Demand for cruise ships is expected to rise in New Zealand by more than 20 percent in 2013 and Royal Caribbean's commercial manager for Australia and New Zealand cites Royal Caribbean's efforts to convince the public that cruising is still safe.

The effects of the Costa Concordia disaster have effected even New Zealand but Armstrong does not believe it will be a long-term concern, "Australians and Kiwis seem to have been able to process it as a one-off, probably human error, incident."

Royal Caribbean's business in New Zealand is growing quickly, with about 55,000 guests forecast for next season, compared to about 30,000 this year.

To meet the demand, Royal Caribbean will have five ships across two brands in the area.

Royal Caribbean announced it is planning on doubling its presence in the UK next year.

Coming to the UK in the summer of 2013 will be Adventure of the Seas, which will join Independence of the Seas.  Independence is returning for its fifth season in the UK.

Adventure of the Seas will offer seven-night cruises to France and Spain, and include stops in ports such as Vigo, Gijon and Le Havre (Paris).  In addition, Adventure of the Seas will offer 12-night Baltic cruises to ports like Oslo, Copenhagen, Talinn and Helsinki.  Royal Caribbean is also planning to send Adventure of the Seas on 14-night Mediterranean cruises.

Royal Caribbean's Vice President and Group Managing Director in Europe, Dominic Paul, commented on the addition, "The UK cruise market has long been a success story for Royal Caribbean International and doubling the number of ships sailing from Southampton is another great milestone."

Royal Caribbean unveiled its summer 2013 cruise itineraries for Alaska to the public.  The soon-to-be revitalized Rhapsody of the Seas will be one of Royal Caribbean's ships offering trips to Alaska for that season along with Radiance of the Seas, which was also revitalized in 2011.

From May 17 through Aug. 30, 2013, Radiance of the Seas will offer alternate seven night north and southbound cruises between Vancouver, Canada and Seward, Alaska.  laskan ports of call include Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway. Additionally, guests will cruise the Inside Passage as well as get an up-close view of Hubbard Glacier.

Rhapsody of the Seas also will sail every Friday on seven-night, round-trip Alaska cruises from Seattle, stopping at Juneau and Skagway, Alaska, and Victoria, British Columbia. Passengers will also visit through Alaska’s Inside Passage, as well as venture up Tracy Arm Fjord to see Sawyer Glacier.

In addition to just cruises, Royal Caribbean Alaska Cruisetours combine a Radiance of the Seas’ sailing with a pre- or post-cruise land tour that totals to a 10- to 13-night land and sea adventure that ranges as far north as Fairbanks. For the land tour portion, guests are escorted by a Royal Caribbean Tour Director. Royal Caribbean Cruisetours include premium hotel accommodations, motorcoach transportation and admission into select attractions. Almost all 2013 Alaska Cruisetours also include a leg aboard the Wilderness Express.

Royal Caribbean showed off its brand new training simulator at its$6.5 million facility in Fort Lauderdale, where crew can train to handle a ship in all sorts of weather conditions.

Royal Caribbean teamed up with Resolve Maritime Academy long before the Costa Concordia incident brought renewed attention to the area of cruise ship safety.

Royal Caribbean Captain William Wright, who is the senior vice president of maritime operations for Royal Caribbean, summed up the new facility's role as, “This was not a knee-jerk reaction to recent events."

Resolve agreed to build the new simulators to Royal Caribbean’s specifications; the first training courses will take place on April 30. Royal Caribbean has used the company for more than a decade for firefighting, search and rescue and other emergency training. 

A business consortium, with Royal Caribbean a minority partner, has won the rights for a new cruise terminal in Hong Kong to build a $1.046 billion facility at Kai Tak.

The 10-year contract was determined by a bidding process and will have the new terminal built by mid-2013 at the site of the former Kai Tak airport.  The terminal will be built to accommodate the super cruise liners of today, with an apron area of 850 x 35 meters, water depth of 12-13 meters, and no air draft restriction.  Such a size can easily allow for a ship like Oasis of the Seas to dock there.

