Photo by Wayne Howitz Jr. of Wayne Charles Photography

Travel Weekly has awarded Royal Caribbean 15 Magellan Awards for the year.  Radiance of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas were singled out among the awards along with Royal Caribbean's "The Sea is Calling" advertising campaign.

“We are much honored to be recognized again by Travel Weekly’s distinguished panel of industry experts and judges,” said Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Royal Caribbean International. “We are particularly encouraged that revitalized Radiance of the Seas won Gold for Overall Contemporary Ship. Radiance of the Seas is a glowing example of our ongoing ship revitalizations to introduce some of the most popular Oasis-class amenities across the fleet and make every ship our best ship for vacationers to enjoy.”

Gold Magellan Awards

• Radiance of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship
• Oasis of the Seas - Overall - Eco-Friendly "Green" Cruise Ship 
• The Sea is Calling - Advertising/Marketing Campaign 
• The Sea is Calling - TV Commercial 
• The Sea is Calling... - Vicki Print Advertising 
• Oasis’ 150 Central Park - Contemporary Ship - Restaurant Design 
• DreamWorks Experience - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
• Hairspray - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
• Royal Promenade -Contemporary Ship - Atrium Design 
• Royal Loft Suites - Contemporary Ship - Suite Design

Silver Magellan Awards :

• Allure of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship 
• Sea Views - Overall - Blog 
• Crown & Anchor Society - Overall - Loyalty Program 
• Vitality at Sea Spa - Contemporary Ship - Spa Design 
• Madagascar 3 - Web Marketing/Advertising

Royal Caribbean is adding what it calls the "Barbie Experience" to target kids ages four to eleven years old that will offer Barbie-themed movie nights, story times and other activities at its children's program. 

Girls can sleep in Barbie themed cabins, design Barbie outfits,  go to tea and participate in a fashion show at the end of the cruise.  Royal Caribbean is offering the "Barbie Premium Experience" that will cost $349-per-person. 

The premium experience will offer girls a dance class, fashion show and opportunity to take home a cruise ship themed Barbie doll with outfits.

The Barbie Experience is targeted at little girls although Royal Caribbean does expect some adult fans to be interested as well.

Royal Caribbean vice president of sales Vicki Freed commented that the line had tested the Barbie Experience with stellar results, "Barbie was a smash success in a test last fall on the Freedom of the Seas. When you think about all the families we carry, this is a really great fit."

The new offering will become available across Royal Caribbean's fleet between January and March of 2013.  Royal Caribbean will start taking bookings in October 2012.  

Royal Caribbean also kicked off the "Win a Barbie Cruise Vacation" sweepstakes online.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas hit a cable while sailing into the port of Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands of Denmark.  The accident caused a crew member to be injured when falling debris hit him while he was outside.

The incident occurred September 6 at 8am local time according to a Royal Caribbean statement when Jewel of the Seas came "in contact with a cable hat extends between Bordoy and Eysturoy Islands."

The accident also resulted in damage to the mast and some equipment on the mast.  Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez emphasized that the accident has no effect on the seaworthiness of the ship. Moreover, Jewel of the Seas has moved to its next port of call in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Martinez added that Royal Caribbean is working closely with the local authorities to determine why the collision occurred, "All the navigational tools and charts we use to plan our voyage, including information we obtained from the local port authorities and harbor master in advance of our arrival, indicated we had enough clearance to pass under the cable."

Royal Caribbean has rolled out Coca-Cola's Freestyle machines to some of its cruise ships and already its passengers are loving it.  

Royal Caribbean directory of fleet beverage operations, Bob Midytette, says the new soda machines are more popular than they envisioned, "We ran out of product on the first voyage. It was more popular than even what we thought it would be."

The Freestyle Machines offer passengers 125 flavors of Coke using medical micro-dosing technology and flavor cartridges.  The machines are currently available on Majesty of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas and will continue to roll out to more ships at the rate of about one or two a month.

"It is in my mind the next evolution of non-alcoholic beverage service, a leap forward to what you could offer through the traditional system," Midyette says.

Currently the machines cost $6.50 per day for adults and $4.50 for kids for the soda package that includes access to the Freestyle machines.  Passengers receive a special cup with a RFID chip that gives access to the machine.

Royal Caribbean is supporting Australia's first ever National Cruise Week promotion.  To celebrate, Royal Caribbean is offering special cruise deals to anyone in Australia that books during the cruise week promotion.

Adam Armstrong, Royal Caribbean commercial director, is excited to see the cruise industry being promoted during the week, "Cruising is rapidly expanding part of the Australian tourism industry and we welcome this new national campaign to promote the sector. We’re delighted to be involved with the International Cruise Council Australasia’s campaign."

“Our deals all include on board credits – of up to $500 in some cases,” he continued. “Our guests will be able to use the credits to take a shore excursion, buy something special in our boutiques or treat themselves to a spa treatment – all on us.”

Royal Caribbean is offering some special deals, such as $100 onboard credit on all cruises out of Australia that are five nights or longer that are made during National Cruise Week.

Royal Caribbean is preparing to launch a £2.5 million fall marketing campaign, which will be the biggest yet by the company in the UK.  The new marketing push is aimed at "nearly cruisers" - people who have not yet cruised but are actively considering the option.

The new campaign also features a host of interactive games, state-of-the-art technologies, branded merchandise and lucrative incentives to get trade partners excited about Royal Caribbean. The autumn campaign. This is the first of its kind for the travel trade and uses an innovative new technology that reinforces the cruise line’s history of staying one step ahead of the cruise industry.

UK and Ireland associate vice president and general manager Jo Rzymowska said, “This brand campaign is all about what makes us so different regarding what we offer on board/ The Blippar smart phone app brings the whole experience to life.”

In a blog post by Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean says it will increase the number of cabanas offered for rent on its private island of Labadee.

Goldstein says the increase is due to the warm reception its guests have shown the option and will go from the initial 20 cabanas currently on the island's Barefoot Beach club area to construct four more water cabanas there.  

Royal Caribbean will also add 16 new cabanas at Nellie's Beach for a total of 40 cabanas for rental at Labadee.

In addition, Royal Caribbean now offers 3 wheelchair accessible cabanas in Labadee.

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in Asia at the moment, is scheduled to dock at Keelung Port in Northern Taiwan on Friday, which will set a record for daily cruise ship traffic in Taiwan's seaports.

Keelung Port Vice Manager Wei Shuo-liang confirmed the record will occur when the 140,000 ton vessel will bring its passengers to Taiwan.  Voyager of the Seas' arrival along with other ships in port will be enough to bring some 10,000 tourists through the port and make it Keelung's busiest day.

"It will also set a record high for daily cruise traffic in all ports in Taiwan," he added.

Royal Caribbean's Taipei office said earlier this year that the plan for a port call at Keelung signals the cruise line's plans to make inroads into the Asia market.

According to the local office, Royal Caribbean is also evaluating the possibility of making Keelung its home port in the Asia region.