Royal Caribbean announced it will have 21 stops in Lisbon, Portugal in 2013.

Francisco Teixeira, director of Royal Caribbean's partner in Portugal Melair, spoke about the new 2013-2014 schedules, "Lisbon is a city attractive for companies and passengers, is a nearby city safe, we have lots of sunshine and it's nice", said Francisco Teixeira, noting that for 2013 is expected to increase cruises departing from England, so there will be an increased frequency of vessels in scale. 

Royal Caribbean will bring about 72,000 tourists, with Independence of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas bringing passengers from England on a regular basis.  Between these two ships, about 62,000 visitors will be represented.

In a blog post by Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein, two announcements were made that were direct results of passenger feedback.

First up was the request by Royal Caribbean fans for more Panama Canal cruises. Goldstein announced that Vision of the Seas was slated to originally offer Caribbean cruises will instead sail a set of Panama Canal cruises in the fall and spring.  The new Panama canal cruises will augment the other long Caribbean sailings already on the books.  

In addition, Goldstein announced that Royal Caribbean will offer gluten-free beer by the end of the year in all of its Irish pubs across the fleet.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein spoke in Milan, Italy yesterday about new investments, ships, airports and important partnerships.

"For years Italy has played a strategic role in the planning of Royal Caribbean International: Since 2005 we have more than doubled the ports of embarkation in the area, adding to Civitavecchia and Venice also Genoa, Messina and Naples. The arrival of a ship like Liberty of the Seas, which next season will embark from the port of Naples, confirms the company's commitment towards the Italian market, " Goldstein said.  " Even in 2013 Royal Caribbean International will pay particular regard to Italian guests with a special offer on board: from excursions, offering food and beverage, staff of dedicated service, all in an international environment that meets the needs of Italian. "

Coinciding with Goldstein was the debut of two new Royal Caribbean ships in Italy.  Liberty of the Seas will go toItaly for the first time and offer 7-night cruises out of Naples to the Western Caribbean while Legend of the Seas will take the place of Mariner of the Seas and offer 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises out of Civitavecchia and from Genoa to France and Spain.

"The ships dedicated to the Italian market in 2013 are the most innovative in the fleet," adds John Rotondo, CEO of Royal Caribbean, Italy "In 2013 there will be 5 ports of embarkation and 13 ports of call in Italy for four ships of the fleet Royal Caribbean International, for a total of 18 ports, 330 airports and more than 850,000 passenger movements, a further indication of the fact that Italy is a very important basin for. "

Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat is reporting that STX Finland's Turku Shipyard is possibly close to receiving a contract from Royal Caribbean to build a third Oasis-class ship.  This would be the sister ship to Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

The possible 1 billion Euro order hinges on if the Finnish government is willing to offer export credit construction financing. The newspaper reports the matter will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday of the Finnish Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy.

Royal Caribbean already has two other smaller ships on order, known as Sunshine Class, from a shipyard in Germany.

Royal Caribbean has been awarded a Peer Award for Excellence for its online Cruising for Excellence training platform in the Technology for People category.

Royal Caribbean's Cruising for Excellence program is an online option for travel agents to give a realistic onboard experience, which allows agencies to show off its ships to their agents without having to bring all those agents physically onto a ship. 

Royal Caribbean trade training manager Michelle Russell commented on the win, "I am exceptionally proud of each and every member of the trade training team who all deserve a share of this prestigious award.Our trade partners are vital to our brand’s continued growth and we are committed to supporting them with training, ship visits and innovative marketing. Consistent trade feedback on Cruising for Excellence has been fantastic and the investment in training to bring our ships to life continues to convert yet more agents to be great Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises ambassadors. This award is a reflection of that I am honored that the judging panel at the Peer Awards for Excellence recognizes our efforts and the quality of our offering."

Cruising for Excellence has so far trained over 20,000 travel agents since its 2006 launch. It is now available in 13 different languages.

With the global economy still uncertain, Royal Caribbean is just one of many companies that struggle to provide financial forecasts for shareholders and analysts every quarter.

Royal Caribbean chief financial officer Brian Rice is in charge of this task and has taken an approach to widen the range of profit, revenue or other projections while spending more time and effort making sure investors have the information they really need.

“It would certainly make my life easier if we didn't give [financial] guidance."

Rice mentions that Royal Caribbean continues the practice because rival cruise provide Carnival Corp. provides them, so Royal Caribbean feels compelled to keep up.

When it comes to net yelds, a very important performance benchmark, the company has modified the way it provides forecasts for it.   Early this year, it projected a four-percentage-point range for the change in its annual yield, wider than the three-percentage-point range of last year’s prediction and the two-point range it has traditionally used, Mr. Rice says.

He says the wider range gives the company breathing room with analysts. With narrower ranges analysts would typically press for more information if the company deviated by even 0.1 percentage point from the midpoint of its projections, he adds.

There's a report out that claims Royal Caribbean is interested in sending its ships to the port city of Kotor in in southwestern Montenegro.  This Mediterranean port city is an option for Royal Caribbean to send its ships there.

According to the report, Royal Caribbean is considering significantly improving service to Kotor harbor.