Royal Caribbean plans to make 69 stops in Portugal this year, of which 34 are in Lisbon, 24 and 11 in Ponta Delgada, Royal Caribbean Director Francisco Teixeira said this morning on board the Independence of the Seas, the ship that most often visited the capital of Portugal in 2012.

Earlier this month Royal Caribbean launched a promotional campaign in New York's S-line subway, where they decorated the subway cars with Royal Caribbean prints to make it look like a ship.  Today, Royal Caribbean has sent a number of actors to ride the subway line and personalize the promotion.

Photo by Ellen Wilson

The Costa Concorida disaster has been a hot topic since it happened and there's been a lot of speculation that its lead consumers to cancel their trips out of fear of a similar incident.  But Royal Caribbean thinks its customers recognize the unique nature of this incident.

The CLIA, Passenger Shipping Assocation and the European Cruise Council announced a new muster policy effective immediately that requires mandatory muster drills be held for new passengers before the cruise ship departs from port and Royal Caribbean is onboard.

Royal Caribbean introduced iPads in every stateroom aboard Splendour of the Seas last year and it's got the IT world talking.  Royal Caribbean was mentioned in Information Week magazine as utilizing tablet computing for business.

Reconstruction of the port of Yalta, Ukraine will begin after it is approved by the Ukraine Law of Sea Ports.  Vice-Premier of Ukraine - Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov expects this to happen sometime next month as he was speaking at a press conference in Simferopol.

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending Splendour of the Seas to Brazil for the Brazilian summer season, starting in December 2012.

Royal Caribbean is bringing back the Royal 5K race this year and will take place twice.  First,  the event will take place in Falmouth, Jamaica in April 2012 aboard the Allure of the Seas.

The Today Show Travel listed their favorite cruise ships for families and five of Royal Caribbean's newest ships made the list.

First up is Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  The sheer number of amenities are notes for fun things for kids.