Royal Caribbean Italy general director Gianni Rotondo says that Naples, Italy plays a strategic role in Royal Caribbean's 2013 cruise plans with 84 ports of call, which will bring more than 250,000 cruise passengers through the city.

Liberty of the Seas will be one of four Royal Caribbean ships to call on Naples this year.  In 2014, Naples will be a port of call when Oasis of the Seas arrives for a short European cruise season as well. All of this is "a great opportunity for the city in terms of economic return and tourism development."

The company has bet their cruise strategy on Naples, in the belief that "the whole South of Italy", said Rotondo, "has great potential and we hope to increase more and more our presence in the area thanks to the significant synergies with the local authorities" .

Through August 30 guests aboard Liberty of the Seas can take a seven-day cruise with stops in Barcelona (Spain), Toulon (France), Villefranche (France), La Spezia, Civitavecchia and return to Naples.
 

Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas will offer an inaugural transatlantic cruise on November 2, 2014 out of Southampton, England.

The eight-night cruise was announced today by Royal Caribbean and will go leave from Southampton on its way to Bayonne, New Jersey, where it will arrive on November 10.

The cost for the transatlantic first starts at $1049 per person and is on sale now.

Quantum of the Seas will be the first of three Quantum-class ships, none of which are built yet.  Quantum of the Seas will make her debut in November 2014, with sister cruise ships Anthem of the Seas following in spring 2015 and a third, unnamed Quantum class ship in mid-2016.

Royal Caribbean has announced its next WOW Sale, with offers of up to $200 onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposits for sailings departing on or after September 1, 2013.

This WOW sale is valid on all worldwide sailings of three nights or longer departing after September 1, 2013.

• Cruises of 3 to 5 nights get US$50 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 6 to 9 nights get US$100 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 10 nights or more get US$200 onboard credit per stateroom

The onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposit offers are applicable to all Royal Caribbean International cruises that sail on or after September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014, including cruisetours. Offer is available only in the U.S. and Canada and applies to all categories available. All bookings must be made and the required deposit must be paid by June 12, 2013, by 11:59 p.m. local time to qualify for the promotion.

What is a WOW Sale? Are WOW Sales good deals?  Read our Cruise 101: WOW Sale post to get information on what this deal is all about.

Royal Caribbean has reached an agreement with Steiner Leisure Limited to be the exclusive provider of spas, salons and fitness centers and related beauty, wellness and medi-spa services and products on Royal Caribbean vessels currently sailing, as well as the Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, scheduled to enter service in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Steiner Leisure President and Chief Executive Officer Leonard Fluxman spoke about some of the new innovations that will debut on Quantum of the Seas that will be "environment of firsts". Among these firsts is Vitality Powered by Technogym®, the first fitness center on board Royal Caribbean to feature the modern professional equipment from this industry leader.

Quantum of the Seas will feature a two-level, state-of-the-art Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center that offers two private fitness consultation rooms and a dedicated Flywheel™ indoor cycling studio, as well as our Smile Spa, barber shop, Thermal Suite, and relaxation lounge. Passengers will have the opportunity to choose from a comprehensive array of Elemis® face and body therapies, Bliss® treatments, and medi-spa services, performed in one of our 19 serene treatment rooms.

Fluxman commented on the new agreement, "For many years, we have enjoyed offering Royal Caribbean's guests our growing variety of healthful options for decompressing, revitalizing and luxuriating.  We look forward to being a memorable part of the vacation experience of Royal Caribbean travellers, and continuing our collaboration with this conceptually and stylistically innovative brand."

In addition to Quantum and Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean extended their original agreement with Steiner for all of its cruise ships through 2017. 

Last year Royal Caribbean sparked a lot of discussion when it paid for a product placement spot in the middle of the Tony Awards, the yearly award show for Broadway shows.  This year, Royal Caribbean is back as the official cruise line of the Tony Awards but there won't be a not-so-subtle ad in the middle again.

Last year Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein came out in swimwear and introduced a "Hairspray" number from a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which turned out to be a paid sponsorship. The number drew criticism for its in-show commercialism in the otherwise proper Tonys. 

Proponents of the segment felt it was done in good taste and helped show off that cruise ship entertainment can be more classy than usually given credit for.

Tony award producer Glenn Weiss commented that there wont be a repeat performance this year, "It's not anything that's being repeated."

Royal Caribbean officially opened booking for it's newest cruise ship that is still under construction, Quantum of the Seas, to the general public.  Last week members of Royal Caribbean's loyalty program were given special access to book the new ship ahead of everyone else.

