Cruising site Cruise Critic held its first annual Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards, where it polled its readers on a number of topics related to cruising and Royal Caribbean did exceptionally well, especially in the large ship category.  

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas proved to be a real winner with fans as it swept the large-ship class with three category wins, as well as the top ranking for the overall category of Best Large Cruise Ship.

Royal Caribbean's winnings weren't limited to just Oasis of the Seas, it did very well in a number of category including the "Best Overall Cruisers' Choice Award", where four out of the top five ships were Royal Caribbean ships.

Here are the results where Royal Caribbean finished well in

Best Large Cruise Ships – 2,000+ passengers

1. Oasis of the Seas
2. Serenade of the Seas
3. Celebrity Equinox
4. Allure of the Seas
5. Freedom of the Seas
6. Celebrity Solstice 
7. Celebrity Eclipse
8. Golden Princess
9. Liberty of the Seas
10. Jewel of the Seas

• Freedom of the Seas (5th)
• Liberty of the Seas (8th)

Best for Dining– 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (4th)
• Serenade of the Seas (6th)

Best for Embarkation - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Serenade of the Seas (2nd)
• Allure of the Seas (6th)

Best for Entertainment - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Allure of the Seas (2nd)
• Freedom of the Seas (4th)
• Voyager of the Seas (9th)
• Liberty of the Seas (10th)

Best for Families - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (1st)
• Liberty of the Seas (2nd)
• Mariner of the Seas (6th)

Best for Fitness  - 2,000+ passengers

• Liberty of the Seas (1st)
• Freedom of the Seas (2nd)
• Oasis of the Seas (3rd)
• Independence of the Seas (4th)
• Serenade of the Seas (7th)
• Mariner of the Seas (8th)
• Jewel of the Seas (10th)

Best for Public Rooms - 2,000+ passengers

• Oasis of the Seas (2nd)
• Serenade of the Seas (3rd)
• Freedom of the Seas (6th)
• Allure of the Seas (7th)

Best for Service  - 2,000+ passengers

• Serenade of the Seas (1st)
• Oasis of the Seas (3rd)
• Freedom of the Seas (4th)
• Allure of the Seas (7th)
• Mariner of the Seas (8th)
• Voyager of the Seas (9th)
• Jewel of the Seas (10th)

Best for Shore Excursions - 2,000+ passengers

• Serenade of the Seas (6th)
• Voyager of the Seas (10th)

Best for Value - 2,000+ passengers

• Monarch of the Seas (5th)
• Radiance of the Seas (6th)
• Majesty of the Seas (10th)

The big news today is Voyager of the Seas is going to China in 2012 but after she is done in China, Royal Caribbean is sending Voyager of the Seas to Australia for a while, where she will dwarf any other cruise ship that has ever been based in that country.

Voyager of the Seas will offer cruises for five months that will sail out of Sydney and Fremantle, Australia beginning in November 2012.  Cruises will offer itineraries that will visit destinations in the South Pacific including New Zealand and Australia.

Royal Caribbean's addition of Voyager of the Seas will add another ship to Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas, which has been offering cruises in Australia for a number of years already.

Speaking at the Shanghai International Conference Center in China, Royal Caribbean executives announced that Voyager of the Seas will be going to China in June of 2012.

The 3,114-guest mega cruise ship is double the size of any other cruise ship in the Asia-Pacific region and will offer itineraries ranging in length from four to ten nights and will address the burgeoning cruise industry in the country. Voyager of the Seas will serve to also attract cruise guests from around the world to visit China as they sail around Asia.

Royal Caribbean's CEO Adam Goldstein is excited about the move, "Our brand's strategy for China is to leverage Royal Caribbean International's leading position in the market by offering innovative ships and customized services. And we look forward to working with our travel partners and helping to grow the cruise economy in China."

In addition to Voyager of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas will return to China and homeport in Shanghai in March of 2012.  Both ships will be worked on to offer products tailored to Chinese guests such as more Chinese language services, authentic Chinese food and culturally appropriate recreational activities and duty-free items.

Voyager of the Seas will depart for Sydney, Australia in October.

A guest posted a brochure from a new cabana program that is set to launch on Royal Caribbean's private island of CocoCay that would be similar to the cabanas that are available on Labadee.

The cabanas on CocoCay come in two varieties: Bamboo Cabana and Caba-Nettes

Included in the Bamboo Cabana package:

· Island CocoLimo at your service for transport to Coco Cay locations
· Enjoy your made to order lunch created by your private chef
· 1 bottle of chilled Korbel champagne
· 4 x 1L bottles of Spring Water
· 2 floating mats and 2 snorkelling sets
· Beach towels
· Personalized Service
· Photo opportunity with professional photographer (one 6x8 photo included in pkg)
· Priority for Island Spa Appointments with 15% discount
· Fruit plate

$100 per single cabana $150 Family Cabana

Caba-Nettes include:

· Island CocoLimo at your service for transport to Coco Cay locations
· Enjoy your made to order lunch created by your private chef
· 2 x 1L bottles of Spring Water
· 1 floating mat
· Beach towels
· Personalized Service
· Photo opportunity with professional photographer (one 6x8 photo included in pkg)
· Priority for Island Spa Appointments with 15% discount
· Fruit plate

$35 per Caba-nette

It appears that like Labadee, these cabana options are available first to guests staying in a suite aboard their ship and any excess inventory is then offered to members of Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor society based on their seniority in the program.

