Friday is here and before you start your weekend, let's take a look at some fun Royal Caribbean photos that our readers sent in to be showcased.  Just like you, we love looking at Royal Caribbean photos to get a "quick fix" when it comes to the "I'm not on a cruise" blues.

The first photo this week is from Tom & Diane Trudnowski of sunset while on their Serenade of the Seas cruise out of New Orleans.  Amazing colors!

Kayla sent us this photo of her enjoying the drink of the day in the Pig n Whistle pub on Voyager of the Seas. I think I speak for everyone reading this Kayla when I say I could really, really use the drink of the day right now.

Laura Metzler decided to have her own "Titanic moment" while on Liberty of the Seas when she (and her husband?) decided to re-create this classic Titanic pose. The picturesque sunset in the background was an added bonus.

Jorge C Toache Alcázar sent this photo of what the crew of Allure of the Seas sent him for Valentine's Day.  It looks like the crew choo-choo-choose you to be their valentine!

I love this photo by Steven Brinkman from his Explorer of the Seas cruise.  He wrote, "I made some really close friends on my cruise on the Explorer back in 2012, and we loved hanging out in Cloud Nine because it was always so quiet and relaxed."

We will wrap things up this week with a photo by Brent of CocoCay while on his Majesty of the Seas cruise.  I know earlier I wanted the drink of the day but I'd be willing to trade that for spending the day here instead!

Do you have fun Royal Caribbean photos to share?  Send us your favorite photos and we will feature them on an upcoming blog post!

A new satellite network is giving Royal Caribbean flagships record internet speeds and more Wi-Fi capacity than all other cruise ships--combined.

A set of new, custom-built antennae were shipped from Israel to Florida last month, and installed on Oasis of the Seas. Testing confirmed the ships' ability to match the fastest broadband connections on shore.

The internet is being provided by O3b Satellite Communications and works by pairing a new generation of medium-Earth-orbit satellites (originally designed to bring the Internet to emerging markets like sub Saharan Africa) with sophisticated antenna arrays aboard the cruise ships.

The higher internet speeds will make it feasible for a guest to download streaming video or post video clips to Facebook. Royal Caribbean is developing new pricing plans for added service.

The entire process was started in 2012 when Royal Caribbean signed a deal with O3b and is now starting to come to fruition.

And by the time the new system becomes available on Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein said guests can anticipate "several new, show-stopper uses of the bandwidth."

What surprises? That information, he said, is not yet available for download.

Said Goldstein, "If you're a first-time guest on one of these ships, you won't realize how much work it took to make the wireless so pervasive – or that your cell 'tower' is 4,900 miles over your head. If you are a return guest, you'll be blown away by the improvement. It's that dramatic."

According to Bill Martin, Chief Information Officer, Royal Caribbean, the key to unlocking a land-like experience was reducing satellite latency – the time it takes for something to happen after you hit 'enter.' This breakthrough technology solves that problem, reducing latency from 750 milliseconds to approximately 140 milliseconds. And with each ship's overall capacity exceeding 500mbps during system tests, there will be more than enough bandwidth to go around.

UPDATE: According to Royal Caribbean, the new high speed internet connections will be available beginning August 2014.

Royal Caribbean is offering residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland a chance to get up to $400 in onboard credit on qualifying cruises.

Book any 2014 Royal Caribbean cruise by March 24 and Royal Caribbean will give you

• $200 per stateroom on 7-13 night sailings
• $400 per stateroom on cruises of 14 nights or more

The offer is good on any cruise leaving between April 1 and December 31, 2014. The offer excludes Quantum of the Seas.

This new onboard credit promotion is combinable with the Upgrade promotion, Ocean Voyage Benverage Package promotion, Standard Pricing, the benefits offered by booking onboard via Future Cruise Consultants (Reserved or Open Bookings) and Future Cruise Certificates only.

This special promotion expires after March 24, 2014.

If you're a fan of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, then there's a Royal Caribbean cruise for you.  

Trilo3y Voyages is planning group cruises aboard Royal Caribbean ships to create, "Tolkien Cruise Event of a Lifetime".

