Forbes announced today that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has been named to the America's Best Employers for Diversity 2019.

Forbes and research firm Statista surveyed 50,000 American employees in companies that have at least 1,000 employees.  Survey questions focused on diversity with respect to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and ability. Other components of the ranking included gender diversity among top executives and the board of directors, and the company's proactive communication about diversity.

"I am extremely pleased that Forbes has recognized Royal Caribbean as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity," said Laura Miller, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer for  Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "This recognition would not be possible without our employees. As one of the world's largest cruise companies, we are committed to our over 75,000 talented and devoted employees representing nearly 200 countries.  We will continue to focus and demonstrate the importance of diversity and inclusion both on shore and at sea."

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority owns and operates the deep water, marina and upland holdings throughout Victoria's harbor and is working on expanding the docking infrastructure of Greater Victoria Harbor to allow cruise ships larger than a Quantum Class ship.

The project is planned for completion by May 2019, which is when Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas is expected to visit Victoria regularly.

This $6.8 million expansion project involves extending the existing berth and moor vessels by more than 55 meters, then adding a breasting "dolphin" and an additional structure that restricts the longitudinal movement of the ship when it’s moored near the pier. 

When complete, the harbor will be able to handle cruise ships of up to 200,000 gross tons.    

The construction project was awarded to Ruskin Construction Ltd. through a competitive bid process. Work began in October 2018 with the installation of falsework to temporarily support pouring of the concrete bollard platforms to which the ships will be moored. 

Ovation of the Seas will visit Victoria regularly beginning in May. The ship measure 348 meters in length, features 18 decks and can accommodate as many as 4,900 passengers — about 1,000 more passengers than the Royal Caribbean vessel that moored at the harbor previously.    

Hope you had a great week (maybe one week closer to your next Royal Caribbean cruise?) and you had a chance to keep up with what's new with Royal Caribbean this week. But if not, here's a roundup of this week's news.

Royal Caribbean fans were surprised to hear the Crown and Anchor Society Member Director will be leaving her role.

Millie Quiles sent an email to Crown and Anchor members that she will be stepping down from the role at the end of January.

Quiles spent almost ten years being the face of Crown and Anchor Society and working with members on a daily basis.  We will miss her contributions to the program and Royal Caribbean!

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean's CEO talked about a new app update and tech coming to Icon Class.
• Royal Caribbean scheduled its fourth quarter earnings call with investors.
• Royal Caribbean announced its 2018 travel partners of the year.
• We shared a new video with the top cruise terms you should know before cruising.
• Royal Caribbean announced a new head of Sales for Singapore.
• Michael started off a new live blog from Brilliance of the Seas.
• Check out our overview of refundable vs non-refundable cruise fares.
• Video: What's coming to Royal Caribbean in 2019.
• The new smartphone app is now available on Vision of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 286th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and we take an in-depth look at cruising from Australia.

Friend of the show Pippa joins Matt to talk about all aspects of a cruise from Australia and what someone looking to cruise down under can expect.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Hive wrote ten reasons you need to take a cruise this year.

Eat Sleep Cruise listed the top cruise ships of 2019.

Travel and Whims shared 24 things you'll want to know before cruising Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced Josh Wen as the new head of Singapore trade sales, in addition to his title of Head of Sales of Asia Pacific.

Royal Caribbean made the announcement at the company Chinese New Year appreciation dinner for trade partners in Singapore at Grand Hyatt on the evening of Friday, January 25.

Wen, who has been with Royal Caribbean for three and a half years, will now handle a total of 15 markets in the region for trade sales, namely Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.  He was previously with the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry in trade strategy and management.  Wen is taking over the Singapore role from Mona Foo, Head of Business Development, who will now focus on corporate sales and operations in Asia.

Stephen also thanked the trade partners for their strong support in the past year that has contributed to the global success of the Royal Caribbean International brand. “Your efforts have put us in a strong position to launch our 50th anniversary this year.  Royal Caribbean is in an exciting time of transformation with the arrival of two Quantum Class ships here including the new Spectrum of the Seas, new itineraries and drydock projects coming up.  So the newly expanded team will work even more closely with all of you for a successful year ahead.”

In her announcement to over 200 invitees at the event, Angie Stephen, Managing Director, Asia Pacific said, “Trade and distribution will now be under one team with a unified focus. It’s a great opportunity for synergy, strategy and collaboration in driving even better results across the region.  With Josh’s expertise in handling multiple markets in Asia, I’m confident that he and his team will be a great asset and support for our partners in building up their business for the next decade.” 

