According to Channel 5 in Belize, investors with ties to Royal Caribbean have acquired land in the Placencia area "for the establishment of a cruise tourism village".

No further news on this development, but the clear consensus among residents of Placencia Village are against it.  

The Trelawny Parish Council is in favor of the Jamaican state-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC's) proposal to pedestrianise Falmouth's town center area on days when cruise ships would dock there.  In the proposal, the entire business-centric Water Square will be isolated from vehicular traffic on days when cruise ships making calls at the soon to be developed Falmouth pier.

The Falmouth business community are largely against the idea, citing that the proposal would impact negatively on their businesses.

"It will kill the commerce of the town...all the stores in the centre of the town including Courts (furniture store), the pharmacies, the Trelwany Co-operative Credit Union, NCB (National Commercial Bank) the lawyer office, myself, supermarkets as well as all the stores along Seaboard Street will be affected," said Richard Shirley, a gas station operator, whose businessplace is located on the periphery of the small town centre in a recent interview with the Observer West.

Mayor of Falmouth Colin Gager disagrees with the businesses, claiming that "It will not affect them because Market Street would still be opened to vehicular traffic so motorists could still have access to Mr Shirley's gas station, for instance".  Gager added that it would be necessary to pedestrianise the town on ship days because of the expected large number of cruise ship visitors.

Starting in November, cruise ships will start making calls at the Falmouth pier, which is being developed at a cost of $7.5 billion by the Port Authority of Jamaica in collaboration with the Royal Caribbean.

CNN posted an interesting article asking the question if one can lose weight while on a cruise. After all, the stereotypical view of cruises is that they are a floating smorgasbord.  According to Royal Caribbean, most guests consume way more food at the beginning of their cruise than by the end of it.  Frank Weber, the vice president of food and beverage operations for Royal Caribbean says statistics show that in the first few days of a cruise, more food is consumed by guests but after that, passengers slow down.  

To help passengers avoid packing on the pounds, Royal Caribbean offers health-conscious options known as "Vitality"

"[The Vitality option is] a three-course meal that has 800 calories or less," said Royal Caribbean's Weber, who added that the calorie count has been added to the menu. "At the buffet, the healthier options are marked with the Vitality logo. On the Oasis, our newest ship, we also created an entire buffet restaurant that is dedicated to healthy food."

In addition, Weber added that he fully expects future cruise ships to have restaurants dedicated to eating healthy while older vessels might have one restaurant that is retrofitted for healthier food.

So why the change in eating healthier?  Weber attributes a change in popular culture, thanks in part to TV starts like Jillian Michaels and celebrity chefs who help make healthful eating more popular.

"It's not so much about going on a specific diet," he said. "The guests still want to enjoy food, but they are aware of the impact, so it becomes about balance. So some days, they might enjoy themselves, and the next day, they will eat a salad for lunch."

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that forbids cruise lines from dumping sewage off the coast of California.  The proposal covers nearly all of California's shoreline and applies to passenger ships larger than 300 tons and to all other oceangoing vessels larger than 300 tons that have sufficient sewage holding tank capacity.

A statement by the EPA claims the ban would stop 20 million gallons of sewage from entering California coastal waters.

A spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association, which represent the world's major cruise lines including Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, tells USA TODAY its members as a policy never release sewage within three miles of coastal waters. Moreover, says the association's Lanie Fagan, a California state law already bans the practice.

The current laws of international maritime law do allow for the discharge of untreated sewage by ships at least 12 miles from a shoreline.

This new rule will allow for 60 days of comment before going for a vote.

Royal Caribbean released its 2009 Stewardship Report yesterday and in it, quite a bit of information regarding the cruise line's environmentally conscious initiatives were outlined in it. Chief among them was Royal Caribbean cut fuel consumption by 3.7 percent in 2009 thanks to better designed ships, smarter sailing practices and energy efficiency measures that include installing solar window film in every ship in the fleet.

In 2009, roughly 4 million passengers traveled on a Royal Caribbean ship to 400 destinations and according to the report, 

The reduction of 3.7 percent less fuel per available passenger cruise day (APCD) beat a year-over-year reduction goal of 2 percent and consuming about 30,000 metric tons less in fuel than planned. Royal Caribbean compared this reduction in pollution to taking 13,000 mid-sized sedans off the road for a year.  Royal Caribbean boasted that since 2007, it has reduced fuel consumption by 7 percent per available passenger cruise day.

Royal Caribbean's immediate goal is to reduce fuel consumption per APCD by at least 2.5 percent each year and plans to set higher targets as new technologies develop.

Chairman and CEO Richard Fain commented in the report, "In our daily operations, we face two primary energy challenges: How to efficiently utilize clean, secure and affordable energy, and how to minimize our impact on the environment related to our air emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint."

Photo by Cloneguy800

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending in the summer of 2011 as many cruise ships to Europe as ever before. Eleven ships will be in operation in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, the company said in Frankfurt, Germany.

That's three more ships than in the current summer season 2010. Also announced, the Brilliance of the Seas in the winter season 2011/12  will be reinstated in the Persian Gulf. The first tour to/from Dubai begins in November 2011 and that two months earlier than in the coming winter season.

The port authority in Malaga, Spain reported in the months of June, July and August this year, a total of 44,030 passengers disembarked in the port, representing an increase of 9,169 percent over the same period last year.  Additionally, a total of 45,717 people embarked on a cruise ship from the port, a 11,105 percent increase over the same period of 2009.

Cruise companies like Royal Caribbean have been responsible for the increase in traffic to the city.

Royal Caribbean has released its second annual Stewardship Report that highlights Royal Caribbean's safety, security, medical/public health and environmental efforts.

The 2009 Stewardship Report provides insight into Royal Caribbean's strategy in the areas of energy and air emissions, water and wastewater, waste and chemical management, community involvement and conservation, destinations and education.

Highlights of the report include an overview of the Save the Waves program that Royal Caribbean has been running since 1992 to help be more environmentally conscious in their fleet operations.

You can view the report here