Royal Caribbean has decided to lower the minimum age to purchase alcoholic drinks onboard its ships to 18 on all of its ships that sail out of Europe, Asia, South America and Australia starting in the Spring of 2012.

The new rule will allow those age 18-20 to purchase alcohol after a parent signs a waiver.

The minimum age to purchase alcohol on cruises out of North America will remain at 21.

The decision by Royal Caribbean was attributed to, "better accommodate the cultural norms in the regions of the world where Royal Caribbean ships sail".

Cruise ship stops have always been a target for port cities because of the economic impact they provide, and Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas proved that theory once again as it's estimated between passengers and crew $500,000 has been infused to the economy of Adelaide, Australia after a recent stop.

Radiance of the Seas, which recently completed an upgrade, was delayed from leaving Fremantle by a day to help passengers that were the victim of Qantas airline grounding.  Forty-nine passengers could not make it to Perth for the beginning of their 18-night cruise to New Zealand and so Radiance spent several days in Adelaide to wait.

Tourism Minister Gail Gago said the direct economic impact from a ship the size of the Radiance over a day was estimated at $500,000, plus an additional amount to account for "a ripple effect".

Royal Caribbean is targeting the Australian cruise market more than ever, which is an up-hill battle since P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises are far more established in the area. Radiance of the Seas is joined by Rhapsody of the Seas this year, with Voyager of the Seas due in next year.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas made her inaugural visit to the island of St. Kitts in the Virgin Islands yesterday.

The ship, with a passenger total of 2,070, arrived after stopping in Barbados and docked at the island to allow its passengers a day of site-seeing.  Most of these passengers enjoyed sun bathing, snorkeling, taxi tours and shopping.

Jewel of the Seas is yet another big cruise ship to visit the island and will be part of the estimated 625,000 passengers expected between October 2011 and September 2012.

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."