Royal Caribbean is doing its part to make another record cruise season for Sydney, Australia.  The city expects 265 visits before the cruise season ends in April 2013.

Many of the passengers that will help set that record will be traveling aboard Radiance of the Seas, including the 2100 people it brought to the city yesterday after a 17-night trip from Hawaii.

Royal Caribbean managing director of Royal Caribbean Cruise Australia expects up to 750,000 Australians to take a cruise in 2012.  That is a 34% increase from 2010 when just 620,000 Australians went on a cruise.  

''The stronger economy is providing a better return, and the better return is attracting a better quality of ship."

That's great news for Royal Caribbean and the cruise industry, considering there just a 4% increase in American cruises and 5% among British cruisers over the same period of time.

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas arrives in Sydney on November 22 and will bring even more passengers than Radiance.

Many of us have pondered just how Royal Caribbean manages to prepare all the food over the course of a cruise to feed its passengers and The Daily Traveler took a look behind the scenes at Royal Caribbean's food preparation to see how it's done.

Royal Caribbean vice president for food and beverage operations Frank Weber says time is importing, "We start loading around 7 a.m. in the morning, so we have until 3:30 p.m. to send something back to our produce supplier, like a pallet of tomatoes, and to get a replacement a little later in the afternoon."

Longshoremen then load supplies onto the ship. Royal Caribbean transfers the food from wooden pallets to metal trays, which can be more easily cleaned, to prevent ship contamination by anything that might have been on the wood. For similar reasons, other packaging, such as cardboard, is incinerated.

Technology assures smooth sailing by alerting crewmembers to how many passengers are grabbing a bite. Royal Caribbean, for instance, has head-counting cameras in the ceilings of its main dining areas that count when and where passengers are gravitating to and subsequently provide data that can be used to anticipate peak serving times.

The cruise ships offer simple menus so their cooks can prepare food to order and serve it at the perfect temperature (i.e. offering a single main version each of meat, poultry, and seafood).  The exception is the specialty restaurants onboard that serve a small, subset of passengers.

Simplified menus allow chefs to synchronize meal creation with the needs of diners. "We don't pre-cook the steaks and keep them in a warmer as you would in a typical hotel banquet operation," says Weber, describing a method that's common to better cruise lines. "And we don't plate food until the waiter is on the path to deliver it."

Royal Caribbean is planning to hold it's final WOW sale of the year from Monday, October 15 through to Wednesday, October 17.  The sale will offer half priced deposits on new cruise reservations as well as up to $200 onboard credit per cabin.

This WOW sale is valid on all worldwide sailings of three nights or longer departing after January 1, 2013.

• Cruises of 3 to 5 nights get US$50 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 6 to 9 nights get US$100 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 10 nights or more get US$200 onboard credit per stateroom

Royal Caribbean commercial director Adam Armstrong believes the WOW sale will help already strong 2013 sales figures, “Since these special offers also apply to all of our worldwide cruises, now is also a great time to start thinking about cruises further afield. For example, why not take advantage of current earlybird airfares to Europe and combine them with the ‘WOW Sale’ offers on one of over 280 cruises with Royal Caribbean in the Mediterranean and Scandinavia?”

A year and a half after Royal Caribbean opened an office in France, the company has decided to get rid of twenty of its 38 positions.

Royal Caribbean has decided to downsize the office, opting to have the financial services and reservations shared with the Royal Caribbean office in Spain.  The commercial and communication department will remain in Paris but rely on guidance from the Spanish office.

Spain's Royal Caribbean office opened in 2006 and shown double-digit growth in the number of customers every year, except for 2012.

In early 2011 Royal Caribbean decided to re-open an office in France, after it left the country 10 years earlier.  The economic crisis and the impact of the Costa Concordia disaster have all contributed to lowered expectations.  Royal Caribbean was hoping the office would help bring about 40,000 to 45,000 French passengers in the first year but that number ended up being 32,000.

The local merchants in Falmouth, Jamaica that hope to sell their crafts to tourists from Royal Caribbean cruise ships are upset that not enough money is being spent by tourists.  Locals say passengers simply are ignoring the merchants and opt to go on Royal Caribbean's excursions or shop at the chain shops on the pier.

Royal Caribbean partnered with Jamaica's port authority to build the $220 million port in Falmouth, where locals were told that they could expect tourists to spend about $100 each.  Locals say that just isn't the case.

"We were promised that we'd be able to show people our Jamaican heritage, sell our crafts. But most of the tourists stay far away from the local people," said Asburga Harwood, an independent tour guide and community historian. "We're on the losing end."

Royal Caribbean brand communications manager H.J. Harrison Liu commented on the criticism, "We don't discourage guests from going into the town of Falmouth, but many of our guests choose a Royal Caribbean excursion to see some of the country's beaches and famous attractions."

According to trade groups, about $2 billion a year is pumped into the economies of the Caribbean by the cruise ship industry.  Critics, however, say that all that money does not produce a lot of revenue for locals because most passengers dine and shop in international chain stores such as Colombian Emeralds or Diamonds International.

