Royal Caribbean is supporting three new safety policies that was announced today by two cruise industry groups.

The Securing Heavy Objects policy stipulates that crew members on cruise ships will secure heavy objects such as pianos or treadmills when not in use.  In addition, there is a new lifejacket policy for newly constructed cruise ships that requires  for every passenger and crew member to be stowed in close proximity to either muster stations or lifeboat embarkation points.

Previous to this rule, cruise ships had many more lifejackets than were needed for every passenger and crew member, but on some vessels a large percentage of those lifejackets are stored in cabins, with fewer than one per person available at muster stations.

A third new safety policy unveiled today by the industry groups requires consistent procedures on ship bridges.

Royal Caribbean is part of the Cruise Lines International Association and the European Cruise Council along with other major cruise companies.   All of the safety initiatives were announced jointly.

The industry groups say the new Securing Heavy Objects policy already is being implemented, with lines carrying out fleet-wide inspections to ensure heavy objects are properly secured. The new policy will require heavy objects to be secured during rough weather in addition to during periods when they are not in use.

To avoid its cruise ships running into issues related to labor strikes that are scheduled to occur in Spain, Portugal and Greece, Royal Caribbean has altered itineraries for Independence of the Seas.

Independence of the Seas will skip a stop in Lisbon, Portugal on November 14 and will instead call upon Lanzarote, Spain.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Cynthia Martinez commented on the changes, "We were aware of the upcoming strikes and proactively made changes to some itineraries."

The general strikes are expected to last three days and disrupt air travel as well as public transportation. 

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas arrived in Adelaide, Australia today for her first stop down under.  

Locals expect that Voyager of the Seas' one-day visit will produce a $1 million boost to the economy of South Australia.  International Cruise Council Australasia general manager Brett Jardine is excited about what a ship like Voyager of the Seas means to the area, "That is probably a conservative estimate, but when you factor in an average of each passenger spending about $200 on shore tours, plus the extra spending on souvenirs, in bars and cafes, then any money the crew spend while ashore, as well as re-supplies for the ship, fuel and port charges ... it soon adds up."

Voyager of the Seas will instantly become Australia's biggest hotel, with 1556 rooms.  

Voyager of the Seas is scheduled to arrive at Outer Harbor from Fremantle at 5.30am and depart for Melbourne at 7pm. Voyager will be cruising to places such as New Zealand and South Pacific islands until March 12.

Royal Caribbean has done well in recent years in Australia but its plans for further growth may be running into a problem come 2014/2015 but there's still hope for the future.

Cruise ship capacity constraints in Sydney will impact Royal Caribbean come 2014 according to managing director Gavin Smith, who indicated that rival Carnival Cruise Line is holding slots for an additional, unnamed cruise ship.

Smith said itineraries are currently being developed for 2014/15 with Port Botany a potential solution to the problem.

"There are periods in February 2015 when there is no berth space and that is the summer when our growth plans could face material curtailment,” Smith told Travel Today. “It gets very tight from December to February so you finish up with sub optimal itineraries of 16 or 17 nights because you can’t get back to Circular Quay. That is certainly a limitation to our plans. We are working through that at the moment to see how we can get around it."

Royal Caribbean dodged this issue for 2013/2014 when Carnival booked a berth for an unnamed ship, but subsequently withdrew that berth and allowed Royal Caribbean to take up the extra spot.

While declaring it was “unhelpful” for a cruise line to book for a vessel which ultimately doesn’t materialize, Smith refused to condemn Carnival.

"We are all masters of the slow reveal. I can understand what Carnival is doing but it’s certainly unhelpful if they don’t ultimately deliver the ship."

"The potential at Port Botany is for us to say ‘we’ll commit to this ship if you commit to helping us work one of the container terminals.  But for us to make that commitment we’ve got to be very clear on what our deployments need to be."

Royal Caribbean also revealed it was in "active discussions" over developments in Brisbane for 2015/16 that would allow the company to expand into Queensland. Although Royal Caribbean already calls at Brisbane, it does not have permission for a full turnaround.

Royal Caribbean has seen its growth in the Italian cruise market triple in the last two years.  Despite stiff competition by Costa and MSC, Royal Caribbean has managed to experience significant growth.

Royal Caribbean General Manager for Italy, Gianni Rotondo, commented on the news, "In two years we have invested a lot in Italy and we have gone from 23 thousand to 70 thousand Italians on board."

Rotondo also mentioned that Italy is the number one country in Europe for transit and Royal Caribbean accounts for 7-8% of the domestic market accounts.

In terms of the effect the Costa Concordia disaster has had, Rotondo noted that "we have lost something on the average income per person is an average decline of about 10 percent."   While the average cruise fare has fallen, Royal Caribbean has managed to see "a simultaneous increase of 300 percent of the customers".

We're hearing that as of November 1, 2012, Royal Caribbean is allowing passengers to bring two bottles of wine per cabin onboard their cruise.

Passengers can bring the wine with them as they board the ship at embarkation.  The wine must be consumed in your cabin or balcony.  If you choose to drink the wine elsewhere on the ship, such as at a restaurant or at a bar, a $25 corkage fee will be applied.  

If you receive wine as a gift via Royal Caribbean, guests may consume the wine in their stateroom or at any of the public areas onboard the ship without incurring a corkage fee.

Guests are not allowed to bring any other alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased in ports-of-call or from Shops On Board will be stored by the ship and delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the sailing.

No open liquor bottles will be permitted to be brought into the dining areas or public areas.

Following the devastation by Hurricane Sandy, Cape Liberty cruise port in Bayonne, New Jersey is open again for departures and arrivals.

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas is in port today for an eight night cruise to the Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Cynthia Martinez said the Cape Liberty sustained some water damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy.  Once the storm passed, the Cape Liberty staff began working to prepare the terminal for the arrival of passengers today. All of the port's power is being produced by backup generation because the electricity has not been restored to the terminal building.

Royal Caribbean is dealing with refunds and rescheduling tickets for those who can't get to the port because of Hurricane Sandy on a case-by-case basis.

People who can't make their scheduled departure are encouraged to call (866) 562-7625.