Royal Caribbean has finished the $48 million refurbishment to Grandeur of the Seas at the Navantia ship yard in Cadiz, Spain.

The complete overhaul of Grandeur includes the addition of five new dining venues, technological upgrades, a pool side LED screen, a refresh of all furniture, carpet, upholstery and staterooms as well as new entertainment offering including a spectacular aerial displays in its six deck Centrum.

In addition, the ship received a new Diamond Lounge for Crown & Anchor Society loyalty guests, a Concierge Lounge for suite guests and top-tier loyalty guests, a Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, as well as a transformed Viking Crown Lounge.

Now that Grandeur has been returned to service, she will spend the summer offering cruises on the Mediterranean from Venice, Italy and Provence, France. 

Since launching Royal Caribbean Australia and New Zealand's Facebook page in April, they've received 10,000 likes and the company rewarded one lucky fan with a dream cruise.

Sheree Oakes of Glenmore Park has won a cruise aboard Voyager of the Seas' inaugural cruise when she arrives in Sydney this November.  Sheree was announced the winner of the ‘Share, Like and Win’ competition which asked fans to list their top three cruising destinations - she listed Europe, Alaska and Bahamas as top of her list.

“I’m so excited about this cruise, and I usually never win anything! I recently went on a cruise on Radiance of the Seas and now I tell all of my friends to cruise with Royal Caribbean. When you go on a cruise everything is there, it’s all done for you, so there’s no rushing and you get some real time to rest and relax.”   

Royal Caribbean is welcoming 90 students from colleges across the United States to begin Royal Caribbean's annual summer internship program called, "Emerging Leaders".  The program considered 1,300 applicants and ultimately chose a few of them to participate in the program through July 27.  Emerging Leaders allows students the opportunity to apply key concepts learned in the classroom within a fast-paced, invigorating corporate environment.

Martine Pasquet, Royal Caribbean's Director of Human Resources commented on the nature of the internship, "The interest in our Emerging Leaders program is a clear testament to our reputation as an employer of choice, the success of our prior years’ internship programs, and our management team’s interest in taking the time to coach and mentor this next generation of leaders.  Having these highly talented students here enables us to gain fresh insights into some of our challenges, and also allows us to identify a future talent pool.”

The Emerging Leaders internship began in 2008 and this year's program has expanded to include two branch programs: the Bacardi USA Partnership and the Posse Foundation Partnership.

The Bacardi USA/Royal Caribbean partnership will allow eight University of Miami MBA students to be selected to experience business from two different company and industry perspectives during the summer program and will have the opportunity to work directly with many of Royal Caribbean's senior leaders.

With the Posse Foundation, one of the most comprehensive college access and youth leadership development programs in the U.S., Royal Caribbean will partner to help Posse Scholars and Alumni transition from being leaders on campus to being leaders in the workforce. 

Royal Caribbean's performance of Hairspray will be performed live at the Tony Awards this year.  The cast aboard Oasis of the Seas will take place in the ship's Opal Theater and broadcast live to the show.

Royal Caribbean has been named an official partner of the 66th Annual Tony Awards, which will be part of the live broadcast airing on CBS from the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Sunday, June 10, 2012.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the news, "We couldn't be more excited to partner with the Tony Awards to give the audience a taste of our genuine Broadway productions, which include Saturday Night Fever, as well as the Tony award-winning musicals Hairspray and Chicago: The Musical. These amazing performances, along with a host of other entertainment options including our unparalleled DreamWorks Experience, our dive and aqua shows plus ice skating performances, afford our guests an unparalleled vacation that is second to none."

At Royal Caribbean's annual shareholder meeting, executives said it expects a few more not-so-great months before business turns around.

The impact of the deadly Costa Concorida disaster are still rumbling through the cruise industry and Royal Caribbean is not immune to it.  Royal Caribbean chief financial officer Brian Rice said future booking volumes have been off since the Concordia shipwreck back on January 13.

Rice expects Royal Caribbean to feel the greatest impact from the crash in the second and third quarters of 2012 but 2013 looks to be "healthy".  Rice also cited other negative influences such as consumer spending, economic instability in Europe, fuel costs and the company's debt.

On the positive side of things, Royal Caribbean's global reach, customer engagement and a moderate pace of growth and fuel hedging are contributing to help the company's stock price.

Due to a maritime pilot strike in Oslo, Norway, Royal Caribbean has been forced to adjust Vision of the Seas' itinerary slightly.

Vision of the Seas will call at Geiranger, Norway, today as planned, then spend Friday at sea and conclude its sailing in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Saturday.  Vision was originally scheduled to end its cruise in Oslo but passengers will instead transported by  bus to Oslo.

Brilliance of the Seas will call on Bergen, Norway, today as scheduled, spend Friday at sea and conclude its sailing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Saturday as scheduled.

The strike impacts cruise ships because pilots boats are not able to go out and meet ships, and thus ships that require a compulsory pilot to navigate within local waters cannot sail into the Norwegian ports.

Royal Caribbean has said that Vision of the Seas will dock in Bergen, Norway and Brilliance of the Seas will dock in Flam, Norway this morning as planned, despite a strike by pilot boat skippers in Oslo.

The strike is expected to spread across Norway by Thursday.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez issued a statement regarding the situation, "Both ships are expected to depart their ports of call today as scheduled. However, we are currently preparing contingency plans in the event the strike continues and either ship is unable to make their next scheduled port of calls in Norway."

The strike comes at the peak of the Norwegian fjord sailing season and threatens to disrupt the tourists coming to see them.

Vision of the Seas is scheduled to call to Geiranger, Norway, on Thursday, May 31, then spend Friday, June 1, at sea and conclude its sailing in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday, June 2.

Brilliance of the Seas is scheduled to call to Bergen, Norway, on Thursday, May 31, spend Friday, June 1, at sea and conclude its sailing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Saturday, June 2.

The island of Antigua is promising a better cruise season in 2013 thanks in part to Royal Caribbean bringing back ships during summer.  Jewel of the Seas will visit three times a month during the summer period from May to October 2013 and will remain for the 2013-2014 winter season.

Jewel of the Seas is planning to make 29 stops at the island, which translates to 72,500 passengers in 2013.  Jewel of the Seas replaces Serenade of the Seas.

Chief Executive Officer of Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority Colin James mentioned Royal Caribbean's return was thanks in part due to ongoing "lobbying efforts" by the island. A delegation involving the Antiguan Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture met with Royal Caribbean in recent weeks.

“I think this is excellent news for the destination because in the summer months things really dry up and it makes it very difficult for the key tourism partners on island to sustain their business during the summer month. It is good news for our destination and we are really pleased that the lobbying effort has borne fruit."

Royal Caribbean is sending Mariner of the Seas to China in 2013 to join sister ship Voyager of the Seas that was already going to the Far East.  Together, Royal Caribbean will be able to offer cruises to Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Mariner of the Seas will arrive in China in June 2013 and offer a number of itineraries from 3 to 12 nights.  The addition of Mariner of the Seas will offer additional capacity to a Chinese cruise market that is growing quickly.  Mariner will also adopt the same product customizations that Voyager of the Seas made to adapt to the Chinese marketing, such as Chinese-style menus, enhanced retail and entertainment offerings and language services.

To get to China, the ship will depart the Caribbean in April and head to Singapore and onto China via Dubai and the Suez Canal.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the move, "2012 is for our company the year of China."

“We see Asia in general and China in particular as a major strategic objective for our company,” Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain said. “China has proven to be a very special market.”