News and Notes about Royal Caribbean.

[NWLB]

A whirl-wind tour of the news about Royal Caribbean International.....

* Steiner Leisure will continue to run the spas aboard Royal
Caribbean International ships, including both of the Oasis class.

* Royal Caribbean International hopes to realize an 11% gain in
fuel efficiency over the next five years.

* Royal Caribbean International is sending eight ships to Europe
in 2010. They include three Voyager class including Voyager,
Navigator, and Adventure of the Seas. Adventure, who has been sailing
out of San Juan almost exclusively since her launch, will now pioneer
cruising out of Malaga, Spain. Two Radiance class, the Jewel and
Brilliance of the Seas are deploying, as are Splendor and Vision of
their namesake Vision class. Independence of the Seas returns to
represent the Freedom class.

* Royal Caribbean International is joining with Universal Orlando
to offer the kind of Cruise-Land vacations previously best associated
with Disney. They go a step further however, in providing options for
more itinerary lengths. Where the Disney packages were for joint
cruise-land trips of 3 to 5 days, Royal Caribbean International is
moving forward with 7 night outings with Freedom of the Seas. It is
described as being part of a “Way More than a Cruise” program. This I
find curious, as I had thought we had seen the last of the older
marketing tag-lines. All told however, it sounds like a wise enough
move. Universal's family or parks appeal to the post-Disney age range,
yet retain some leverage in conjunction with using the existing
Nickelodeon relationship.

* Employees of federal, state, or local law enforcement and fire
departments across the U.S. will get a 20% discount on Royal
Caribbean.

* Booking for Allure of the Seas has begun!

That didn't take long!