This week's batch of beautiful Royal Caribbean photos is here and it's always fun to share with all of you the great photos our readers take while on their cruise vacation.

The photos we have to show this week are fun and of course anyone can send us their Royal Caribbean photos to use as well!

Our first photo is from Blake Baldwin fo Explorer of the Seas pulling into Skagway, Alaska, as seen from Radiance of the Seas.

David Donnelly took this photo of Independence of the Seas coming into Southampton, England early in the morning.

This beautiful photo is by Stuart Etheridge, taken on his first trip to Labadee. Stuart reported trying a cabana based on my recommendation, and he loved it.

Our next photo is by Leon Umans of Adventure of the Seas while in Sint Maarten.

Here is Cindy Graf and her husband standing in front of Anthem of the Seas while in Martinique.

Allen Shaffer shared this photo of Empress of the Seas.

Our last photo this week is of Pascal Everard on his way back to his Royal Caribbean ship.

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos this week and if you have Royal Caribbean photos, well, we want to see them!  You can use this form to send us your photos and we will feature them on an upcoming Friday Photos blog post!

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced today that it has named Martha Poulter senior vice president and chief information officer. Poulter will report directly to Adam Goldstein, president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Poulter joins RCL after spending the last 13 years of her career as CIO for major corporations.  Poulter most recently served as executive vice president and CIO for Starwood Hotel and Resorts, where she led a global IT team integrated across Starwood's nine brands and operational platforms, as well as serving as a member of Starwood's leadership team. Prior to that, Poulter spent nearly two decades at General Electric, including time as CIO of GE Capital.

"Martha certainly has the background to make a difference at Royal Caribbean," said Goldstein. "She'll bring that experience to bear on a full range of challenges here, including our plans to evolve the fleet's IT infrastructure, keep pace with the rapid evolution underway in important areas like data privacy and security, and ramp up support for the Excalibur digital transformation that is underway across our company."

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to join Royal Caribbean, a company that stands for excellence and innovation in the travel industry," said Poulter. "Working with the IT team, we will help RCL develop and support the technologies necessary for running a global business in a digital world."

Poulter graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering and received her MBA from the University of New Haven.

With your Royal Caribbean cruise right around the corner, you might be wondering what time should I get to the cruise port. 

The first day of your Royal Caribbean cruise is when all the fun begins, and what time you arrive to board your Royal Caribbean cruise has some implications for how the rest of your day may flow.

There are also two different times to consider: what time can you board your ship and what time can you arrive at the port to check-in.

What time to arrive at the port

Royal Caribbean cruises that depart from the United States will often open the cruise terminal for check-in sometime between 9am and 10am.  

This means the terminal will open up for guests to arrive and begin the check-in procedure. In most cases, the check-in procedure involves:

• Parking the car/dropping off rental car/being dropped off by a car service
• Giving porters luggage to be delivered to your stateroom later on that day.
• Going through security screening.
• Checking in at the counter with your cruise documents.
• Waiting for boarding to begin.

After passing the security check, the check-in process will split guests up based on which deck their stateroom is on and their Crown and Anchor Society status.  Essentially, those with higher Crown and Anchor Society status will have a shorter wait to check-in.  Likewise, suite guests also have a dedicated line for them, which is shorter.

The good news is the check-in procedure is fairly quick, and if you have all of your documentation, it should go quite smoothly.

The key to figuring out what time to arrive is largely up to you and your travel plans. We recommend arriving to the cruise terminal before noon to avoid the longer lines that tend to appear in the afternoon.

Many guests tend to arrive in the afternoon, since their travel plans have them arriving the day of the cruise.  This leads to longer waits at the cruise terminal, compared to earlier in the morning.

Our best advice is at the very least, do not plan to arrive to the ship too close to the end of the boarding times.  Travel delays and other unforeseen issues can add unnecessary stress to what should be the start to a fun and relaxing vacation. In short, plan on a few hours buffer time as a worst-case scenario.

The future of check-in

Royal Caribbean is aiming to greatly simplify some of the embarkation day procedures with what it is calling "frictionless check-in".  

