Voyager of the Seas played host while in Venice on Saturday to announce "Opera on Ice", an unique initiative planned for October 1 in Verona, Italy.

Opera on Ice is designed to display great Opera music through the magic of skating  .Accompanied by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona, artists will perform the music of Don Giovanni, Aida, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, Turandot and Tosca.

Carolina Kostner will be the godmother who will share the track with the greatest representatives of the sport, including Olympic champion Stephane Lambiel

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas finished a $19 million upgrade recently and the hard work to retrofit the vessel with new restaurants, cabins and other modern improvements are thanks to the workers of Victoria Shipyard in British Columbia, Canada.

The workforce received praise from the Royal Caribbean team tasked with overseeing the work on Radiance thanks to their hard work and diligence to keep the project finished on-time.

Thumping Canada's chest here, all the senior managers on this project were lavish in their praise of the Canadian workers. The captain, Claus Andersen, raved especially about the quality of the work being performed. That's high praise from a crew that works with shipyards around the world.

There's hope for the Victoria Shipyards that the fine job done with Radiance of the Seas will translate to getting a piece of the $35 billion earmarked for new and remodeled ships for the Canadian navy over the next few decades.

Radiance has begun a summer itinerary to Alaska now that she is out of dry dock.

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is making her visit visit to Maine of the year on Saturday and she's also the first large cruise ship of the season to visit Portland.

Carrying about 2,250 passengers, Enchantment will leave on Sunday afternoon and head to Bar Harbor, Maine next.  The cruise is part of a New England and Canada itinerary.

Officials in Portland, Maine are expecting about 86,000 cruise passengers this year spread across 59 ships.

Can you imagine nine sea days? Can you imagine nine sea days on your first cruise?  Curt Brandao's first foray into cruising was aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas from Bahrain in the Middle to East to Spain in Europe.  His cruise included nine straight days at sea, a Royal Caribbean record, and he wrote about his experience.

Some said it was the cruise equivalent to making Mount Everest your first hike. Actually, there is no cruise equivalent to hiking Everest, which is, indeed, part of the appeal of cruising - but that's the kind of hyperbole that begins to make sense after several days on the water.

We found our first day on the ship was like the first day at a new school. We got lost a lot, staring at deck maps near the elevators for minutes and not seconds. But it was a lot to take in. While not the biggest floating hotel on the water (a title that belongs to one of its sister ships, the 360-metre Allure of the Seas), the nine-year-old, 293-metre Brilliance of the Seas has 12 decks and can hold more than 2,500 passengers. From rock-climbing walls to pools and Jacuzzis to golf simulators, not to mention a cinema and a two-tier theatre for live performances, it takes a while to learn not only where to go, but what you can do once you get there.

The beds were particularly cosy. The bathrooms were cramped, of course, but the water pressure in the tiny shower was better than in my last four apartments. For the last week of the cruise, we managed to get a cabin upgrade, which afforded a few more square metres of space and a private balcony just in time for great views of Sicily and Italy.

Ultimately, it was like summer camp in the ocean, and I'm glad I went. I feel so brave.

The newly opened cruise port of Falmouth (developed by the Port Authority of Jamaica in partnership with Royal Caribbean) is so busy with ships stopping there now that it has overtaken Ocho Rios as the busiest on the island, according to data from the PAJ and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).

Much of the crowds coming to Falmouth is thanks to Royal Caribbean's massive Oasis class ships that visit each week, carrying some 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew.

Falmouth's effect is being felt all over the island as this month alone has seen a 41% rise in total cruise passengers at Falmouth, Montego Bay, Ochio Rios and Port Antonio compared to a year ago.

From February to April 2011, the Falmouth pier has had almost 100,000 passengers and 34,650 crew pass through which in turn has generated roughly US$8.7 million in passenger expenditure.

The Jamaica Public Bodies 2011-12 doesn't want to forget about Ochio Rios and plans to keep the former leader competitive, "To further capitalize on developments in the cruise industry and maintain a secured position in this area, plans are also in place to upgrade the Ocho Rios cruise ship pier".

Thanks to the rapid growth of the Spanish cruise market, Royal Caribbean has created a new position of Regional Head of Sales, North Central Spain, including Madrid, Castillaand León, La Rioja, Navarra, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.

The new position will be occupied by Andres Zambrano, who takes position after more than two years playing the role of Account Manager, has a spotless reputation and extensive experience in the sector.  His leadership has allowed him to assume the role of Regional Head of Sales for Central and Northern region of Spain, a strategic location for the company with great growth potential, primarily due to the arrival this year of Liberty of the Seas Barcelona and the Adventure of the Seas, which starts operating at the port of Valencia.

Andres Zambrana, as a strong figure of the sales team at Royal Caribbean, will bring its experience and its treatment and experienced team and good relationships with travel agencies in these areas in order to strengthen and further expand the success of Royal Caribbean in the Central and North of the country.

Photo by Tom Stevenson

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas recently feaured award-winning chocolatier Then Chui Foong was aboard the cruise ship to create a chocolate sculpture in an exclusive demonstration, which had never been done at sea.

TODAYOnline was able to sample the chocolate offerings aboard this ship, such as a cherry on the ile flottante (a French dessert called "Floating Island").

"It's like a fantasy, so I made it look like flowers blooming. To me, it's like the sea and blossoms and sunshine."

Foong described the art of making chocolate sculptures and the challenges that come with it, "Making a chocolate sculpture is very technical, and I was without the usual equipment and utensils.  But I overcame that by using the most basic techniques - just hot water to melt the chocolate slightly and to adjust the temperature quickly, so that I could assemble the showpiece in half an hour."

Cruise ships, Royal Caribbean or not, are well known for their ample supply of food and the fact that many tend to indulge a little too much on a typical cruise but Heather McCracken, a New Zealand reporter, wanted to try to go on a cruise and not gain any weight.

She chronicled her journey of 3 nights aboard Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas from Wellington, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia.

McCracken chose to try a lot of the Vitality options on the menus although she did succumb to temptation on a few occasions, "But at 11pm I'm confronted by a surprise chocolate buffet: chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate truffles, chocolate eclairs, chocolate cocktails, even a giant chocolate Neptune.

My willpower fails.  Cruise ship one, me nil."

To help fight weight gain, she chose to try out a number of activities aboard Rhapsody including stretching classes, conditioning classes, pool volleyball and a gym session.

So how did Heather do?  She gave into temptation a few more times on the cruise but in the end declared a tie.

Do you think you could go on a cruise and not gain weight?  Have you ever tried it?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Dr. Kenneth Howard of Rome, Georgia won the Royal Caribbean Cruise for Cash May 31st drawing from the Georgia Lottery.  His windfall includes a seven-night cruise for two aboard a Royal Caribbean ship.

"I’m extremely excited. I’ve never been on a cruise before."

The Georgia Lottery allows players to enter a non-winning Cruise for Cash instant ticket into the Second Chance drawing for another chance to win a seven-night cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean ship. 

Howard says he will take his wife on the cruise with him, where they will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary next year.