The brand new port of Falmouth, Jamaica is bustling with new cruise ship passengers who are visiting the port every week and that has local businesses excited.  So much so that the Trelawny Parish Council is overwhelmed with applications for vendor licenses on days when ships are in port.

Last month the Trelawny Parish Council started encouraging vendors to register after reports of some locals harassing cruise guests.  The council reports that in just four days, over 1000 applications have been submitted.

Falmouth Mayor Colin Gager isn't sure how to proceed, "We are overwhelmed by the number of venders who want to sell craft items and at this point we are not sure how we are going to accommodate all of them".

The original plans by the council called for between 20 and 25 vendors in Water square to be allowed on a rotating basis.  In addition, there would be another 50 allowed on the pier during a day when a cruise ship was docked.

This cool time lapse video shows lots of cruises and features many Royal Caribbean ships such as Jewel of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas & Majesty of the Seas and the Royal Caribbean private island of CocoCay.

Photo by Alexandra Lopes

On Royal Caribbean's official Facebook page and Twitter feed, the company issued a statement denying rumors that the cruise line was possibly going to sell Monarch of the Seas and/or Majesty of the Seas.

There have been inquiries, around rumors, asking if we are selling Majesty of the Seas and/or Monarch of Seas. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is not selling these nor any of its brands' ships.

The statement is in response to recent speculation in South Korean newspapers that Royal Caribbean was going to sell one or both of the ships to cruise ship operator "All That Cruise".

Also of interest was Royal Caribbean's choice to post the information on its Twitter and Facebook page in lieu of traditional means of conveying news.  It confirms Royal Caribbean's commitment to its social media initiatives.

When to actually book your next cruise is sometimes a bigger question than some may think.  Like anything, when you're booking a cruise, you want to make sure you're getting the best deal out there.  You don't want to go on your cruise knowing the guy two staterooms down from you got the same cabin as you for 25% off.  The fact of the matter is pricing for cruises is a very fluid and changing experience but with the right information, you can do your best to know when exactly to book.

Early!

For years Royal Caribbean has urged its customers to book early. It's a mantra that for a while was a nice suggestion but these days it's the truth.  The best prices for cruises on Royal Caribbean are when the cruise line first starts taking bookings.  Prices tend to rise as you get closer and closer to your sailing date, so waiting to book can actually cost you more money.

So why does the price increase as you get closer?  For one, it's a matter of supply and demand.  The more people that book, the less supply there is and therefore, the price rises.  In addition, Royal Caribbean wants people to book early so it can fill up their ships and by giving early birds financial incentive to book early, it helps Royal Caribbean accomplish that goal.

That's not to say that if you don't book 2 years in advance you will pay too much, but you do want to book your cruise as soon as humanly possible, especially once you know which cruise you want.  Remember, you can book your cruise and put down just a deposit which will lock in that price and then you have until final payment to cancel your cruise with full refund.  

The exception

So far the key phrase has been to book early, but there are exceptions.  If you're flexible with your cruise dates and destinations, there are plenty of last minute deals out there.  Royal Caribbean recognizes that in some cases their ships aren't quite full and when it gets close to the sail date, they can lower the price to encourage last minute bookings.  Frankly, there's no telling which cruise and when will offer these.  But if you live close enough to a cruise port that you could drive (and therefore last minute airfare would not be prohibitively expensive), a last minute cruise might be up your alley.

In my experience, the best last minute fares are for times of the year most people can't or wont cruise.  We're talking hurricane season or right before big holidays (with the idea that nobody takes vacation a week or two before a big holiday like Christmas since everyone gets that time already built in off).  There's usually a deal out there at any given time, but the degree of savings can vary greatly.  And of course there's the question of if whatever cruise is on sale even interests you. Basically, waiting for the last minute is a big crap shoot. 

Speaking at this year's Advantage conference, Royal Caribbean associate vice president for UK and Ireland Jo Rzymowska says that the ability to sell a cruise is no longer a speciality.

"If anybody thinks that selling cruise is still a specialism, then they are smoking something," she said.

To Rzymowska, agents must be able to specialize themselves to the various sectors of cruising and their respective markets, "What I do think is important is how you specialize within the in cruise sector itself. There is a great opportunity to differentiate within this massive sector. As specialists you should know your customers better and be able to understand what is important to them".

Rzymowska recommends agents pick which type of cruises they would like to specialize in and dedicate themselves to that, such as group travel or cruise themes.

Do you think travel agents need to do more than just book a cruise?  Does specialization and/or expertise mean more to you as consumers?

Royal Caribbean is trying to convince the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to introduce a special visa allowing passengers more than one entry to the country.

Royal Caribbean claims that the cost of having to buy several single-entry visas to sail to destinations in the UAE is hampering the growth of the cruise industry in the country.

The way things are set right now, tourists from most countries must purchase single-entry visas to enter the UAE.  This means cruise passengers through the Persian Gulf each have to buy up to three visas at a cost of $225 for all three.  This means a family of four would have to pay about $900.

A Royal Caribbean regional director Helen Beck sees this extra cost as inhibiting cruise growth in the UAE, "It's a challenge - it's an inhibitor to sales. It's a federal issue and at some point it will be resolved because the different authorities will all understand the impact it's having and the block it's having on growing.  The Russian market, China, those very large emerging markets that are required to get the single-entry visas for entering the UAE, that's a huge chunk of the world."

The UAE has become increasingly more popular with cruise line guests with the UAE expecting to draw 120 cruise ships with about 425,000 passengers this year.  By 2015, that number will grow to 180 ships and over 625,000 passengers.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) met with officials from Honduras to discuss further investment in the Latin American country.  Royal Caribbean is a member of the FCCA and already has a $12 million investment in the port of Roatan but is projected to spend more money in the coming years

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Caribbean Relations  Michael Ronan says Royal Caribbean is committed to the country, "We have projects for 2012 and 2013. We want to invest in the right way and productive for you, so we want to achieve a strong enough communication with Honduras and the region, which is why we developed this conference to find new routes".

Representatives of the cruise companies also discussed the creation of itineraries to include routes to Honduras where he currently is not.

To help make the situation easier on cruise guests, the FCCA members asked the government for greater language training in essential sectors such as taxi drivers and traders in the areas of advocacy, so that they know how to treat tourists .

"25% of tourists entering the country only has contact with the drivers, so ask to improve their skills to achieve a greater connection with visitors to take a tour," said Royal Caribbean representative.

After this meeting, the cruise will take the information to their teams to assess where they could establish new routes.

Photo by italyheaven

At this year's Seatrade Awards Ceremonial Dinner, Royal Caribbean was awarded  the "Investment in People" award for its “Building On Talent” leadership development program.

The Building on Talent program was created as a partnership between Royal Caribbean executives and Human Resources and is a multi-dimensional leadership development initiative.  The program identifies people in Royal Caribbean who are high-potential leaders and develops bench strength so leaders can potentially assume multiple roles throughout the company. Building on Talent's reach is global, both shipboard and shoreside, and cascades from senior executive to professional levels.

Royal Caribbean vice president, global chief and human resources officer Maria Del Busto was honored to receive the award on behalf of the company, “This special recognition is truly a testament to Royal Caribbean's continued dedication to nurturing our company's talent and creating our leaders of tomorrow.  By strategically managing our talent, and thoughtfully planning the successors of our key leadership roles, Royal Caribbean will be better positioned for the future.”