Royal Caribbean wants to streamline the check-in process to the point that it is as simple as walking in. Forget the forms to fill out, pictures to take, or agents to speak with. The new app will allow for a "frictionless check-in" that gets you onboard your ship very quickly. In Royal Caribbean's eyes, less time spent boarding means more time for vacation.

There is no timetable announced for when frictionless check-in will be available, but it is something that is coming in the near future.

What time to board the ship

Royal Caribbean will likely provide a boarding time in the afternoon, but many veteran cruisers will say in practice, boarding times are much earlier than what is stated. Royal Caribbean does this to help break up crowds.

When boarding does commence, Royal Caribbean will board their ships with Suite guests firsts, followed by guests based on their Crown and Anchor Society status, and finally, all other guests.  Regardless of your status, the earlier you check-in, the sooner you will board the ship.

The advantage of arriving to the cruise port early is you will likely find shorter lines, and board the ship sooner.  That means your vacation begins sooner, and you will have more time on embarkation day to explore and have fun. 

Keep in mind that if you do board in the morning, staterooms are not usually open to guests until 1pm at the earliest, so you will have to carry whatever you bring aboard with you until you can drop it off in your stateroom.

Boarding in the afternoon may allow for more convenient travel arrangements, and no waiting on the ship for staterooms to open up.  However, later boarding risks potential lines at check-in and at the Windjammer for lunch.  Boarding in the afternoon is hardly a mistake, but keep in mind that Royal Caribbean requires all guests to be checked-in and onboard the ship no later than 90 minutes prior to the published sailing time or you will not be permitted to sail.

Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 229 is available for downloading, in which Matt and Billy share three wishes they would make if they were in charge of Royal Caribbean.

With the new year right around the corner, Matt and Billy dreamed up some changes to Royal Caribbean they would like to make if they were in charge of the company. 

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 229. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

At least 12 tourists have died in a bus crash in eastern Mexico today, when the bus carying them flipped over on a highway early on Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean has confirmed 27 cruise ship passengers were on the bus that suffered the accident, which were sailing on Serenade of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox.

The news from Costa Maya about a bus accident involving #CelebrityEquinox & #SerenadeoftheSeas guests is heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to all those involved. We are doing all we can to care for our guests, including assisting with medical care and transportation.

— RCLcorp (@RCLcorp) December 19, 2017

Our 27 guests were on a bus tour to the Chacchoben Ruins. We are working with the local authorities to learn more about the accident. We are doing all we can to help our guests.

— RCLcorp (@RCLcorp) December 19, 2017

Seven Americans and two citizens of Sweden are among the injured, according to Quintana Roo state Civil Defense spokesman Vicente Martin. 

Martin said the crash occurred as the bus was on its way to the ruins at Chacchoben, about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south of Tulum.

Royal Caribbean is planning to revamp its casino rewards program, known as Club Royale, in early 2018.

According to a guest's tier levels, they will enjoy various benefits.

Admission to Club Royale is based on the amount and frequency of your gambling habits at the casino of a Royal Caribbean ship. 

If you have been on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, then you likely are well aware of the impressiveness of this cruise ship.  From stern to bow, she is packed with wonderful experiences.  To create a ship this alluring, Royal Caribbean spent a lot of time planning and designing it, and we have a look at seven really interesting anecdotes that make Harmony of the Seas stand out from the rest of the fleet (and cruise industry).

7. First Royal Caribbean ship built with water slides in its design

Royal Caribbean has long been the leader in creating exclusive first-at-sea experiences.  Harmony of the Seas does not disappoint in continuing to uphold that longstanding, revered position.  Harmony of the Seas was the first Royal Caribbean ship to be designed with water slides in mind.

Royal Caribbean tested water slides by adding them to Liberty of the Seas in January 2016. This gave the company an opportunity to test the slides on a ship, before implementing them on Harmony.

The Perfect Storm water slides were designed by Aquatic Design & Engineering.  The slides were designed to be part of the ship's design and blend it with the style of the ship.

6. Offers the tallest slide at sea

Royal Caribbean commissioned Spark Cooperative to push the envelope of what a cruise ship can offer, and build on the cruise line's innovative reputation with a brand new, thrilling experience. They came up with The Ultimate Abyss slide.

