The new unlimited alcohol packages are now available for pre-purchase online prior to getting aboard your Royal Caribbean cruise.  

Royal Caribbean announced the all-you-can drink beverage packages last month and initially the package was available to purchase on the first day of your cruise.  Now, guests may pre-purchase the package online to expedite the process.

The package can be purchased via the Royal Caribbean website by logging in and going to "My Cruises" and then finding the "Alcoholic Beverage Packages" link.

Both the classic beverage package and premium beverage packages are available for purchase. The classic package costs $45 per person, per day and includes all beers, $6.25 or less, house wines by the glass, non-alcoholic cocktails & fountain soda and juices.  The premium beverage package costs $55 per person, per day and includes all well, call, and premium brand cocktails, all beers, frozen cocktails, house wines by the glass, non-alcoholic cocktails & fountain soda and juices.

The drink packages are available on all sailings 4 nights or longer and must be purchased by all guests in your stateroom, 21 years of age or older.  Package prices already include gratuity,

At the Seatrade Hong Kong Cruise Forum, experts predict that by the year 2020, 7 million passengers will be cruising in Asia compared to 1.7 million in 2011.  This goal will mean one of out five cruisers will be from Asia if the predictions hold true.

Royal Caribbean regional vice president and chairman of the Asia Cruise Association, Zinan Liu, said that Royal Caribbean has the most tonnage dedicated to Asia currently. 

According to Liu, Royal Caribbean has 276,000 gross tons followed by Star Cruises at 259,749 tons and Costa Cruises at 160,785 tons.

Royal Caribbean vice president for commercial development, John Tercek, says one challenge for the cruise line succeeding in Asia is tailoring the cruise line offerings to the Asian market.

"We are in a bit of an experimental stage," Tercek said.  "The potential is fantastic, but it's a question of what do the local clients want to do, and can we accommodate it?"   

One such difference is Asians prefer shorter cruises, as opposed to European and North American cruisers.  Asians typically like cruises of 5-nights or less while Americans and Europeans prefer 12-14 night cruises.  Another example is cruises out of China skip sun-bathing ports because Chinese guests tend not to enjoy sunbathing in harsh sunlight.

Perhaps the biggest challenge currently is the lack of ports in Asia that can handle the large cruise ships that Royal Caribbean has in its fleet. Of the 80 potential ports in Asia that were outlined by Liu, most lack the capacity to handle large ships such as Voyager of the Seas, which recently arrived in Asia.

Tercek believes the arrival of ships like Voyager of the Seas will help increase port capacity, "Wherever we take that ship, others follow because we cause the infrastructure to be built."

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on February 4, 2013 at 10am to discuss its fourth quarter 2013 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

In an interview with Marketplace, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein talked about how cruise vacations are a luxury vacation for the rest of us.

More than 10 million Americans take a cruise for their vacations and it represents a good value for consumers still.

"The United States is still clearly the No. 1... market for cruisers in the world," Goldstein told Marketplace. "There are about 20 million people a year in the world taking a cruise right now and 11 or 12 [million] come from the United States."

"It's definitely become more available, when I got into the business in 1988 we aspired to be a mainstream vacation," Goldstein said. "It's definitely become more accessible but what the last few years of challenges, economically, have posed to us is the need to really get across the value message of what is included in the cruise purchase."

The value of a cruise is a big deal, considering industry market research firm Cruise Market Watch says the typical ticket price for a cruise passenger is $1311 whereas a 2010 American Express survey found the average American family will spend $4,000 on a vacation including airfare.

"First of all, we draw pretty broadly, obviously we offer upscale vacations," Goldstein said. "We are looking at household income of probably something like $75,000 and up generally speaking. The vast majority of our cruisers I would say would be middle and upper-middle class."

The Australian raised concern over the price of a Royal Caribbean cruise for Australians compared to other nationalities.  In the example, a 14-night cruise from Sydney to Auckland was quoted at $1900 per person for someone in Australia while a US-based travel agency online gave a quote of $1100 per person for the same cruise.

