In celebration of National Cruise Vacation Week, Royal Caribbean is launching a new week-long sale to customers considering a cruise to Europe.

Royal Caribbean is offering up to $100 in onboard credit for those booking a cruise in Europe by October 28.  The deal is valid on itineraries of seven nights or longer departing in 2013 (including trans-Atlantic cruises).

Those that book a balcony or suite cabin will receive a $100 onboard credit per cabin.  If you book an inside or ocean-view cabin, you will receive $50 in onboard credit.  

The sale is available to residents of the United States and Canada only.

Last week Royal Caribbean formally announced it was revamping its main dining room choices by investing in a multi-million dollar upgrade.  Today we know a little more about the changes coming to dinner.

Royal Caribbean is investing in the complimentary dining program to increase the variety of menu choices in the main dining room, and in particular, the inclusion of dishes with regional influences reflective of the destinations Royal Caribbean ships sail to; improved choices for guests with dietary restrictions; and even more enticing presentation. 

The exact changes are as follows: 

• The main dining room menu has been revamped to offer a greater variety of choice.
• Royal Caribbean’s much-loved favorites such as aged hand-cut Manhattan steak, escargot bourguignonne, shrimp cocktail and crème brulee, are now available every night.?
• To cater to its growing global clientele, Royal Caribbean will add more international food options in the dining room with a renewed focus on authenticity.
• Good news for dessert lovers – Royal Caribbean will offer a new “hot from the oven” blueberry peach crumble, sticky bread and butter pudding and sumptuous carrot cake.
• To better cater to those with special dietary needs, Royal Caribbean will introduce more heart-healthy, gluten-free and lactose-free food options. It has enlisted a registered and licensed dietician and nutrition consultant to evaluate existing menus, create new offerings for guests with dietary restrictions, and shape the cruise line’s current gluten-free and lactose-free program into a more guest-friendly experience.?
• All low calorie, gluten-free and lactose-free options will be clearly identified with respective menu icons as well as menu selections that can be modified to fit these requirements for guests.? In addition to the new menu designations, Royal Caribbean is rolling out new daily gluten-free bread offerings, available on request in all venues, including specialty restaurants.
• All of the new main dining menu offerings will include upgraded entrees such rack of lamb, surf & turf, beef sliders and daily entrée dinner salads.
• As part of the investment, the cruise line will continue to focus on training which includes a sous chef certification program with the American Culinary Federation and a new wait staff training curriculum targeting the new menus, standards training, and allergen and dietary programs.
• Guests also will notice a change in the physical menu with a new fresh design featuring the cruise line’s international culinary team.

Royal Caribbean's Executive Vice President of Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo commented on the big investiment, "In today's food-aware culture, the palettes of our guests have evolved and they have come to expect, not only a variety of choices, but cuisine of the highest quality, made with the freshest of ingredients. In recent years, we have introduced many new specialty dining concepts and in this next evolution we are expanding the options in our main dining room with even more variety, allowing us to cater to our international guests while offering them the highest quality dining on land or at sea.”

Ricardo Amaral has been promoted to Vice President of Royal Caribbean Latin America.  

Amaral was promoted after his great work with Royal Caribbean in Brazil and the surrounding region.  The move is part of a restructuring within Royal Caribbean, which has a focus on the international market.  International sales now represent 50% of total sales for the cruise giant.

"I am delighted with this new opportunity and proud to see Brazil in a prominent position on the international stage and in operation company in the world, "said Amaral. Ricardo Amaral.

Royal Caribbean has scheduled a conference call for Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 10am Eastern time to announce the results of it's third quarter fiscal calendar earnings.

If you're interested in hearing the results live, you can listen on-line at Royal Caribbean'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. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Two crew members from Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas were arrested in Port Everglades, Florida this past Sunday for allegedly smuggling cocaine.

The men were stopped during a routine inspection of Allure of the Seas as they were attempting to disembark.  Allure of the Seas was returning from a Western Caribbean cruise to Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico.

Inspectors noticed something during an x-ray scan in one of the men's backpack.   Both of the men removed various electronics and a wallet from the backpack and then told security agents the backpack did not belong to them, according to the investigative report.

Royal Caribbean's security personnel contacted the Broward Sheriff's Office deputies and Customs and Border Protection to investigate. A police dog alerted to something in the backpack which was then field-tested. The substance inside tested positive for cocaine and both men were arrested.  More than one kilogram of cocaine was found, which was trafficked from Jamaica.