Photo by Cosmoviex Events & Lab

The Liberty of the Seas sailing on December 6-11, 2014 will include special events such as 

Tolkien Talk Panel with Experts & Scholars
• Ask the Actors Panel with Cast Members
• Tolkien-inspired Movie Marathon
• Middle-earth Masquerade Ball
• Opening Night Black Tie Gala
• Middle-earth Marketplace

The group cruises promise a lot of Hobbit geekery, "There is the opening night black tie gala…pointed ears optional. Hang by the pool the next day as we search for the winner of our Hairy Hobbit Feet Competition…then don your outfit for the ultimate cosplay competition at our middle-earth masquerade Ball..pointed ears required!!! During the cruise come browse our middle-earth marketplace….a visual walk through Middle-earth as you check out 4000 square feet of art, gaming, literature and memorabilia based on the myriad works of Professor Tolkien."

The group also has plans for group cruises on Royal Caribbean ships in 2015 to Bermuda, Paris & Brussels and Australia.

Royal Caribbean announced its full winter 2015-2016 Caribbean season today, which includes plenty of cruises out of Florida to destinations all over the Caribbean.

Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas will sail out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and offer alternate seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Eastern Caribbean ports of call include Nassau, The Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten, while Western Caribbean ports include Falmouth, Jamaica; Cozumel, Mexico; and Labadee.

Freedom of the Seas will continue offering seven-night alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The Eastern Caribbean itinerary calls at St. Thomas, St. Maarten and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private Bahamian-island paradise. The Western Caribbean itinerary calls at Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Cozumel and Labadee. 

Serenade of the Seas will sail a 10- and 11-night Southern Caribbean itineraries, roundtrip from Port Everglades. The 10-night itinerary calls at Tortola, St. Kitts, Dominica, Antigua and St. Maarten, with the Dec. 4, 2015, and Feb. 26, 2016, sailings replacing Dominica with Martinique. On the 11-night itinerary, guests will call at Aruba, Antigua, Barbados, Bonaire, Grenada and St. Lucia. A special 12-night holiday sailing includes all the ports from the 11-night itinerary, plus calls at St. Thomas and Labadee. And a once-only, nine-night itinerary will call at the Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Key West, Fla. 

Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas has been forced to skip two ports of call after oil loss from its fixipod propulsion unit forced the crew to shutdown the pod.

Cruise Critic reports Adventure of the Seas will undergo repairs during her scheduled drydock on March 30 but Royal Caribbean says sailings between now and then will be unaffected.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the issue and issued this statement,"Yesterday, as Adventure of the Seas was arriving to St. Kitts, the ship became aware of oil loss from the ship's fixipod," Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications for Royal Caribbean, told Cruise Critic. "Oil booms were immediately placed around the ship to contain the oil. Engineers required additional time in port in order to continue working on the issue." 

Repair work on the propulsion caused the Royal Caribbean ship to not leave St. Kitts until 3am and unfortunately engineers cannot fully repair the unit, so it will remain offline until Adventure of the Seas goes into dry dock March 30. This will cause the ship to sail at a reduced rate of speed.

As a result of the reduced speeds, Adventure of the Seas has cancelled its scheduled port calls to Aruba (March 20) and Curacao (March 21). Instead, Adventure of the Seas will visit Antigua today, St. Maarten on Thursday (staying overnight) and St. Croix on Saturday.

I was inspired by a fellow blogger who wrote about, "How to convince someone to visit Disney" and it got me thinking about a common question I run across of how to convince someone to take a Royal Caribbean cruise.

This question is targeted at two very different groups of people: those that have cruised before (but with other cruise lines) and those that have never cruised before.

I know I've received my fair share of friends, family and blog readers who want to know why I choose to cruise on Royal Caribbean so much.  It's a fair question because when you see someone really fall in love with a brand like Royal Caribbean, some people start to wonder what the appeal is to see if perhaps they are interested too.

As fans of Royal Caribbean cruising, we're passionate people that want to share the excitement of a Royal Caribbean cruise with everyone else.  After all, cruising with friends is always best and by bringing people new to Royal Caribbean to try it too, you're hopefully helping them discover a very fun vacation.

The good news is regardless of if the person you are looking to convince (new to cruising or not), I believe it is very possible to convince someone to give Royal Caribbean a try (and have a good time too).

Hype the value

Cruising in general is a pretty good vacation value when you start comparing it to comparable land vacations.  Because food, travel (between ports) and entertainment come with the price you pay for the cruise, what you get for what you pay is often a good balance.

With Royal Caribbean, I feel their balance of cost versus product is the best in the marketplace today.  Sure there are cruise lines out there with cheaper cruise prices but I feel what you get for the money isn't satisfying.  Likewise, cruise lines that charge more than Royal Caribbean don't deliver that much more than Royal Caribbean does (for less money).

Thanks to Royal Caribbean's vast fleet of ships, there's good prices to be found year-round and around the world.  

