Royal Caribbean has awarded WR Systems the right to supply its Emsys (Emissions Monitoring System) to Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship.

The Emsys system will monitor performance and provide emissions compliance data for an EcoSpec Exhaust Gas Cleaning System. This new tech will be installed sometime in mid-2011.  This is a test program to see if it can be implemented fleet wide to reduce Royal Caribbean's environmental footprint.

The Emsys system is based on solid-state Laser technology and has been awarded full Type Approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in line with the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) MARPOL Annex VI NOx Regulations, and the IMO Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Guidelines. The system also carries the MED wheelmark.

The Emsys system is unique in that it includes the first sensor that can measure Particulate Matter that is "outside of the stack".  This is important because it reduces the capital cost and eliminates the need to install sensitive measurement equipment in each of the monitored exhaust stacks. The integral Particulate Matter sensor has been developed to meet the requirements of the forthcoming US 'Emissions Control Area' (ECA) regulations, where Particulate Matter has been included in the regulatory language.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President of Marine Operations, William S. Wright, chose Emsys because of its low maintenance and high accuracy capabilities, "It is important for RCL to demonstrate, with the highest accuracy and traceability, the emissions reduction performance of the EcoSpec emissions abatement system. As part of our on-going environmental commitment to reduce our air emissions, the Emsys system can provide the necessary data for both compliance purposes and our own internal technology evaluation criteria".

There is a big party today at the port of Ravenna, Italy to celebrate the inauguration of the new cruise terminal , which partner Royal Caribbean has a hand in .    After the ceremony to open the new cruise terminal, authorities and journalists boarded Voyager of the Seas, the first of the  Voyager Class ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet , which this year will be calling 20 times in the port of Romagna, for a total of nearly 77,000 passenger movements.

On the other side of the dock is Brilliance of the Seas, one of four elegant Radiance class from Royal Caribbean.

Voyager of the Seas is the big news this year in the Adriatic where she is positioned for the first time in Italy, from Venice. Voyager of the Seas offers weekly cruises with stops in Koper, Ravenna, Bari and Dubrovnik and overnight at Venice.  In the Adriatic, Voyager of the Seas joins Splendour of the Seas , which sails between Greek Islands and Turkey with more than 10 and 11 nights departing from Venice, and confirms the growing interest in Royal Caribbean towards the Italian market.

Voyager of the Seas is therefore not the only ship of the group to touch Ravenna: Brilliance of the Seas will sail through the Mare Nostrum for the whole" summer.

Photo by Daria Rebbecchi

Representatives from Royal Caribbean along with five other cruise lines visited the port of Santander, Spain today in a reconnaissance trip being made to the tourist area in the north of Spain.

Today and tomorrow, these representatives will look at tourist destinations in Cantabria Santander, Santoña, Laredo, Castro Urdiales, Park Cabárceno Soplao Cave, Altamira, Santillana del Mar, Comillas and San Vicente de la Barquera.

The visit is organized by Cruise Forum, an organization for the promotion of Santander as a destination for cruise ships and to improve the quality of services received by the passengers of such vessels on its scale in the port of Santander.

Voyager of the Seas played host while in Venice on Saturday to announce "Opera on Ice", an unique initiative planned for October 1 in Verona, Italy.

Opera on Ice is designed to display great Opera music through the magic of skating  .Accompanied by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona, artists will perform the music of Don Giovanni, Aida, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, Turandot and Tosca.

Carolina Kostner will be the godmother who will share the track with the greatest representatives of the sport, including Olympic champion Stephane Lambiel

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas finished a $19 million upgrade recently and the hard work to retrofit the vessel with new restaurants, cabins and other modern improvements are thanks to the workers of Victoria Shipyard in British Columbia, Canada.

The workforce received praise from the Royal Caribbean team tasked with overseeing the work on Radiance thanks to their hard work and diligence to keep the project finished on-time.

Thumping Canada's chest here, all the senior managers on this project were lavish in their praise of the Canadian workers. The captain, Claus Andersen, raved especially about the quality of the work being performed. That's high praise from a crew that works with shipyards around the world.