Royal Caribbean Australia managing director Gavin Smith addressed the issue and surmises the pricing disparities are a lot like the cost of Evian mineral water, "It is manufactured in France, but it is priced differently around the world."

Smith says generally speaking, the community living closes to the departure port of a cruise will pay the lowest price because they can travel with shorter lead time.

 "A Voyager of the Seas cruise [out of Australia] is cheaper for an Australian than for an American because we are trying to drive volume locally, [so] we adjust the price.

"It is not a deliberate intent by the cruise lines to price differentially between markets.

"We don't encourage Australians to book through non-Australian websites ... if you book through a foreign travel agent, you don't enjoy the [same] consumer protection," he concludes.

Royal Caribbean is offering its brand new premium alcoholic drink package for two on select cruises when you book a balcony or higher category stateroom.

You can choose from one of these four trans-Atlantic sailings to qualify for the free drink package

• Navigator of the Seas’ 15-night sailing from New Orleans to Rome (Civitavecchia), Rome on April 6
• Independence of the Seas’ 13-night sailing from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Southampton, U.K. on April 7 
• Brilliance of the Seas’ 11-night sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Lisbon, Portugal on April 13
• Adventure of the Seas’ 14-night sailing from San Juan to Southampton on April 21  

The alcohol drink package usually costs $55 per person, per day. The premium beverage package includes house wines, beers under $6.25 each, fountain sodas, and well, call and premium brands of liquors and frozen drinks at restaurants, bars and lounges when open.  

The offer is only for residents of the United States and Canada on new bookings made between January 24 and February 15, 2013, in balcony and higher category staterooms.

As part of Royal Caribbean's Revitalization program to upgrade all of its cruise ships to include amenities first introduced on the Oasis of the Seas, Independence o the Seas has recently been scheduled to have its upgrade take place in April 2013.

Independence of the Seas will receive

• Outdoor movie screen
• Cupcake Cupboard
• Digital Signage
• Pervasive Wi-Fi
• Nursery 
• Giovanni’s Table specialty restaurant

The $7 million refurbishment will take two weeks, at which point Royal Caribbean will deploy Independence of the Seas to Southampton, England where on May 2, 2013 she will begin her summer season.  Some of the itineraries offered include some new shorter sailings such as a two-night cruise to Le Havre for Paris and three-night cruises to Le Havre for Paris and Zeebrugge for Bruges. 

InformationWeek spoke with Royal Caribbean's Chief Information Officer Bill Martin about how the cruise line uses iPads aboard its cruise ships.  For a while now, Royal Caribbean has offered iPads for guest use in select suite staterooms. 

The iPads let guests order room service, make reservations for events on and off the ship, watch movies from the onboard movie library, and receive customized offers for onboard spas and restaurants.

Martin spoke about how currently Royal Caribbean opts to swap out iPads in the same way they change bed sheets.  The "old" iPad is swapped out for a fresh one that is ready to go, while the "old" iPad is taken to an IT office onshore and completely re-imaged.  This is done to ensure any photos or changes made by the previous guest aren't seen by the next guest.

Martin indicated that while this operation is sufficient for now, the cruise line wants to eliminate offering iPads and instead develop apps for guest use.  

"So many people have these now. And we're starting to see other mobile devices come into the picture, not just Apple's" Martin said.

Royal Caribbean wants to provide the app only and for all devices, including iPads, Kindles or Android.

Martin has been relying on outside developers for tablet apps and development. But the company is "going to have to bring some of that in house," he says, so that it doesn't have to contract outside for every project and can call a vendor's bluff when needed.

Martin also talked about the need for WiFi throughout the ship and for better onboard internet.  He acknowledges that 75 cents per minute for internet "sounds ridiculous" so Royal Caribbean's recent deals with O3b will help with that problem as well.