When you're trying to convince someone why Royal Caribbean makes sense, I often start with the bottom line price of how much it will cost to get onboard and remind them of everything they get for that price.  Food, onboard activities, pools, shows, demonstrations, more food, dancing, bars and more (did I mention food?).

It's not what you think

For those new to cruising, I think many people have certain ideas or pre-conceived notions of what a cruise is like.  It's largely based on what they've seen in television or movies and most times it's just not accurate.

The people that bring up the news stories about Norovirus, people getting lost at sea and other shocking stories, I remind them people get hurt everywhere on vacation.  Sadly, it's a fact of life.  

People get sick, hurt or worse at the beach, theme parks or in major cities.  The fact is, you can't avoid these risks because it's really just a fact of life.  However, the reality is it's very unlikely it will happen to you.  Remind them that the odds are low and Norovirus strikes many more people on land then ever at sea.  Remind them people get hurt all the time, everywhere.  You just have to be careful and mindful of the risks in advance.

The other major misconception is that all you do on a cruise is sit by the pool and there's nothing really to do.  I like to pull up a cruise compass from a recent Royal Caribbean cruise and start rattling off different activities onboard.  I often find these same people are surprised by how much there is to do on a Royal Caribbean ship.

In fact, I'll mention among the things Royal Caribbean does really well is offer a lot to do, especially on the newer cruise ships.  The company has strived for years to offer more and more onboard (often for free) and it's really up to you how much you want to do (or don't want to do).

Don't overdo it

I know you really, really want them to love Royal Caribbean cruises as much as you but the last thing you want to do is overwhelm them.  You and I probably enjoy reading a site like this, checking out the latest YouTube videos of Royal Caribbean cruises and perusing Cruise Critic message boards until the server crashes but don't put that stuff in front of them.

While you may be a super Royal Caribbean fan, they are new and likely hesitant.  Let them get excited on their own when you mention the cool ports you are visiting or the new specialty restaurants you want to try with them.

It's important to let them move at their own pace and respect that they are still on the fence, even if they have tentatively committed to the idea.  Remember, one of the best aspects of a Royal Caribbean cruise is it's your choice what you want to do and how much of it you want to do.

I think it can be fun to email them a cruise photo you run across now and then of something they can look forward to if they go on the cruise or maybe a video of sunset on the pool deck of a Royal Caribbean ship to give them the sense of what to expect.  

Family fun

Royal Caribbean is a cruise line for almost anyone I feel, but there's no denying it appeals directly to family cruising.  This can be families with young children or older children.  Heck, grown up kids too!

Knowing whom you are trying to convince, if they are looking for a family vacation talk up the family aspect of a Royal Caribbean cruise.  There's opportunity for doing a lot of things together as well as alone time too.

Certainly families with younger kids will appreciate Adventure Ocean for two basic reasons.  First and foremost, the kids will have structured and supervised activities each day to take part in and meet new friends.  Royal Caribbean has focused more and more attention to its Adventure Ocean program, which goes from 3 years old all the way up to 17.

The other big selling point is for the adults because it's your opportunity to get alone time on the cruise.  We all love our kids but having a little time to relax alone by the pool, go shopping or take a walk together means a lot.  I can tell you as a dad getting some time with my wife to enjoy a drink at the bar was lovely.

Of course, families do want to spend time together and the nature of a Royal Caribbean cruise celebrates that.  From shore excursions where you will experience new adventures together to the onboard dining venues to the daily activities, there's a lot for families to do together.

Anything else?

Those are some good selling points for convincing someone to take a Royal Caribbean cruise but is there another good point or "ammunition" to use in convincing others to give Royal Caribbean a try?  Share your ideas in the comments below!

Hey everyone! Episode 33 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure.

This week, Matt talks about his favorite class of Royal Caribbean ships, the Voyager class.  Voyager class redefined what a cruise ship can offer guests onboard and has been the basis for new cruise ship classes ever since.  

Matt looks at why he likes this class so much,  the historical signifigance of the class and what the future holds for the five Voyager class ships.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 33. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS 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!

Here's a quick video looking at Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas, under construction at Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. A precise, efficient process ensures that Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas will be delivered on time and ready to WOW guests.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas rescued 15 people on a raft last week while in the Caribbean Sea.

According to passengers onboard, on Thursday the Captain announced that they had spotted a "crude raft" and would alter course to help. The incident occured while the ship was on its way to Cozumel from Jamaica.

The Captain reported those rescured were given clean clothes, showers and meals, and was in good health.

There was no word on where the rafters were from or their fate after being rescued.