Royal Caribbean has entered into an alliance with Kingfisher Airlines to strengthen its presence in India.

The program will allow Royal Caribbean to offer cruise vacation packages through Kingfisher's membership program.  The airline hopes the new partnership will expand its loyalty program by offering its customers more options such as a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Michael Bayley, executive vice president of Royal Caribbean Cruises wants to get the cruise giant more involved in India, "India is a key market for us, and we look forward to expanding our brand presence there and introducing people to the world of cruising".

The deal is the first strategic alliance in the Asia-Pacific theater where Royal Caribbean has ships sailing out of Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. Kingfisher Airlines flies to all three of these port cities throughout India and its tour division, Kingfisher Holidays, bundles vacation packages that include both a Royal Caribbean cruise and airfare for the Kingfisher Airlines passengers.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein will be at Seatrade South America May 30 & 31, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Goldstein will along with Pierfrancesco Vago (MSC Cruises), and Alfredo Serrano (Ibero Cruises), give weight to the discussions about the market for cruises and the peculiarities of South America, especially Brazil .

This is the first time the South American continent has received the largest gathering of the cruise industry. 

Royal Caribbean will utilize Finland-based Wärtsilä for a five-year maintenance support agreement.  

Wärtsilä, a provider of power systems to the marine industry, will provide its services to Royal Caribbean's fleet of ships including it's subsidiary brands.

The agreement between the two companies calls on Wärtsilä to perform a number of maintenance services including

• fuel consumption optimization
• spare parts logistics optimization
• maintenance planning
• development and testing of engine components
• Advisory service for overhauls an workshop services.

Royal Caribbean announced John Targaglia's Off-Broadway family musical "ImaginOcean" will debut on Freedom of the Seas starting in May 2011.

ImaginOcean will be the fourth Royal Caribbean ship to perform the show, joining Oasis, Allure and Liberty of the Seas.

Tartaglia was excited to bring his show to another Royal Caribbean ship, "ImaginOcean made its debut on Oasis of the Seas where it ran for several months prior to opening at New World Stages in New York in the spring of 2010. Our goal as the producers of this show continues to focus on making this universal family musical accessible to as many people as possible -- on land and at sea -- and we are thrilled to continue our relationship with Royal Caribbean and install our fourth production on Freedom of the Seas next month."

Royal Caribbean has decided to redeploy one of its cruise ships away from Europe.  Navigator of the Seas will head to the Caribbean for the 2011-2012 cruise season and sail out of Port Everglades, Florida.  Navigator will offer various five- to nine-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries beginning on Nov. 20.

Navigator had been scheduled to cruise in the Mediterranean and subsequently canceled a number of of 14-night Mediterranean cruises that had been scheduled between November and April out of Barcelona, Spain.

Before Navigator of the Seas can start its new deployment in the Caribbean, she will embark upon a 14-night trans-Atlantic journey from Rome, Italy to Port Everglades, Florida.

Navigator will return to Europe with an April 14, 2012 cruise that will send it back to Italy.

The Port of Barcelona will welcome on Saturday the largest cruise ship in its history and the largest in the Mediterranean: Liberty of the Seas. Liberty of the Seas is 339 meters long and can accommodate over 4,300 passengers and 1,400 crew members.

The ship is the third largest in the world and will operate from Terminal B Pier Townhouse to September period when Cruise made four, five and seven-night Mediterranean Barcelona port.

The ship has peculiarities as a surf simulator, a climbing wall, basketball court and ice, a theater for 1,350 spectators, 10 restaurants, 16 bars, basketball courts, mini golf, gym and spa, as well as an internal drive shopping longer than a football field.

At the Sicily Travel Expo, Royal Caribbean announced that it will be in Sicily for the first time. In 2011, five vessels will be transitioning to Messina, Sicily which can bring nearly 160,000 passengers.

Palermo will be the first port of call for Grandeur of the Seas May 20, 2011. Mariner of the Seas, in her debut year in the Mediterranean Sea, will touch only once a Palermo October 1. On October 8, it will be Brilliance of the Seas' turn. The cruise season will close the Navigator of the Seas, for the first time in Palermo on October 24.

The Port of Valencia, Spain reached 37% of cruise passengers in 2009, putting it in fifth place in Spain's national ranking, after Barcelona, ​​Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

With the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas , the port receives 4,300 passengers and the Valencia Tourism Foundation has made ​​a special welcome, including on tastings of horchata.

The biggest cruise of the berth so far in Valencia, with 339 meters (more than three football fields in length), contains inside all sorts of attractions for passengers, suites, cabins three types, restaurants, swimming pools, pubs, nightclubs, shopping mall, casino and several sporting facilities, mini golf and boxing rings included.

We've all seen the commercials for Royal Caribbean's newest fleet of ships that feature, among other amazing new onboard amenities, the FlowRider.  The FlowRider is a surfing simulator that uses powerful jets of water to create an artificial wave for guests to (try to) surf on.

Inevitably, guests fall and the rush of water pushes the person to the back where the participant strikes a padded wall.  After a good laugh, they give it another try or let someone else go.  FlowRiders have been part of Royal Caribbean ships for years now but a recent court case may raise a question about their safety.

The case of Charlene Johnson vs. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., tells the story of Charlene Johnson took a private lesson on the FlowRider but when she fell, she claims she was violently thrown against the wall and injured herself.  Her lawyer presented evidence that Royal Caribbean had negligently operated the FlowRider such as shortening the distance of the area from where a person falls to the back wall beyond the manufacturers' specifications.

The Federal Judge in the case ruled that despite what Royal Caribbean did, the waiver of liability Ms. Johnson signed before riding cleared Royal Caribbean of any wrong doing and dismissed the case against Royal Caribbean.

So is the FlowRider dangerous?  Judge Moreno, the Chief Judge in the Southern District of Florida, called the FlowRider “inherently dangerous” but the waiver guests sign is enough to proect Royal Caribbean.

What do you think?  Do you think the FlowRider is dangerous? Will you ride it?

Royal Caribbean's Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Fain received a 59% increase in his salary in 2010, which brought his annual paycheck to $8.6 million.

The reason for the increase in pay was mostly due to a cash incentive payment of nearly $4.1 million, about $2.9 million more than the previous year's amount.

Fain's base salary remained the same for the third straight year at $1 million and the cruise line's financial results were better in 2010 than in 2009.

In a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Royal Caribbean stated, "Executives were rewarded for their contributions to this positive performance through payment of performance based annual bonuses above target levels".

The other four executives for Royal Caribbean saw their 2010 bottom lines rise as well from 18.5% to 48.9% thanks to increases in cash incentives.  Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's CEO Adam Goldstein saw the biggest increase, who received $4 million and was second to Fain in total compensation for the year.