Royal Caribbean made an announcement today that the next scheduled sailing of Grandeur of the Seas has been canceled.  The May 31st sailing out of Baltimore, Maryland will be cancelled so that the ship can undergo repairs to fix what was damaged by a fire onboard earlier today.

Guests booked on the May 31 sailing will be provided a full refund of the cruise fare paid for their sailing. Royal Caribbean also will provide these guests with the opportunity to sail in the future by providing a future cruise certificate for 50 percent of the cruise fare paid for the May 31, 2013, Grandeur of the Seas sailing.

Guests who booked air transportation through Royal Caribbean International will receive a full refund for air costs. If they did not purchase air transportation through Royal Caribbean International, the cruise line will pay for their airline change fees.

A dedicated telephone hotline has been established for guests on these two sailings. Guests may call us at 1-888-824-0012 in the U.S. or +1-408-916-9000 internationally. 

Grandeur of the Seas was damaged by a fire early in the morning on May 31, 2013.  No one was injured in the incident although the ship was redirected to Freeport, Bahamas where it remains.

Royal Caribbean reported a fire onboard Grandeur of the Seas early this morning and after assessing the damage, the cruise line has decided to cancel the remainder of the cruise.

Royal Caribbean issued a short statement on its decision via social media, "We have assessed the damage to Grandeur of the Seas and have made the decision to cancel the remainder of this voyage. We are currently arranging flights for all guests onboard to return to Baltimore, Maryland tomorrow. Guests on this sailing will receive a full refund of the cruise fare as well as a future cruise certificate. Information about upcoming sailings onboard Grandeur of the Seas will be posted as soon as it is available."

Royal Caribbean also set up a phone hotline for getting more information on the cruise, especially about people who may be on the ship.  The toll free number is 888-824-0012. International callers should call +1-408-916-9000.

A fire broke out at 2:50am on Monday and while no one was hurt, the ship's Captain decided to muster all passengers as a precaution.  The fire was put out at 4:58am and the ship was redirected to Freeport for further evaluation.

Royal Caribbean reported no injuries beyond passenger calls for incidents such as fainting, reports of high blood pressure and an ankle sprain.

Throughout, the ship’s power, propulsion and communications systems functioned uninterrupted.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein and a Guest Care team are en route to Freeport to meet guests.

Grandeur of the Seas was supposed to sail to CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island. Instead it sailed right to Freeport, Bahamas for evaluation.

The Grandeur of the Seas sailed out of Baltimore, with a stop at Port Canaveral before the fire.

A fire was reported aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas while on her way to the Bahamas.  The event occurred on Monday morning by Royal Caribbean and was quickly extinguished.

Royal Caribbean says passengers had to report to evacuation stations but that all are safe and have been accounted for. The cruise line also says the ship still has full power. No serious injuries were reported, and the ship is still making its way to the Bahamas.

#GrandeurOfTheSeas experienced a fire on the aft mooring deck this morning which was quickly extinguished. (cont'd)

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) May 27, 2013

The fire was reported on deck three around 2:50 a.m. Monday.

Grandeur of the Seas sailed out of Baltimore, with a stop at Port Canaveral before the fire.

Photo sent by Kenneth Kinzig

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas arrived today at Mormugao Port in Goa, India.  Mariner is making a stop in Goa as part of a sailing from Dubai.  The ship was greeted by the Deputy Chief Minister of Goa, Francisco D’Souza.

A traditional reception with Goan music and dance was organized by the Goa Tourism, Government of Goa to welcome the passengers. The passengers were also given memorabilia by the Goa Tourism while they disembarked from the ship to tour Goa.

Tourism Minister of Goa, Dilip Parulekar said, “We welcome this cruise and we will work on bringing-in more cruises and tourist in Goa.”

Royal Caribbean will move Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne, New Jersey and right into Port Canaveral, Florida in November 2014.

Explorer of the Seas will offer a range of four- to nine-night Bahamas, and Western and Southern Caribbean vacations.  Explorer will join Freedom of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas, which are based in Port Canaveral year-round.  Explorer of the Seas’ 2014 holiday season cruises from Port Canaveral are now open for sale.

Explorer of the Seas will sail four Western Caribbean cruises roundtrip from Port Canaveral through Jan. 4, 2015. On these five-night itineraries, guests call at Cozumel, Mexico, and Nassau, The Bahamas, or CocoCay and Cozumel. Vacationers also can choose two Southern Caribbean sailings on a nine-night itinerary that call at each of the ABC Islands and Labadee.

