Cruise tourism in Abu Dhabi is going to get a bump when Royal Caribbean sends its recently revamped Serenade of the Seas to the middle eastern city in 2012-2013.  Serenade of the Seas replaces Brilliance of the Seas  and will mark the first time Serenade of the Seas has served the Middle East market.

Serenade of the Seas will make 17 stops in the UAE capital starting in January 2013.

Royal Caribbean Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Helen Beck, commented on the news, "The resilience of the Middle East market is very encouraging. Bringing a new-look Serenade of the Seas to the region is testament to that belief. She will undergo a complete renovation and will boast a number of new food and beverage outlets and attractions that haven’t been seen here. It will certainly up the game for the regional industry."

The Diabestes Daily Post is planning to conduct an educational and motivational diabetes cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas on January 7, 2013.

The cruise is tailored for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients to help promote better management, awareness and course-changing experiences.

Those that sail on this cruise will receive a board and comprehensive education including a diabetes-exercise session and onboard two-mile fun walk for diabetes to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association.

The cruise will feature  Jorge Prada, MD, an Educator and Diabetes Researcher, Susan Sloane Pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator, a member of American Diabetes Association board of director and Charles Liu, Clinical Pharmacist with special interest in Type 2 Diabetes.

Royal Caribbean announced it is planning on home porting Enchantment of the Seas in Port Canaveral in 2013 to do 3 and 4 night cruises to the Bahamas.

Enchantment of the Seas will begin sailing from Port Canaveral on April 25, with three- and four-night itineraries to the Bahamas.  Enchantment replaces Monarch of the Seas, which is being transferred out of the fleet.  Monarch’s last sailing from Port Canaveral is scheduled for March 29.

Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Stan Payne commented on the news, "I’m really very excited about this, and you should be, too."

Enchantment will join Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral and is scheduled to be upgraded in December, with added onboard amenities and other renovations.

Royal Caribbean is planning on bringing Grandeur of the Seas back to Baltimore to offer year-round cruises in the spring of 2013 after she receives a $48 million renovation.

Grandeur of the Seas had previously sailed out of Baltimore from 2004 to 2009 before being replaced by Enchantment of the Seas.  Once Grandeur arrives, it will replace Enchantment and offer cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda and New England and Canada..

Baltimore officials are happy with the change since the makeover Grandeur will receive should be an upgrade in terms of ship and it will offer people sailing out of Baltimore similar amenities that can be found in Royal Caribbean's larger ships.

Grandeur of the Seas is set to receive as part of her makeover new dining options, lounges, nursery for children, Wi-Fi service and an outdoor video screen overlooking the pool deck.

Royal Caribbean plans to have the first cruise out of Baltimore on May 3, 2013 to Bermuda.  After, Grandeur will offer six-, seven-, eight- and 10-night cruises.

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas made her maiden stop at Yeosu, South Korea yesterday to coincide with the opening week of World Expo 2012 in the city.

Yeosu is the newest South Korean destination for Royal Caribbean International, after Seoul, Busan and Jeju.

Royal Caribbean's regional director of Asia Pacific, Kelvin Tan, commented on the occasion, "Legend of the Seas’ call at Yeosu is the highlight of this cruise. We have been specially planning for this for over a year – for our ship to arrive at the Expo right in the middle of the festivities.”

The stop in Yeosu is part of an 8-night cruise out of Yokohama, Japan to Shanghai, China.  Legend of the Seas is offering a number of cruises ranging from six to ten nights to South Korea, Japan and China.  

Royal Caribbean will send Brilliance of the Seas to Tampa in 2013-2014, replacing Jewel of the Seas.

Brilliance of the Seas will offer four and five-night western Caribbean cruises with stops in Cozumel, the Cayman Islands and either Key West or George Town.

Prior to arriving in Tampa, Brilliance will enter drydock in May 2013 and be revitalized to give it a major refurbishment including New onboard dining and entertainment options, revitalized staterooms, and other amenities including Wi-Fi, digital way-finding systems and an outdoor LED video wall.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain was awarded the Seatrade Personality of the Year 2012 award at a dinner held at London's Guildhall.

About 400 people witnessed the 24th annual Seatrade Awards, which is a shipping industry event that recognizes companies in the areas of safety at sea, clean shipping and innovation, as well as individuals that make significant contributions to the shipping industry.

Seatrade chairman Chris Hayman spoke about why Fain deserves the award, "through his exceptional leadership and perseverance Royal Caribbean has blossomed in different directions to become a global cruise company operating 40 ships under the Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France brands."

Fain was praised for two achievements at Royal Caribbean: Overseeing the remarkable development in the hardware of the product, ‘not just size and volume but the transformation of the onboard experience incorporating elements that no one would have even dreamt about 25 years ago’; and secondly globalisation, both in deployment of cruise ships and sourcing of passengers. ‘Under his leader ship the company has moved ships to Asia, Middle East, South America and other parts of the world which are now all considered as major destinations and sources of passenger growth,’ he added.

Fain accepted the award and offered a few words of thanks for the honor, "I take this award with great humility. To receive this honor from Seatrade, handed to me by the IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, is very much a reminder of how important it is that each and every one of us in this great industry to which I have devoted my business career, maintains a high level of excellence."

"I am unusual in this room in that there are not many people who have crossed over from real shipping to cruising. When I first joined Royal Caribbean 90% of our ships sailed from Miami, within a few minutes reach of our offices, now more than 50% of our business is coming from outside the US."

Voyager of the Seas has become the largest cruise ship to ever dock at Port Rashid in Dubai after arriving this morning.

Voyager sailed from Barcelona on April 30 and stopped in Alexandria, Egypt and then passed through the Suez Canal on her way to Dubai.

Voyager of the Seas is making a stop in Dubai as she makes her way to Asia to re-locate to the region.  This summer, Royal Caribbean has plans to have Voyager of the Seas offer cruises out of Singapore and Shanghai with a series of 4 to 7-night itineraries to ports of call in Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.  Following those cruises, Voyager of the Seas will head south to Australia and New Zealand.

Royal Caribbean has released their schedule of cruises to the Caribbean for 2013-2014 and are now open for bookings.

Royal Caribbean is planning cruises for Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas to bring a total of 140 sailings across 31 itineraries what will make stops at 20 different ports.

New to the schedule will be cruises out of New Orleans, Lousiana aboard Serenade of the Seas.  The first cruise out of the Big Easy will be a 9-night Caribbean cruise on December 12, 2013 that will stop at Key West, Nassau, Labadee & Ocho Rios.  Following that cruise, Serenade will alternate between 7-night cruises to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean.

It will be business as usual for Oasis and Allure of the seas.  They will continue their popular 7-night western and eastern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades, Florida.

Also calling Port Everglades home will be Independence of the Seas, who will offer 6-night cruises to the western and eastern Caribbean.

Freedom of the Seas will continue to operate out of Port Canaveral, Florida and alternate between 7-night eastern and western sailings.  

Finally, Navigator of the Seas will debut in Galveston, Texas with two western Caribbean cruises.  Both are 7-night sailings and one itinerary calling at Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, while the other at Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (Belize) and Cozumel.