The Crown and Anchor Life

It really depends what the goals for the position are.
Did James Van Fleet turn the position into customer facing with videos and social media interaction or was that the goal all along?  IIRC they sought a met with a TV background.
Plenty of companies have inhouse meteorologists that are not TV celebrities but rather low paid younger graduates who are churning out reports and advisories.  
Is that what Royal wants?  A never seen by the public back office worker churning out data for consumption by bridge crews and management but never in front of a camera?
Royal may desire to have a TV personality so that they can create content, interact with guests and put guests at ease.  

Looks like only one flow rider 😒

Airlines used to fly into storms and planes crashed.  No one warned them not to.  Modern pilots learned a lot about what not to do based on mistakes made by others before them.
For the purpose of weather you can't compare aviation with ships.  Airlines fly fast and can delay a departure to wait for the computer projected clear weather.  They are nimble and can quickly fly in another direction.
Ships move slowly and can't always sail in every direction, for example when near land, their movement is unlike an airline that fly in any direction over land or water.  
He was there 6 six years so whatever audition he submitted seemed to work.   

Getting close to time to replace the Vision Class.  I was wondering if Royal might roll out a smaller ship for that purpose.

There but for the Grace of God go us all............
Questions
This storm was a known quantity, particularly the winds and seas. Unfortunately heading toward the coast of the Carolinas so evasion options were limited. I understand scheduling, logistics, & financial pressures, but maybe a diversion to Jacksonville or even delaying return to Charleston by 12-24 hours might have been options to consider? That was to put it mildly, nautical though not epically so.
The captain, like an airline captain, is the ultimate authority on the ship and decision maker. Think Carnival will call him/her on the carpet?
According to Wikipedia, the vessel once wore the mantle of "world's largest".........in 1996. A veritable dinghy now. 😲
 

There have been rumors of "Project Discovery".  Royal likes to call new ship class developments a "project".  However that's all that been known.  
Considering that Vision and Radiance class are all that can use the Panama Canal, it stands to reason that Royal would look to create a new class that could.  Mega ships are great but they are a PITA when deploying ships between the Atlantic and Pacific.  They need something that can.
Without any proof or facts, I've always thought that taking the Edge class platform, the basic hull design, not an Edge class ship and painting a Royal name on it, they could leverage a successful hull design and save that engineering cost, and by using LNG engines, build on that hull design to create a new class for Royal.  
  

Woud be lovely if it were to happen, but I'm not holding my breath.

At the CAS meeting this week while on the Radiance in Alaska, our Captain Merrek, said a new ship and class similar in size to the Radiance is being planned in the next 3 or 4 years.  The name of the ship is to be the Discovery of the Seas.
Does nybody have any further information  or confirmation?

I think COVID extended their time at Royal.
Grandeur already had one foot out the door.  The loss of Pullmantur, cemented shut by the pandemic, eliminated the pasture where Royal could transitions ships out of the RCI/Celebrity fleet.   
COVID also sent a lot of would be potential older ship buyers scattering into the wind.  That's left many lines like Royal faced with two options.  Keep them or scrap them.  Not ready to scrap them, they keep them, for now.  

Glad it all worked out and you're able to enjoy the rest of your trip!