Examiner.com writer Chris Owen wrote a blog entry about his top seven things he loves about Royal Caribbean and as a fellow Royal Caribbean fan, it's a great read. His top list includes..

• They’re nice, good people
• Most diverse fleet
• The Wow
• The Labadee factor
• Entertainment Options
• Pre-cruise planner
• Celebrity

Here's Chris' take on the Royal Caribbean fleet...

No doubt about it, while other lines have different classes of ships, no other fleet has the diversity between classes that Royal Caribbean does. Ranging from 73, 000 ton Monarch of the Seas to 154,000 ton Oasis of the Seas, their different classes of ships offer unique experiences. Common elements among the ships though like signature restaurants and familiar features make sailing any of the ships feel like a trip back home after the first time.

Certainly some people may not get why some people (like us) love cruising with Royal Caribbean and this is a good explanation of why we like them so much.

Royal Caribbean is looking to get more people to consider a cruise vacation as a way of celebrating the holidays this year, from from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, aboard its cruise ships.

For those considering Thanksgiving, Royal Caribbean ships will feature a gourmet turkey dinner of course as well as the award-winning Adventure Ocean program, which will provide kids with themed activities including Thanksgiving story time and arts and crafts.

If you're considering December, Royal Caribbean will offer Hanukkah-themed festivities lasting all eight days of the holiday, including a Rabbi aboard every ship to conduct a nightly menorah lighting ceremony and services. For those celebrating Christmas, a Catholic priest also will be aboard to lead the holiday’s observances including a midnight mass on Christmas Eve.  

Speaking of Christmas, there's more onboard if you're considering going during the Christmas season, including classic movie screenings, guest and crew caroling, cookie decorating, special Christmas-themed Adventure Ocean programming, and holiday ice skating aboard select ships.

Or if New Years is when you'd like to be on a Royal Caribbean ship, there are special ways to ring in the new year such as the Captain’s Countdown and themed parties in every onboard lounge. Young cruisers will enjoy the extended late night party zone where kids and teens will be celebrating at their own New Year’s festivities.

Royal Caribbean senior vice president of Marketing Betsy O’Rourke thinks a cruise is the perfect way to celebrate family holidays, "There is really no better holiday value than spending your’s aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise with family and friends. All too often, people get stressed out with holiday preparation and entertaining. Royal Caribbean takes care of all this work, providing guests the opportunity to relax and truly enjoy the holiday season with their loved ones. Additionally, the Diamond Celebration in December will offer exclusive benefits and programs to our Diamond-status Crown & Anchor Society members to recognize our most loyal guests"

The growth of cruising as a tourism sector will be discussed at the 2010 Cruise Down Under conference in Brisbane next week, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said today. 

The very successful debut of the Oasis of the Seas also came with some new amenities and entertainment options that were never seen on the Royal Caribbean fleet and now Royal Caribbean is set to copy some of those new innovations to existing ships.

Starting in early 2011, passengers will soon enjoy new dining opportunities, entertainment, children’s programming and other enhancements on select Royal Caribbean ships already in service.  These vessels include Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas.

Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas will receive...

• Broadway show (yet to be named and Liberty of the Seas only)
• 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

For members of Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society, there is a special event for you.  Royal Caribbean will be recognizing its most loyal cruise guests in the month of December 2010 with its second annual Crown & Anchor Society Diamond Celebration.  During December, Diamond and Diamond Plus members who are sailing on any Royal Caribbean ship will receive...

• Special recognition
• Benefits
• Commemorative gifts
• Exclusive events
• "new Crown & Anchor Society enhancements"

In addition, Diamond and Diamond Plus guests can attend nightly events, during which Crown & Anchor Society members can mingle with senior ship officers and staff, and with each other. As a special gift to Diamond and Diamond Plus members, Royal Caribbean Gold Anchor staff  and crew  will recognize these loyalest of members with commemorative gifts and other onboard elements. Members also will receive one additional cruise credit for sailing during December.

Have you been on a Royal Caribbean cruise and thought to yourself that you would make a good cruise director?  Well Royal Caribbean has the perfect contest for you.  Royal Caribbean Brazil is looking for their next Director of Entertainment and is holding a contest.  

Before you enter, there are a few prerequisites...

• Candidates must have 5-10 years experience as Director of Entertainment (or similar areas) in resorts, theme parks and cruise lines
• Fluent in English
• Knowledge in management and budget control, team spirit, production management and cutting-edge entertainment
• Be able to present activities and events in English and Portuguese and excellent communication
• Be at least 21 years old
• Be a legal resident of Brazil

Interested parties have until August 25 to enter by sending an email to [email protected].  After August 25th, 10 candidates will be chosen for interviews.  Following the interviews, from August 30 to September 5, the public can view the profiles of the candidates, watch videos, and vote for your favorite candidate and select five candidates.

