This weekend, May 28 and 29, Royal Caribbean will take you on a cruise while still on land.  Located in the Plaza de Callao in Madrid, Spain, the Royal Caribbean Park is an entertainment area of 350 square meters where each family member can enjoy the experiences of Royal Caribbean ships, but on land.

The Royal Caribbean Park offers the possibility to enjoy various facilities in a single space. Among them, a playground where children can enjoy the presence of Shrek, DreamWorks films and activities especially designed for them.

Adults can relax in a space of Wellness and Spa where they will receive a massage or beauty treatment or in an area of ​​sport, where you climb a climbing wall six feet high, descend into zip or play basketball. These experiences are complemented by the dining room to sample regional specialties from the Mediterranean ports.

Those who choose to test three of these areas will enjoy a break in the deck space. In addition, those who photographed in the 'Photocall' Royal Caribbean Park and upload the picture to the Facebook page of Royal Caribbean Spain entered into a draw for a Mediterranean cruise.

During the month of June, a smaller version of Royal Caribbean Park will be located in various shopping malls in the capital.

Royal Caribbean held its annual shareholder meeting yesterday in Miami, Florida.  Here are the results of the 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

• The shareholders..
  • elected each of Laura D.B. Laviada, Eyal M. Ofer, William K. Reilly and Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen to serve as Class III directors of Royal Caribbean for a term of three years each
  • approved on an advisory basis the compensation of the Royal Caribbean's named executive officers
  • approved a three-year frequency for holding future shareholder advisory votes on named executive officer compensation
  • ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Royal Caribbean's independent registered public accounting firm for 2011
  • rejected the shareholder proposal to hold future advisory votes on non-executive director compensation

A judge ordered Royal Caribbean to pay a crew member that was injured while working on Jewel of the Seas in June 2008 and subsequently forced to continue working $1.25 million.  The amount is the highest arbitration cost ever awarded to an injured crew member.

The crew member, from Serbia, hurt her back when another crew member violently slammed a door into her back while she was walking down a narrow hallway.  She went to the ship's infirmary where she was found unfit for duty after being diagnosed with a herniated disc in her back.  Her supervisor, however, ordered her to continue working.

Royal Caribbean announced today that it will open a new corporate office in Paris, France in July 2011 due to "increasing local demand and as part of the company's international growth strategy".

The head of this new office will be Frederic Martinez, who joins the cruise giant after a career in marketing, commercial and management roles for American Express and Air France-KLM.

Royal Caribbean's new corporate office will be located Blvd. Haussmann in Paris' central business district and will include sales, marketing and commercial operations personnel to serve the company's three cruise brands: Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.  Prior to opening this new office, Royal Caribbean's presence in France was limited to an international representative office.

Cruisers sailing on Royal Caribbean in 2012 will have some new sailings to choose from from three French ports - LeHavre, Toulon and Marseille.  The European deployment is adding numerous departures and overall, Royal Caribbean International is adding 23 ports in seven additional countries to its European schedule. 

Royal Caribbean Executive Vice President Michael Bayley talked about the new office and its goals, "We know that our guests from France enjoy our brands, products and destination offerings.  Frederic is tasked with growing the business and responding to customer demand in France on issues such as enhanced product offerings during July and August, and creating fly and cruise packages for the Caribbean."

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Sea entered Esqumalt Harbour and the Victoria Shipyard dry dock last week and here's video of her pulling in.

Royal Caribbean has started a promotion to create a special announcement commemorating his two years in Brazil.

"You are the star of two years of Royal Caribbean" will be the campaign running with a photo of a guest of the company.  To enter the contest, the participant must upload a photo of him or herself on board a Royal Caribbean ship to any of its social media outlets (facebook, twitter, flickr, orkut, picasa, etc.) and send a link to the email address [email protected].

The best photo wins a mini cruise on board the Vision of the Seas will be the subject of the announcement and celebration.

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas entered dry dock last week in British Columbia, Canada where it will receive upgrades before reentering service in Australia after it is done with the work on June 10.

Royal Caribbean's managing director in Australia Gavin Smith thinks the upgrades will be a nice addition, “Radiance of the Seas is already the best ship to be based in the region – the newest, largest and most innovative – but what we’re doing is taking an already great ship and transforming her into a truly spectacular ship. And best of all – Australians will be amongst the first in the world to enjoy the enhancements."

The changes being made to Radiance of the Seas include

• Six single cabins will be added and, if successful, they will also be featured on other ships in the fleet
• Addition of outdoor poolside movie screen
• Seven new dining options
  • Samba Grill (Brazillian steakhouse)
  • Rita’s Cantina (Mexican)
  • Giovanni’s Table (Italian)
  • Park Café (Deli)
  • Izumi (Sushi)
  • Boardwalk Dog House (Hot dogs)
  • Chef’s Table (High end restaurant)
  • Quill & Compass (Bar)
• Addition of Diamond Lounge and Concierge Lounge for Crown & Anchor Society members
• Wi-fi will be "enhanced
• Interactive televisions added to staterooms allowing passengers to book shore tours, order room service or check their SeaPass balance
• Addition of Royal Babies & Tots Nursery

Royal Caribbean will once again have a cruise presence in New Orleans, Louisiana as Voyager of the Seas is set to arrive in the Port of New Orleans in November 2011 for seven-night trips to the western Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean's return to New Orleans will be its first sailing since 2007 and voyages will continue through April 2012.

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas will make its first port of call today at Salerno, Italy to begin its 2011 Mediterranean season in Campania.

Brilliance of the Seas will call at Salerno 12 times for a total of 30,000 passengers handled. Between May and September Brilliance of the Seas will offer itineraries in Europe, with alternate cruises in Greece and Croatia, sailing from Barcelona. Then the ship will move during the winter months in the Persian Gulf for seven-night itineraries in the UAE.