Guests sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's brand new Allure of the Seas are coming from the United Kingdom and in many cases, they aren't going for the cheapest cabins either.  Royal Caribbean announced that most British passengers booking voyages on Allure of the Seas are opting for the most expensive accommodation.

About 66% of Brits that booked one of Allure's sailings thus far have gone with a balcony, deluxe or suite accommodation according to Royal Caribbean.  In addition, the Crown Loft Suites (glass-fronted loft apartment style rooms) are already sold out for the sailing that will celebrate New Years Eve at sea.

Royal Caribbean  vice president and managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland was happy with the statistics, “We are really pleased by the continued growth of the UK and Irish cruise market, and even during these tough economic times, we see our guests return time and again. We are confident that the launch of Allure of the Seas will continue to stimulate and drive further interest in the cruise holiday proposition, simply because we offer great ships with an incredible experience on-board”.

The city of Fort Lauderdale, home to Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, is seeing increasingly large growth in terms of the amount of passengers that pass through the city on their way to a cruise and the city is looking to capitalize on the big business.

In just two years, Port Everglades will become the busiest cruise port in the world and city officials want to get as many of those millions of cruise passengers to stay in their city and spend money locally.

To get things going, city officials agreed in principle earlier this week to start a new bus service to take people from cruise ships into Fort Lauderdale before they take their flights home from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.  Routes would run to downtown and the beach.

How big of a number are we talking here?  It's expected to exceed 3.5 million passengers per year once Allure of the Seas starts regular cruises and many more will follow as a result of a recent deal with Carnival cruise line that will bring an additional 25.5 million cruise passengers over the next 15 years.

The two biggest cruise ships in the world, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have come stern to stern and met for the first time.  Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Allure of the Seas, received a warm welcome from more than 8,000 guests and crew members aboard sister-ship Oasis of the Seas on Saturday, November 13.

Allure of the Seas' captain, Hernan Zini, confirms that his ship is five centimeters longer than Oasis of the Seas.

In the next five years, Royal Caribbean is going to look to expand its itineraries to include stops in Africa, according to its UK and Ireland trade trainer.

At the recent Association of Cruise Experts cruise expo, Leon Hand admitted Africa remained an area which Royal Caribbean needed to “make a dent in”.

“It’s at the food for thought stage,” he said, “but we are certainly thinking about it. We know that Africa is an emerging market, and it’s somewhere we will be looking at adding [to our itineraries] in the next five years.”

While Africa is on the horizon, northern Europe is booming as a popular port stop with Russia and Scandinavia in particular growing in popularity among cruisers from the UK.  In addition the Mediterranean, non-European union countries continued to lead the way, such as Croatia, Egypt and Turkey.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein said in a recent interview that Royal Caribbean's newest megaships, Allure and Oasis of the Seas, are drawing a much younger age group than traditionally seen. 

On an overall basis the average age of an RCI cruiser is 44. ... But on Oasis and Allure, the average age of people booking and taking trips is 39 or 40. We're seeing a much heavier family involvement on these ships. I believe the family vacation experience on these ships is competitive with anything that exists on land.

In addition to younger people going on a cruise, Goldstein was convinced that overseas cruising (outside the United States) is a place of tremendous growth for the company.  In fact, next summer, Royal Caribbean will have 11 of their 22 ships in Europe.

The biggest trend in the cruise industry right now is globalization. That is what's happening. For the first 30 years of the cruise industry as we know it, the American market was very dominant, and although marketing took place in other countries, particularly the U.K., it was limited. For the most part, people had to travel long distances to get on cruise ships and they were mostly occupied by U.S. customers. In the last 10 years, that has started to change in a meaningful way.

Allure of the Seas is almost ready to arrive in the United States at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla and you can catch a glimpse of her as she comes into port.  Allure will be welcomed by a flotilla of fireboats, private watercraft and other maritime escorts.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

• 8:00 am – Allure is visible from the shore line
• 8:30 am – Allure arrives at mouth of inlet (photo opportunity)
• 9:00 am – Berthing at Terminal 18, Port Everglades

WHERE: * John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, 6503 N. Ocean Dr., Dania Beach, FL 33004

If you're in the area, this is a free public welcome event. Jetty Pavilion opens at 7:00 am; Roadside parking for broadcast vehicles.

An even cooler photo opportunity will happen on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 pm whenAllure of the Seas will be joined by her sister ship Oasis of the Seas for a one-of-a-kind visual of the world's largest ships together for the first time.

Ambius, the world's leading provider of plants for the workplace, is bringing the Central Park neighborhood to life aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, which shares the title of the world's largest and most revolutionary cruise ship with sister-ship Oasis of the Seas. Central Park is an open-air atrium as long as a football field, offering guests an idyllic environment filled with live plants and trees and flanked by upscale shopping and dining venues. Ambius's award-winning team of landscaping designers, led by Denise Eichmann, were awarded the contract as landscape specialists responsible for organizing and implementing all of the landscaping aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas.

A lawsuit has been filed against Royal Caribbean because of an incident aboard Monarch of the Seas in September 2005 when a toxic gas leak onboard killed three and injured several crew members.  The lawsuit alleges that Royal Caribbean knew about the gas leak and believes that Royal Caribbean endangered the lives of thousands of passengers and numerous employees by continuing to operate the unsafe vessel for several months before completing the repairs.

Florida trial attorney John H. “Jack” Hickey filed the lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court this week. 

“Royal Caribbean engaged in gross misconduct so reckless that it constituted a conscious disregard or indifference to the life, safety, or rights of every single person on that ship,” said Hickey who is representing former Staff Captain Bjoern Eidissen of Norway in legal action against RCCL. “There were indications that hazardous conditions were building on the ship for several months, even before the leak, but the company never warned passengers and staff about the presence of harmful toxic gases.

The accident occurred in the Port of Los Angeles in September 2005 when according to the complaint, Royal Caribbean failed to maintain the permanent ballast tanks onboard the ship.  These tanks, which contain mixtures of gray water, puper water and sea water, creates hydrogen sulfide that with prolonged exposure can result in  severe brain and lung damage while a high concentration can cause death.

Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida has extended its deal with Royal Caribbean that allows Universal to sell its customers on an extended vacation option that includes a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean allows Universal to continue selling land-and-sea vacation packages that combine three or four night stays at a Universal Studios resort with a three or four night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas.

Dubbed the "Way More than a Cruise" package, the deal is Universal's response to the popular similar offering that Walt Disney World has used with Disney Cruise Line.

Cruise Critic, a world reknown cruise resource site, has announced the winners of its 2010 Editors' Picks Awards winners today and Royal Caribbean took home a few honors.

The annual awards evaluates cruise lines and ships according to the types of passengers to whom they cater. Then they compared, like-for-like, aiming to honor the very best cruise companies and highlight their particular strengths.

Royal Caribbean had the distinction of winning a few of these awards, such as...

• Best for Families – Royal Caribbean
• Best New Ship – Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas
• Best Pool Scene – Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas