Photo by Donato D'Addosio S.

A weeks after Royal Caribbean announced that super-chef Michael Schwartz will be taking over the signature specialty restaurant aboard Oasis of the Seas, Schwartz's restaurant is open and we've got our first look at what's cooking.

The Miami NewTimes was able to sample the restaurant's canapes with chef Schwartz and 150 Central Park's chef de cuisine, Jamie Seyba.

Schwartz said the biggest challenge for him was not being able to cook over an open flame because of the cruise line regulations, "I'm a fire guy, so working without flame was really hard at first."

During Royal Caribbean's third quarter results announcement, the company reported a new record for its Alaska cruise business.  While overall results for Royal Caribbean were generally good, the news out of Alaska was amazing.

Royal Caribbean didn't have to discount its cruises to fill its ships this year, which meant that Royal Caribbean net revenue yield (profitability per passenger after costs) was up quite a bit.

Royal Caribbean's Chief Financial Office Brian Rice described the results during the quarterly report, "Our yields in Alaska this year were the highest in our history."

While Royal Caribbean did not divulge exact figures,  it did say that overall its revenues rose to $2.3 billion for the quarter, which is up from $2 billion from the same quarter last year.

Royal Caribbean expects this years strong showing in Alaska to continue in 2012 as well, although it's still a little too far out to know for sure.

Royal Caribbean's third quarter 2011 financial results were reported this morning and the good news is revenue yields, expenses and operating income are all better than expected for the quarter.  For the year, Royal Caribbean expects that its projections will remain stable.

Some of the key highlights include

• Net income for the quarter was $399.0 million, or $1.82 per share.  This is up from $350.2 million last year at this time
• Net Yields increased 5.3% (2.6% on a Constant-Currency basis.) NetCruise Costs per APCD (“NCC”) excluding fuel increased 2.5% (0.7% ona Constant-Currency basis.)

Royal Caribbean's 2012 outlook is described as: Though economic uncertainty is elevated and it is still early in the booking cycle, 2012 demand thus far has been solid. Booked load factors and pricing are both running ahead of this time last year,which supports the company’s expectation of continued yield accretion during 2012.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain commented on this quarter's results, "“It was gratifying to beat both our revenue and cost forecasts in the third quarter despite the turmoil in the worldwide financial markets.  The strength of our brands, combined with the value of our product, provides us with a high degree of economic resilience, and both our 2011 results and our 2012 booking patterns validate this.”

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas is the next ship in its fleet to receive a "Revitalization" upgrade.  Splendour will begin a five-week upgrade process when she docks at the Navantia ship yard in Cadiz, Spain where $35 million in changes will occur.

Splendour of the Seas will receive

• New dining venues
  • Chops Grille
  • Izumi
  • the Boardwalk Dog House
  • Chef's Table
  • Park Café
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Diamond lounge for Crown and Anchor guests
• Concierge lounge for suite guests
• Technology upgrades throughout the ship
• 123 new balconies
• Stateroom flat planel television upgrades
• Ship-wide WiFi access
• Digitial wayfinder system
• Electronic mustering
• Outdoor movie sceen

Splendour of the Seas will wrap up her upgrades on November 25, when she will sail to Brazil to her seasonal homeport of Sao Paulo.

Hurricane Rina has forced Royal Caribbean to change the itinerary for Allure of the Seas. Royal Caribbean announced that Allure of the Seas will not stop in Cozumel, Mexico as scheduled on Friday.

Instead, Allure of the Seas will stop in Nassau, Bahamas on Friday.  Royal Caribbean made no other changes to its schedule.

Royal Caribbean has announced that Independence of the Seas, which has been based out of the United Kingdom, will be based in the Caribbean for the 2012-13 season.  The move will offer American three Freedom-class ship options in 2012-2013 cruise season

Independence will depart her home in Southampton, England on November 22, 2012 and arrive at Port Everglades, Florida on December 5. She will offer six and eight-night itineraries before returning to the UK in April 2013.

Royal Caribbean's president and group managing director, UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, Dominic Paul, commented on the move, “Independence of the Seas has been an instant hit with British guests and homeporting it out of Southampton has played a significant role in growing our market share and building brand awareness. We continue to gain great support from our trade partners and know that they will support Independence of the Seas during her winter season in the Caribbean."

The cruise business was good for Royal Caribbean in the Middle East, as the company reported a record year of business for Middle Eastern cruises in 2011.  The amount of guests Royal Caribbean saw rose 34% compared to the previous year.

Europe remained the most popular destination for passengers from the Middle East. with approximately 75 percent of all bookings from the region were made for European cruises.   Following Europe was the Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean's Executive Director of the Middle East, Lakshmi Durai, commented on the news, "All markets performed well and showed positive growth compared to last year.  We are very happy with the support we get from travel agencies around the region and our education programme as well as marketing and PR activities are successfully demonstrating the advantages of cruising as a holiday option for guests in the Middle East."

For the 2010/2011 cruise season, 135 ships brought a total of around 375,000 passengers to Dubai. Abu Dhabi received 78 calls by cruise liners with around 140,000 passengers disembarking and 109 cruise ships called at Muscat Port carrying 340,000 passengers in 2010.

Royal Caribbean is celebrating again and this time double dose. In the voting of the 2011 Best of Travel and Tourism, the Oasis of the Seas was voted by readers of the magazine as the best cruise ship.

Besides the choice of Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean also received the award given to the Splendour of the Seas, the Top of Mind award, which means recognition for a large number of awards received by the ship.

"We are very proud of the result," celebrates Ricardo Amaral, director of Royal Caribbean to Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Oasis of the Seas, opened in 2009 was voted by readers who have traveled this year and could check the structure offered by the ship. Already Splendour of the Seas received the Top of Mind award after being voted the best cruise ship for six times.