According to William Tatham, vice president of Jamaica's port authority, that's because the city is still adapting to its new role as a resort town. He noted that nearly all businesses in the town are aimed at locals, such as hardware suppliers, meat markets and general stores.

"The problem in Falmouth is that the residents are not tourist savvy," Tatham said.

ESPNatSEA announced a new schedule of  ESPN International live network sports viewing-cruise VIP events aboard select Royal Caribbean ships in 2013.

The new events are part of an initiative by ESPN to offer specialized viewing events to sports fans who also want to enjoy a cruise.  The first two inaugural events will be held aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas.

"Oasis MVP Cruise I" aboard Oasis of the Seas: 7-night cruise round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale to some the hottest Caribbean destination such as Labadee, Falmouth, Jamaica; and Cozumel, Mexico. The biggest football day of the year will be televised live at sea, so be prepared. Dates: February 2 to 9, 2013.

"Jewel MVP Cruise II" aboard Jewel of the Seas: Calling all women soccer fans and football lovers. The biggest day in football is not the only sporting highlight on this 5-night VIP cruise. There will also be a special focus on the international success and rising popularity of women's soccer. This cruise leaves from Tampa, stopping in Key West, Fla. and Cozumel, Mexico. Dates: February 2-7, 2013.

The events will include private VIP cocktail receptions with sport celebrities,behind-the-scenes participation in the production of popular ESPN International programs and sport event viewings.

Participation in both programs will NOT be offered on the cruises. However, interested parties who may have already booked their cruise can contact ESPNatSEA at [email protected] to register for the VIP Experience.

Royal Caribbean director of corporate incentive and charter sales, Lori Cassidy, commented on the partnership, "Royal Caribbean is very pleased to be the host of the two launch events for ESPNatSEA. ESPN and Royal Caribbean have a long history of supporting each other as partners in televised sporting events - for example ESPN International is a sponsor of the Royal 5K running events."

Royal Caribbean offers a wealth of food to try on your next cruise but an emerging trend aboard their ships are specialty restaurants that are not included in the base fare.  These restaurants focus on a particular cuisine or food style for an additional cost.

Cost of specialty restaurants

Royal Caribbean offers two cost structures to pay for their specialty restaurants: cover charge and a la carte.

Many restaurants have a simple cover charge per person to get in and then guests may order as much as they want from the menu (alcoholic beverages would be extra, like they are elsewhere on the ship).  Cover charges can range from a few dollars per person to $75.  Most are between $10-$30 per person.  

Some restaurants offer an a la carte menu, with a small cover charge.  Here, guests pay for admission and then pay an additional fee for each item they order off the menu.  You will typically find this pay structure at Izumi, a sushi restaurant.

Getting into the specialty restaurants

There are two ways to dine in one of the specialty restaurants aboard your Royal Caribbean cruise.  You may make a reservation for the restaurant either before your cruise even begins or during your cruise.  Reservations are a recommended way of ensuring a spot at the restaurant of your choice.  Specialty Restaurants can typically be reserved online up to 4 days before your sail date.  Advanced reservations are limited to parties of six persons or less in all Specialty Restaurants.

Alternatively, you can try simply showing up at the restaurant at the time of your choice and see if there's availability.  Quite often, there will be availability for restaurants to walk up to but popular restaurants may fill up, especially during popular dining hours.

What are the specialty restaurants available?

The specialty restaurants vary from ship to ship across Royal Caribbean's fleet but here is a list of all the restaurants available

• Chops Grille (Steakhouse)
• Portofino (Italian)
• Johnny Rockets (American)
• 150 Central Park (American)
• Izumi (Sushi)
• Solarium Bistro (American)
• Giovanni's Table (Italian)
• Samba Grill (Brazilian Steakhouse)
• Rita's Cantina (Mexican)
• Seafood Shack (Seafood)

Are the specialty restaurants worth it?

Many passengers we speak to generally enjoy the food at the specialty restaurants.  It's not to say that if you don't dine there, you will be disappointed with the complimentary food on the ship.  Rather, specialty restaurants are a perk that you can opt to pay for in the same way some people find it enjoyable buy a massage or gamble in the casino.

Generally speaking, the food at specialty restaurants can be of a finer quality than the complimentary food but personal tastes will vary.  Specialty restaurants are a great way to have a fun night out or celebrate special occasions. 

Royal Caribbean is launching a sale on select cruises on Tuesday, October 9th with a preview for Crown and Anchor Society members on Monday, October 8th.

The sale is on select cruises between October and November 2012 that look to be a means of filling up some cruises that have more cabins available than Royal Caribbean would like.

Included in the sale are itineraries aboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. There's also cruises to the Mediterranean, transatlantic, Bermuda, the Bahamas a lot to the Caribbean.

The sale is for new bookings and is not combinable with any promotional offers with the exception of Crown and Anchor benefits and onboard booking bonus.  A valid Crown & Anchor Society Loyalty number is required to book any sailing during the Crown and Anchor preview sale event and must accompany any reservation.

You can view the full list of cruises on sale here.