A number of Royal Caribbean employees in the Eugene, Oregon area decided to give back to their local community when about 60 Royal Caribbean employees teamed up with St. Vincent de Paul to clean up some affordable housing complexes.

The group split up into teams and landscaped as well as painted three different sites in the Eugene area.

The effort was part of Royal Caribbean's annual corporate volunteer day that's goal is to help the community around them.

Royal Caribbean has a a 200000-square-foot national customer service center in the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area that opened in 2005.

Royal Caribbean Adam Goldstein outlined some new details about the new class of Royal Caribbean ships that is on order in a recent blog entry.  While Goldstein can't divulge details about the ship quite yet, he did clue us into the process they are engaged in that will bring Royal Caribbean its next new ships in about 3 years.

Royal Caribbean has a department that specializes in these new ship designs called "Fleet Design & Newbuild", although Goldstein notes that is more commonly referred to as simply "Newbuild".  Newbuild is also involved in ship upgrades, such as the one that is going on right now for Radiance of the Seas.

The new Project Sunshine class ship design is being headed up by Executive VP Harri Kulovaara and chief designer Kelly Gonzalez.

The design process involves the Operations, Marketing and Executive Steering committee divisions of Royal Caribbean.  The Executive Steering committee is made up of Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain and Harri Kulovaara.  They meet once a month for a day to go over "critical aspects of the project".  The executive steering  committee normally meet in Miami, but for the May meeting, they flew out to Germany to the Meyerwerft shipyard for a meeting there.

Goldstein reiterated that Project Sunshine should be ready sometime in 2014.

On Wednesday morning, representatives from Royal Caribbean met with officials from the Brazilian state of Alagoas to discuss a possible cruise terminal in the state capital.

The visit aimed to examine the possibility of sending Royal Caribbean ships to Alagoas, and consider the application of investment for building a passenger terminal.

According to Danielle Novis, Secretary of State for Tourism, Royal Caribbean does work with the authorities, public and private, to promote the port infrastructure for the development of tourism in several states.

Also according to Danielle Novis, other visits will be scheduled. "Royal Caribbean is one of the largest cruise ship in the world, Brazil has two operating cruises in the Northeast and only Savior receives this demand. Our goal is to create a route to enter and exit through the Northeast, so we will continue growing the state, "says Danielle.

In August, representatives from Royal Caribbean and the Secretaries of Tourism will hold a tour of the Northeast at all ports of the region to expand the route of the cruise company's northeastern coast.

During the visit, were present: Secretary of State for Tourism, Danielle Novis, Municipal Tourism Secretary of Maceio, Cláudia Pessoa, superintendent of Investment Setur-AL, Mark Pradines, representatives from the Port of Miami, Domitius Silva and Roberto Leoni, and director and product manager of port operations for Royal Caribbean, Diego Dantas and vice president of Royal Caribbean, John Tercek.

Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas has resumed its cruise after the oil explosion in Gibraltar yesterday injured 11 British guests and 1 Swiss guest.

The explosion occurred on the pier that Independence of the Seas was docked at, according to a statement by Royal Caribbean.  Furthermore, Independence immediately retracted her gangway and moved a safe distance away following the explosion.

"Twelve guests sustained minor injuries and have received medical treatment onboard. Two guests were still ashore when the incident took place and were not injured during the explosion.”

Independence of the Seas has resumed its 14-night Mediterranean sailing, having departing from Southampton on May 28, and is due to visit Cannes and Monte Carlo tomorrow.

No doubt by now you've read about the oil tank explosion in Gibraltar that occurred next to Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas.  We found this video of the ensuing fire and smoke plume right next to Independence of the Seas as she begins to pull away from the danger area.

Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas has been servicing Brazil for years but before it returns to the South American nation for the 2011-2012 cruise season, it will get some upgrades.   Royal Caribbean corporate manager, Alex Calabria says at the end of the summer European season, the Splendor will undergo a comprehensive refurbishment before returning to Brazil.

The ship will gain new lounges, nurseries and wi-fi access. In addition there will be three new restaurants, Giovane Stable, Park Cafe and a Japanese food restaurant.

"An entire floor of outside cabins will be redone with balcony staterooms and have the second store on board the Romero Britto. Will ship to the taste of the Brazilian public,"  Calabria said.