WICHITA, Kan., March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tomorrow, over 200 volunteers will be planting vegetable gardens, painting buildings and cleaning the grounds at Wichita's Old Cowtown Museum as part of the 10th annual Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises G.I.V.E. Day.

G.I.V.E., which stands for "Get Involved Volunteer Everywhere," is a community service event that brings together Royal Caribbean and Celebrity employees, their families, friends, vendors and business partners to assist non-profit organizations with improving the quality of life in their local communities. Employees from the cruise lines' Customer Contact Center in Wichita will be participating in tomorrow's event.

The Old Cowtown Museum, a 56-year-old landmark, presents an interactive learning experience through living history, education programs and historic reenactments. Live animals and 37 period-finished buildings on 17 acres set the stage as costumed history interpreters educate and entertain visitors from throughout the U.S. and more that 60 foreign countries.

This year, the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity volunteers will be joined by over 100 local students and staff members from Communities in Schools. Communities In Schools is the nation's leading community-based organization helping young people stay in school and prepare for life. Together, their efforts will assist the museum in keeping up its property and help its staff maintain the Old Cowtown Museum as an active and vibrant cultural attraction.

Since 1990, Communities In Schools has helped local students choose success by ensuring their access to the "Five Basics," a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult; a safe place to learn and grow; a healthy start and a healthy future; a marketable skill to use upon graduation; and a chance to give back to peers and community.

Volunteers will clean, prepare and plant the museum's four vegetable gardens over a one-acre area. They will also help with other clean-up projects on the grounds and paint several buildings. These projects will benefit the museum by assisting its undersized staff with these important and laborious tasks.

G.I.V.E. Day provides Royal Caribbean and Celebrity volunteers the opportunity to connect directly with their neighbors through public service projects that benefit the community. This hands-on approach is designed to empower the participants and promote further community service.

Now in its 10th year, G.I.V.E. Day is an example of how the 40,000 Royal Caribbean and Celebrity employees give back to their communities around the world, by donating thousands of volunteer hours to assist their communities with neighborhood development, civic drives, environmental improvement and disaster recovery.

Similar G.I.V.E. Day events will also take place tomorrow in Miami, Florida; Anchorage, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Baltimore, Maryland; Springfield, Oregon; London, England; and Barcelona and Madrid, Spain.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantur. The company has a combined total of 34 ships in service and six under construction. It also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Australia, Canada, Europe and Latin America. Additional information can be found on http://www.royalcaribbean.com/, http://www.celebrity.com/, http://www.pullmantur.es/ or http://www.rclinvestor.com/.

CONTACT: Mike Semler of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., +1-316-554-5010,
msemler@rccl.com

Web site: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/
http://www.celebrity.com/