No other American cruise line has been targeting the European cruise market as aggressively as Royal Caribbean and it sounds like its efforts are paying off with sales spiking upwards.  Royal Caribbean says the increase in its ships in Europe and the Mediterranean has resulted in boosting its sales for the United Kingdom and Ireland segment of the business.

How much higher are sales? Royal Caribbean says early bookings from its "wave" booking window show Royal Caribbean European sales are up more than 50% from the same time in 2010.

Royal Caribbean Vice President and Managing Director for UK and Ireland Dominic Paul said, "Our decision to continue to invest in the marketplace shows all signs of paying off. This summer we will have 11 ships based close to the UK around Europe, offering a huge variety of great value holidays, and this is driving a significant increase in sales. Our new “What you see is what you get” campaign is resonating well with both consumers and trade partners, and we are delighted with the support we’re receiving from the trade. We remain cautiously confident that the positive start to the year will set us in good stead for the remainder of 2011."

Royal Caribbean posted some new photos of Liberty of the Seas in dry dock in the Bahamas getting "Oasis-sized", meaning it's receiving upgrades to the ship from innovations that were originally from Oasis of the Seas.

Liberty of the Seas will receive...

• Broadway show (Saturday Night Fever)
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Large 18.5-foot video screen overlooking family pool area
• LCD wayfinder system
• Cupcake Cupboard restaurant
• Vintages lounge will be redone

In a conference call with investors, Royal Caribbean Chariman and CEO Richard Fain confirmed rumors that Royal Caribbean may be ready to look to building a new ship.

During the call, Fain thinks now may be the time to look at building a new ship, "We feel time may now be right for such a move."  In addition, a new ship would be a new class of ship, meaning it would not be another Oasis class ship or any other pre-existing Royal Caribbean ship class.

There's no timetable yet for placing an order, and Fain added in the short term, Royal Caribbean is focusing on current hardware revitalization, which means they will enhance current ships.  Fain called the program "Oasis-sizing", where they take features from Oasis and Allure of the Seas and roll them out to older ships.  This program was announced earlier this year and will add new features to older ships such as Radiance of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas.

UPDATE: (10:30am) Royal Caribbean Chariman and CEO Richard Fain added during a question and answer session that they will remain tight lipped about the new ship, but confirmed the ship will be a Royal Caribbean brand ship and based on the company's previous history of ordering ships for a new class, will likely start with one ship and then add more ships based on that class afterwards

Port Everglades, Florida is the home to Royal Caribbean's flagships, Oasis and Allure of the Seas and the last quarter of 2010 saw cruise traffic up 25% to 1.17 million cruise passengers.

This is great news for not just Royal Caribbean but the cruise industry as a whole because it shows the industry has rebounded nicely from the recession, thanks in part to new ships like Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas or Oasis of the Seas.  Locals in Fort Lauderdale area are happy as well as that means more cruise passengers spending money in the local area before and after their cruises.

In addition, port revenue for the first fiscal quarter was at $37.5 million, a level that exceeds the previous first fiscal quarter peak of $30.6 million in 2008.

Royal Caribbean is going to try out adding cabins for solo travelers in the spring of this year on Radiance of the Seas, according to a report by USA Today.

Radiance of the Seas will add three windowless "inside" stateroom cabins specifically for guests who are traveling alone.  To accommodate this change, Radiance of the Seas will enter dry dock in late May, have the new cabins installed and depart in early June. She will then spend the coming summer sailing in Alaska.

Single cabins are a new fad in some cruise lines and until now, Royal Caribbean did not have any.  The reason for this is because the the cruise business model revolves around cabins designed for two or more people.

Royal Caribbean  this week opened its new office in Mexico City, located on the Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho, where employees working in sales, marketing and business operations of the three cruise brands operated by Royal Caribbean:  Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises Club.

Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said the company appreciates its strong market position in Mexico and its new office will increase revenue, expand offerings of destinations and increase the number of passengers.

The Sun Sentinel newspaper "profiled" the leading cruise lines and described who each cruise line is best for.  When it came to Royal Caribbean, the paper felt it was a great line for those that can't get enough onboard activities.

Super sports complexes at sea. More than just the young and the restless can enjoy this line's list of sports firsts: rock-climbing wall, surfing pool, ice-skating rink, bungee trampolines, boxing ring and a zip-line that soars high above the pool deck. With two sumo-size sister ships, the world's largest, the 252,000-ton Oasis, and Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean even has enough real estate for a suite of suites overlooking its "Central Park," a green space loaded with restaurants and a boardwalk.

Food prices around the world are on the rise, particularly for meat, sugar and coffee, and companies like Royal Caribbean are finding ways to deal with the problem.

Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Richard Fain says the cruise line is hedging increases in cattle prices, that hasn't fully offset its rising costs for beef.  Since the fall of 2010, meat prices have risen for Royal Caribbean and since the steakhouses aboard their ships are the most popular according to Fain, it makes sense for Royal Caribbean to be concerned.  Royal Caribbean serves about 53 million pounds of beef, poultry, lamb, veal and pork a year.

"Meat is important to our guests," Mr. Fain adds. "We aren't prepared to sacrifice the quality and we can't raise prices enough to reflect it, so it ends up being a cost we have to absorb." Royal Caribbean is also paying more for citrus fruits and fish, particularly shrimp, another popular dish on its cruises.

Cozumel, Mexico saw more than 2.9 million cruise passengers in 2010, which is the highest number in the last seven years, according to the state Tourism Department . This figure is the best record in the last seven years which surpassed the 2004 statistics, a period in which they were registered with 2.8 million visitors to the island.  Cozumel lost a great deal of tourists after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Helping raise Cozumel's numbers were the arrival in 2010 of Royal Caribbean's twin ships' Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  These two ships helped Cozumel beat tourist numbers in the same segment of tourism destinations in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea, said the head of the state Tourism Department

Among other reasons, helping Cozumel's cause to bring back tourists, last year Michel Ronan, vice president of Royal Caribbean complimented Cozumel and Mahahual by  describing the island as a safe cruise destination. This tourism department feels this puts them in the preference of companies to bring their clients.

Add another award to Royal Caribbean's collection.  On Monday in London, England, Travel Weekly honored select companies at a spectacular Globe Travel Awards ceremony.  During the ceremony, Royal Caribbean picked up an award for best mainstream cruise company.

On hand to accept the award was Royal Caribbean's Associate Vice President & General Manager at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Jo Rzymowska, "This award shows how important agents are to us. We don't get everything right all the time but what we do is listen to the trade and this award means we get it right".