Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas, which arrives on December 9 on the Brazilian coast, will have two routes in the northeast of Brazil. The new destination of choice is the city of Maceio.

With seven-night and out of Santos, the Splendour of the Seas will make stops in Salvador and in the capital Alagona. There is also an itinerary for seven or eight nights, with stops in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Punta del Este, and also mini-cruises of three, four and five nights, with esclas Buzios, Ilhabela, Porto Belo, Ilha Grande and Cabo Frio.

During the season in Brazil, Splendour of the Seas will conduct a total of 21 cruises.

Royal Caribbean and Port Canaveral reached an agreement that will keep Freedom of the Seas sailing out of Brevard County, Florida through 2015.

The deal was approved by the Canaveral Port Authority board unanimously.  The deal's specifics say Royal Caribbean will keep Freedom of the Seas, or another ship that size or larger, in the port through the end of 2015.

Freedom of the Seas was once the largest cruise ship in the world and remains in the top five, sailing out of Port Canaveral, Florida with 7-night sailings throughout the year to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.  

J. Stanley Payne, Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer, is happy the deal got done, "It has been a big day for us.  I think that's a vote of confidence for the port."

We love to explore the ports that Royal Caribbean stops at and find real, authentic experiences while in town.  While in Cozumel, Mexico, we set out to find the best authentic Mexican food we could find on the island and I think Comidas Caseras Tonita is exactly that.

Atmosphere

Comidas Caseras Tonita is a family run restaurant off the beaten path in Cozumel, Mexico offering home made Mexican dishes.  While we were there, two women ran the kitchen and took our orders.  They really didn't speak much English, but we were able to communicate what we wanted to them.  The menus at the restaurant are in Spanish and English, so you can know what you're ordering without being fluent in Spanish.

The room you dine in is an open air room, that reminds me of a living room in some ones house in Mexico.  There are book shelves along the wall as well as music playing for your entertainment.

The restaurant is rustic enough to feel "real" but not concerning enough to scare away American tourists, like ourselves.  While we enjoy eating authentic food, we don't want to feel like we've gone "too far" into the local element and feel unsafe.  The restaurant was inviting and warm and felt like we were eating at a friends house rather than a restaurant.

Eats

The menu consists of Mexican dishes that include chicken, fish and steak.  There's also a wide breakfast selection that you can order at anytime during your stay.  Before arriving at Comidas Caseras Tonita, we had heard they had the best guacamole on the island and it was something we ordered as well.

Given the reputation we had heard about, we ordered guacamole, salsa, chips and something called "Mexican style chicken".  We didn't want to gorge ourselves, but we wanted to get a good taste of what this restaurant has to offer.

After placing our order, we immediately knew this place was looking good when we could see in the kitchen the women preparing everything from scratch.  The chips were fried on the spot, the guacamole was made from fresh avocado and the salsa was cut up from fresh vegetables.  Very soon the aroma in the air was filled with our food.

First up were the chips, salsa and guacamole and I can safely say that the lofty expectations I had in my mind were quickly met and surpassed.

It's hard to communicate in blog form just how good the food was.  You could really tell from eating the food how fresh everything was.  There wasn't anything that tasted like it had been frozen previously.  Back in the USA, my family are quite the connoisseurs of Mexican food but these appetizers at Comidas Caseras Tonita were so much better than anything we had gotten at home.

We had gone through half of the food and two orders of chips and then our Mexican style chicken was brought over.  Immediately I wished I had skipped breakfast on the ship so I could feel hungrier.

On the outside, the chicken didn't really look all that different from chicken dishes I had ordered back home.  Granted, it wasn't swimming in melted cheese as is often the case with Mexican dishes in the USA, but once I took a bite, I could taste the difference right away.  The chicken was moist, tasty and even had a sense of feeling "light".  I'm not sure if it was the euphoria my taste buds were in from the salsa and guacamole earlier, but this tasted like one of the best chicken dishes I had ever had in my life.  A definite top 10 dish.

