MIAMI, Oct. 6, 1997 -- Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean International unveiled a new wedding and vow renewal service, which, in five months, has blossomed into big business.

The new program, called Royal Romance, offers couples five wedding packages and one vow-renewal program. Prices range from $400 for renewing vows up to $1,200 for an island wedding in the Caribbean.

"Already, we've received over 10,000 calls ranging from couples planning their first wedding to husbands or wives making plans for their 50th wedding anniversary," said Barbara Whitehill, Royal Caribbean program manager. More than 100 couples have married and another 300 have booked their wedding date.

Three wedding packages, Duet, Harmony and Symphony, are available on ships sailing from Miami. The Duet package ($600) offers couples VIP check-in, a shipboard wedding location and coordinator, an official to perform a personalized ceremony, flowers, cake, a wedding portrait, special music and champagne. The Harmony package ($800) adds an embossed wedding album, additional photos, and a champagne breakfast in bed. The Symphony selection ($1,200) adds round-trip chauffeured limousine service, an invitation to the ship's bridge, and chocolate-covered strawberries for stateroom turndown service.

A St. Thomas Duet package ($725) offers the Miami Duet basics, plus a US Virgin Islands license processing, native flowers, and custom island vows. The St. Thomas Emerald Beach package ($975) includes all the Duet features, plus a beach location for the ceremony and private transportation to and from the courthouse and beach. Both packages are available only in St. Thomas.

For couples wishing to renew their commitment to each other, Royal Caribbean offers The Royal Encore Vow Renewal package ($400) which includes a personalized ceremony, special music, flowers, cake, photo session and portrait, plus a personalized bottle of Moet champagne. Nearly a third of the ceremonies performed to date have been vow renewals, according to Whitehill.

The Royal Romance program is a natural for the cruise line, which last year hosted an estimated 100,000 honeymooners on its 12 ships. "We are experts in taking care of honeymooning newlyweds, " Whitehill said. "We use that expertise to arrange all the details of the wedding, leaving the partners free to enjoy the ceremony without worrying about details."

Royal Caribbean Royal Romance coordinators are available to help plan weddings and vow renewals by calling 888-WED-RCCL or 305-539-4086. Brochures are available by calling 800-ALL HERE.

Royal Caribbean is a global cruise company operating two cruise brands, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. The brands' combined fleet consists of 16 vessels in service and four ships on order, representing a total capacity of 38,000 berths by the year 2000. The ships currently visit Alaska, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, the Far East, Hawaii, Mexico, New England, the Panama Canal and Scandinavia.