In its statement, Royal Caribbean said it maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding illegal drugs on its ships. "We take various steps to prevent the transport of illegal narcotics, including working closely with law enforcement in all of our ports of call."

Royal Caribbean is upgrading its main dining room menus with an extensive multi-million dollar enhancement across its fleet of cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean is focusing on the complimentary dining choices in its main dining room.  The changes include dishes infused with regional flavors reflective of the destinations of the world the line’s ships sail to; improved choices for guests with dietary restrictions; and superior presentation.

Royal Caribbean Executive Vice President of Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, commented on the changes, "In today's food-aware culture, the palettes of our guests have evolved and they have come to expect, not only a variety of choices, but cuisine of the highest quality made with the freshest of ingredients. In recent years, we have introduced many new specialty dining concepts and in this next evolution we are expanding the options in our main dining room with even more variety, allowing us to cater to our international guests while offering them the highest quality dining on land or at sea.”

Some of the new menu changes include upgraded entrees such rack of lamb and surf & turf with new offerings like premium beef sliders and daily entrée dinner salads.

Royal Caribbean has redone its main dining room menus by adding variety but it also was sure to keep some dishes that have become passenger favorites over the years, such as aged hand-cut Manhattan steak, escargot bourguignonne, shrimp cocktail and crème brulee, popular selections now available every night.

There also has been a focus on the desserts with a new “hot from the oven” blueberry peach crumble, sticky bread and butter pudding and sumptuous carrot cake.

The updated menu format also includes a new vegetarian symbol, which is the official symbol of the European Vegetarian Union and considered the most widely used vegetarian symbol worldwide for easy recognition.

 In addition to the new menu designations, Royal Caribbean is rolling out new daily gluten-free bread offerings, available on request in all venues, including specialty restaurants.

Here's a copy of the new menu. You can view the schedule for the roll out of the new main dining room.

Port Canaveral, Florida received approval from a federal panel to widen and deepen the channel.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Review Board gave unanimous approval of the port's feasibility study and that the project may continue to seek approval from other state and federal agencies.

The project need the approval of the Corps of Engineers to receive federal assistance for future maintenance of the channel.

The proposed project would widen Port Canaveral's 400-foot-wide channel by 100 feet and deepen it by 2 feet along its 3.5-mile length.  Work is expected to begin in July and be completed by the fall of 2014.  The widening and deepening of the channel would allow Port Canaveral to accommodate larger cruise and cargo ships.

Tom Weinberg, Canaveral Port Authority Chairman, said the decision by the review board, “is a huge deal. This is a significant milestone to have this level of approval so quickly.”

Port Canaveral estimates that, if its cargo and cruise business increases as projected, this project and related developments at the port could generate nearly 3,500 permanent jobs for Brevard County. It also will mean an estimated 3,413 temporary construction jobs.

Royal Caribbean has struck a deal to have CA Technologies provide integrated and automated IT management solutions that aim to improve the guest experience aboard all of its cruise ships.

The deal will simplify IT management both on shore and onboard the cruise ships.  Royal Caribbean will use a range of CA Technologies solutions, including application performance management, infrastructure management, automation, and project and portfolio management.

Royal Caribbean is planning a massive IT upgrade program to modernize its legacy applications that will take place over the next 12 to 18 months.

Royal Caribbean Chief Information Officer Bill Martin commented on the deal, ""Our investment in technology has increased dramatically. Thanks to CA Technologies Business Service Innovation approach, we have transitioned our focus from maintaining IT systems to delivering new, innovative guest services with speed and agility. CA Technologies has enabled us to transform our IT organization and address the high expectations guests have as a result of the trend towards consumerization of IT. Guests want wireless access to the Internet from their smartphones, tablets, laptops and game consoles the second they board the ship to access a range of services; it's imperative that we provide them the best possible experience with those services."

CA Application Performance Management helps Royal Caribbean ensure quality of service and quality of experience for its Web sites. CA APM enables the cruise company to identify and resolve potential problems before they cause downtime and disruption for guests.

Royal Caribbean uses CA Spectrum(R) and CA Virtual Assurance for Infrastructure Managers to manage its on-board network and data center devices. The integrated solution, used on SL class and OA class ships, enables Royal Caribbean to monitor its infrastructure across multiple platforms via user-friendly dashboards that help the organization drill down to identify and fix the root cause of a problem before it impacts guests.

Royal Caribbean also uses CA Client Automation to track networked assets and deploy software upgrades remotely to help minimize the need for IT staff to travel around the ship and ensure devices remain continuously available.