We love to share the amazing Royal Caribbean photos our readers have sent us each and every week for Friday Photos.  Basically, it's a showcase of the best Royal Caribbean photos from our readers and this week's batch looks to be the best yet.

If you have photos that you would like included in an upcoming Friday Photos blog post, then please send us your best Royal Caribbean photos!

First up is a photo from Shawn Holmes and it was taken on the Explorer of the Seas while he was watching the bellyflop contest.  Watch out below!

Harry Yerikyan sent us this photo of the Oasis of the Seas' name and I suddenly wish I was onboard Oasis to see this for myself.  That and the seven night cruise that comes with it!

Speaking of Oasis of the Seas, this photo from Travis Rogers says "WOW" because it's from above the Aqua Theater.  Why can't my photos come out this cool?  Travis did say he managed to get this shot from the back of Deck 15 (sports deck) looking down on the Aqua Theater on Deck 6.

Jill Snyder sent us this photo from Allure of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean sign on the back of the ship.  Love this view!

Next up is a photo from Mark DePrimo and he sent in this photo from Explorer of the Seas docked in Bermuda on ‎Tuesday, ‎October ‎27, ‎2009, ‏‎5:27:00 AM. He says he likes to get up early and walk around the ship taking pictures. It's the only time you can get shots without a lot of passengers around.

Bryce J. Griffler sent us this gorgeous photo of Alaska from his cruise there in 2013.  Really cool shot!

Last up is a photo from Matt who said he surprised his wife with an upgrade to a Crown Loft Suite on Allure for their 5 year anniversary on 8/18/13.  Husband of the year material right here!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos this week. Have a great weekend and be sure to send us your photos so we can post them next week by using this form.

Royal Caribbean is offering guests who book a Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean or Alaska cruise between September 23, 2013 and October 15, 2013 up to $300 in onboard credit per stateroom for salings between November 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.

Royal Caribbean is reminding us all that winter is around the corner and for most of us, that means cold temperatures but the good news is Royal Caribbean has escapes to some very warm places.

Onboard credit will break down as follows

• Up to 5 night cruises
  • Interior and Oceanview staterooms: $25
  • Balcony and Junior Suite staterooms: $50
  • Grand Suite or higher staterooms: $150
• Six nights or longer
  • Interior and Oceanview staterooms: $25
  • Balcony and Junior Suite staterooms: $100
  • Grand Suite or higher staterooms: $300

The Winter Offer is applicable for all new individual U.S. and Canadian bookings.  The onboard credit offer is applicable for all new individual bookings.

Whether you are a newly wed, been married for many years or just met someone, there are a number of ways to have a romantic time on your Royal Caribbean cruise.  Here's a few of our favorite ways to show that special someone you care.

1. Buy flowers

You don't mess with what works and buying your sweetie flowers is a special way to show that you care.  Not to mention flowers are not very expensive either.   It can be just the right kind of surprise, be it just one rose or a full bouquet.

Flowers are usually available for sale from a cart on ships with a Royal Promenade, but are also available on other ships.  You can also order flowers prior to your cruise departure via the Royal Caribbean web site.

2. Dinner date at a specialty restaurant

Dressing up and going to a special meal just the two of you might be the recipe for the start of a perfect evening. These days, Royal Caribbean has a number of restaurants to choose from and with the Adventure Ocean and Royal Tots Nursery to leave your kids at, there's a great opportunity to have some alone time at dinner.

It's hard to go wrong with dinner at Chops Grille or Giovanni's Table.  If you want to really go all out, try 150 Central Park.  Whichever restaurant you choose, ask for a table for two near the window.

3. Decorate your stateroom

Royal Caribbean offers stateroom decorations to celebrate a number of occasions.  They usually consist of signs, streamers and other decorations on the walls and doors of your cabin.  It's an easy and relatively inexpensive way to show you care.

Purchase the decorations before your cruise via the Gifts & Gear section of the Royal Caribbean web site and be sure to keep it a secret until you arrive at your room.  You can choose between decoration packages to celebrate being just married, a honeymoon just celebrating the cruise.

