Royal Caribbean is planning on sending Rhapsody of the Seas into drydock following the 2011-2012 Australian cruise season for a multi-million dollar revamp.

Work on overhauling the ship will take three to four weeks in March 2012 in what Royal Caribbean is calling a "major revitalisation".

Adam Armstrong, Royal Caribbean's Australia commercial manager described the changes, "This will be major revitalisation. We will be extensively reworking the entire ship. Cabins, entertainment and dining will all be completely renovated.”

Armstrong added that while the Rhapsody will still look like her old self when the work is done, she will boast “a few more special pieces”

Royal Caribbean has signed a deal with Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia to revitalize three of its ships in Cadiz, Spain.

A delegation of nine people from  Royal Caribbean visited the Cadiz shipyard on June 21 and 22 to settle the contract that allow the maintenance and modernization of three ships at dock in the capital. The delegation was led by Revitalization program director, Petteri Keso, as well as the director of fleet maintenance in Europe, Tracy Murrell.

Royal Caribbean representatives inspected for two days the Navantia facilities and warehouses, where more than 450 containers come with the equipment necessary to tackle the repairs.

Navantia believes they helped sign Royal Caribbean thanks to their experience working on other cruise ships such as  Norwegian Jade, NCL America, Milenium, Celebrity Cruises, and the Grand Voyager, the Grand Mistral and Grand Celebration of Iberocruceros.

This history has served, among other things, to capture the interest of Royal Caribbean's represenatives. The represenatives from Royal Caribbean have also confirmed the first ship to enter the Cadiz shipyard will be Splendour of the Seas to recieve major repairs and modernization.  Splendour will arrive in November to undergo a modernization plan that includes the habitability of the ship, "which will be completely renovated."

Royal Caribbean has also reserved time for the repair of two other ships, which will undergo a revitalization plan.  Then in May 2012 Grandeur of the Seas will enter the dock followed by Serenade of the Seas in November.

Royal Caribbean is launching a new art program dubbed, Art on Royal, on all 22 of its cruise ships.

Art on Royal integrates art-inspired events with tours, seminars, and auctions and features selected artists from the Royal Caribbean Art Collection.  There will also an opportunity to view and purchase a one-of-a-kind piece of their choice featured in the gallery.  This includes signature Royal Caribbean artsits such as Romero Britto and Thomas Kinkade.

This new art program was developed originally for Oasis of the Seas with partner Art Actually.  Art on Royal is currently available on Adventure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas, and will be on more ships by the end of the year.

American health inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently inspected Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas as part of its Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).  The good news is Oasis of the Seas scored a perfect 100 on the test.

The inspection took place on May 28, 2011 and the CDC says a score of 86 or higher is satisfactory, so Oasis' score of 100 is a great achievment.  The VSP is aimed at ensuring cruise ships are clean and healthy for guests to enjoy, "assists the cruise ship industry to prevent and control the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships".

Oasis did suffer a few minor violations, which are common to have on most ships, and were corrected.  None of the violations were enough to bring Oasis' total score down after inspectors finished looking over the ship.

Representatives from Royal Caribbean and four other cruise lines (Norwegian Cruise Lines,Residensea, Silversea and Oceania Regent Seven Seas) visited the port of Bilbao, Spain and other points of interest in the region. They were accompanied by a representative of the Tourist Office of Spain in Miami.

The cruise line representatives have also been accompanied by officials from the Port Authority of Bilbao and Bilbao Tourism Office. They visited, among others, the cruise terminal port, the Bridge, Getxo, Bilbao, Laguardia and the blind. They have also enjoyed the Basque cuisine and have been able to see first hand the commercial area. In 2011, it is planned at the port of Bilbao fifty cruise ships belonging to twenty different companies.

Royal Caribbean, a member of the European Cruise Council (ECC), has pledged to help develop the Greek cruise market in an announcement by Royal Caribbean's Vice President of Commercial & New Business Development John Tercek to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism.  The ECC has offered to act as a hub to interact with the Ministry to inform member companies of Greek developments and issues of common interest.

On behalf their companies represented by the ECC. Giora Israel (Vice President of Carnival Cruise Line), and John Tercek confirmed the participation of their companies to the commission and the offer to provide expertise to Greece and expressed interest to develop and to extend the routes of cruise in the Greek seas and to add new ports of call. 

Last Wednesday, Greek Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism George Nikitiadis met with Tercek, in Thessalonicawhere  they discussed the possibilities of the port, and the government's efforts to capitalize on important cruise market, which, as the figures show it has an important role in the coming years the development of tourism in Greece. 

