Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas was forced to return to Port Canaveral hours after it left port because of a severe injury to a one year old.

Monarch of the Seas had initially left Port Canaveral at 4:30pm to head to the Bahamas when a 1-year-old crawled through an 11th floor railing and fell to a balcony one deck below.

At 7:30 p.m. the child was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.

There was no word on the child's condition.

We stumbled across this great video made by Dan Carter that takes a tour of Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas in beautiful high definition (be sure to enable the HD option). It's impressive and a great way to get "a quick fix" before your next cruise!

The Puerto Rico Tourism Co. (PRTC) has signed a deal with Royal Caribbean that will bring Oasis class cruise ships to the island of Puerto Rico in 2014, according to Caribbean Business.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis class cruise ships are the largest in the world and bring 5,400 passengers.   PRTC Executive Director Luis Gerardo Rivera Marín did not indicate weather Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas would visit the island, but Marín did say the ship would dock at Pier 3 in Old San Juan.  Furthermore, naval architects have been at the pier to verify pier compliance.

Earlier today the government of Finland announced that it would loan STX shipyard in Turku $28 million euros to build Royal Caribbean's third Oasis-class cruise ship.  STX Finland says the loan is not enough and the shipyard is likely to lose the order to STX Europe in France.

Jari Aalto says the shipyard needs more money than the Finnish government has loaned, "We would have needed the 50 million euro loan."

Aalto says that STX Europe in France has a better loan to offer Royal Caribbean.

The Finnish Metalworkers' Union also expressed disappointment at the decision. It said a potential order loss now could harm the shipyard’s ability to attract customers in the future.

In addition, the report from this Finnish web site claims the government loan is 44 million euros, compared to the earlier report of 28 million.

The Government of Finland has announced it will support STX Europe with a $37 million loan if the shipyard can secure a deal with Royal Caribbean to build a third Oasis-class cruise ship.

STX has been lobbying the Finnish government for the 28 million Euro deal without luck until the government stipulated that it would indeed grant the money from its European Union-approved aid provided that a deal between STX and Royal Caribbean can be reached.

STX had previously built the first two Oasis class cruise ships for Royal Caribbean and many reports point to STX to be the leading candidate to build this new cruise ship.  Other possibilities for building the ship include shipyards in France and Germany.

The deal between the Finnish government and STX could employ about 20,000 workers, which would be a welcome boost for the local economy given Finland's cooling economy.

STX Finland said it was disappointed at not getting the loan and would continue talks with other creditors.

At the 19th World Travel Awards in Delhi, India, Royal Caribbean was honored with two awards for excellence in their cruise line.

Royal Caribbean won the World's Leading Cruise Brand and World's Leading Cruise Line awards.  Winners were determined by voting of accredited tourism professionals from around the world as well as readers of the World Travel Awards.

Accepting the awards was Royal Caribbean's Regional Director of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Helen Beck.  

A 68-year-old man died while on a snorkeling excursion in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica while traveling aboard Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.

Police are investigating the exact cause of death, but Jim Caves of Riverside, California on a cruise aboard Vision of the Seas while it was docked in Dominica.  According to reports, Caves complained of feeling sick following a snorkeling at a local beach with his family members.

Caves was taken to a local hospital where he died.