Royal Caribbean has announced its winter 2012-2013 sailings for Vision of the Seas, which will include itineraries that visit the Caribbean and Panama Canal.

Vision of the Seas will offer 10 to 15 night itineraries out of Port Everglades, Florida.  One special cruise will leave on December 24, 2012 and include stops in St Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Martinique and Royal Caribbean’s private island, Labadee.

There are a number of options aboard Vision of the Seas including 10-night Eastern Caribbean sailings that will make calls at Tortola, St. Maarten, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Croix and Martinique, with an 11-night itinerary calling into Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, St. Kitts, Dominica and St. Vincent, a maiden port of call for the line.

Two 14-night and two 15-night Panama Canal-transit sailings will also be offered, sailing from Port Everglades and San Diego respectively, along with two trans-Atlantic crossings sailing between Port Everglades and Southampton.

The 14-night westbound voyage will depart on 21 September 2012 from Southampton, calling into Gijo, Vigo, Lisbon and Ponta Delgada with the 13-night eastbound trip sailing from Port Everglades on 17 April 2013 visiting Lisbon, Vigo and Normandy.

For the first time ever, Royal Caribbean is offering cruises to the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean.  

Vision of the Seas will sail to the island as part of new 11-night itineraries out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Dec. 3, Dec. 24 and Feb. 4, 2013.

The St. Vincent cruise is just one of 19 new itineraries to the Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises that were announced for the 2012-2013 season.  Consumers can also choose from new 10-night Eastern Caribbean ships that include stops at Martinique.

Royal Caribbean will offer options in the 2011/2012 season to perform weddings onboard their ships that sail from Brazil. The bride and groom may hold the marriage ceremony on the Splendour of the Seas or Vision of the Seas, with three different package options: the Royal Happiness, the Royal and Royal Romance Eternity.

The symbolic ceremony lasts approximately one hour and is performed by one of the officers while the ship is moored in one of the authorized ports - Santos, Rio de Janeiro or Salvador. In addition to the guests who may accompany them on the cruise, the couple can invite up to 40 guests not to attend the celebration and reservations must be made up to two months in advance.

The partners Bedaque Marina Barbosa and Tamara were responsible for all training of the crew that will perform the symbolic ceremony.  There is also the choice of suppliers - as a band, cake and favors - enclosed in the package.  

Royal Caribbean is posed to name its second female cruise ship Captain aboard its Vision of the Seas ship later this month.  Lis Lauritzen is the woman who will command the ship.

Lauritzen follows in the footsteps of Karin Stahre-Janson, who is Captain of the Monarch of the Seas.  She was promoted to that rank in March 2007, becoming the first female captain of a major cruise ship.

Since Stahre-Janson, two other cruise lines have appointed woman to be in charge of cruise ships, including P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in 2010.

Royal Caribbean is planning a spending spree to upgrade its fleet of cruise ships over the next three years to help keeps its older ships competitive in the cruise market.  

This $300 million revitalization called "Royal Advantage", will allow most of its Vision, Voyager and Radiance class vessels to get a series of upgrades including

• Restaurants from Oasis Class of ships
  • Chops Grille steakhouse
  • Rita's Cantina Mexican restaurants
  • Izumi Restaurant (sushi)
  • Chops Grille (Steak house)
  • Park Café (sandwiches and salads)
  • Boardwalk Doghouse (brats and wieners)
• New cabin designs
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Wi-fi throughout ship
• Digital Wayfinding Systems
• Oversized LED video screens on pool decks

There's more planned but no details are available quite yet.  These changes sound quite similar to the changes that have already been made to ships such as Radiance of the Seas mostly recently.

These overhauls will require each ship to enter into a lengthy drydock process where the ship will get its upgrades.  The schedule of upgrades are as follows

1. Splendour of the Seas - November 2011
2. Rhapsody of the Seas - March 2012
3. Grandeur of the Seas - May 2012
4. Serenade of the Seas - November 2012
5. Legend of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
6. Vision of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
7. Navigator of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
8. Voyager of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
9. Explorer of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
10. Adventure of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
11. Brilliance of the Seas - 2013 or 2014

We know that the overhaul for Splendour, Grandeur and Serenade of the Seas will take place in Cadiz, Spain after Royal Caribbean signed a deal to have those ships rehauled there last month.

Royal Caribbean also mentioned that Independence of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas will receive smaller, less significant upgrades.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein is excited about the changes that will help keep the cruise line competitive, "The Royal Advantage revitalizations takes many of the best features that we have created in recent years and introduces them across our fleet, offering our guests enhanced vacation choices around the world."

Photo by Tom Stevenson

Royal Caribbean has started a promotion to create a special announcement commemorating his two years in Brazil.

"You are the star of two years of Royal Caribbean" will be the campaign running with a photo of a guest of the company.  To enter the contest, the participant must upload a photo of him or herself on board a Royal Caribbean ship to any of its social media outlets (facebook, twitter, flickr, orkut, picasa, etc.) and send a link to the email address [email protected].

The best photo wins a mini cruise on board the Vision of the Seas will be the subject of the announcement and celebration.

Royal Caribbean continues its project of promoting social lunches for organizations located in ports where its ships make stops, this time in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

About 70 senior citizens attended with social worker Sister Dulce.  They came aboard Vision of the Seas in El Salvador and were excited to board the ship for the first time. In Rio de Janeiro, almost 60 children from the NGO Viva Cazuza and Child Health also had lunch on the ship.

This program of social outreach started in December and continues today, "The action represents a way found by the company to contribute to the work done by these entities and offer a chance, unknown to many, to meet a ship and live an unforgettable holiday experience," says the CEO of Royal Caribbean in Brazil, Ricardo Amaral.

Photo by Elaine Escorcio

Royal Caribbean is offering a sports and fitness program on an upcoming Vision of the Seas cruise, February 5 to 12, 2011, dubbed Royal Life. 

The cruise features seven nights on board, with an intense schedule, for both adults and children, with activities such as spinning classes, rhythms, hydrobike, pilates, yoga (at sea and ashore), kids yoga and contest for the whole family, besides trekking Buzios accompanied by monitors. Best of all, the activities will take place overlooking the sea and the beautiful beaches of Brazil and the menus will always be a choice of dishes lighter and healthier.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend lectures by experts as Szerman Ward, manager of the health and beauty and pioneer in the practice of aerobics in Brazil and in the implementation of PAS in the country. In Ilhabela, guests may participate in a volleyball clinic with Marcelo Negrao, Olympic champion and former national team player. There will also be lectures nutrition, with tips on how to build a healthy menu.

In addition to Ilhabela, the scales of the ship include Rio de Janeiro, Buzios and Salvador. The loading can be done in Santos (February 2) or Rio de Janeiro (February 6).

Guests will also enjoy moments of relaxation in leisure areas of Vision of the Seas , which has two pools, six whirlpools, spa, solarium, theater, shops and beauty salons, distributed in 11 decks. The ship has capacity for over 2,400 guests.