Overall

If you're looking for authentic Mexican food, Comidas Caseras Tonita is by far a great choice while in Cozumel.  On previous cruises to Cozumel we had tried other restaurants in an effort to get an authentic meal (Pancho's Backyard, Casa Denis) and while Casa Denis was our previous front runner, I think Comidas Caseras Tonita is our new favorite local restaurant on Cozumel.

To me, part of going on cruises is the adventure of getting out there and trying something new.  While Royal Caribbean thinks that can mean climbing the rock wall on the ship or zip lining in Labadee, I love to explore the ports on my own and if you have any desire to try to explore Cozumel on your own, then I really believe that Comidas Caseras Tonita is a great spot to have lunch at.  

The cost of the food was less than $20 (we also ordered two rounds of Cokes) and the service was impeccable.  Eating at Comidas Caseras Tonita made me feel like I was on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations television show.  

Location: Calle Rosado Salas 265 Cozumel, Q. Roo 77600

Walking directions: Walk south from the plaza on avenida 5 Sur for 1 block, then turn left on calle Salas and walk east 1 1/2 block and the restaurant will be on your left.

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas will go into dry dock in November as the next the target of a near fleet-wide revitalization at the shipyards in Setúbal, Portugal.  The news comes from Royal Caribbean director Francisco Teixeira.

Work on Splendour of the Seas will take 20 days and fall under the fleet modernization plan that the company has launched this year.

The improvements in the fleet are designed to introduce some of the improvements that were developed for the Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Work on the Splendour of the Seas will be include

• integrating a hundred cabins with balcony
• upgrade all remaining cabins
• renovation of the pool deck with the integration of a screen giant projection of films
• the introduction of the Park Café in the Solarium area
• addition of new restaurants such as, Izumi of The Hot Dog House
• Addition of the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery for the little ones
• Diamond Club and Club Concierge

After leaving the Portuguese shipyards, Splendour of the Seas will head to Brazil to go back into service.
 

Today in Milan, Royal Caribbean's CEO Adam Goldstein met with the Chairman of Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo, to support DTI's work in researching cures for genetic diseases.  Royal Caribbean donated 70,000 euros to DTI at the ceremony.

"Our commitment in Italy wants to be global," said Goldstein, "And this means also investing in social responsibility. Meet with President Montezemolo was a time of sharing of common visions, in the common desire to continue to work together. " 

The willingness to invest in social responsibility and the presence of Adam Goldstein in Italy confirmed that Royal Caribbean's attention turns to the Italian market, along with France and Spain, in 2012 will be the focus of the European strategy with more ships, new ports of embarkation and investments in communication.

The growth in Italy Royal Caribbean's stated clearly in the numbers: in 2006 there were 4 ships were calling at Italian ports but in 2012, there will be 11, with the number of passengers more than tripled.

Recently there was a dispute between the local vendors on Royal Caribbean's private island of CocoCay and the cruise line after Royal Caribbean announced plans to open a store on the island that would sell Royal Caribbean goods.

It now seems the locals are okay with the plan after the store opened and the only merchandise being sold is branded Royal Caribbean gifts.  

Our friends at Cruise Radio submitted this on-location report confirming that the locals have come to terms with Royal Caribbean's decision.

Officials from the New Mangalore Port Trust say Royal Caribbean is likely to send 13 cruise ships to its port in one year.

Traffic Manager for the New Mangalore Port Trust, S. Gopalakrishna, claimed that Royal Caribbean sent a team to the city to visit the port on Tuesday.  While at the port, Royal Caribbean also held discussions with the Chairman of the New Mangalore Port Trust, Mr P. Tamilvanan.

Royal Caribbean Italy is planning on rolling out a new program that packages flights with their cruises, which will be called "Flight + Cruise" for the 2012-2013 cruise season.

Roberto Pirrera, marketing manager for Royal Caribbean Italy explained the new program, "In addition to new promotions and strengthening assistance in Italian, we propose, for the first time, cruise packages that include flights and which will enable us to meet the growing demand for this type of formula. "

Royal Caribbean also promises promotions and offers for families, those over 55 and married. A separate chapter is devoted to the Royal services, in particular Italian and assistance to the Crown & Anchor customer loyalty program which rewards loyal customers with discounts and exclusive services.