I want to welcome Stephanie as our guest live blogger, as she will be posting daily blog posts about her experience on back-to-back Freedom of the Seas cruises as part of her honeymoon.  I hope this will offer everyone a fun insight into what happens on a back-to-back cruise as well as a honeymoon cruise.  Enjoy!

Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie & I would love to invite you all along as my brandy new Hubbs & I fly to Orlando, drive to Cocoa Beach, dine at fish lips, stay overnight at the Residence Inn, return our rental car, take a shuttle to Port Canaveral pier 10 & board Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas for our back to back honeymoon trip.

We hail from Boston. (Go sox! Go Pats!!!) In the past week, we've gotten married, unpacked wedding gifts, banged out all our thank you's, and packed for the trip of our lives together. Sure we've both cruised, but not back to back and definitely not married.

Who are we? Sean & Stephanie Cullen. I've sailed with Royal Caribbean over a dozen times while Hubbs has sailed once on Allure of the Seas. Yeah, his first ship was the biggest & bestest Royal Caribbean had to offer.

Our combined travels don't make us experts on cruising by any means, but we do love cruising on Royal Caribbean. We originally booked way back in June 2012, as soon as Caribbean routes for 2013 & 2014 were released during a WOW sale.

I follow cruise boards pretty closely and after what happened in the Atlantic & Caribbean this time of year last year, I was encouraged by several passengers stories that maybe a travel agent isn't a terrible idea.

So this cruise is my very first not booked through Royal Caribbean directly. So far, so good. Not great just good. It's little things like waiting for your documents because they're supposed to send them to you, and the old style sticky luggage tags they they're supposed to send to you too. Royal Caribbean is so self service. Having to wait/follow up has been a bit annoying BUT if (knocking on wood) we need re-accommodation she'll be doing it for us & we can simply continue our vacay. So while its been a bit of a slow process, peace of mind comes fast and free.

This kind of is a cruise of firsts for us, besides the aforementioned firsts, this is the first cruise where I've booked a non Royal Caribbean excursion (!) & one some islands haven't booked a thing while on others I'm re-doing excursions done before.

So here we are Friday morning. We leave for Orlando in the morning and while I've had my suitcases collecting all the ideas of what I want to pack, I still have the actual packing to do... I'm really looking forward to sharing this trip with you all.

Please follow along post some comments or questions and I'll do my level best to get to them & get answers.

Later. Stephanie (And Sean too)

Royal Caribbean's global sales and marketing chief, Lisa Bauer, is leaving the cruise line.  Bauer has been one of Royal Caribbean's most publicly recognizable faces and has served in key roles in Royal Caribbean's senior management.

In addition, 100 lower level positions are being eliminated in an effort to reduce corporate bloat.  The number represents less than 2% of the cruise line's land-based employees.

Bauer has worked for Royal Caribbean for the past 11 years and she's been a major part of Royal Caribbean's sales, marketing, hotel operations and product development and execution.  She also played  a big role in the development and marketing of Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, as well as the fleet-wide revitalization that is currently ongoing.

With Bauer leaving, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein will be taking a more hands-on role in the international aspect of the business, and Bauer's former employees will now report directly to Goldstein. They include Dominic Paul, Vice President and group Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa; Carol Schuster, Senior Vice President marketing; and company veteran Diana Block, Vice President revenue management.

At Royal Caribbean's board of directors meeting today, they named its first lead director, William L. Kimsey.  Kimsey is the former chief executive officer of Ernst & Young Global, Ltd., has served on the board since 2003 and is Chairman of the company's Audit Committee. 

As lead director, he will be the liaison between the board's non-management members and Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain. He will preside at meetings of the non-management directors, will advise and approve the content and scheduling of board meetings and discussions, and will be available for discussion with major shareholders.

The board of directors also adopted changes to its bylaws as a result of which candidates elected to the board will serve one-year terms, and will stand for re-election annually thereafter, effective with the slate of directors to be elected at the company's 2014 annual meeting. This implements a proposal adopted by shareholders at the company's May 2013 annual meeting. 

Hey all! Thanks again for your fantastic reviews and comments about our new Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast!

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know that the sixth episode of our Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now posted and ready for downloading!

In this episode we look at booking shore excursions and the advantages and disadvantges of booking them through Royal Caribbean directly or on your own via a third party.  We also share some of our reader's favorite shore excursions and answer a few more listener emails!

Click here to go to the Podcast page for Episode 6. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS or on iTunes!

Royal Caribbean has selected Agency RPM to handle its family-focused experiential activity, which launches this week in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The two-month long campaign aims to encourage new-to-cruise families to consider Royal Caribbean as their vacation option.  The heart of the effort will use an interactive experience that brings to life the family-friendly facilities and activities available through a Royal Caribbean holiday, both on-board and on-shore.

Using green screen technology, families will be able to create their ideal holiday photo album choosing from a number of activities that they would like to do together and immerse themselves directly into the action.

The new campaign will tour theme parks and shopping centres such as Bluewater in Kent, Manchester’s Arndale and Glasgow’s Silverburn.