Welcome to our weekly showcase of great Royal Caribbean photos that our readers have shared with us.  Let's dive into this week's batch of photos!

Let's kick start this week's edition with a photo by Joseph Ingrassia of sunset taken from running track on Oasis of the Seas.

Next up is a photo of Grandeur of the Seas arriving in Nassau by Dennis Chimelis.

Phyllis Adelsberg sent us this photo of Hubbard Glacier, as seen from Radiance of the Seas.

We head over to Labadee for this photo by Nicole Ballinger.

Here is a look at Anthem of the Seas in Nassau. Photo by Anoop.

Tammy Murphy shared this photo of her family having a great time on their Royal Caribbean cruise.

The pride of New Jersey, John Bamber, took this photo from his balcony stateroom while on Anthem of the Seas.

Thank you to everyone for their photos this week! You can use this form to share your favorite Royal Caribbean photos with all of us.

Veteran Royal Caribbean cruisers will be sad to hear the announcement today that Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Member Director, Millie Quiles, will be stepping down from the role.

In an email sent to Crown and Anchor Society members, Quiles announced her last day on the job will be January 30th.

"After nearly ten years working for Royal Caribbean, I’ve decided to start a new adventure. My last day in the office will be January 30th."

"Please know that we remain completely focused and committed to taking great care of our most loyal guests. In addition to our Crown & Anchor Society Desk, you can also reach Kelly Sanchez, who leads our Crown & Anchor program, at [email protected]."

No word yet on who, if anyone, will take her place.

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley spoke to TTG about a variety of topics related to the future of Royal Caribbean, and touched upon a few topics that revealed a few hints of what is to come.

When questions about the features and innovations of sister cruise brand Celebrity Cruises, Michael Bayley confirmed that the cruise line is looking at bringing the Infinite Veranda idea over to Royal Caribbean, “Edge has a lot of innovation. We need time to assess what works well and what doesn’t but we will take on some elements and put them on the new class of ship – Icon class and potentially Oasis 5."

Bayley's comments follow up on guest surveys from last year that showed off a possible Infinite Veranda for Royal Caribbean.

Mr. Bayley also commented on the status of the cruise line's new smart phone app, saying the new tech rollout will be available on around 12 ships by the end of year and the rest by "early 2020". He added, “We’re looking at facial recognition and notifications based on the profile of the passenger.”

Hi, there! We’re back with another RoyalCaribbeanBlog Video today, and we are discussing how Royal Caribbean gets you to spend more money on your cruise.

Like all companies, Royal Caribbean utilizes some great strategies to influence your purchasing decisions. These are good to be aware of in advance so you can make the most informed decision on what purchases will work best during your next vacation. So join us as we discuss some of these strategies in our latest YouTube video!

And if you love this video, we have lots of other great cruise videos to watch on our Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel!

By the way, have you subscribed yet? Be sure to subscribe to our channel and never miss a single episode!

So check out the video and then let us know: What are your thoughts on some of these various strategies? 

Royal Caribbean cruises booked this weekend may qualify for 60% off second guest, kids sail for less and up to $300 instant savings.

New cruises booked January 24 – 27, 2019 on sailings departing on or after February 24, 2019 are eligible for this weekend sale.

The offer includes:

• 60% off cruise fare of second guest booked in the same stateroom as first full-fare paying guest.
• 30% off cruise fare for third guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualified guests.
• BOGO also offers up to $150 instant savings per stateroom determined by category booked and sailing length:
  • Sailings 5 nights or less, $25 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $50 for Balconies and $75 for Suites
  • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites. 
• Explore More Sale offers up to $150 instant savings per stateroom (up to $300 instant savings when combined with BOGO instant savings) determined by category booked and sailing length:
  • Sailings 5 nights or less, $25 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $50 for Balconies and $75 for Suites
  • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites.

BOGO is combinable with Explore More Sale, promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Explore More Sale is combinable with promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers and Free Upgrades but not combinable with Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates. Promo Code driven offers are based on select ships and sail dates and must be applied at time of booking, limit one promo code per booking. 

Offer available to residents of United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and select countries in the Caribbean. 

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on January 30, 2019 at 10am to discuss its fourth quarter 2018 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site,www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.