Sailing into the U.S.-based offices of Royal Caribbean Cruises today are 90 students from universities across the country who are embarking on the corporation’s annual summer internship program. Selected from a record-breaking pool of more than 1,300 qualified applicants, the interns will participate in RCL’s “Emerging Leaders” program through July 27, allowing them the opportunity to apply key concepts learned in the classroom within a fast-paced, invigorating corporate environment.

“The interest in our Emerging Leaders program is a clear testament to our reputation as an employer of choice, the success of our prior years’ internship programs, and our management team’s interest in taking the time to coach and mentor this next generation of leaders,” said RCL’s Director of Human Resources Martine Pasquet. “Having these highly talented students here enables us to gain fresh insights into some of our challenges, and also allows us to identify a future talent pool.”

RCL has opened its doors to interns since 2008, and this year has expanded it to include two branch programs: the Bacardi USA Partnership and the Posse Foundation Partnership.

Within the RCL and Bacardi USA Partnership, eight University of Miami MBA students have been selected to experience business from two different company and industry perspectives during the summer program and will have the opportunity to work directly with many of RCL’s senior leaders.

With the Posse Foundation, one of the most comprehensive college access and youth leadership development programs in the U.S., RCL will partner to help Posse Scholars and Alumni transition from being leaders on campus to being leaders in the workforce. Since 1989, Posse has identified more than 4,220 students from urban public schools for more than $485-million in scholarships to top colleges and universities.