Royal Caribbean is celebrating Mo Farah's Olympic gold medal win by announcing that it will waive the entry fee for the Royal 5K race for anyone that books the Royal 5K cruise before August 17.

The Royal 5K will be held in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten on December 4, 2012 and is the second year in a row the race is being held.  The race is open to all those cruising onboard Oasis of the Seas and the entry fee is normally $25 to participate.

The special race coincides with a cruise itinerary dedicated to running enthusiasts that includes running themed activities, such as:

• Social fun runs and beach workouts
• Private meet-and-greet sessions with high-profile racing athletes
• Seminars and lectures with high-profile athletes
• Personal training tips from experts
• Speed tests on the onboard running track

This new offer celebrates Mo Farah's gold medal performance in the men's 5K race that resulted in a time of 13 minutes and 41.66 seconds.  

Dominic Paul, Vice President and group managing director, Royal Caribbean Europe, commented, “Mo Farah’s electrifying performance has inspired the runner in all of us. With interest in our Royal Caribbean Runners groups really taking off and the fitness facilities onboard our ships busier than ever, we thought what better way to show our support for Team GB than by waiving the entry fee for this year’s Royal 5K race. From sports courts to surf simulators, making investments that get people active has always been a key part of Royal Caribbean International’s business and we’re thrilled to be paying tribute to one of our country’s finest athletes in hopes of encouraging experienced runners and novices alike to join us on a running themed holiday at sea.”

Photo by plusgreens

The island of Bermuda is seeing cutbacks of cruise ships stopping there across the board, including Royal Caribbean.  Royal Caribbean will cut back the number of calls they will be making to the island in 2013 by 11.

At the end of 2012, Explorer of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas will have visited Bermuda a total of 55 times between the two ships.  Next year, however, Grandeur of the Seas will replace Enchantment of the Seas and make ten less stops to Bermuda, for a total of 15 calls.

A spokesman from the Bermuda government commented on the change, "We had early discussions with Royal Caribbean to include additional Grandeur of the Seas calls from Baltimore, with a weekend stop in Bermuda and continuing to Maine and other locations in New England."

“Royal Caribbean decided that these cruises were not selling well, and decided not to include them in their 2013 itinerary."

“However, we will still have 15 calls from the Grandeur of the Seas in 2013. We will also have 29 calls from the Explorer of the Seas in 2013, compared to 30 Explorer calls in 2012. "

Royal Caribbean is teaming up with Food and Wine Magazine to offer its passengers a new program called, “The Art of Preparation” which is a multi-platform program featuring Food & Wine and Royal Caribbean International “Masters” in a branded content experience. Food & Wine Marketing and Mindshare co-developed “The Art of Preparation” specifically for Royal Caribbean.

This new program is designed to invite "foodies" to learn more about the culinary experiences available aboard any Royal Caribbean ship.  The first installment of the “The Art of Preparation” will roll out with co-branded rich media units across www.foodandwine.com, www.travelandleisure.com as well as select Time Inc. websites, and will run through Dec. 2012.

Hosted by Sissy Biggers, television personality and lifestyle expert, the two minute videos feature a look into each “Masters” area of expertise. The Food & Wine Masters line-up includes:

•  Brewing: Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery, NYC)
• Baking: Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito (Baked, NYC)
• Pizza: Mark Bello (Pizza a Casa Cooking School, NYC)
• Cocktails: Jim Meehan (PDT, NYC)
• Spices: Lior Lev Sercarz (La Boîte a Epice, NYC)
• Chocolate: Jean-Francois Bonnet (Tumbador, NYC

The Royal Caribbean International masters include:

•  Josef Jungwirth – Director of culinary operations and Master Chef
• Marco Marrama – Corporate executive chef
• Frank Weber – VP, food and beverage operations
• Matthias Terskow – Pastry chef and supervisor
• Fritz Halbedl – Chef and culinary consultan
•  Maureen “Molly” Brandt – Chef de Cuisine, 150 Central Park
• Travis Kamiyama – Executive sushi chef, Izumi Asian Cuisine
• Chef Michael Schwartz – Chef and owner of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and exclusive culinary partner of Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean is also the presenting sponsor of the “Masters Series: Lessons from the Experts,” editorial section.

The UK newspaper, The Telegraph, recently sent Jane Archer to review Splendour of the Seas after her $53 million revitalization.  Splendour is currently offering seven-night sailings around the Greek islands and Turkey, from Venice through November.

In terms of the new changes to Splendour, Archer thought the money spent helped give the ship new life but thinks, "a few more million should have been directed at paintwork and glass, which were looking very shabby in places."

In addition, the Centrum was retrofitted and given a new role but Archer wasn't that impressed, "As part of the refit, the atrium was renamed Centrum and given a new role as an entertainment area with girders installed above from which aerialists could perform. It has potential but the one show I saw during a seven-night cruise was most disappointing and over in a flash."

Archer also reported that the newly refurbished staterooms do offer new furnishings but the promise of an iPad in every stateroom has thus far only made into the suites onboard.

Royal Caribbean is stopping the practice of sending its passengers luggage tags in the mail prior to its cruises, effecting August 8, 2012.

Instead, bag tags will now be included as a page within the eDoc ticket booklets, which can then be printed and attached by the guest.  The exception will be for Crown & Anchor Society Pinnacle members and Suite guests (Grand Suites and above), who will still receive baggage tags in the mail.

At this time, this change only applies to Royal Caribbean International and not its sister companies Celebrity Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises.

Passengers can still get bag tags at the port they embark at, from the porters that handle the bags.  There's no indication as to why the practice of sending luggage tags in the mail is being stopped, although we can assume there's a cost savings benefit for Royal Caribbean.

You can watch the full episode of "Mighty Ships: Oasis of the Seas" that documents how this Royal Caribbean mega ship operates behind the scenes.