4. Buy a romance package

Just like the stateroom decorations, Royal Caribbean offers a number of special romance packages to purchase to surprise your signifigant other with.  

Booked via the Gifts & Gears section of the Royal Caribbean web site, there's rose petals, champagne, and lots of other gifts you can select from.

5. Couples massage

The Royal Caribbean spa is a great way to relax and for couples, there are couples massaged offered on every cruise to share in a relaxing moment.  Don't forget there are couples massages also offered on Royal Caribbean's private islands if you prefer land based relaxation.

Tour the spa when you board your cruise ship and see which massage package sounds perfect to you.  Look for deals on port days to save a little money.

6. Put a special message in the Cruise Compass

If you want a special way to say you love someone, how about a personal message in the daily Cruise Compass?  Guests may have messages added to the Cruise Compass by speaking with someone in Guest Services onboard your ship and costs $25 per message.

7. Order room service

Room service is always a ritzy way to have a private meal and ordering room service breakfast to be delivered to your balcony might be the perfect way to start a romantic day.

Room service is complimentary on Royal Caribbean ships, so order it the night before and have it arrive right on time and set up for you and your special someone where ever in your stateroom or balcony you think will be best.

8. Renew your vows or get married

Royal Caribbean recently revamped its onboard wedding and vow renewal offerings and if you have the money for it, having a special ceremony onboard may be a great way to show your affection (again). 

Royal Caribbean offers a number of packages to choose from and your best bet is to start at the Royal Weddings department and browse what is available.

Royal Caribbean and Wireless Maritime Services (WMS) have launched the second phase of 3G cellular data services onboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. 

Having already launched EVDO in November 2010, WMS has followed that up with the launch of UMTS (3G) services.  This marks the first time that both 3G services have been successfully deployed onboard cruise ships, and marks a major milestone in passenger connectivity.

EVDO stands for “evolution data only” which is the 3G path for CDMA carriers.  UMTS stands for “universal mobile telephone service” and is the 3G path for GSM carriers.  

Prior to this, cellular data speeds onboard cruise ships were regulated to 2G speeds, but now guests can experience speeds of four to six times those speeds with these upgrades.

“It’s one thing to have UMTS work in a lab environment, it’s an entirely different and thrilling level of success to have it working as well is it is onboard these ships,” said Tony Patino, vice president of engineering at WMS.  “Leveraging the expertise of our parent, AT&T, the WMS Engineering and Deployment teams have been working diligently to optimize and develop better use of parameters, finely honing our technology in order to achieve this great result.”

WMS recently announced the signing of a new four-year contract renewing its relationship with Royal Caribbean Cruises continue providing cellular at sea wireless services to guests and crew on all existing ships across the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises brands.

As reported yesterday, we planned on not getting off the ship in Falmouth. I've never done this before. It was an odd sensation at first. I was immediately concerned that I'd be bored or Sean would be bored.

We slept in for the first time this vacation. It felt amazing. Went to a later bfast in the WJ & took our time getting ourselves together for the pool deck. We scouted chairs, we had an abundance of options as you can imagine. Settled in & relaxed.

At noon, the screen on the pool deck came alive with a showing of The Wizard of Oz. it was magical. The myriad of people who stayed on board were so different but if you looked around at one point or another we all were singing along. It was really cool.

We stayed by the pool until this nasty storm came through. Thunder & lightening & and rain so heavy at times you couldn't see the island of Jamaica. This is the most it has ever rained on a cruise vacay for me. Ever. It's kinda driving me nuts.

Turns out after watching the rain pass it was the perfect time for a nap. We originally planned on a quick cat nap. Of course 2 hours later...

Off to dinner we went. It was tiger shrimp night. Finally. This is my first cruise since the menu revamp about a year and a half ago. Ps if you're an escargot fan, prepare yourself. There is a worldwide shortage, and they are currently unavailable! But they've replaced it with bay scallops (the tiny baby ones) so it's fine. Grab a sourdough roll & dig in.

