A group that specializes in cruises for families with autism, down syndrome and other related disabilities is planning a number of group cruises for 2012 and 2013.  Sailing on ships such as Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas, the group looks to offer those families with these special needs an opportunity to enjoy a fun cruise vacation.

The group, Autism on the Seas, is a niche travel company that organizes and staffs cruise and land resort vacations for families with special needs. They have been in collaboration with Royal Caribbean since 2007 in developing this program. Their specially trained staff provides respite care, special accommodations and coordinated group activities and events, for all special needs guests with a broad range of conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other cognitive and intellectual developmental impairments.

The group offers disability accommodations, pre-vacation planning, youth program and staff respite, services and activities for those with special needs and a trained staff aboard the ships.

For more information, visit their site at http://www.autismontheseas.com

Royal Caribbean will cease home porting its ships in Malaga, Spain in 2013.  Currently Adventure of the Seas is there and will complete its 28 cruises but by 2013, she will move to be ported out of Southampton, England.

The move by Royal Caribbean to leave Malaga isn't permanent.  Royal Caribbean describes the change as "transitional" and anticipates reassessing the possibility of returning to Malaga in 2014, "given the interest of the company for the city".

Royal Caribbean has spent three years operating out of Malaga, near Valencia, as a base port for the western Mediterranean. The Adventure of the Seas, with capacity for 3,840 passengers, currently covers the route Málaga, Valencia, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Pisa and Florence) and Ajaccio (Corsica). 

The change was characterized by a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman as "reprogramming of the ships to meet new demand" and she also indicated that Malaga has received very high results in passenger satisfaction surveys.

Sebastian Camps, the Malaga port manager, insists Royal Caribbean's departure is "temporary" and blames the economic situation in the Mediterranena area.

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.