Earlier today Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas arrived in Shanghai, China with more than 4,300 passengers at the Shanghai Wusong Paotaiwan International Cruise Terminal. This was the first time Mariner of the Seas has stopped in China and her arrival was met with a small ceremony.

To commemorate Mariner of the Seas' arrival in Shanghai, the Captain was presented with this papercut piece hand-crafted in the Baoshan district.

Mariner of the Seas follows the other large Royal Caribbean ship to stop in Shanghai, Voyager of the Seas.  Mariner of the Seas will operate in and around Shanghai until October 26, with a total of 52 calls in Shanghai.

Her visit to Shanghai comes immediately after Mariner of the Seas was the first cruise ship to dock in the brand new Hong Kong cruise terminal earlier in the voyage.

Royal Caribbean will be the first cruise line to offer round trip cruises out of Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to open next week.

Starting this fall, Royal Caribbean will offer cruises on Mariner of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean is the first company to announce cruises that will home port from thr new port.

"Hong Kong is one of the most important home ports in Asia," said Dr Liu Zinan, Royal Caribbean's managing director of China. "Asia, including China, is one of the strategic markets for Royal Caribbean."

Mariner of the Seas has never visited Hong Kong before because it was too big for Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui to handle.

When the Kai Tak terminal building opens next Wednesday, Mariner of the Seas will be the first ship to use the immigration counters, as part of a Singapore-Shanghai cruise in which Hong Kong is a port of call.

Shorter trips out of Hong Kong are lined up starting in autumn. At the end of October, the vessel will embark on a four-night round trip to two Taiwanese cities, Kaohsiung and Taipei.

A three-night return trip to Kaohsiung will take place in November, following which the Mariner will leave Hong Kong for Singapore for the winter season.

Making a city a home port is considered to bring bigger economic benefits than transits, as passengers may stay extra nights in the city before or after their standard itineraries. Last year, such passengers spent an average of HK$4,833 a day, twice as much as conventional tourists.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas arrived today at Mormugao Port in Goa, India.  Mariner is making a stop in Goa as part of a sailing from Dubai.  The ship was greeted by the Deputy Chief Minister of Goa, Francisco D’Souza.

A traditional reception with Goan music and dance was organized by the Goa Tourism, Government of Goa to welcome the passengers. The passengers were also given memorabilia by the Goa Tourism while they disembarked from the ship to tour Goa.

Tourism Minister of Goa, Dilip Parulekar said, “We welcome this cruise and we will work on bringing-in more cruises and tourist in Goa.”

As part of Royal Caribbean's decision to move Mariner of the Seas to Asia, the large cruise ship will call on Goa and Kochi May 24 and 26, respectively, this year.

Mariner of the Seas will offer three-to-five-night cruises from Singapore to Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand in June. Subsequently, it will move to China and offer a choice of four-, five- and seven-night North Asian sailings from Baoshan, Shanghai. Later in the year, the ship will return to Singapore and offer sailings till March next year.

Ships like Mariner of the Seas are able to visit ports in Asia thanks to construction of new cruise terminals.

Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, said, “In the past year, Royal Caribbean International’s guest capacity in Asia has witnessed a threefold increase and our regional cruise offering has been augmented with two Voyager Class ships. We are pleased to bring more opportunities for WOW!, closer to home for Indian travellers."

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas will skip a scheduled stop in Alexandria, Egypt on on Tuesday, September 18 due to rising anti-American sentiment and violence in Egypt over the last few days.

Instead, Mariner of the Seas will now call to Sicily (Messina), Italy, on Sunday, September 16, and Valletta, Malta, on Monday, September 17.

The change was made for cautionary reasons after a new film was released in America that is anti-Islam.

Royal Caribbean will continue to monitor the situation in Egypt to determine if more itinerary changes are needed.

Photo by Mike Harris

Each year, the Centers for Disease Control conducts surprise government health inspections to make certain that the cruise ships millions enjoy are safe and clean.  Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas all scored a perfect 100 on their test this year.

The Vessel Sanitation Program is run by the CDC and unannounced inspections will occur twice per year in US ports, with a test that grades each ship on a 100 point scale.  The CDC evaluates cruise ships in 42 areas such as adherence to proper food handling, storage procedures, overall galley cleanliness and pool and spa cleanliness.

This is the third perfect score in a row for Oasis of the Seas while the other ships that scored perfectly have also had perfect scores in the past.

Only a small fraction of the dozens of cruise ships inspected each quarter receive a perfect score.  Most infractions are small in nature and are corrected quickly.

The  inaugural sailing of Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas sets sail today in Civitavecchia, Italy for the Mediterranean.

Royal Caribbean has organized a big party on board with a special gues ice skating world champion Carolina Kostner, who will perform on the ice rink inside the cruise ship.

Just to emphasize the '' Italian 'cruise for 14 weeks will sail the waters of the Mediterranean, Royal Caribbean has adopted a philosophy of "Italian friendly", offering food and hospitality "Italian." On board the ship, there will be European soccer matches projected on a big screen.

Royal Caribbean is sending Mariner of the Seas to China in 2013 to join sister ship Voyager of the Seas that was already going to the Far East.  Together, Royal Caribbean will be able to offer cruises to Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Mariner of the Seas will arrive in China in June 2013 and offer a number of itineraries from 3 to 12 nights.  The addition of Mariner of the Seas will offer additional capacity to a Chinese cruise market that is growing quickly.  Mariner will also adopt the same product customizations that Voyager of the Seas made to adapt to the Chinese marketing, such as Chinese-style menus, enhanced retail and entertainment offerings and language services.

To get to China, the ship will depart the Caribbean in April and head to Singapore and onto China via Dubai and the Suez Canal.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein commented on the move, "2012 is for our company the year of China."

“We see Asia in general and China in particular as a major strategic objective for our company,” Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain said. “China has proven to be a very special market.”

Royal Caribbean is getting ready to kick off the summer season in Italy. Among these there are two Voyager Class ships including Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas. 

Navigator of the Seas will offer cruises of 7 nights between May and October from Civitavecchia and the new home port of Messina. Mariner of the Seas will offer cruises from June to September, with a new route of 7 nights in the Western Mediterranean from Genoa and Civitavecchia, from May to October, 12-night cruises to the Holy Land from Civitavecchia.

Another novelty of the season will be cruises of 6, 7 and 8 nights from Venice and the new home of the re-port of Bari with Spendour of the Seas, which completed a dry-dock refit in November 2011, and is ready to return to Italy with some of the most exclusive of the upgrades including more technology, more rooms with balcony, new restaurants and entertainment options.