Royal Caribbean announced the new Senior Vice President of Marketing, Carol Schuster.  Schuster will be responsible for brand strategy and positioning; consumer and trade advertising; digital and social media; and one-to-one and loyalty marketing.

Lisa Bauer, Royal Caribbean Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, commented on Schuster's hiring, "We are thrilled to welcome Carol Schuster to Royal Caribbean’s leadership team and look forward to her building on the success that the brand has already achieved.  Carol’s extensive global marketing experience will play an integral role in our continued growth into established and emerging cruise vacation markets around the world.”

Prior to joining Royal Caribbean Ms. Schuster ran a global marketing and brand consultancy and spearheaded the launch of U.S. women’s luxury apparel company, Lafayette 148 New York, in China. Prior to that, she held the position of worldwide managing director, Global Brand Management at the advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather. She also held senior executive level positions at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in New York. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991, she was one of the first business and marketing leaders to enter Central and Eastern Europe to start-up the global network for the advertising agency.

Royal Caribbean's WOW Sale was slated to end yesterday but the company announced that it will extend the popular sale through June 14, giving it an extra two days.

To take advantage of the sale, you can reserve any cruise departing from September 1, 2013 – August 31, 2014 to enjoy up to $200 to spend onboard plus a 50% reduced deposit.

The WOW Sale is broken down as follows

• 5 Nights or Less cruise
  • $50 per stateroom onboard credit
  • $50 deposit
• 6-9 Night Cruise
  • $100 per stateroom onboard credit
  • $125 deposit 
• 10 Nights or Longer Cruise
  • $200 per stateroom onboard credit
  • $225 deposit

All bookings must be made and the required deposit must be paid by June 14, 2013, by 11:59 pm Local Time to qualify for the promotion.  Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, Net Rates, Sales Event, Crown & Anchor Discounts, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits.

The first-ever Pittsburgh Steelers fan cruise is being planned aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa on March 10, 2014.

The cruise promises to allow up-close and personal access to Steelers fan favorites such as Hines Ward, Franco Harris, Mel Blount, Willie Parker, Antwaan Randle El, among others.

Former Steeler Tunch Ilkin, will be your cruise director.

“We have every decade represented of Steeler football since the 1960s, so that’s cool,” said Ilkin. “So, for everyone in the family, every generation, there’s going to be someone there for you.”

During the cruise, activities will be planned such as daily autograph sessions, Super Bowl rewinds with live Steeler interviews and a “Steelers Got Talent” show featuring a Ward dance number.

NFL Play 60 has activities on the sports desk for the kids. There will also be kids-only press conferences and interactive games.

Guests can also pay additional fees to allow them even more access, including VIP parties with players, a “fast pass” in the autograph line and even staying on the same deck as the players.

More information booking this cruise can be found at steelerscruise.com.

The US Virgin Islands is popular among Eastern Caribbean cruise stops and the island of St. Thomas is an American owned island with Caribbean flair.  Great beaches and shopping highlight what there is to see and do here.

St. Thomas Benefits

• Beaches: St. Thomas features some very beautiful beaches, including Magens Bay, which is among the most beautiful beaches in the world.  There's also other beaches here that offer beautiful water color and very fine sand.  When you think of a Caribbean beach, St. Thomas is the sort of beach experience you will have in mind.
  • Best public beach: Magens Bay or Coki Beach
• Shopping: St. Thomas offers a lot of shopping options around and near the cruise terminal.  Being an American island, the prices here are fairly close to what you'd expect to find back on the mainland.  The island boasts good prices on jewelry, liquor, linens, china and crystal.  By far jewelry is what is in demand here and there are lots of places to check out.  There is no sales tax in the United States Virgin Islands so you can take advantage of the $1,600 duty-free allowance per family member (remember to save your receipts).
• Proximity to St John: It's common for St. Thomas to have many cruise ships in port but St. John is very close and there are water taxi options that take just 20 minutes to get over to the island.  For those that have visited St. Thomas before, St. John is close enough to allow for two ports in one.

St. Thomas Detractions

• Traffic: Like many small Caribbean islands, traffic can snarl up the roads often and quickly.  This is especially true in the late afternoon, which is typically when cruise ships leave port. If you are planning to use a third-party excursion or going to explore on your own, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back.  
• Crowds: During the busy season, it is not uncommon to have six or more cruise ships docked in port on any given day and that leads to a lot of people in one place.  St. Thomas has cemented itself as a cruise destination and many cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, send many of their ships here.  More than likely you will feel engulfed in a sea of other tourists.

What to do in St. Thomas

On your next Royal Caribbean cruise to St. Thomas consider these activities

• Beach visit to one of their beautiful beaches, including Magens Bay, Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach
• Take water taxi to St. John
• Duty-free shopping in Charlotte Amalie
• Go to Mountain Top (it's a bit of a tourist trap, but the view is worth it)

Royal Caribbean ships stopping in St. Thomas: Freedom of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas & Legend of the Seas

Today marks the beginning of Royal Caribbean's WOW Sale, where Royal Caribbean claims to find some of its best offers to book a cruise.  The 3-day WOW sale touts savings of up to $200 per cabin.

For the sale, booking your cruise during this sale will get onboard credits depending on the length of your cruise.

• $50 for 3-5 night cruises
• $100 for 6-9 night cruises
• $200 for 10+ night cruises

In addition to the onboard credit offer, customers can also book their cabin for 50% of the normal deposit price.

This WOW sale is valid on all Royal Caribbean cruises departing between September 1, 2013 - August 31, 2014.  Sale ends on June 12, 2013

It's worth noting that Royal Caribbean says the WOW sale cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion, including Crown & Anchor, Shareholder Benefit, Future and Next Cruise offers.

Will you be booking a cruise because of this sale?

Photo sent by Kenneth Kinzig 

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.