royal Caribbean to serve 14 ports in Italy.

Navigator of the Seas will visit Messina each week for 27 times between May and October, transporting 84,000 passengers during its  7-night itineraries in the Eastern Mediterranean

Royal Caribbean has outlined its plans for cruises to Europe in 2013 and it will include sending Liberty of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas, among other ships, to Europe for the season.

Royal Caribbean calls for stopping in 30 ports and features 121 sailings over 25 itineraries.

Royal Caribbean had previously announced Independence of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas were being deployed to Southampton, England, and now there are more ships that will be sent as well. Royal Caribbean plans to have these five ships ready for bookings with additional deployments in the region that will be announced later this month.

Royal Caribbean vice president Dominic Paul commented on the plans, "Royal Caribbean International is the perfect choice for couples and families to experience and share all the wonders, flavours and colours of Europe. Liberty of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, and Serenade of the Seas already offer holidaymakers so many things that other operators do not, such as the DreamWorks Experience onboard Liberty of the Seas, or a real ice-skating rink featuring breath-taking shows onboard Navigator of the Seas and even self-levelling pool tables onboard Serenade of the Seas."

Royal Caribbean is getting ready to kick off the summer season in Italy. Among these there are two Voyager Class ships including Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas. 

Navigator of the Seas will offer cruises of 7 nights between May and October from Civitavecchia and the new home port of Messina. Mariner of the Seas will offer cruises from June to September, with a new route of 7 nights in the Western Mediterranean from Genoa and Civitavecchia, from May to October, 12-night cruises to the Holy Land from Civitavecchia.

Another novelty of the season will be cruises of 6, 7 and 8 nights from Venice and the new home of the re-port of Bari with Spendour of the Seas, which completed a dry-dock refit in November 2011, and is ready to return to Italy with some of the most exclusive of the upgrades including more technology, more rooms with balcony, new restaurants and entertainment options. 

Fans of Italian television cooking star Alessandro Borghese will have the perfect Royal Caribbean cruise for them in May 2012.  Aboard Navigator of the Seas, Borghese will host a cruise that sails out of Civitavecchia on May 7, 2012 and will visit Messina, Kusadasi (Turkey), Athens (Greece) and Chania (Greece).

The cruise will feature cooking classes, cooking tips and cooking shows for those aboard.

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."

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.

Royal Caribbean launched a new promotion today for its cruises to the western Caribbean, departing between July 16, 2011 and May 27, 2012. Guests who make reservations on Wednesday (06/22), will receive $100 onboard credit per stateroom on all cruises aboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas of seven nights, and $50 for itineraries of five or six nights on sailings between November 12, 2011, and April 19, 2012 on the Liberty of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas or Navigator of the Seas.

The offer applies only to new bookings, and cabins must belong to the categories or suites with a balcony outside. The credit can be used to pay expenses of board and spa treatments, shopping in stores or in the casino.

A 17-year-old girl from Pennsylvannia is accusing a Royal Caribbean singer aboard Navigator of the Seas of getting her drunk and then raping her.

The girl's family filed a civil lawsuit against Royal Caribbean in federal court in Miami.  The family also reported the incident to the FBI, but no criminal charges appear to have been filed.

The girl alleges that on March 5, while onboard the Navigator of the Seas, she was listening to a band when the singer invited her to dance.  The singer later ordered several alcoholic drinks at the bar.  In the lawsuit, neither the singer nor the bartender asked to verify the girl's age.  She then says she was taken to the singers room as she was "extremely intoxicated and impaired" and when the man started engaging in sexual activity, the girl regained enough consciousness to want to leave. Once she managed to leave, she was found in the hallway crying by another Royal Caribbean employee who brought her to the medical center for examination.

Cynthia Martinez, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman, said the incident was immediately reported to the FBI and that a team from the company offered the passenger medical care and counseling, "To date, the company is unaware of any charges being filed against anyone in this matter.  Royal Caribbean maintains strict policies governing employee interaction with guests. Due to the violation of this policy, the musician in question is no longer employed by Royal Caribbean."

After Royal Caribbean decided to move Navigator of the Seas from Europe to the Caribbean, St Kitts has been added to her itinerary for the 2011-2012 cruise season.

Navigator of the Seas' new winter schedule will have her sailing out of Fort Lauderale, Florida on a series of five and nine-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries starting on November 20.

Harry Liu, Royal Caribbean Spokesman, says the last minute deployment is about demand, “We are responding to vacationers’ demand for more Caribbean options this coming winter (and) spring".