Royal Caribbean has cruises available from November 2014, when the ship debuts, through April 2015.  Quantum of the Seas' inaugural cruise is not listed as available for sale on the Royal Caribbean web site, which may indicate the inaugural cruise has sold out already.

On the Bahamas cruises, the ship will call at Port Canaveral, Fla., Nassau and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas. The Eastern Caribbean cruises will include San Juan, Puerto Rico; Samana, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas; St. Kitts; and St. Maarten. The Southern Caribbean cruises will call at San Juan, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and St. Kitts. On most sailings, the ship also will visit Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private beach on the north coast of Haiti.

If you're interested in booking your spot on one of the first cruises Quantum of the Seas embarks on, you can call Royal Caribbean directly, consult a travel agent or book online.

Royal Caribbean will be the first cruise line to offer round trip cruises out of Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to open next week.

Starting this fall, Royal Caribbean will offer cruises on Mariner of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean is the first company to announce cruises that will home port from thr new port.

"Hong Kong is one of the most important home ports in Asia," said Dr Liu Zinan, Royal Caribbean's managing director of China. "Asia, including China, is one of the strategic markets for Royal Caribbean."

Mariner of the Seas has never visited Hong Kong before because it was too big for Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui to handle.

When the Kai Tak terminal building opens next Wednesday, Mariner of the Seas will be the first ship to use the immigration counters, as part of a Singapore-Shanghai cruise in which Hong Kong is a port of call.

Shorter trips out of Hong Kong are lined up starting in autumn. At the end of October, the vessel will embark on a four-night round trip to two Taiwanese cities, Kaohsiung and Taipei.

A three-night return trip to Kaohsiung will take place in November, following which the Mariner will leave Hong Kong for Singapore for the winter season.

Making a city a home port is considered to bring bigger economic benefits than transits, as passengers may stay extra nights in the city before or after their standard itineraries. Last year, such passengers spent an average of HK$4,833 a day, twice as much as conventional tourists.

Royal Caribbean will be honored with the ’2013 Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership ‘award on Wednesday, June 5th at the Radisson Martinique Hotel, for its substantial commitment in serving the Caribbean region’s tourism sector, the current lifeblood of many nations.

The award is being presented by the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum and is presented annually in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO), the governmental arm of tourism; and digital media company, Hard Beat Communications.

ICN officials are honoring Royal Caribbean International this year for generously investing in the region and developing partnerships with governments and local businesses in twenty countries.

Royal Caribbean has invested over $200,000,000 over the last ten years in the Caribbean, including the cruise port of Falmouth, Jamaica; Roatan Honduras Town Center and the cruise port in Belize City. In addition, Royal Caribbean operates its private destinations of CocoCay in The Bahamas and Labadee in Haiti.

Royal Caribbean International’s CEO and President, Adam Goldstein and Mike Ronan, the company’s vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, will accept the award on behalf of Royal Caribbean.

Goldstein commented on Royal Caribbean being recognized, “The Caribbean has been the heart and soul of who we are and where we go for over 40 years, and we are honored to receive the 2013 ‘Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership Award.’ At Royal Caribbean, our goal is to continue to work closely with the Caribbean so that their ability to retain and attract cruise ships remains as strong and robust as ever and we look forward to being a leader and working to help recognize the region’s value.”

The news of the fire breaking out on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas on Memorial Day has certainly given concern to some prospective passengers but two sisters on that very cruise ship have shared how helpful Royal Caribbean's staff were during the entire ordeal.

Sherry Winters and her sister Eva DeCamp, both from Ohio, woke up at 3am after hearing the captain’s voice come over the intercom in their room and knocks at their door.

“We saw the staff all in their life jackets. So we ran back in our rooms and the attendant helped find ours. We had them buried underneath the suitcases,” said Winters.

Eventually, the women learned the problem was caused by an electrical fire. Royal Caribbean International issued a statement Wednesday that said the fire started in the mooring area in the aft of the ship.

Royal Caribbean paid for hotel stays and airplane flights back home for all the cruise ship guests.

The women were told that Royal Caribbean would give them a full refund of their trip and said they would gladly take advantage of the free cruise voucher that Royal Caribbean officials offered them for next year. They said they would take another Royal Caribbean cruise because they were treated so well by Royal Caribbean staff.

“From the moment it happened until the day we left, they were just incredible,” Winters said of the Royal Caribbean staff.

“They put us first. Our safety first from the moment it happened,” DeCamp said.

The ship’s staff tried to keep the guests entertained and that Royal Caribbean staff recognized the firefighters onboard, the women said.

“We were just very very pleased with the way we were treated and the whole situation was handled,” Winters said. “We thought they did an excellent job.”