The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is "fully committed" to redeveloping Port Castries and is looking to Royal Caribbean to help.

Deputy Prime Minister Phillip Pierre announced the island is looking to transform Port Castries into a “modern shopping plaza for cruise passengers, visitors and locals.”

According to a government statement, officials from St Lucia recently held talks with Royal Caribbean, which could be considering a partner on the project.  St. Lucia revealed it had a meeting with Royal Caribbean back in March to explore the possibilities further.

More recent discussions between the government and Royal Caribbean have been held to provide a timeline to Royal Caribbean to finalize discussions with the reported partner and to “proceed with discussions with other potential partners if that deadline is not forthcoming.”

Royal Caribbean has been a big player in China's nascent cruise industry but some are concerned that obstacles in the near-future will hamper its growth overall.  

Royal Caribbean chairman in Shanghai, Liu Zinan, feels tighter integration between the cruise companies and government is essential, "The government, the local authorities, need to support the cruise lines in exercising international practice here."

Since cruise tourism was introduced in China less than 10 years ago, five cruise terminals have been built at an estimated cost of more than 4.5 billion yuan (US$736 million). Three more are under construction and another six are in the pipeline.

Royal Caribbean estimates in Shanghai and Tianjin, the combined investment in cruise infrastructure has topped 12.3 billion yuan.

The danger lies in these facilities not returning on the investment, with losses common thus far.  

Hello Royal Caribbean fans, here's some great news for all of you podcast fans.

We're proud to release episode 2 of the Royal Caribbean Blog podcast is now available and ready for downloading.

In this episode, we will look at an aspect of the Royal Caribbean cruise vacation that has arguably changed the most over the last decade or so, specialty restaurants.  We will discuss the evolution of dining on a Royal Caribbean cruise, the various restaurants to choose from and where dining aboard Royal Caribbean is going in the future.  We will also include some of your great listener feedback .

Here is the podcast page for episode 2.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think!

Royal Caribbean will resume cruises to Barbados after removing all of its ships from the Southern Caribbean route last year.  

Barbados Tourism Minister Richard Sealy made the announcement after negotiations with Royal Caribbean that he characterized as "intensive".

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas has been offering cruises back in May, will offer year-round service to the Southern Caribbean island.  In addition, Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship that is under construction, will have incremental service starting in November 2014.

Sealy was excited about the news of Royal Caribbean's return, "I would like to think that the leadership of Barbados had something to do with that.  Certainly, the relationship with the port project would be part of it. But we have done our part."

Royal Caribbean had announced in March 2011 that it was leaving the island but then joined into a joint venture with Barbados to build a brand new state-of-the-art cruise terminal in Barbados that will cost over $300 million.

Royal Caribbean's plans for New Zealand this summer will be in contrast to the rest of the cruise industry because it will bring more passengers to the country this year.

Royal Caribbean estimates it will carry somewhere between 80-85,000 passengers, up from around 60,000 passengers last season.

The increase for Royal Caribbean is opposite the trend for the rest of the cruise industry, which is projecting a dip in passengers to New Zealand from 211,000 last year to just 200,000 this year.

Royal Caribbean commercial director for Australia and New Zealand, Adam Armstrong, said the increase can be attributed to a longer season for megaship Voyager of the Seas as well as sister-brand Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice.

Armonstrong also indicated that New Zealand is becoming a more popular cruise destination internationally and more ships were becoming available after cruising around Asia during the northern summer.

"More ships are being based in this part of the world, particularly in Asia. We benefit from that because of the seasonality - our ships migrate by following the sun," Armstrong said.

"It needs to keep doing what it's doing. What New Zealand has been good at is handling larger ships and that's what other ports elsewhere haven't been able to keep pace with, you're very fortunate to have deep-water ports for cargo that can be adapted for cruise ships."

The world's best naval and structural architects are turning a complicated concept into reality. Two70 on Royal Caribbean International's Quantum-class will give guests spectacular views and thrilling shows in the cruise industry's most transformational space.

There's something about a Royal Caribbean cruise that compels people to try new things. Some may tackle trying to stand up on the FlowRider, others may try to get into the Love and Marriage game show.

Personally, I like to try new foods and it's because of a Royal Caribbean cruise that I joined so many others in indulging (and liking) the escargot.

Escargot, better known as cooked snails, is a delicacy that sounds downright awful but escargot on Royal Caribbean has become a real staple appetizer in the Main Dining Room. I think a lot of people order it as a goof (it doesn't cost anything extra to try) and after the giggles subside, these same people come away actually enjoying it.  

The menu describes the escargots bourguignonne as, "tender snails drenched in melted garlic-herb butter." Drenched is the right word because they come in a serving plate soaked in the salty butter sauce. There's so much butter and it's so salty that it's hard to really taste the actual snail. And if you eat it with bread, well, you probably won't even feel the texture.

Escargot has become a staple appetizer that I order every time I can. If you happen to see escargot as an option on your next Royal Caribbean cruise, laugh all you want but you really should order it for a high-class tasty snack!

Below is the escargot recipe from Royal Caribbean.

