After being delayed due to Tropical Storm Isaac, Royal Caribbean's ships returned to port today.  Allure of the Seas had her seven night itinerary extended to nine due to the storm, but arrived in Port Everglades at 5:30am this morning.

Despite the delay, passengers said the staff on board did a great job handling the storm and keeping everyone safe. "Good job. They did an excellent job. They let us know in advance. I didn't hear anyone complaining," said Barbara Moore.

Meanwhile Majesty of the Seas made her way back to the port of Miami, which was closed since Saturday.  Tropical Storm Isaac forced the port to close but was reopened on Monday afternoon.

Majesty of the Seas was extended from a three-day journey to a four-day trip, and the ship did not stop at the scheduled ports of call. "They gave us back our port charges, I guess because we didn't go to any ports. But other than that, I think they made a lot of money in the casinos and the alcohol," said passenger Michael Brodie.

Royal Caribbean is announcing that Allure of the Seas will be delayed returning home by two days due to Tropical Storm Isaac.  Instead of returning to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday as scheduled, she will instead stay out at sea to avoid the storm until Tuesday.

This will bring Allure of the Seas back to port two days later than scheduled. The next sailing for Allure of the Seas will begin on Tuesday August 28 instead of Sunday August 26 as a result and will reduce the length of the cruise from seven to five nights. As a result, the ship will skip scheduled calls in Falmouth, Jamaica and Labadee, Haiti and add a call in Nassau, Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean is making up the delay to those on the now five-night cruise by offering them onboard credit for the missing days as well as a future cruise certificate worth 10% of the fare they paid for the cruise.

Royal Caribbean is asking guests who are scheduled to sail on Allure of the Seas on Sunday, August 26, not arrive at the port until 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 28 for check-in and boarding.

If you are scheduled to sail on the August 26 Allure of the Seas cruise and cannot make the new Tuesday departure, you should call Royal Caribbean at 888-829-4050 in the U.S., and 408-926-9002 internationally.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas rescued 58 Haitans that were stranded in the Caribbean Sea and brought them to Cozumel, Mexico.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says a guest spotted the boat and immediately informed a crew member on Thursday as they were heading from St. Maarten to Cozumel.

The Haitians informed the Allure of the Seas crew that they didn't need any help but the Allure of the Seas did contact the United States Coast Guard.  The Coast Guard asked the ship to return and help them.  

A total of 47 men and 7 women were rescued and given food, water and medical treatment.

Royal Caribbean turned the Haitians over to the Mexican Navy upon arrival in Mexico.

Photo by IssiC_MS

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas rescued Cuban refugees afloat at sea twice on this past Saturday.

The first rescue was of five Cubans on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean.  According to reports, the Cubans were given food and water while being transferred to the United States Coast Guard.

Another group of Cubans were reported rescued as well later that day by Allure of the Seas.  No comment by Royal Caribbean at this time.

Royal Caribbean has released their schedule of cruises to the Caribbean for 2013-2014 and are now open for bookings.

Royal Caribbean is planning cruises for Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas to bring a total of 140 sailings across 31 itineraries what will make stops at 20 different ports.

New to the schedule will be cruises out of New Orleans, Lousiana aboard Serenade of the Seas.  The first cruise out of the Big Easy will be a 9-night Caribbean cruise on December 12, 2013 that will stop at Key West, Nassau, Labadee & Ocho Rios.  Following that cruise, Serenade will alternate between 7-night cruises to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean.

It will be business as usual for Oasis and Allure of the seas.  They will continue their popular 7-night western and eastern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades, Florida.

Also calling Port Everglades home will be Independence of the Seas, who will offer 6-night cruises to the western and eastern Caribbean.

Freedom of the Seas will continue to operate out of Port Canaveral, Florida and alternate between 7-night eastern and western sailings.  

Finally, Navigator of the Seas will debut in Galveston, Texas with two western Caribbean cruises.  Both are 7-night sailings and one itinerary calling at Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, while the other at Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (Belize) and Cozumel.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, reported a "fire of short duration in the engine room," a spokeswoman said

The ship was sailing from St. Maarten to  Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale when an engine fire broke out at 7:45 pm on Friday, said spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez..

"The ship's high fog system was immediately activated, which contained and extinguished the fire."

No passengers or crew members were injured and the ship sailed to Port Everglades without any assistance. The cruise scheduled to return on Sunday.

One of the largest cruise fan websites, CruiseCritic, has released the results of the 2012 Cruisers' Choice Awards and Royal Caribbean has walked away with a number of prizes for its ships.

Among large cruise ships, Royal Caribbean was nominated in many categories and won the following categories:

• Best For Dining: Serenade of the Seas
• Best for Embarkation: Allure of the Seas
• Best for Entertainment: Oasis of the Seas
• Best for Families: Allure of the Seas
• Best for Fitness: Freedom of the Seas
• Best for Service: Serenade of the Seas

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.  Next, in December 2012, Royal Caribbean will hold the Royal 5K in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, onboard Oasis of the Seas. 

These cruises that include the Royal 5K race will also offer passengers other activities including

• Private meet-and-greet sessions with high-profile racing athletes
• Seminars and lectures with high-profile athletes
• Personal training tips from experts
• Speed tests onboard the track on your ship
• A chance to win prizes, including a grand prize trip to ESPN headquarters

The Royal 5K package price is $25.  

The first Royal 5K was held back in December 2010 in St. Maarten.

Bahamas police are investigating an apparent suicide of a British man on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas that occurred this past Friday.  This investigation is related to the incident first reported about a man who fell off the ship.

Police report that at 7:10am while aboard Allure of the Seas, the man committed suicide while the ship was off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico.

American Federal agents are assisting the police in the Bahamas, including Superintendent Paul Rolle, Head of the Central Detective Unit, along with officers from the Broward County Sheriff's Office and Customs and Border Protection.

"We do not have much information we can share with the public at this point. All we know is a British man is dead and it may or may not have been suicide. We are still conducting our on scene investigations and interviewing eyewitness. We are being assisted by other law enforcement agencies and expect to wrap up our investigations shortly. At that time, I will provide an update," he said.

Royal Caribbean issued a statement said the 30-year-old fell from the balcony of his stateroom on Deck 11.  The statement also said, "The ship made multiple public announcements and began a complete search of the ship, in efforts to locate the guest. When the guest did not respond to the pages and was not found onboard, the captain alerted the local authorities of the situation."

The victim suffered serious injuries and was declared dead at the scene.