Less than a month until the debut in Genoa, Italy of Mariner of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean has decided to dedicate her to Italy, in 2011 in electing her the flagship "product Royal Caribbean for Italy. " From July 23 to September 3, 2011, for the first time ever in the history of the Company, Mariner of the Seas will sail from Genoa - as well as from Civitavecchia - and will offer guests seven nights cruises in the Western Mediterranean, which will touch Cannes Ajaccio, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

On board, everything will speak Italian: from entertainment (activities and TV programs), food & beverage offerings, staff service (there will even be a team exclusively reserved for  Italian guests) excursions guaranteed for each leg of the cruise.

Here they are in detail: At Cannes, guests can choose whether to remain on board or continue by bus to Nice, the capital of the Cote d'Azur and Monaco to Antibes or the picturesque, historic Formula 1 circuit and the Principality of Monaco, with the Prince's Palace and ancient cathedral.

In Ajaccio the city tour is a tribute to Napoleon: Napoleon from course, we reach the central Place de Gaulle, which is dominated by the huge bronze statue of Napoleon and his brothers. We continue on towards the Place d'Austerlitz, where Napoleon as a child he used to spend his days, and where now stands an imposing monument in his honor. Walking through the ancient streets of the old town, you can also admire the Cathedral where Napoleon was baptized and the facade of the Maison Bonaparte, where he was born. Alternatively, there is mounting that the tour following the meandering path of the river Prunelli winds down to Lake Tolla, for a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean vegetation of this island, its beautiful landscapes and many picturesque villages.

In Barcelona the tour "Gaudí and Barcelona" is a tribute to Gaudi's Barcelona. From the Park Guell, designed by Gaudi and declared a monument of UNESCO Universal in 1984 continues to the Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, whose facade is covered with multicolored tiles and the roof is accessible by stairs of glazed ceramic.
Even Palma Mallorca has a lot to offer in terms of historical and architectural: Choosing the tour reaches Valldemossa is one of the most beautiful and typical villages of the island where it is kept inside the piano with which Chopin composed some of his masterpieces. Worth a visit of course the city of Palma, with its imposing cathedral, the bullring and the recently restored Royal Palace.

Do not underestimate even the very Italian ports of Civitavecchia and Genoa, where it is possible to land (in addition to board), for a taste of Rome and the wonders of the oldest and largest center of Europe, Gulf Paradise (Portofino, Rapallo, Santa daisy) and Cinque Terre.

We've heard a report that speciality restaurant Rita's Cantina aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas has gone from a $7.95 service charge to a $3.00 service charge and all food is now priced a la carte.

The move is similar to how the Seafood Shack specialty restaurant aboard Oasis of the Seas is handled.  

The change is effective as of the cruise that left Port Everglades yesterday.

The change of pricing isn't unprecedented.  Royal Caribbean changed the price structure aboard Radiance of the Seas back on June 10.

Investments for the development of the Zakynthos, Greece harbor will be addressed at a special meeting, which will take place this afternoon at the office of Mayor of Zakynthos Stelios Boziki.

The initiative for the idea is from naval architect Dimitris Caper. Present at the meeting will be John Tercek, Senior Vice President of Royal Caribbean, Demi Karapatakis, Director of Royal Caribbean, Andrea Stylianopoulos, President of Navigator Tours, MP Dimitris Varvarigos, Antiperifereiarchi Dionysis Mylonas, Harbour Master John Stathis, President of the Port Fund Dionysis Kardiani, and the President of the Chamber of Costa Kapodistrias.

Mr. Tercek and Ms. Stylianopoulos are visiting the island of Zakynthos at the invitation of Mr. Capers to explore whether to invest capital to build the port infrastructure that is necessary to accommodate cruise ships in Zakynthos. The master plan by Mr. Capers for the development of Zakynthos por has received favorable comments from both the municipality and the Ministry of Tourism. 

Royal Caribbean also met with officials from Thessalonica, Greece yesterday about bringing Royal Caribbean ships to their port as well.

The challenge of visibility and awareness is required to win over Royal Caribbean if it was to return to Thessalonica, Greece.  Royal Caribbean Vice President John Tersek was visiting Thessalonica today and spoke to local officialls about the possibilities of the port as a cruise destination.

Royal Caribbean is considering giving Thessalonica a second chance and returning after the departure of Navigator of the Seas from the city a few years ago.  Back then, Navigator of the Seas had only made half of her stops to Thessalonica in order to avoid extensive paperwork due to local port authority regulations.

"I see that Thessalonica is very well placed, but the condition is becoming a recognizable tourist destination, so first priority should be to promote the tourism of the location," said Mr. Tersek during press conference.

Mr. Tersek declined to say when if Royal Caribbean intends to bring cruise ships back to Thessalonica, noting simply that Royal Caribbean has completed the itineraries until 2012. "Any change will take place after 2013" he stated.

The new mayor of Thessalonica knows that the city must do more to entice Royal Caribbean to retun, "Depends on us whether it's Royal Caribbean Cruises.  We are confident that any cruise ship come in Thessalonica will not want to leave," he said, while noting that the port has more than sufficient infrastructure for any size ship.