In a post from the Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein, a few updates were announced for policies all around Royal Cariibean

• Complimentary Internet access for the purpose of allowing guests to enroll in the Crown and Anchor Society via iCafe while they are onboard so they can be eligible to book onboard and take advantage of the onboard booking discount.
• On European cruises, those who wish to remain onboard longer on departure day may sign up in advance of the cruise for Late Departure Program. Sign up online under Shore and Land Excursions for the port of call where the cruise terminates.
• Oasis of the Seas is testing a an Extended Stay program that allows the Oasis guests to store their luggage and enjoy a day in Hollywood, FL in and around the boardwalk. This opportunity encompasses shopping, dining, going to the beach, riding the trolley and/or relaxing at our hospitality center. This opportunity is also available as a shore excursion under the port of call, Ft. Lauderdale, for all guests sailing onboard Oasis of the Seas.
• Royal Caribbean now accepts bookings at specialty restaurants for parties of 10 or fewer guests. Previously they only accepted bookings for parties of 6 or fewer. 

Friend of the blog, Melissa DiCato of Possible Vacations has graciously taken some time to write this guest blog entry!  Today, she looks at what Royal Caribbean is doing to keep things new and fresh across their fleet of ships.  Take it away Melissa!

Royal Caribbean is doing all they can to ensure all of their clients’ needs are being well taken care of.  Oasis of the Seas has been such a huge success for Royal, they are starting to take the ideas that were only implemented on Oasis of the Seas and place them on the rest of their fleet.  Below you will find a breakdown of what you can soon find onboard Royal Caribbean Ships.

Liberty & Freedom of Seas

• Broadway Shows
• Nursery
• Outdoor Screens
• Cupcake Cupboard
• Vintages
• Way Finder (currently only on the Oasis of the Seas, this device is located next to all elevators to help clients find their way around the ship)

Fleetwide

• Family Library
• Royal Bedtime stories
• Sitters @ Sea (Sitters will come to your stateroom and watch your children while you enjoy the night with your loved one)
• Nintendo Wii

Family programming – Royal Babies & Royal Kids

• Fisher-Price toy lending program
• Crayola beginning workshops
• Babies 2 Go! (pre-order service for parent to order baby food and diapers)
• Stroll & Roll

Dinning

• My time dinning
• Exclusive food experiences
• My family time dining (for family with children ages 3-17)
• Expedited service
• Adventure Ocean pick-up (youth counselors will come and pick up your children and take them to their kids clubs)
• Leisure dinner for parents

Suite Enhancements (Grand Suites & Higher)

• Distinct Seapass cards
• Luggage Valet
• Complimentary Dry Cleaning
• Cocktail Reception in Captains Quarter
• Reserved seating in shows
• Upgraded suite amenities
• Breakfast & Lunch in specialty restaurants

If you are looking to take a Royal Caribbean Cruise, these enhancements will be sure to delight any family at sea.  Every cruise ship will offer you something a little unique and different which is why people cruise time and time again.  Most families enjoy taking cruises because they can just sit back and relax while everything around them is taken care of, including their most precious cargo…their children.  Something to consider is taking a Royal Caribbean themed cruise such as Romance, Music, Cruise4Haiti amongst many others.

Thanks again to Melissa for her great blog entry.  You can find Melissa on Twitter as well as on her own blog, Possible Vacations: Friends sharing travel stories.

Royal Caribbean has joined some other cruise lines in adopting policies to incorporate cage-free eggs into their dining operations.  Royal Caribbean worked with the Humane Society of the United States when they created their new policy.

Royal Caribbean will go from 3.2 million eggs to cage-free immediately, and will increase to 6.8 million within one year. The Human Society estimates this change will spare nearly 30,000 hens each year from being crammed inside tiny cages.

"Many vacationers take their concern for animals, food safety and sustainability with them when they travel, and we applaud Royal Caribbean and Carnival for taking those concerns seriously by reducing their reliance on eggs from caged hens," said Matthew Prescott, corporate outreach director of The HSUS' factory farming campaign.

The Cruise Lines International Association, a lobbying group that represents cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, spent $529,134 in the second quarter lobbying federal officials on immigration, seaport inspections and other matters, according to a recent report.

If the number seems large, it's actually down from the first quarter, when the CLIA spent $696,000.  This quarter's spending is also down from one year ago, when they spent $728,216 last year's second quarter.

The trade group, which represents cruise companies such as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Carnival Corp., also lobbied the federal government on legislation related to vessel sanitation, crew and passenger health issues, vessel waste and port security, among other topics.

The CLIA also lobbied the Department ofHomeland Security, State Department, Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard, among other agencies in the April through June period.