The island of Bermuda is seeing cutbacks of cruise ships stopping there across the board, including Royal Caribbean.  Royal Caribbean will cut back the number of calls they will be making to the island in 2013 by 11.

At the end of 2012, Explorer of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas will have visited Bermuda a total of 55 times between the two ships.  Next year, however, Grandeur of the Seas will replace Enchantment of the Seas and make ten less stops to Bermuda, for a total of 15 calls.

A spokesman from the Bermuda government commented on the change, "We had early discussions with Royal Caribbean to include additional Grandeur of the Seas calls from Baltimore, with a weekend stop in Bermuda and continuing to Maine and other locations in New England."

“Royal Caribbean decided that these cruises were not selling well, and decided not to include them in their 2013 itinerary."

“However, we will still have 15 calls from the Grandeur of the Seas in 2013. We will also have 29 calls from the Explorer of the Seas in 2013, compared to 30 Explorer calls in 2012. "

Royal Caribbean is teaming up with Food and Wine Magazine to offer its passengers a new program called, “The Art of Preparation” which is a multi-platform program featuring Food & Wine and Royal Caribbean International “Masters” in a branded content experience. Food & Wine Marketing and Mindshare co-developed “The Art of Preparation” specifically for Royal Caribbean.

This new program is designed to invite "foodies" to learn more about the culinary experiences available aboard any Royal Caribbean ship.  The first installment of the “The Art of Preparation” will roll out with co-branded rich media units across www.foodandwine.com, www.travelandleisure.com as well as select Time Inc. websites, and will run through Dec. 2012.

Hosted by Sissy Biggers, television personality and lifestyle expert, the two minute videos feature a look into each “Masters” area of expertise. The Food & Wine Masters line-up includes:

•  Brewing: Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery, NYC)
• Baking: Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito (Baked, NYC)
• Pizza: Mark Bello (Pizza a Casa Cooking School, NYC)
• Cocktails: Jim Meehan (PDT, NYC)
• Spices: Lior Lev Sercarz (La Boîte a Epice, NYC)
• Chocolate: Jean-Francois Bonnet (Tumbador, NYC

The Royal Caribbean International masters include:

•  Josef Jungwirth – Director of culinary operations and Master Chef
• Marco Marrama – Corporate executive chef
• Frank Weber – VP, food and beverage operations
• Matthias Terskow – Pastry chef and supervisor
• Fritz Halbedl – Chef and culinary consultan
•  Maureen “Molly” Brandt – Chef de Cuisine, 150 Central Park
• Travis Kamiyama – Executive sushi chef, Izumi Asian Cuisine
• Chef Michael Schwartz – Chef and owner of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and exclusive culinary partner of Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean is also the presenting sponsor of the “Masters Series: Lessons from the Experts,” editorial section.

The UK newspaper, The Telegraph, recently sent Jane Archer to review Splendour of the Seas after her $53 million revitalization.  Splendour is currently offering seven-night sailings around the Greek islands and Turkey, from Venice through November.

In terms of the new changes to Splendour, Archer thought the money spent helped give the ship new life but thinks, "a few more million should have been directed at paintwork and glass, which were looking very shabby in places."

In addition, the Centrum was retrofitted and given a new role but Archer wasn't that impressed, "As part of the refit, the atrium was renamed Centrum and given a new role as an entertainment area with girders installed above from which aerialists could perform. It has potential but the one show I saw during a seven-night cruise was most disappointing and over in a flash."

Archer also reported that the newly refurbished staterooms do offer new furnishings but the promise of an iPad in every stateroom has thus far only made into the suites onboard.

Royal Caribbean is stopping the practice of sending its passengers luggage tags in the mail prior to its cruises, effecting August 8, 2012.

Instead, bag tags will now be included as a page within the eDoc ticket booklets, which can then be printed and attached by the guest.  The exception will be for Crown & Anchor Society Pinnacle members and Suite guests (Grand Suites and above), who will still receive baggage tags in the mail.

At this time, this change only applies to Royal Caribbean International and not its sister companies Celebrity Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises.

Passengers can still get bag tags at the port they embark at, from the porters that handle the bags.  There's no indication as to why the practice of sending luggage tags in the mail is being stopped, although we can assume there's a cost savings benefit for Royal Caribbean.

You can watch the full episode of "Mighty Ships: Oasis of the Seas" that documents how this Royal Caribbean mega ship operates behind the scenes.

Royal Caribbean UK is offering running enthusiasts the opportunity to start their own Royal Caribbean running team, provided you live in the United Kingdom.

Dubbed, "Royal Caribbean Runners", this new program offers a great way to get fit.  People can form  groups of 10 to 15 people who help and encourage each other through regular runs over a 9 week period.  You can choose to run with an existing Royal Caribbean Runners Group, or start one of your own. If you are new to running then you’ll get lots of help and advice from a trained leader during each run. And we’d also really like to hear from you if you would like to start up a running group of your own.

Royal Caribbean Runners is open to everyone, from more experienced runners to those who can just about manage a short jog to catch the bus.

By signing up, you can receive a Royal Caribbean Runners T-shirt.  Those that start their own running group and recruit 10 or more runners can receive an iPod shuffle.

If you're interested and live in or near Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and London, you can go to www.runengland.org/royalcaribbeanrunners for more details.

Over the course of 2012 to 2014, several Royal Caribbean ships will visit St. Kitts' Port Zante on their cruises.  These include Adventure of the Seas, Legend of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Sen. Richard Skerritt in a statement in the National Assembly said the redeploy the Jewel of the Seas to the Caribbean from May to October 2013 to offer 25 sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico will result in 16 additional calls to Port Zante during the summer of 2013, bringing over 33,800 guests.

“Jewel of the Seas will operate with three Southern Caribbean itineraries in the summer and autumn, and two itineraries in the winter and spring 2013-14 seasons. Departing every Saturday, the seven-night, round-trip itineraries include calls at a range of exciting ports throughout our sub-region, including St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, and the U.S.V.I., as well as St. Maarten, Barbados, Aruba and Curacao,” he said.

Skerritt also mentioned that Adventure of the Seas will return for the winter 2013-14 season to offer even more sailings by Royal Caribbean out of San Juan, alternating two seven-night Southern Caribbean itineraries.