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!