Photo by daigolou_chan

We love seeing talented photographers take some amazing photos while aboard Royal Caribbean ships and Bryan Sargent, a New York City photographer, brought his camera aboard a recent Royal Caribbean cruise aboard Oasis of the Seas.

Check out all of his great photos here.

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas will host the fifth annual Brazil Fashion Cruise in 2013.  The event will take place April 7th through the 11th and will tour the Brazilian coast.

The Brazil Fashion Cruise ship will bring together the top names in Brazilian fashion, businessmen, journalists and students of fashion.

"The event grows each year and, for the anniversary edition of five years plus the attractions on board, prepare actions and parade ground," says Carla Wolff, the Dreamakers Travel & Consulting, creator of the project in partnership with Alba Ferrari Facex partner of Foreign Trade.

The event features special programa for students, such as workshops with designers who will be in the line-up.
 

The port of Batumi in the Republic of Georgia will see 14 cruise ships visit it this year, with 8 confirmed and the other 6 in the negotiations.  All the cruises will visit the brand new cruise terminal that Royal Caribbean has been designing.

The Deputy  Head of the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Adjara A.R, Sophio Lazishvili, commented on the work, "“In September 2012 the cruise company Royal Caribbean will complete the design works for the new port. Actual construction will begin in October 2012."

The new cruise terminal has hopes it will draw more cruise ships to the port.  Representatives of travel agencies say they do not offer cruises to Georgians because of the sheer lack of demand.

Royal Caribbean struck a deal with the port of Batumi back in June of 2011 to help develop the port for cruise ship traffic.

Bermuda's Minister of Business Development and Tourism, Wayne Furbert presented the 2012 Royal Caribbean International Hospitality Awards on board the Celebrity Summit. Royal Caribbean's Vice-President of Government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, Michael Ronan joined other members of Bermuda's government to present the awards.

The winners of the Hospitality Awards were

• Nikhil Hassell, who received $5000 and is attending Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Dwayne Fubler, who recieved $10,000 and is attending Florida International University
• Simon Benevides, who received $5,000 and is attending the University of Guelph, Ontatio, Canada

“To date, this program has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds to 65 young Bermudians to assist them in tourism related studies,” said the Minister. “I am pleased to join with Royal Caribbean in awarding three deserving young Bermudians with scholarships.”

The Minister concluded by saying the Government is committed to helping young Bermudians achieve excellence in the hospitality industry. “This initiative celebrates that achievement and I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line International for their significant contribution and support that they continue to share.”

Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean announced they would transfer Monarch of the Seas out of their fleet and into sister company Pullmantur Cruises in April 2013.  Now we know that Monarch of the Seas will be home based year round in Curacao when that transfer is complete.

Monarch of the Seas will offer 7 night Southern Caribbean itineraries to ports in Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and Aruba.

The decision wraps up two months of negotiations between the cruise line and the Minister of Tourism.

Port Everglades Terminal 18, home to Roya Caribbean' Oasis of the Sea and Allure of the Seas, has a brand new piece of art on display.

"Cruising School", a public art installation by Washington, D.C., sculptor Larry Kirkland can now be viewed by the 12,000 cruise guests that pass through the terminal each week.

The artwork is made up of 300 painted aluminum fish suspended from a swirling oval bracket attached to the ceiling, which cast shadows on the walls when they rotate.  The art cost $605,000.

Voyager of the Seas has been in Asia for a few weeks and there's definitely a lot of enthusiasm about a ship that large in the area.  Nelia Neri of the Philippines had the opportunity to sail on her after first sailing on her back in 1999 and shared her experience.

The author decided to make this a family trip, which included 38 people and boarded the cruise in Singapore for a five-day cruise to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Phuket.

Family bonding was the name of the game during the cruise. Everyone would meet at the Windjammer Cafe for breakfast and then get off the ship for sightseeing and to have lunch in a resto serving the typical food of the place. Dinner time found all of us on three adjoining tables at the Carmen dining room planning the next day’s sked.

The cruise seems to have rekindled the sort of memories from the author's first cruise on Voyager and it sounded like all 38 people really enjoyed their time aboard.

Just as my late parents happily announced to relatives and friends that our 60th anniversary gift to them of a Caribbean cruise was a gift like no other, our four sons, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren gratefully proclaimed that the Spice of Asia cruise on board the Voyager of the Seas was a vacation treat like no other.