Speaking at this year's Advantage conference, Royal Caribbean associate vice president for UK and Ireland Jo Rzymowska says that the ability to sell a cruise is no longer a speciality.

"If anybody thinks that selling cruise is still a specialism, then they are smoking something," she said.

To Rzymowska, agents must be able to specialize themselves to the various sectors of cruising and their respective markets, "What I do think is important is how you specialize within the in cruise sector itself. There is a great opportunity to differentiate within this massive sector. As specialists you should know your customers better and be able to understand what is important to them".

Rzymowska recommends agents pick which type of cruises they would like to specialize in and dedicate themselves to that, such as group travel or cruise themes.

Do you think travel agents need to do more than just book a cruise?  Does specialization and/or expertise mean more to you as consumers?

Royal Caribbean is trying to convince the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to introduce a special visa allowing passengers more than one entry to the country.

Royal Caribbean claims that the cost of having to buy several single-entry visas to sail to destinations in the UAE is hampering the growth of the cruise industry in the country.

The way things are set right now, tourists from most countries must purchase single-entry visas to enter the UAE.  This means cruise passengers through the Persian Gulf each have to buy up to three visas at a cost of $225 for all three.  This means a family of four would have to pay about $900.

A Royal Caribbean regional director Helen Beck sees this extra cost as inhibiting cruise growth in the UAE, "It's a challenge - it's an inhibitor to sales. It's a federal issue and at some point it will be resolved because the different authorities will all understand the impact it's having and the block it's having on growing.  The Russian market, China, those very large emerging markets that are required to get the single-entry visas for entering the UAE, that's a huge chunk of the world."

The UAE has become increasingly more popular with cruise line guests with the UAE expecting to draw 120 cruise ships with about 425,000 passengers this year.  By 2015, that number will grow to 180 ships and over 625,000 passengers.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) met with officials from Honduras to discuss further investment in the Latin American country.  Royal Caribbean is a member of the FCCA and already has a $12 million investment in the port of Roatan but is projected to spend more money in the coming years

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Caribbean Relations  Michael Ronan says Royal Caribbean is committed to the country, "We have projects for 2012 and 2013. We want to invest in the right way and productive for you, so we want to achieve a strong enough communication with Honduras and the region, which is why we developed this conference to find new routes".

Representatives of the cruise companies also discussed the creation of itineraries to include routes to Honduras where he currently is not.

To help make the situation easier on cruise guests, the FCCA members asked the government for greater language training in essential sectors such as taxi drivers and traders in the areas of advocacy, so that they know how to treat tourists .

"25% of tourists entering the country only has contact with the drivers, so ask to improve their skills to achieve a greater connection with visitors to take a tour," said Royal Caribbean representative.

After this meeting, the cruise will take the information to their teams to assess where they could establish new routes.

Photo by italyheaven

At this year's Seatrade Awards Ceremonial Dinner, Royal Caribbean was awarded  the "Investment in People" award for its “Building On Talent” leadership development program.

The Building on Talent program was created as a partnership between Royal Caribbean executives and Human Resources and is a multi-dimensional leadership development initiative.  The program identifies people in Royal Caribbean who are high-potential leaders and develops bench strength so leaders can potentially assume multiple roles throughout the company. Building on Talent's reach is global, both shipboard and shoreside, and cascades from senior executive to professional levels.

Royal Caribbean vice president, global chief and human resources officer Maria Del Busto was honored to receive the award on behalf of the company, “This special recognition is truly a testament to Royal Caribbean's continued dedication to nurturing our company's talent and creating our leaders of tomorrow.  By strategically managing our talent, and thoughtfully planning the successors of our key leadership roles, Royal Caribbean will be better positioned for the future.”

Royal Caribbean is promoting a road show in five towns in São Paulo, Brazil this week to spread the news for the 2011/2012 cruise season. One of the novelties introduced is the Splendour of the Seas, which went through a revitalization and will be in Brazil starting on December 11.

The road show has gone through Bauru, Sao Jose do Rio Preto and Ribeirao Preto. Today (May 4) it will be held in Sao Jose dos Campos at 7:30pm, and then at Blue Tree Power. Tomorrow (May 5), it will be promoted in Campinas, from 7:30pm at the headquarters of Anchorage.

Guests aboard Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas ran into a major transportation problem on the island of Bermuda during a recent stop.  Guests arrived off the ship to King's Wharf, Dockyard, when they ran into a very crowded situation thanks in part to Bermuda's timetable cuts.

Tourists complained many times to officials in an effort to figure out how to get to their destinations after encountering rude staff and a lack of organization.

The problem seemed to be a lack of enough transportation options after the Ministry of Transport introduced plans for a dispatcher to “control tourist numbers” in a bid to save seats for locals. Locals have long complained that tourists were given priority as full buses were driving past them on the way to Hamilton.

In an effort to remedy the situation, Bermuda's Tourism Minister Patrice Minors and Transport Minister Terry Lister met earlier this week to discuss how to address growing concerns about timetable cuts.  No word yet on what, if any, solution has been reached.

Shadow Transport Minister Kim Swan said he hoped the meeting would pave the way for an improved public transport system which “meets the needs of the whole Island.”

The hit Broadway musical "Saturday Night Fever" has debuted on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and is the first Broadway show featured on a Royal Caribbean cruise in Europe.

Performed in Liberty of the Seas' state-of-the-art, 1,320-seat Platinum Theatre, the musical depicts Tony, the ambitious Brooklyn teen who spends his Saturday nights disco dancing.  Tony is played by  the British actor Lucas Rush.

The addition of Saturday Night Fever to Liberty of the Seas marks Royal Caribbean's third full-length Broadway musical to be performed on its ships.  The two other plays are “Hairspray” performed on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and “Chicago” playing on Allure of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas played host to a special luncheon gathering of Royal Caribbean staff and Jamaican officials on April 27th to honor Jamaica's Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry and to celebrate the partnership between Royal Caribbean and the Port Authority of Jamaica.

During the ceremony, Allure of the Seas' Captain, Hernam Zini, presented Mr. Henry with a plaque while Mr. Henry returned the favor and gave Captain Zini a plaque of his own.  There was also special commemorative gifts presented to Royal Caribbean by local members of Trelawny and Falmouth.

Both organizations had worked together to revamp and open Falmouth, Jamaica as a premiere cruise port.  Joining the group were members of Jamaica's government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and the business sector.

Henry was pleased with how the partnership was going, "I am calling on the Falmouth community for an integration of the local residents and visitors in affording them the opportunity of having the greatest experience in Jamaica, as this is crucial to the sustainability of the Jamaica's visitors' market".