Additionally, a five-night Bahamas cruise, departing Dec. 13, 2014, will call at Nassau, Grand Bahamas Island and CocoCay. Guests on a special four-night sailing, departing Dec. 23, will call at Labadee on Christmas Day. The following eight-night Caribbean itinerary will herald in the New Year in St. Maarten, as well as call at San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and Labadee. Vacationers also can choose an extended 14-night Southern Caribbean itinerary, departing Nov. 1, 2014, which repositions Explorer of the Seas from Cape Liberty to Port Canaveral via the Southern Caribbean.

Explorer of the Seas, a Voyager class ship, had spent 8 consecutive years in the New York metro area.

Royal Caribbean is set to put cruises on its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, on sale on May 28, 2013 and today they announced the first cruises onboard the ship.

Quantum of the Seas' inaugural voyage will take place on November 23, 2014.  This will be the official inaugural voyage for the ship, although shorter cruises for the media and travel agents are likely to precede it.

Quantum of the Seas will offer seven- and eight-night Bahamas, eight- to 11-night Eastern Caribbean, and 11- and 12-night Southern Caribbean itineraries.  As previously announced, Quantum of the Seas will sail out of Bayonne, New Jersey.  The first round of itineraries that Royal Caribbean has announced today extend through April 2015.

Bookings will be available to Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program members beginning May 28, 2013 before opening to the general public on June 4.

“Royal Caribbean is proud to partner with some of the Caribbean’s premier destinations for the inaugural season of Quantum of the Seas,” said Adam Goldstein, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “The Quantum class of ships will combine a new set of truly exciting and first-at-sea innovations that can only be found on Royal Caribbean, with some of the most incredible destinations in the region. We can’t wait to WOW vacationers with Quantum cruising.”

On the Bahamas cruises, guests call at Port Canaveral, Fla., Nassau and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private tropical island paradise. The Eastern Caribbean cruises will include ports of call among San Juan, Puerto Rico; Samana, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas; St. Kitts; and St. Maarten. Guests on the Southern Caribbean cruises will call at San Juan, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and St. Kitts. On most Caribbean sailings, Quantum of the Seas also will visit Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s very own highly-rated private beach paradise on the north coast of Haiti.  

Royal Caribbean's largest shareholder is challenging Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain by supporting a plan that could lead to a major shakeup.

Oslo-based A. Wilhelmsen AS owns 19% of Royal Caribbean stock and Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen, is its chairman and a Royal Caribbean director.

Investors vote tomorrow on a non-binding shareholder proposal calling for the elimination of staggered directors’ terms at Miami-based Royal Caribbean. The company opposes the plan, which would have each board member come up for an annual vote.

A similar vote came up back in 2009 but did not have Wilhelmsen's support despite getting 29% of the vote.  Both Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co. have recommended in favor of the activist proposal.

if the vote passes, it could lead to changes at Royal Caribbean such as separation of the chairman and CEO roles as well as turnover on the board of directors.

Royal Caribbean announced today that chief financial officer Brian Rice will retire soon and the company will begin transitioning his duties to Jason Liberty.  Rice will officially retire in the spring of 2014 and in the meanwhile, Liberty will begin taking over to make the transition process seamless.  

Rice will continue to serve as Vice Chairman until his retirement, overseeing Royal Caribbean’s finance, supply chain, strategy and information technology functions. Rice has been with Royal Caribbean for more than 20 years, serving as CFO since 2006 and Vice Chairman since 2012.

Royal Caribbean named Jason Liberty its new CFO, effective immediately, and he will continue to report to Rice.

Liberty joined Royal Caribbean in 2005 and most recently served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Finance, overseeing the company’s Corporate and Strategic Planning, Treasury, Investor Relations and Internal Audit functions. Before joining Royal Caribbean, Liberty was a senior manager at the accounting firm KPMG.

“Over the past 24 years, I’ve had the very good fortune to work for an outstanding company in a truly exciting industry,” said Rice. “I am proud to have played a part in its success, and I feel comfortable that I will be leaving the company in excellent shape.”

“Brian has been a key figure in the development of Royal Caribbean, and an important leader who has made significant contributions to the entire cruise industry,” said Richard D. Fain, Chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises.