Royal Caribbean will offer showings of Dreamwork Animations newest film "Kung Fu Panda 2" on some of their newest ships.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will have the new film playing onboard from June through August 2011. In addition, there will be  a series of red-carpet premieres aboard each ship, which will be celebrated onboard Oasis of the Seas on June 4, Freedom of the Seas and Allure of the Seas on June 5, and Liberty of the Seas on June 18.

In coordination with the new film, Royal Caribbean is rolling out a new promotion called “Pandamonium,” which is a cruise promotion aimed at families who are looking to cruise this summer.  The package is available onboard the four Royal Caribbean ships that feature the DreamWorks Experience, and includes VIP seating at one of the onboard “Kung Fu Panda 2” premieres, exclusive meet and greets with DreamWorks Animation characters, two soft drink packages, two cupcakes from the Cupcake Cupboard, a complimentary family photo and a chance for guests to build their own Pets at Sea plush animal. The Pandamonium package can be booked using the promotional code YNOTxxPO.

The brand new Oasis and Allure of the Seas cruise ships can thank Handling Specialty for creating the three huge underwater lifts, two tilting diving boards and one rotating trampoline for Royal Caribbean's newest ships.

These innovations are what make the AquaTheater shows possible.  These systems, manufactured in Canada were shipped to Turku, Finland, where they were installed over the course of about 18 months to create the AquaTheater stage area for the largest and deepest freshwater pools at sea.

"This is very high profile and very exciting," said Handling Specialty president Tom Beach, adding the devices have already been featured in a couple of documentaries, including a Discovery Channel show, The Mighty Ships.

Royal Caribbean is tapping famous Hollywood actor James Brolin to star and direct a new series of video clips that can be seen online. Called "Ocean Views", these webisodes will be available on March 14 on the Royal Caribbean's web site as well as its YouTube channel.

The episode Brolin will star in and direct is called "Royal Reunion", which will tell the story of how many different generations of family are taking a cruise on Allure of the Seas.  Joining Brolin in the cast will be other actors such as Dean Cain and Amy Yasbeck.

Brolin's episode is one of many in the video series that will feature actors starring and directing in their own episodes.  Jenny McCarthy will act in and direct a video called “The Allure of Love,” which also takes place on the ship; it is a comedic look at a star-crossed romance.  Other stars set to appear include Samantha Bee, Adam Carolla, Paula Deen and Albert Pujols.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism Richard “Ricky” Skerritt announced that Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, will make a stop to St. Kitts in December 2011.

Allure will make a stop at the island's Port Zante cruise pier on December 30.

Royal Caribbean's vice president of Government Relations, Michael Ronan, is excited about the news of bringing Allure to St. Kitts for the first time, "Royal Caribbean International is delighted to bring the world-renowned Allure of the Seas to St. Kitts. While Allure of the Seas is the world’s largest and most revolutionary cruise ship, the ship’s ports of call are also very important to our guests. We look forward to bringing more of them to beautiful and vibrant St. Kitts."

Royal Caribbean now expects 45 ports of call to St. Kitts in the 2011-2012 season by its ships, doubling the 2010-2011 season when just 20 calls were made there.

Royal Caribbean announced it will partner with FUNA International to provide stereoscopic 3D digital cinema to Royal Caribbean's brand new Allure of the Seas.  Thanks to Royal Caribbean's partnership with Dreamworks Animation, the deal with FUNA will make it possible for guests on Allure of the Seas to enjoy all the current 3D DreamWorks titles as well as other 3D movies, in the ship's Amber Theater.

Christopher Vlassopulos, Entertainment Technology and Technical Direction for Royal Caribbean International had this to say about the new deal, "We called upon FUNA and their team to come up with creative technical design solutions in a number of areas including physical placement, additional cooling and power and integration with the existing audio system, and the result is a 3D movie experience as good as or better than any land-based theater.  On testing the finished product, people at the highest level at Barco [projection supplier], DreamWorks and Dolby [sound system supplier] were 'blown away' with the result. We wanted to do a good job but to impress them out of the gate was a real bonus and obviously something the guest will really enjoy. It looks and sounds great."

