Royal Caribbean alerted guests aboard Empress of the Seas that their itinerary was changed due to the weather forecast regarding the tropical disturbance Invest 99L.

Given the storm's current location and projected path, Royal Caribbean reversed the itinerary and canceled a call in Key West, Florida for the sake of the safety of its guests and crew members.

The new itinerary is as follows:

• August 25: PortMiami, Florida 4pm
• August 26: CocoCay
• August 27: Nassau, Bahamas 9am - midnight
• August 28: At Sea
• August 29: PortMiami, Florida 7am

Guests that booked any shore excursions in Key West, Florida through Royal Caribbean will receive refunds in the form of a credit to their onboard account.

Royal Caribbean also apologized for any inconvenience, "We sincerely regret the impact weather is having on your sailing, and thank you for your understand and cooperation.  Every time one of our ships sets sail, our single focus is to give you a wonderful, outstanding vacation."

Royal Caribbean released new Empress of the Seas sailings today that allow guests to book cruises through the end of December 2016.

There are a variety of new sailings and itineraries, that range between 4- and 8-nights.

With the longer itineraries, Empress of the Seas will now visit ports previously not available, including ports like

• Falmouth, Jamaica
• Belize City, Belize
• Costa Maya, Mexico
• Roatan, Honduras

In addition to the new sailings, Empress of the Seas will mostly offer 3- and 4-night sailings to the Bahamas and Key West.

The new sailings are not available yet for booking on Royal Caribbean's web site, but should become available for booking soon.

Royal Caribbean was forced to change the scheduled itineraries for two of its cruise ships today, due to the predicted path of a tropical disturbance.

Royal Caribbean spokesman Owen Torres told Royal Caribbean Blog the change was made, "to ensure our guests enjoy a safe and comfortable cruise. Given the storm’s current location and projected path, we had no other option but to revise itineraries for Empress of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas."

Empress of the Seas revised itinerary will be

Monday, August 1: Miami, Florida
Tuesday, August 2: Key West, Florida
Wednesday, August 3: At Sea
Thursday, August 4: Nassau, Bahamas
Friday, August 5: CocoCay, Bahamas
Saturday, August 6: Miami, Florida

Liberty of the Seas revised itinerary will be

Sunday, July 31: Galveston, Texas
Monday, August 1: At Sea
Tuesday, August 2: Cozumel, Mexico
Wednesday, August 3: At Sea
Thursday, August 4: Nassau, Bahamas
Friday, August 5: At Sea
Saturday, August 6: At Sea
Sunday, August 7: Galveston, Texas

Royal Caribbean will continue to monitor the path and progress of the tropical disturbance in the Western Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean has released new sailings for Empress of the Seas that extends the booking window through October 2016.

The new sailings are for destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

• 5-night Key West and Cozumel
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Cozumel, Mexico; Cruising; Miami, Florida
  • October 1, 15, 29, 2016
• 4-night Key West and Nassau
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida
  • October 6, 20, 2016
• 5-night Key West & Cozumel
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Cozumel, Mexico; Cruising; Miami, Florida
  • October 10, 24, 2016

The new sailings are available for booking immediately.

Royal Caribbean has released new sailings for Empress of the Seas that extends the booking window through September 2016.

The new sailings are for destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

• 5-night Key West and Cozumel
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Cruising; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Cozumel, Mexico; Cruising; Miami, Florida
  • September 3, 12, 17, 26, 2016
• 4-night Key West and Nassau
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida

The new sailings are available for booking immediately.

It appears Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas is experiencing a "technical issue" related to its engines.

Cruise Critic is reporting that Empress of the Seas' engine troubles are forcing the ship to reroute its current sailing.

In a statement by Royal Caribbean, the company explained that work is underway to resolve the issue, "Empress of the Seas is currently experiencing a technical issue with one of the ship's four engine. Since we became aware of the problem, our highly trained engineering team has been working to resolve the issue. While we work on the issue, the ship is sailing at a reduced rate of speed."

Empress of the Seas was scheduled to visit Grand Cayman, but instead visited Nassau yesterday and stopped at CocoCay earlier today.  It will call on Key West on June 29, as scheduled.

Royal Caribbean is offering compensation to guests aboard the current sailing in the amount of 10 percent of the cruise fare paid, per stateroom.