The Cruise Terminal at Kai Tak has been designed by Foster + Partners. The new terminal has immigration and customs facilities with design capacity to expeditiously process 3000 passengers per hour.

Royal Caribbean is kicking off it's new advertising campaign in France, "Royal Caribbean International, la mer autrement", which translates to "Royal Caribbean, otherwise the sea".

This campaign is the first one for Royal Caribbean in France, and is meant to coincide with the arrival of Royal Caribbean ships to the French market this summer.

Royal Caribbean will play 20 and 30 second commercials on French television starting March 3.  Royal Caribbean will also advertise in print media, with all advertising mediums highlighting the activities and entertainment found onboard Royal Caribbean's ships.

This campaign follows the opening of an office in Paris by Royal Caribbean in July 2011. For its first summer season in France, the cruise line has scheduled the arrival of three ships from the ports of Marseille, Toulon and Le Havre in June and July 20.

According to a report by Seatrade Insider, Royal Caribbean has realigned the responsibilities of several executives including Michael Bayley, Lisa Bauer and Ken Muskat.

Michael Bayley, who has served as executive vice president on the international side, will become executive vice president of operations for the Royal Caribbean brand. He will have responsibility for both hotel and marine operations. 

Lisa Bauer, who was the senior vice president of hotel operations since 2007, will be the new senior vice president of global sales and marketing, focused on the line's international growth efforts.

Ken Muskat, who was vice president of consumer outreach, will be the new vice president of onboard revenue.

Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas entered Singapore's Sembawang Shipyard today to begin a month-long refurbishment as part of the company's Royal Advantage program.

Rhapsody of the Seas is the third Royal Caribbean ship to receive these upgrades, that provides the older ships in the fleet upgrades and amenities found on the newer ships.  The end result is a revamped Royal Caribbean fleet that is better able to compete in the competitive cruise market.

Rhapsody of the Seas complete list of upgrades include

• Five new specialty dining venues
  • Chops Grille
  • Giovanni’s Table
  • Park Café
  • Izumi
  • Chef’s Table
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Diamond Lounge for Crown and Anchor Society members
• Concierge lounge for suite guests
• New furniture
• New carpets
• New upholstery
• Renovated staterooms.

Royal Caribbean's Commercial Manager Adam Armstrong commented on the refurbishment, "“Rhapsody of the Seas has been a tremendous success in Australia and New Zealand where she has carried over 175,000 guests and developed a very loyal following. Now we’re adding a host of extra innovations and popular features to really raise the bar for local fans. Originally scheduled for only a two-week ‘drydock’ for regular maintenance, we have since extended the project to four weeks in order to allow more extensive enhancements across the entire ship, including dining, cabins, entertainment and technology.”

Following the upgrades, Rhapsody of the Seas will head to Australia to join Radiance of the Seas, which received her own revitalization in May 2011.

Royal Caribbean is reporting that bookings for its cruises have made improvements in recent weeks, after taking a bit of a stumble due to the Costa Concordia disaster.

While Royal Caribbean admitted in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the pace of bookings is lower than this time last year, they are seeing improvement in revenue build .

Royal Caribbean noted that booked load factors (which is a measure of occupancy) is at about the same level as they were at this time last year but at higher prices.  Royal Caribbean also believes the Concordia incident will not impact long term bookings.

Royal Caribbean has opted to exercise an option to build a second Sunshine-class cruise ship, that will be delivered in Spring 2015.

Royal Caribbean's decision to build the second of the yet-to-be-seen class of ships signals the company feels good about the project.  The ship will be built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft on substantially the same terms as its first Sunshine ship.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain commented on the decision, "This confirms our continued confidence in the success of this new generation of ships and our strong conviction about the Royal Caribbean International brand."

Like the first ship Royal Caribbean ordered (and is still under construction), the second ship will be 158,000 gross registered tonnes and accommodate 4,100 guests.