After an avalanche of negative comments concerning Royal Caribbean's decision last week to strand over 100 of its passengers in San Juan without any compensation, Royal Caribbean has decided to offer those who didn't make the ship a compensation package.

The incident occurred when Hurricane Irene threatened San Juan, Puerto Rico where Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas was docked.  Port officials needed to have the ship leave early, so Serenade was forced to leave a few hours early and subsequently left 145 passengers and refused to offer them any compensation.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez confirmed that a compensation package was indeed being offered but declined to provide specifics.

The aftermath of the incident spilled over when people heard of what happened and were upset over Royal Caribbean's indifference to the plight of those left behind.  Despite earlier saying the cruise giant would not offer anything (they claimed they were within their rights to do what they did), Royal Caribbean is hoping to reverse the negative perception that has taken hold in the court of public opinion.

UPDATE: Here is a statement from Royal Caribbean:

 “As a gesture of goodwill, and in recognition of the time they missed on board Serenade of the Seas, Royal Caribbean provided each guest who was not able to arrive to the ship before it departed San Juan but met the ship later, with a future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise fare paid for their sailing.

“We are in the process of contacting those guests who were not able to sail with us at all to inform them of their compensation, and would prefer that the impacted guests learn of the amount directly from the line before it is disclosed publicly.

“We are compensating these passengers because we understand that this was an unusual situation, and we want to provide our guests with another opportunity to sail with Royal Caribbean International in the near future.” 

Vendors on the Berry Islands of the Bahamas are upset with Royal Caribbean over a newly opened signature store on its private island of CocoCay.  These vendors claim the new store has cost their revenues to be slashed by 75%.

Mary Neely-Knowles, a spokeswoman for the Coco Cay vendors, claims the vendors cannot compete with Royal Caribbean's store despire the store being open for only two weeks.

“We are selling T-shirts with the Coco Cay logo on it and they are selling T-shirts with the Coco Cay logo on it and Royal Caribbean . . . their t-shirts are $10, ours is $18."

“And we can’t sell any lower [because] most of our T-shirts come from the States or Nassau [where] they start from $7 to $8, so you have to sell $15.

“So why do they need to sell the same straw items, the hats, T-shirts, lotion, sunglasses and things that we are selling? We can’t compete.”

Neely-Knowles went on to claim that workers have noticed a shift in the purchases passengers have been making.  In addition, Royal Caribbean's cashless system of purchases has further created problems for the vendors as many passengers are now disembarking without cash.

A letter obtained by the Guardian Business shows Royal Caribbean received approval from the Bahamian  Director of Investments, Gaydene McClain for the store under the condition the items sold in the store would “have Royal Caribbean’s logo” on it.

The vendors believe that the distinction wasn't enough and that their items overwhelm the vendors with similar goods.

The fact of the matter is governments in the Caribbean enter into these agreements with cruise lines as a way of constructing state-of-the-art cruise facilities, which in turn guarantees long-term cruise traffic.  Officials from the Bahamas government assert it would very difficult for the Bahamas to maintain or grow its share of the cruise industry without such competitive incentives.

Hurricane Irene caused enough damage to Royal Caribbean's private island of CocoCay in the Bahamas that Royal Caribbean officials had to cancel three stops over the weekend to the island.  The damage has been repaired and CocoCay is open for business once again.

Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas was able to stop today at CocoCay.  Royal Caribbean said it made all the repairs it needed and  that “the site is back to business as usual.”

Can a floating city of 6,000 passengers per week touring holiday and not leave behind a sea of ​​waste? Cruise companies fight tooth and nail that they follow environmental policies, and ensure that they meet international standards even with the challenge of being sustainable and non-polluting by the account that brings. Only in Spain, in the first half of the year there have been 3.2 million cruise passengers, 17.7% more than the same period of 2010, a total of 1,632 large ships. And the craze for this type of trip, relatively new in Europe, has for decades sweeping the United States.

Each cruise company usually develops its own sustainability plans. One of the largest in the world, Royal Caribbean, said that for 40 years have implemented various measures "to protect the environment," but it was in 1992 when they launched the Save the Waves program, focusing on the "reduce, reuse and recycling waste" in all vessels in its fleet.Royal Caribbean monitors their ships pollution (managing the tons of garbage produced daily) and strictly prohibiting passengers to throw any litter overboard. In fact there are cameras that could determine from which little cabin is thrown into the sea.

Royal Caribbean places posters in the restrooms asking not to throw the towels on the floor unless changes are required to avoid unnecessary washing and reduce pollution.

Royal Caribbean has on its ships an environmental program officer, whose duty it is to instruct the crew about managing waste. Royal Caribbean's procedures were the first certified ISO 14001 in the sector.

The International Cruise Victims Association, a non-profit group formed by victims and families of victims of cruise crimes, slammed Royal Caribbean in a recent article for offering prepaid drink packages.  ICV strongly condemns Royal Caribbean for promoting the consumption of alcohol on their ships by offering unlimited drinks for one price.

ICV has sent its unhappiness with the package directly to Royal Caribbean's board of directors with the hopes the company will change its policy.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fainhas characterized the all-you-can-drink packages as "hugely successful." Fain also has said about rhe packages, "It's very dramatic how much people like buying the drinks package, for example, and not have to worry about that." The idea is to give the passenger "a more customized all-inclusive experience."

Royal Caribbean has been forced to cancel stops to its private island in the Bahamas, CocoCay, through Monday due to the effect Hurricane Irene had on it.  Royal Caribbean's reasoning for cancelling is being described as, "we feel our guest's experience ashore would be disrupted".

The following stops have been canceled

• Majesty of the Seas - August 27
• Monarch of the Seas -  August 28
• Freedom of the Seas - August 29

As a result of this itinerary change, Royal Caribbean has decided to amend the following itineraries as follows

• Monarch of the Seas will now stay overnight in Nassau, Bahamas, arriving at 12:00 p.m. today and departing at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 28.
• Majesty of the Seas will also stay overnight in Nassau, Bahamas, arriving at 12:00 p.m. today and departing at 5:00 pm. on Sunday, August 28.
• Freedom of the Seas will call on Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday, August 29 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

No word at this time if any further cancelations will be necessary.  Royal Caribbean reported sending a team yesterday to evaluate the damage to the island.

Port Canaveral, Florida is celebrating the start of construction of a new cruise terminal with a scheduled completion date of July 2012.  The new terminal should be large enough to handle any cruise ship in the world, including Royal Caribbean's behemoth Genesis class ships such as Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Port Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer J. Stanley Payne says the new Terminal 6 dock will be large enough to accommodate "the absolute largest cruise ships in the world," including Royal Caribbean's 6,200-passenger, Genesis-class ships.

Currently Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas is home ported in Port Canaveral, which was the largest passenger ship ever built (by gross tonnage) from 2006 until construction of Oasis of the Seas, so large ships are something Port Canaveral can handle.

Royal Caribbean's private island of CocoCay in the Bahamas appears to have been damaged to some extent by Hurricane Irene as it passed by.  

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email, "We have a Miami-based team heading to CocoCay as we speak. Once they arrive, we'll have a better idea of the damage."

It is unknown at this time when Royal Caribbean ships can return to the island.

Royal Caribbean has announced it will hold a one-day sale on all of its cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean this Saturday, August 27.  Called the "One Day Saturday Super Sale", the sale will be valid on Bahamas and Caribbean sailings departing between September 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

Royal Caribbean is promising...

• $25 to spend onboard when you reserve an inside or outside stateroom
• $50 to spend onboard when you reserve a balcony or suite

One offer per stateroom and all bookings must be made on August 27, 2011 between 12:00am ET and 11:59pm ET.  Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, and Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discounts, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits. Offer is available to US and Canada residents only.

Royal Caribbean announced that Explorer of the Seas will depart Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ earlier than expected this weekend.  The Saturday, August 27 sailing will depart at 4pm EST, one hour earlier than originally scheduled.

All guests are asked to arrive at the pier no later than 3:00pm EST.

The change is due to the impending arrival of hurricane Irene and Royal Caribbean wants to get the ship out of the path of the storm.  No other changes have been announced but Royal Caribbean is monitoring the situation.