The Ultimate Abyss is a pair of side-by-side 100 ft- high slides that guests can ride down multiple decks of the ship. Spark worked to offer a slide experience that offered multi-sensory channels, including spontaneous audio effects, bespoke ride mats and custom uniforms and accessories. The attraction is designed to thrill guests while maintaining a sense of heart-pumping anticipation.

The Ultimate Abyss towers 150 feet above sea level at the aft of Harmony of the Seas and offers a 100 foot drop.

5. Harmony of the Seas has Royal Caribbean's first original musical production

Royal Caribbean built a reputation in the cruise industry for offering some of the best onboard entertainment, and that reputation continues with its original musical on Harmony of the Seas, Columbus, The Musical.

Columbus, The Musical! is a new Royal Caribbean original production that tells the tale of Christopher’s luckless distant cousin, Marvin, on a madcap voyage to the Caribbean. The musical was created in the spirit of “Spamalot” and “Something Rotten."

The story is fun, the cast energetic and the music perfect to sing along with. Columbus is at the very top of our list of favorite shows we have seen onboard any Royal Caribbean ship.

4. Only Wonderland restaurant that is two decks high

Royal Caribbean introduced a new specialty dining experience, Wonderland, on its Quantum Class ships, and they have been a huge hit with guests.  It was no surprise Royal Caribbean wanted to add Wonderland to Harmony of the Seas, but on this ship, they designed a brand new space for it that encompasses two decks.

The striking two-story restaurant is a must-try sensory experience and serves whimsical meals that will delight and inspire from beginning to end.

3. No pool in the Solarium

No one is quite sure why, but Harmony of the Seas does not have a pool in its adult-only Solarium. 

Sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas all had pools in their Solarium, but with Harmony of the Seas, the cruise line decided to replace the pool with a walk-through mister intended to cool off guests.

2.  Harmony of the Seas hosted a rock concert

As part of Harmony of the Seas' celebration of its arrival in North America, Royal Caribbean held a rock concert in the AquaTheater that featured multi-platinum-selling band DNCE.

The concert was part of Royal Caribbean's "Friendsgiving" event onboard, with the group performing their best known songs. 

1. Its art collection is inspired by the wonders of our world

Art has always been a focal point for Royal Caribbean, with its cruise ships serving as floating galleries of many kinds of art.  On Harmony of the Seas, the ship's 3,000 piece art collection is centered around the theme of, “The Wonder of Our World, The World We Live In,” from artists spanning 60 countries.

The collection explores wonder from four perspectives— people, places, what we do and what inspires us —through an array of media. Many of the works were created specifically for Harmony of the Seas and designed to bring joy to all who sail.

Actress and avid traveler Shay Mitchell is Royal Caribbean's "Adventurist," the adventure adviser and storyteller for the world's most adventurous cruise line, Royal Caribbean International.

Royal Caribbean earned five wins in the 2017 Travel Weekly Reader's Choice Awards, including three major milestones — Best Cruise Line Overall and in the Caribbean 15 years running. And Best Sales & Service for 10 years straight.

The awards won were

• Best Sales & Service: Royal Caribbean International
• Best Cruise Line Overall: Royal Caribbean International
• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean: Royal Caribbean International
• Best Individual Cruise Ship: Harmony of the Seas
• Best Entertainment: Royal Caribbean International

Travel Weekly honored the winners of its Readers Choice Awards at a gala dinner and ceremony at the Conrad Hotel in New York. Winners were selected in 77 categories, ranging from hotels to tours to airlines to GDSs to cruise lines, represent the best of the best in travel.

More than 300 passengers Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas experienced an onset of gastrointestinal illness on the most recent 5-night Caribbean cruise.

Many news outlets are reporting on the incident, in which the passengers affected reported symptoms that included bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Royal Caribbean said in statements to media outlets that 332 of the 5,547 passengers and crew became ill.

Photo by Mike Dinsmore

Guests were notified of the incidents during the sailing, with over-the-counter medicine provided to treat symptoms. Guests onboard also reported round the clock work by the crew to sanitize the ship throughout the duration of the sailing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, around 20 million people are infected with Norovirus each year with less than 1 percent of out breaks occurring on cruise ships.