Escargot Recipe

Garlic Butter

2 tbs chopped, fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tea Dijon mustard
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 
1/2 tea Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tea cognac

Escargot

24 canned snails, drained
1 medium shallot finely chopped 
1 tbs dry sherry 
Salt to taste
French baguette slices

Escargot instructions

1. For the garlic butter: In a food processor, combine the parsley, garlic, and mustard. Season with white pepper. Process for 1 minute. Add a stick butter, the Worcestershire sauce and cognac, and process for 2 minutes. Transfer the butter mixture to a small bowl and set aside. 
2. For the snails: Rinse the snails in a small colander under cold running water. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. In a saute pan, heat the remaining 1/2 stick butter over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring until softened, and translucent. Add the snails and saute until completely heated through about one minute. Stir in the sherry and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let cool. 
3. Preheat the oven to 400F. Transfer the snails to shells or to snail plates (if using the shells, divide them among 4 ovenproof dishes). Cover each snail completely with the reserved butter mixture. 
4. Bake for a few minutes, or just until the snails are hot and the butter is completely melted and brown on top (do not overbake or the flavor of the butter will be compromised). Serve immediately with the slices of the French baguette for dipping.

Royal Caribbean conducted a survey among residents of Australia and found two thirds of the respondents said they believed that getting away from it all would make Christmas better and 50% said that a getaway was the number one thing that would make school holidays better.

This, of course, plays right into what Royal Caribbean can offer these people looking for an escape by touting December cruises. Royal Caribbean says 40% of Australians said that they would most like to go on a cruise with their family and are happy for the family to come along.

Among the reasons Australians are looking to get away were concerns over money and household chores are the primary reasons they did not enjoy being at home for the holiday.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Australasia Commercial Director Adam Armstrong said, “A cruise is a great value option at Christmas time with prices including meals, accommodation and lots of entertainment, and of course there’s no arguing over who’s going to do the washing up!”

He added that it is hard not to get into the holiday spirit with all the special activities on board a Royal Caribbean cruise at Christmas time, with the season coming to life with carol singing, Christmas parties, visits from Santa, holiday-inspired menus and Christmas treats such as gingerbread houses built by talented onboard pastry chefs.

Three Royal Caribbean ships will offer cruises out of Australia during the Christmas holiday, which include Radiance of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean welcomed its 50 millionth guest onboard its cruise ships, which in turn will kick off a year-long celebration honoring the cruise line's guests, business partners, employees and crew.

To celebrate, Royal Caribbean will offer a New Year’s Eve-style party, on each of Royal Caribbean’s ships guests will find shipboard festivities. The onboard events will mark the start of a year-long campaign where consumers are encouraged to share their favorite WOW moments with Royal Caribbean over the years by posting photos, videos and memorable stories on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #RoyalWOW.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the milestone, "For more than 45 years, Royal Caribbean’s guiding principle has been to deliver the WOW to our guests, providing them with experiences, services and amenities that can only be found on Royal Caribbean.  The men and women on our ships who deliver these WOW moments are what inspire our loyal guests to return to sail with us again and again."

If you liked a little of everything when it comes to Royal Caribbean news then this was the week for you.  

Over the course of the week we learned more about Quantum of the Seas and what we can expect from it.  It's clear that people are excited to know everything they can about this ship and we started out with a list of everything we know about the virtual balcony.  

This was followed up by an interesting list of frequently asked questions about Quantum of the Seas that gave us a few more details about venues, dining, entertainment and more.

Royal Caribbean News

• If Royal Caribbean wants to build a fourth Oasis-class cruise ship, they have to decide by December.
• There's a new video of Quantum of the Seas' keel-laying and Anthem of the Seas' steel-cutting ceremonies.
• We shared a secret spot on Allure of the Seas to check out if you want to get away from the crowds.
• Have you considered buying the unlimited alcohol packages on your next Royal Caribbean cruise?  We broke down the cost per day to see how much you really need to drink to make it worth while.
• Royal Caribbean is launching an 11-day sale for residents of the United Kingdom.
• We had our very first edition of Friday Photos, where we shared your Royal Caribbean vacation photos.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is live!  We're covering eveyrthing Royal Caribbean and inviting you to explore every aspect of a great cruise vacation.  Check it out at RoyalCaribbeanPodcast.com!

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.

We want to hear from you when it comes to this podcast because we want it to be an interactive show.  If you have questions, comments or thoughts, share them with us.  We might even include it on the show!

Take a listen to Episode 1 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast!

Join us for the first ever Royal Caribbean Blog Cruise!

We're so excited to announce the first ever group cruise for readers and staff of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com aboard Quantum of the Seas!  This is an exclusive group where we are inviting you, our readers, to join us on one of the first Quantum of the Seas sailings on an 8-night cruise to the Caribbean.

This Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise is all about enjoying this brand new ship with other fans who are big fans of Royal Caribbean.  Don't miss this opportunity to check out the brand new cruise ship as well as be a part of exclusive events for those that book with our group!

For more details on booking the cruise, the itinerary and prices, check out the Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise page and if you have any questions, email me!

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Travel Weekly has a detailed post about how Haiti wants to lure Royal Caribbean passengers beyond Labadee.

Inverclydenow mentions a visit by Vision of the Seas.

The CLIA is touting innovations in cruising that are coming soon, such as virtual balconies coming to Navigator of the Seas.

RoyalCaribbeanPR is reporting Explorer of the Seas will receive a new parade called "Royalapalooza", which first debuted on Mariner of the Seas.