Royal Caribbean is planning on offering direct cruise connection from London's Stansted airport in June by utilizing British Airways charter flights to make a connection to Venice, Italy.

These flights will connect to a seven-night Adriatic sailing on Voyager of the Seas.

Jo Rzymowska, Royal Caribbean's United Kingdom and Ireland general manger, says the move comes in response to guest demand, “Feedback from cruise travellers tells us that convenient flight connections are a factor when selecting their next cruise experience.

“Around 6.7 million people live in Stansted’s main catchment area, putting our cruise connections onto the doorstep of millions of potential customers.  

“The new service will deliver an efficient route for thousands of UK cruisers to begin their holiday immediately on the day of departure”.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. received recognition for its shipboard "Building On Talent" leadership development program during this year's Seatrade Awards Ceremonial Dinner. The ceremony, which took place at the Guildhall in London on April 14, 2011, included over 350 of the maritime industry's key players, and celebrated the outstanding contributions made over the last year for safe, efficient and environmentally friendly shipping. During the awards gala, the Royal Caribbean was presented the "Investment in People" award.

"This special recognition is truly a testament to Royal Caribbean's continued dedication to nurturing our company's talent and creating our leaders of tomorrow," said Maria Del Busto, vice president, global chief and human resources officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "By strategically managing our talent, and thoughtfully planning the successors of our key leadership roles, Royal Caribbean will be better positioned for the future."

Created in partnership between Royal Caribbean executives and Human Resources, "Building on Talent" is a multi-dimensional leadership development initiative. "Building on Talent" identifies high-potential leaders and develops bench strength so leaders can potentially assume multiple roles throughout the organization. The program's reach is global, both shipboard and shoreside, and cascades from senior executive to professional levels.

"The fleet 'Building on Talent' program has allowed us to identify high potential Marine and Hotel officers, and help them develop their leadership skills and position them for more senior positions," said Svein Taklo, vice president, Marine Operations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "We are honored that Seatrade has recognized our investment in our employees, as well as our commitment to developing our officers' skills and talents."

The Seatrade Awards were presented by Guest of Honor HRH The Princess Royal. The awards program rewards new ideas and concepts that have proved themselves in early operational use and awarding those at the forefront of new thinking. The independent judging panel chaired by Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the IMO, selected the winners of the 2011 awards.  

Royal Caribbean will offer showings of Dreamwork Animations newest film "Kung Fu Panda 2" on some of their newest ships.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will have the new film playing onboard from June through August 2011. In addition, there will be  a series of red-carpet premieres aboard each ship, which will be celebrated onboard Oasis of the Seas on June 4, Freedom of the Seas and Allure of the Seas on June 5, and Liberty of the Seas on June 18.

In coordination with the new film, Royal Caribbean is rolling out a new promotion called “Pandamonium,” which is a cruise promotion aimed at families who are looking to cruise this summer.  The package is available onboard the four Royal Caribbean ships that feature the DreamWorks Experience, and includes VIP seating at one of the onboard “Kung Fu Panda 2” premieres, exclusive meet and greets with DreamWorks Animation characters, two soft drink packages, two cupcakes from the Cupcake Cupboard, a complimentary family photo and a chance for guests to build their own Pets at Sea plush animal. The Pandamonium package can be booked using the promotional code YNOTxxPO.

Royal Caribbean has entered into an alliance with Kingfisher Airlines to strengthen its presence in India.

The program will allow Royal Caribbean to offer cruise vacation packages through Kingfisher's membership program.  The airline hopes the new partnership will expand its loyalty program by offering its customers more options such as a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Michael Bayley, executive vice president of Royal Caribbean Cruises wants to get the cruise giant more involved in India, "India is a key market for us, and we look forward to expanding our brand presence there and introducing people to the world of cruising".

The deal is the first strategic alliance in the Asia-Pacific theater where Royal Caribbean has ships sailing out of Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. Kingfisher Airlines flies to all three of these port cities throughout India and its tour division, Kingfisher Holidays, bundles vacation packages that include both a Royal Caribbean cruise and airfare for the Kingfisher Airlines passengers.

Royal Caribbean will utilize Finland-based Wärtsilä for a five-year maintenance support agreement.  

Wärtsilä, a provider of power systems to the marine industry, will provide its services to Royal Caribbean's fleet of ships including it's subsidiary brands.

The agreement between the two companies calls on Wärtsilä to perform a number of maintenance services including

• fuel consumption optimization
• spare parts logistics optimization
• maintenance planning
• development and testing of engine components
• Advisory service for overhauls an workshop services.

Royal Caribbean announced John Targaglia's Off-Broadway family musical "ImaginOcean" will debut on Freedom of the Seas starting in May 2011.

ImaginOcean will be the fourth Royal Caribbean ship to perform the show, joining Oasis, Allure and Liberty of the Seas.

Tartaglia was excited to bring his show to another Royal Caribbean ship, "ImaginOcean made its debut on Oasis of the Seas where it ran for several months prior to opening at New World Stages in New York in the spring of 2010. Our goal as the producers of this show continues to focus on making this universal family musical accessible to as many people as possible -- on land and at sea -- and we are thrilled to continue our relationship with Royal Caribbean and install our fourth production on Freedom of the Seas next month."

Royal Caribbean has decided to redeploy one of its cruise ships away from Europe.  Navigator of the Seas will head to the Caribbean for the 2011-2012 cruise season and sail out of Port Everglades, Florida.  Navigator will offer various five- to nine-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries beginning on Nov. 20.

Navigator had been scheduled to cruise in the Mediterranean and subsequently canceled a number of of 14-night Mediterranean cruises that had been scheduled between November and April out of Barcelona, Spain.

Before Navigator of the Seas can start its new deployment in the Caribbean, she will embark upon a 14-night trans-Atlantic journey from Rome, Italy to Port Everglades, Florida.

Navigator will return to Europe with an April 14, 2012 cruise that will send it back to Italy.

At the Sicily Travel Expo, Royal Caribbean announced that it will be in Sicily for the first time. In 2011, five vessels will be transitioning to Messina, Sicily which can bring nearly 160,000 passengers.

Palermo will be the first port of call for Grandeur of the Seas May 20, 2011. Mariner of the Seas, in her debut year in the Mediterranean Sea, will touch only once a Palermo October 1. On October 8, it will be Brilliance of the Seas' turn. The cruise season will close the Navigator of the Seas, for the first time in Palermo on October 24.

The Port of Valencia, Spain reached 37% of cruise passengers in 2009, putting it in fifth place in Spain's national ranking, after Barcelona, ​​Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

With the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas , the port receives 4,300 passengers and the Valencia Tourism Foundation has made ​​a special welcome, including on tastings of horchata.

The biggest cruise of the berth so far in Valencia, with 339 meters (more than three football fields in length), contains inside all sorts of attractions for passengers, suites, cabins three types, restaurants, swimming pools, pubs, nightclubs, shopping mall, casino and several sporting facilities, mini golf and boxing rings included.

Royal Caribbean won a 2011 RFID Journal Award for Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service.  The award was for Royal Caribbean's use of RFID technology to enable guests to prepay for unlimited soft drinks, and to then serve themselves fountain beverages without having to wait on a service bar line.

Royal Caribbean's RFID readers are built into the soda fountains that have antennas installed in the drip trays. 

Royal Caribbean's director of fleet beverage operations Bob Midyette claims each beverage container has a built-in near-field EPC Gen 2 RFID inlay from Alien Technology.  Back-end software confirms the guest's ID number and allows the fountain to dispense a 16-ounce drink.

"The system allows us to improve service to our guests," Midyette explains, "and enhance sales with something that feels like magic."