There's hope for the Victoria Shipyards that the fine job done with Radiance of the Seas will translate to getting a piece of the $35 billion earmarked for new and remodeled ships for the Canadian navy over the next few decades.

Radiance has begun a summer itinerary to Alaska now that she is out of dry dock.

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is making her visit visit to Maine of the year on Saturday and she's also the first large cruise ship of the season to visit Portland.

Carrying about 2,250 passengers, Enchantment will leave on Sunday afternoon and head to Bar Harbor, Maine next.  The cruise is part of a New England and Canada itinerary.

Officials in Portland, Maine are expecting about 86,000 cruise passengers this year spread across 59 ships.

Can you imagine nine sea days? Can you imagine nine sea days on your first cruise?  Curt Brandao's first foray into cruising was aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas from Bahrain in the Middle to East to Spain in Europe.  His cruise included nine straight days at sea, a Royal Caribbean record, and he wrote about his experience.

Some said it was the cruise equivalent to making Mount Everest your first hike. Actually, there is no cruise equivalent to hiking Everest, which is, indeed, part of the appeal of cruising - but that's the kind of hyperbole that begins to make sense after several days on the water.

We found our first day on the ship was like the first day at a new school. We got lost a lot, staring at deck maps near the elevators for minutes and not seconds. But it was a lot to take in. While not the biggest floating hotel on the water (a title that belongs to one of its sister ships, the 360-metre Allure of the Seas), the nine-year-old, 293-metre Brilliance of the Seas has 12 decks and can hold more than 2,500 passengers. From rock-climbing walls to pools and Jacuzzis to golf simulators, not to mention a cinema and a two-tier theatre for live performances, it takes a while to learn not only where to go, but what you can do once you get there.

The beds were particularly cosy. The bathrooms were cramped, of course, but the water pressure in the tiny shower was better than in my last four apartments. For the last week of the cruise, we managed to get a cabin upgrade, which afforded a few more square metres of space and a private balcony just in time for great views of Sicily and Italy.

Ultimately, it was like summer camp in the ocean, and I'm glad I went. I feel so brave.

The newly opened cruise port of Falmouth (developed by the Port Authority of Jamaica in partnership with Royal Caribbean) is so busy with ships stopping there now that it has overtaken Ocho Rios as the busiest on the island, according to data from the PAJ and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).

Much of the crowds coming to Falmouth is thanks to Royal Caribbean's massive Oasis class ships that visit each week, carrying some 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew.

Falmouth's effect is being felt all over the island as this month alone has seen a 41% rise in total cruise passengers at Falmouth, Montego Bay, Ochio Rios and Port Antonio compared to a year ago.

From February to April 2011, the Falmouth pier has had almost 100,000 passengers and 34,650 crew pass through which in turn has generated roughly US$8.7 million in passenger expenditure.

The Jamaica Public Bodies 2011-12 doesn't want to forget about Ochio Rios and plans to keep the former leader competitive, "To further capitalize on developments in the cruise industry and maintain a secured position in this area, plans are also in place to upgrade the Ocho Rios cruise ship pier".

Thanks to the rapid growth of the Spanish cruise market, Royal Caribbean has created a new position of Regional Head of Sales, North Central Spain, including Madrid, Castillaand León, La Rioja, Navarra, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.

The new position will be occupied by Andres Zambrano, who takes position after more than two years playing the role of Account Manager, has a spotless reputation and extensive experience in the sector.  His leadership has allowed him to assume the role of Regional Head of Sales for Central and Northern region of Spain, a strategic location for the company with great growth potential, primarily due to the arrival this year of Liberty of the Seas Barcelona and the Adventure of the Seas, which starts operating at the port of Valencia.

Andres Zambrana, as a strong figure of the sales team at Royal Caribbean, will bring its experience and its treatment and experienced team and good relationships with travel agencies in these areas in order to strengthen and further expand the success of Royal Caribbean in the Central and North of the country.