After dinner we headed to the theater for the Love & marriage game show. We thought it might be fun to get on. Knowing that there we 67 other honeymooners we realized there would be competition, we smoked 'em! The crowd picked us!!!!!

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience. How often is your new husband of 10 days going to have to know your bra size on the spot & only have 10 secs to draw a portrait of you that looks like the girl from the ring!? And for me to answer in front of 1400 people that the first thing my husband touches in the morning is a kitty of some variety. Thankfully we can relive this over z& over again on RCTV and on the DVD they're sending us home with. (Mom, you're welcome).

The best part of the night!?! WINNING!!!!!!

We took our winnings & headed back to our love shack. Caught the broadcast of the show & drifted off to Grand Cayman.

Thank you all who have been posting comments. We've been here & there with wifi, but I promise to reply/answer any when we get back on Sunday with pictures.

Thanks!!!

Smooches.
Steph & Sean

Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship that is under construction, Quantum of the Seas, has its cruise director picked and the lucky man is Jimmy Rhodes.  Rhodes has been a cruise director for Royal Caribbean for 10 years now.

As cruise director, Rhodes said he will head all entertainment for guests 18 and older. In doing so, Rhodes said he will manage a team of about 120 dancers, musicians, youth and activities staff.

While Rhodes may be the full time cruise director for Quantum of the Seas, there are other reports that Richard Spacey will be the cruise director for Quantum of the Seas during its first few cruises, with Rhodes assuming the duties afterwards.

Quantum of the Seas' inaugural cruise is set for November 14, 2014 from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Royal Caribbean Australia has launched the first Instagram film festival as part of a new marketing campaign that builds on the "designed for WOW" brand.  Royal Caribbean is calling it the InstaFilm Festival.

To participate, Australians and New Zealanders are able to upload 15 seconds movies that show enthusiastic "WOW" cruise moments using the hashtag #instafilmfest on Instagram.

A judging panel will decide which films meet the criteria and a winner will recieve a Pacific islands cruise.

Royal Caribbean Australia commercial manager Adam Armstrong thinks the new campaign is all about their guests, "This campaign is about making our guests and the general public the hero.. inspiring them to show us their wow moments."

Launched at an event at the Sydney Opera House last night, the venue was chosen as it is the most photographed icon on instagram in Sydney.

"150 million use instagram every month, about a million of those are Australian. It is the fastest growing social media platform in the country," Armstrong said.

The port of Falmouth, Jamaica that Royal Caribbean has spent a lot of money working with Jamaica to build, is set to receive new improvements to ease traffic flow within the port and access to the town.

Specifically, the pre-booked tours area is getting a $400,000 refurbushment to help with traffic flow and passenger comfort. The traffic routing will be completed this month, according to William Tatham, VP of cruise shipping for the Jamaica Port Authority. Tatham also indicated landscaping and cover will follow, replacing the use of tents, for next summer.

The Falmouth improvements spring from advice and technical expertise offered by Disney Cruise Line, which volunteered a couple of experts to make assessments and suggestions regarding tour bus movements and signage that led to the redesign.  

In addition, there will be renovations and upgrades in the town of Falmouth to make it more welcoming and accessible for visitors. Tatham said these will address how people move around the town, by trolley or on foot, to facilitate more exploration and discovery of Falmouth's history and culture.

A number of government agencies under the transportation ministry are studying the infrastructure and flow; Tatham expects town works will be carried out by the end of the 2013/14 season.

Hey everyone! Episode 7 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure.

This week, we're sharing the details about our cruise on Jewel of the Seas to the Southern Caribbean that begins this weekend.  Let's look at why we picked this cruise, the cool things to do on Jewel of the Seas and our plans for each port of call.  

Be sure to also check out our pre-cruise summary of what our plans are for the cruise and for how you can read our live blog each day from the cruise.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 7. 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!