According to the line, all equipment onboard is fully functional and there is no impact on the maneuverability of the ship or on the safety of passengers and crew. Royal Caribbean has not yet indicated whether the next sailing will be affected by the engine trouble.

Royal Caribbean released new sailings today on Empress of the Seas for the months of July and August, 2016.

The new sailings are for destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

There are two itineraries offered across the various sailings.

• 4 night Bahamas and Key West
  • Ports of call: Miami, Florida; CocoCay, Bahamas; Cruising; Key West, Florida; Miami, Florida
  • July 28, 2016, August 11, 25, 2016
• 5 night Western Caribbean
  • Ports of call: Miami, Florida; Cruising; George Town, Grand Cayman; Cruising; Key West, Florida; Miami, Florida
  • August 1, 6, 15, 20, 2016

Royal Caribbean offers on Empress of the Seas longer stays in Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and CocoCay.

The new sailings are available for booking immediately.

Despite a couple of delays, Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas arrived in her new homeport of Miami earlier today, following a $50 million revitalization.

Photo by Royal Caribbean International

Empress will set sail on her first sailing on Saturday, May 28 visiting Royal Caribbean’s private island CocoCay, Bahamas and Nassau, Bahamas.

The ship will then offer short 4- and 5-night getaways from Miami to Nassau, The Bahamas; Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Grand Cayman and Key West, Florida. With longer stays in every port, guests will be able to experience spectacular golden sunsets in the Caribbean. Plus, on select 5-night itineraries, guest can experience the authentic Mexican culture and cuisine during overnight stays in Cozumel, Mexico.

Photos by Royal Caribbean International

Empress of the Seas will offer signature amenities including a thrilling rock-climbing wall for adrenaline seekers; new pools and whirlpools; a spa with an extensive treatment menu; and a complimentary Adventure Ocean youth program. 

Empress also will offer a variety of dining options, including the casual atmosphere of the Windjammer Café and fine dining at the brand’s signature steakhouse Chops Grille. In addition, the ship will offer Voom, the fastest internet at sea. 

Royal Caribbean announced today it has cancelled seven more Empress of the Seas sailings on April 25, 30, May 5, 9, 14, 19 and 23.

This is the second time Royal Caribbean has cancelled scheduled sailings on Empress of the Seas, following the cancellation of the first six Empress of the Seas sailings in March 2016.

Royal Caribbean provided this explanation as to why these additional sailings are being cancelled, "Modernizing Empress of the Seas for her return to the Royal Caribbean International fleet began in late February. As work has progressed, we learned that more significant infrastructure and physical improvements across the ship's multiple galleys and provisioning areas were needed to meet our high standards."

"We decided that instead of simply repairing the five galleys, we would completely rebuild them, starting from scratch with entirely new infrastructure and all new equipment, at a cost of $10 million."

"We sincerely apologize to our guests and travel partners for the inconvenience, and hope they understand that more time was needed to ensure Empress of the Seas meets the standards for quality our guests expect from Royal Caribbean."

Guests originally booked on the March 30, April 4, April 7, April 11, April 16 and April 21 sailings and rebooked on one of the newly cancelled sailings will receive a full refund and a future cruise credit of 100%.

Guests scheduled to sail within 14 days of departure on the cancelled April 25 or April 30 sailing, who do not rebook, will receive a full refund and a future cruise credit of 50% of the fare paid.

All other guests scheduled to sail on the May 5th - May 23rd sail dates will be provided an onboard credit if they rebook to another Royal Caribbean sailing.

Royal Caribbean notified its travel partners and guests that the first six sailings scheduled for Empress of the Seas have been cancelled.

Empress of the Seas sailings scheduled to depart on March 30, April 4, April 7, April 11, April 16 and April 21 have been cancelled.

The reasoning seems to be that additional work is needed before Empress of the Seas can rejoin the fleet.  In a statement to travel partners, Royal Caribbean explained, "Like many large renovation project, we are going to need more time to ensure the ship meets the high standards for quality our guests expect from Royal Caribbean."

As an alternative, guests may move to the same stateroom category on another Empress of Seas sailing between April 25, 2016 and July 23, 2016, and may also move to the same stateroom category on any Majesty of the Seas sailing between now and April 29, 2016 for the same cruise fare rate they paid for their original sailing. Guests who rebook to any Royal Caribbean Sailing will receive a $100 per stateroom onboard credit.

Guests who cannot or do not want to rebook, are eligble for a full refund of their cruise fare paid.