Jo Briody, head of marketing UK & Ireland at Royal Caribbean International, said: "Cruises are often associated with an older demographic but this thinking is outdated. Our holidays are incredibly family-friendly and RPM’s idea of using green screen technology to literally ‘put people in the picture’ gives families a chance to experience how a cruise would feel, whilst additionally providing an opportunity to interact with our brand."

Royal Caribbean launched a new iPad game called Penguin Ahoy for free in the Apple App Store. An iPhone version is expected to be released shortly.

The premise of the game is to help a penguin that has snuck aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship to make sure he does not get caught.

During the game, you play as the penguin and avoid sprinklers, dodge basketballs, and slide under inflatables to keep the penguin running for as long as possible without being caught by the crew. Players of the game and past guests will notice many familiar features from Royal Caribbean’s ships including the FlowRider surf simulator, Rock Wall, H2O zone, ice skating rinks, mini golf courses, sports courts and more.

Earlier today Royal Caribbean announced interior designer and HGTV Star Genevieve Gorder as the first Quantum Experience Advisor for Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.  This is the first in a series of videos documenting the process by which these advisors will help shape the Quantum class ships.

Royal Caribbean formally announced their balcony smoking ban in an email that was sent to its past guests detailing the decision.  The statement confirmed the details we had previously reported last week and states the ban goes into effect for all sailings departing on or after January 1, 2014.

Royal Caribbean confirmed smoking in all indoor locations will be prohibited, with  the exception of the Casino and the Connoisseur Club on Freedom and Voyager Class ships and one designated smoking venue on ships sailing from Chinese homeports. In the Casino, there will be designated smoking and non-smoking areas. 

Outdoor smoking areas will be designated on the starboard side of all ships; with the exception of Oasis-class ships that will allow smoking on the port side of the ships. 

Indoor smoking areas permit tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. Cigars and pipe tobacco can be enjoyed in designated outdoor areas, or in the cigar club on the ships that offer this venue. 

Royal Caribbean announced today that interior designer and HGTV star Genevieve Gorder is the first advisor for the design of Quantum of the Seas.  Gorder is the first member of the Quantum Experience Advisors program, that features a group of celebrity experts in fields such as design, sports & fitness, entertainment and others who will work hand-in-hand with Royal Caribbean’s internal teams to provide their expertise to help shape interior design, key amenities and activities on the Quantum-class.

The Quantum Experience Advisors is bringing these industry professionals in to help ensure every aspect of the guest experience has been maximized to the fullest extent.

Gorder will be tasked with being the Quantum Experience Advisor for Design.  Gorder is collaborating with Royal Caribbean’s newbuild and design team to offer insights and opinions and influence the décor and furnishings of the loft and suite accommodations onboard Quantum of the Seas.

Working in secret since May 2013, Gorder has reviewed plans, fabrics, carpets and furnishings for the ship’s luxurious accommodations.  Gorder and her team have helped to provide a more cohesive look and feel to the onboard suites and lofts.

Royal Caribbean Executive Vice President of Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, commented on the announcement, "Our teams at Royal Caribbean are always leading the charge in terms of delivering innovative and industry-leading ships and programming and now, by teaming up with some of the brightest and most talented professionals in their respective fields, we are sure to make the Quantum-class some of the most amazing ships to ever set sail.  Guest experience is our number one priority and ourQuantum Experience Advisors are bringing fresh insights, opinions and perspectives to help us deliver the kinds of WOW moments that can only be found on Royal Caribbean."

Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas are set to debut in November 2014 and April 2015 respectively.

Royal Caribbean CIO Bill Martin spoke with InformationWeek about how it has increased its ship-based bandwidth by sevenfold has lead to direct and indirect revenue gains.  Martin believes investing in emerging technology that could deliver even more bandwidth could lead to even more revenue gains.

Martin believes increased Internet bandwidth pleases guests, which leads to revenue boosting directly and indirectly.

Increased bandwidth will lead to more Internet packages being sold on its ships, because until now, packages have been slow and expensive.  Martin now says Royal Caribbean will be able to sell higher speed internet for $49 a day or $179 a week.  That's the direct revenue.

The indirect revenue will come when all the extra guests purchasing internet will start posting photos and fun messages on social media networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, that will provide Royal Caribbean with more exposure.

Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean celebrated its 50 millionth customer by giving every guest on board that day an hour of free Internet access and encouraging them to post pictures. "As recently as a year ago, we couldn't have done it," Martin says.

In order to deliver higher speeds, Royal Caribbean took four steps.

First, it's been building a WiFi network on its ships to deliver Internet access everywhere onboard.  Next, Royal Caribbean placed new antennas on each ship to receive satellite signals.  

Third, Royal Caribbean signed a deal with to buy satellite Internet capacity.  In the past, each ship had to be allocated internet capacity individually.  Now, it buys a bulk quantity for a whole region and can allocate more as needed.

Lastly, Royal Caribbean is implementing a modern e-commerce portal to allow the daily and weekly packages to be purchased by guests.