In addition to Allure of the Seas, other Royal Caribbean ships are set to receieve the 3D theater upgrade. Vlassopulos confirmed that Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will reveive the 3D upgrade.

In addition to the new theater, FUNA has provided technical design, engineering, integration and consulting for entertainment, display and communications in most of the theaters, restaurants, clubs, and public spaces - as well as the crew recreation and support areas.

Design Squared, the marketing firm Royal Caribbean hired to make Crown and Anchor Society promotional materials, was in search of a family to put on an upcoming promotional material for Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society during Allure of the Sea's inaugural cruise.  They found their match in Scott and Terri Lynn Crutchfield of Sebring, Florida.

Kathy Watrous, Design Squared's managing partner, approached the couple and asked them to be in a photo shoot. After signing media release forms, they were told they would be contacted if and when their photos were selected for use.

After combing over 15 other couples that Waltrous took photos of, the Crutchfields were selected.

"This was fun and we were kind of caught up in the moment," she said. "We never thought we would hear from them again."

The Crutchfields were notified via email and were sent photos that would be in the brochure for the Crown and Anchor Society.  About one million brochures have been created and will be distributed around the United States and Canada.

"We were happy they chose us," Terri Lynn said. "It is kind of an honor."

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world and the technology behind what makes this ship get from port to port is provided by aeronautics giant Northrop Grumman.  Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit supplies the navigation, communication and safety systems for Allure.

Allure of the Seas'  integrated bridge system was custom built, with its base technology by Sperry Marine’s VisionMaster FT and then added proprietary otalWatch multi-function workstations using extra-largeWideView high-resolution screens. Each of the TotalWatch stations can be individually configured to show conning information, the ship's radars or electronic chart systems.  It can also show closed-circuit TV images.

Allure of the Seas primary navigation consoles have been configured in a U-shaped layout to provide easy control and access for all control and navigation functionality.  In addition, all the functions are incorporated into the control stations on both bridge wings.  The Sperry Marine IBS also includes a separate wireless computer node that permits the master to view the ship’s navigation status in his or her cabin or on the bridge. In accordance with Royal Caribbean’s rigorous safety requirements, the IBS has been designed with redundant network architecture, providing built-in duplication for all critical components.

Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine also supplied the operator equipment and consoles for the separate Safety Command Centre, which is located directly behind the main navigation bridge. A “first” for cruise ships, the dedicated facility serves as the nerve centre for all of the ship’s critical safety systems. The four super-wide displays provide enhanced situational awareness over the entire ship. Royal Caribbean officers observed that removing these non-navigation functions from the wheelhouse enhances navigation safety by reducing distractions for the ship’s conning officers and bridge crew. 

Mexican authorities have charged a 24-year old national with the murder of Monika Markiewicz. The 32-year old victim was a crew member aboard the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship, Allure of the Seas.

Ms. Markiewicz did not report back to the ship before it departed Cozumel on February 4. Her body was discovered the next day in the water off of a remote beach in Cozumel. Royal Caribbean International has been informed that law enforcement in Cozumel has identified and charged a local resident and bartender, 24-year old Nelson Perez Torres, with the murder. Reports indicate that Torres and Ms. Markiewicz were casually acquainted for several months and he followed her for a period of time before killing her along the roadway on her way back to the ship. Royal Caribbean's Global Security Department fully supported and assisted Mexican officials in their investigation of this isolated and uncharacteristic crime for Cozumel.

"We thank the Mexican authorities for their commitment to quickly solving the murder of our crew member, Monika Markiewicz. Her untimely death is tragic and has saddened all of us at Royal Caribbean. We have informed Monika's family in Poland of today's news update and we will continue to be in contact with them and to support them during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends," said Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

A Royal Caribbean crew member, Monika Markiewicz,  was found dead in Cozumel this past weekend in Couzmel, Mexico.  Authorities report the 32 year old suffered a blow to the head and died of drowning and they believe foul play is to blame.

Markiewicz was a musician on Allure of the Seas and her body was found on the southern part of the Cozumel Island on Saturday.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says Royal Caribbean believes Markiewicz "was the victim of a violent crime and did not drown accidentally. Tragically, we recently became aware that the crew member was a victim of a violent crime while ashore in a remote area in Cozume. We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of our crew member."