Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on July 25, 2013 at 10am to discuss its second quarter 2013 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.

Royal Caribbean's third Oasis-class ship will be built at STX France shipyard and today ArcelorMittal has been selected to provide 100% of the steel for the hull and 20 bridges in the new ship.

The agreement will supply more than 40,000 tonnes of plates and coils from ArcelorMittal's European sites.

The coils will be produced at Fos-sur-Mer, France and will then be processed into sheets by ArcelorMittal's St Nazaire Distribution Solutions unit.  Afterwards, the coils will then be delivered to STX France.

The plates are being produced by ArcelorMittal Gijon, Spain and shipped to STX France.

Deliveries will commence in September 2013, when construction of the hull will begin.

Hervé Bourrier, CEO, ArcelorMittal France said: "This contract demonstrates our ability to deliver high quality steels and tailored services from our European industrial and sales units, and confirms our long-term presence as a steel supplier to the cruise ship market, one that has seen consistent growth over the last five years."

The ship, which will have around 2,700 cabins, will be delivered in 2016 to Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean is reiterating that it plans to continue to offer cruises out of the port of Baltimore one week after Grandeur of the Seas returned to service.

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Royal Caribbean's executive vice president of operations, commented on the company's commitment, "We're sticking with Baltimore.  We're back, and we're ready."

Royal Caribbean added a flag to Grandeur of the Seas that reads "Don't give up the ship", which is a famous quote from the War of 1812, and the line says it will keep the flag flying on Grandeur of the Seas as long as she's based out of the city.  Royal Caribbean says the flag means Grandeur of the Seas is back and that vacationers shouldn't "give up the ship as a vacation option."

Recently competitor cruise line, Carnival Cruise Line, announced it was pulling its cruise ships out of Baltimore in 2014, so Royal Caribbean's statement is good news for a city worried about the future of the cruise ship business in their port.

Royal Caribbean and the port city of Cozumel, Mexico are enjoying good relations, according to Royal Caribbean vice president of government relations Michael Ronan.  Ronan met with Cozumel mayor Aurelio Joaquin Gonzalez prior to participating in the Diagnostic Cruise Tourism Workshop, organized by the Federal Ministry of Tourism.

Ronan said his attendance at this event as a speaker was because of a direct request from the Tourism Ministry to help spread a vision statement for the cruise line segment of tourism. 

During his speech, Ronan explained how relations between the cruise industry and the island of Cozumel have contributed to building Cozumel as a destination that is requested by a lot of vacationers.  Guests say the cruise they want to continue taking will offer destinations in Mexico such as Cozumel, but it will be important to diversify the offerings in Mexico because of different tastes and preferences among cruise passengers.

"It is important for Mexico to remain on par with what is bringing cruise tourists", Ronan said.

Last week we looked how to book excursions through Royal Caribbean but today we're going to explore why and how to book an excursion through a third-party service.  For many cruisers, taking in a shore excursion with a company that isn't officially sponsored by Royal Caribbean can be daunting and even frightening but we're here to show you that does not have to be the case.

Why book an excursion through a third party?

First and foremost, booking your excursions on your own can save you money.  Most of the time, the same excursions Royal Caribbean offers can be found through other parties for significantly less money.  Since everyone is always looking to make their vacation dollars go further, this is an obvious benefit.

In addition, booking excursions on your own can offer you more than what Royal Caribbean does.  Your imagination is your limitation here and you can go through a tour guide or create your own excursion through tools and resources in planning it all.  Moreover, guided tours that are booked through a third party can sometimes be less crowded than Royal Caribbean tours (although this is not a guarantee).

How do I find third-party excursions?

While booking excursions through Royal Caribbean is simple enough, booking excursions on your own will take a little more effort to get done.  The internet has blossomed into a wealth of information for finding good excursion options.  

The first place to start are web sites that list well known and used excursion options.  Our two favorites are Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic's message boards.  Trip Advisor allows you to go to each port of call you are visiting and see what attractions, businesses and tour operators are listed along with detailed reviews.  For finding good beaches or museums and other things to do, Trip Advisor has a lot of information supplied by users to help you decide what is worth doing.

Cruise Critic has a section of its message board dedicated to ports of call around the world where you can see threads and posts about things to do at each port as well as reviews of tour operators.  In some cases, the tour operators themselves post on the boards.  For more personalized help in figuring out what is good for you, Cruise Critic is the best choice.

Last, but not least, is Google.  Simply search for the port of call you are visiting along with keywords such as, "tours" or "excursions" can generate some good leads as to what is available.  It's a good thought to cross reference what you find in your Google searches with Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic to ensure the claims are as good as they say.

How do I book third-party excursions?

Usually third party excursions are booked in one of two manners.  The first is reserving your spot online through a reservation form.  The second is emailing or calling the person responsible for the excursion and reserving your spot.

Where Royal Caribbean requires payment of your excursion up front, quite often payment for your third party excursions is not due until you actually take the excursion.  Regardless of how you reserve the excursion, make sure any payment you make in advance is through a credit card so you can fight it if the excursion operator does not show up.  The excursion operator will let you know about payment options but most excursions we book on our own require payment when you arrive and it's usually in cash.

Can I cancel my excursions?

Take a look at any fine print about the excursions you book, but most excursions will automatically cancel your reservation if your cruise ship cannot dock at the port.  Otherwise, it's up to the operator as to what the excursion policy is.  

Many of the best third party tours are family run businesses that aren't sophisticated enough operations to have formal cancelation policies.  So while you could simply not show up as a way of canceling, a courteous email or phone call is the right thing to do to let them know your plans have changed.

Concerns of using third-party excursions

By far the biggest downside to booking an excursion on your own is the cruise ship will leave if you are running late and do not make it back to the ship in time.  That being said, these tour operators know this fact very well and word of mouth and other online reviews are the lifeblood of their businesses.  So it's in their interest to get you back to the ship on time so that you will not be disappointed and not post a negative review on every site you can get your hands on.

The cruise line may also cite safety concerns but in our experience, the safety of excursions is no worse or better by booking with or without Royal Caribbean.  Do your research and make sure there are enough positive reviews to feel confident you are going with a reputable operation.

More than likely if you've been on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean you have run across an alcoholic drink that is famous among Royal Caribbean fans called the Labadoozie. Labadoozie's have reached cult-like status for being a large, fruity alcohol drink that is just perfect to have while on a beach. 

So what is a labadoozie?  Basically, it's a frozen drink that mixes a lot of citrus juice, such as orange and pineapple, with a lot of rum.  Ice plus juice plus rum equals the perfect cold drink for a beach day at Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private island.  Not only is the drink tasty, it's also large.  Royal Caribbean staff will walk around Labadee for most of the day selling this iconic drink in plastic souvenir sports bottles.  

By the middle of the afternoon, you will see tons of labadoozie cups everywhere with many passengers opting to indulge with this drink for a way to forget their problems at home.  It's one of those drinks that seems to satisfy all kinds of drinkers.

While the labadooze is famous for its generous serving of rum, you can order the drinks virgin (with no alcohol) so that younger people in your party can have them or if someone just would prefer not to have any booze.

Because Labadoozies are so well known across the fleet and because of their popularity, the good news is you can usually order a labadoozie on your cruise ship even if you aren't in labadee.  It wont be in the sports drink cup, but it can hit the spot for the days at sea you wish you were still at Labadee for.

Labadoozie recipe

The two most common questions about labadoozies are what's in it and how do I make it at home?  Fret no more, we have answers to both.

• 1/2 oz Orange Juice Concentrate
• 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice Concentrate
• 1/2 oz Papaya Juice Concentrate
• 1/2 oz Coconut Cream
• 3/4 oz Dark Rum
• 3/4 oz Coconut Rum
• 1/4 oz Grenadine
• Crushed ice
  (Makes one cocktail)

Special Needs Group has announced it is adding all accessible ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet to its Web portal/accessibility content resource.  Included in the index is Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, which launches in November 2014.

The Special Needs Group portal offers detailed cruise ship accessibility features and provides helpful information including:

• Number of accessible staterooms
• Accessible stateroom features
• Food & Beverage venues accessibility
• Recreational facilities accessibility
• And more

The Royal Caribbean accessibility information launches today with sister brands Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises later this month.

For Quantum of the Seas, the portal lists 34 accessible staterooms, which have have wider doors, roll-in showers, grab bars and turning spaces.  The ship also features braille/tactile public room signage, amplified phones, lowered counters at select locations and more.

SNG President and CEO Andrew Garnett said, "By continuing to add ships/cruise lines to our accessibility content resource, we're reinforcing our corporate responsibility to help educate travel professionals, as well as the traveling public, that individuals with special needs have the ability to travel now more than ever before. The content that we create and provide is mainly informational as opposed to commercially-driven, allowing individuals with special needs to choose the most appropriate ship/cruise for them."

Royal Caribbean kicked off a new cruise sale today, called the Holiday Cruise Sale, where guests can get up to $200 in onboard credit for sailings between December 18 - 31, 2013.

The sale begins today and is applicable on sailings of five nights or longer on any of its cruise ships.  The deal says if you book an inside or ocean view cabin during these dates, you will receive $100 in onboard credit.  If you book a balcony cabin or a suite, you will get $200 per cabin in onboard credit.

This new sale is applicable for all new individual bookings from customers in North and South America, and is not combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts, Royal Caribbean shareholder benefits and other promotional offers.

The sale ends on July 31.

Royal Caribbean has promoted Tracy Quan from director of brand communications to associate vp, global corporate communications.  She will report to Rob Zeiger, vp, global chief communications officer for Royal Caribbean.

Quan, who will be with Royal Caribbean for eight years in December, was recently involved in the launch of the Oasis-class cruise ships.

She was also selected as one of the 'Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing' in 2010 by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International.  She also accepted a Platinum HSMAI award for the collaborative work with public relations agency Weber Shandwick in 2009 for Oasis of the Seas' introduction.

Quan also worked on the Freedom class ship launch but the Oasis-class ship launch was a real game changer for the cruise industry, "'Allure's publicity launch was more successful than Oasis in spite of the fact it was the second ship."

Royal Caribbean's corporate communications department now aims to build a stronger global public relations team using resources from North America. In the past, each country or regional manager drove the PR functions.