Last year Royal Caribbean sparked a lot of discussion when it paid for a product placement spot in the middle of the Tony Awards, the yearly award show for Broadway shows.  This year, Royal Caribbean is back as the official cruise line of the Tony Awards but there won't be a not-so-subtle ad in the middle again.

Last year Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein came out in swimwear and introduced a "Hairspray" number from a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which turned out to be a paid sponsorship. The number drew criticism for its in-show commercialism in the otherwise proper Tonys. 

Proponents of the segment felt it was done in good taste and helped show off that cruise ship entertainment can be more classy than usually given credit for.

Tony award producer Glenn Weiss commented that there wont be a repeat performance this year, "It's not anything that's being repeated."

Royal Caribbean officially opened booking for it's newest cruise ship that is still under construction, Quantum of the Seas, to the general public.  Last week members of Royal Caribbean's loyalty program were given special access to book the new ship ahead of everyone else.

Royal Caribbean has cruises available from November 2014, when the ship debuts, through April 2015.  Quantum of the Seas' inaugural cruise is not listed as available for sale on the Royal Caribbean web site, which may indicate the inaugural cruise has sold out already.

On the Bahamas cruises, the ship will call at Port Canaveral, Fla., Nassau and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas. The Eastern Caribbean cruises will include San Juan, Puerto Rico; Samana, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas; St. Kitts; and St. Maarten. The Southern Caribbean cruises will call at San Juan, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and St. Kitts. On most sailings, the ship also will visit Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private beach on the north coast of Haiti.

If you're interested in booking your spot on one of the first cruises Quantum of the Seas embarks on, you can call Royal Caribbean directly, consult a travel agent or book online.

Royal Caribbean will be the first cruise line to offer round trip cruises out of Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to open next week.

Starting this fall, Royal Caribbean will offer cruises on Mariner of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean is the first company to announce cruises that will home port from thr new port.

"Hong Kong is one of the most important home ports in Asia," said Dr Liu Zinan, Royal Caribbean's managing director of China. "Asia, including China, is one of the strategic markets for Royal Caribbean."

Mariner of the Seas has never visited Hong Kong before because it was too big for Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui to handle.

When the Kai Tak terminal building opens next Wednesday, Mariner of the Seas will be the first ship to use the immigration counters, as part of a Singapore-Shanghai cruise in which Hong Kong is a port of call.

Shorter trips out of Hong Kong are lined up starting in autumn. At the end of October, the vessel will embark on a four-night round trip to two Taiwanese cities, Kaohsiung and Taipei.

A three-night return trip to Kaohsiung will take place in November, following which the Mariner will leave Hong Kong for Singapore for the winter season.

Making a city a home port is considered to bring bigger economic benefits than transits, as passengers may stay extra nights in the city before or after their standard itineraries. Last year, such passengers spent an average of HK$4,833 a day, twice as much as conventional tourists.

Royal Caribbean will be honored with the ’2013 Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership ‘award on Wednesday, June 5th at the Radisson Martinique Hotel, for its substantial commitment in serving the Caribbean region’s tourism sector, the current lifeblood of many nations.

The award is being presented by the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum and is presented annually in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO), the governmental arm of tourism; and digital media company, Hard Beat Communications.

ICN officials are honoring Royal Caribbean International this year for generously investing in the region and developing partnerships with governments and local businesses in twenty countries.

Royal Caribbean has invested over $200,000,000 over the last ten years in the Caribbean, including the cruise port of Falmouth, Jamaica; Roatan Honduras Town Center and the cruise port in Belize City. In addition, Royal Caribbean operates its private destinations of CocoCay in The Bahamas and Labadee in Haiti.

Royal Caribbean International’s CEO and President, Adam Goldstein and Mike Ronan, the company’s vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, will accept the award on behalf of Royal Caribbean.

Goldstein commented on Royal Caribbean being recognized, “The Caribbean has been the heart and soul of who we are and where we go for over 40 years, and we are honored to receive the 2013 ‘Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership Award.’ At Royal Caribbean, our goal is to continue to work closely with the Caribbean so that their ability to retain and attract cruise ships remains as strong and robust as ever and we look forward to being a leader and working to help recognize the region’s value.”

The news of the fire breaking out on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas on Memorial Day has certainly given concern to some prospective passengers but two sisters on that very cruise ship have shared how helpful Royal Caribbean's staff were during the entire ordeal.

Sherry Winters and her sister Eva DeCamp, both from Ohio, woke up at 3am after hearing the captain’s voice come over the intercom in their room and knocks at their door.

“We saw the staff all in their life jackets. So we ran back in our rooms and the attendant helped find ours. We had them buried underneath the suitcases,” said Winters.

Eventually, the women learned the problem was caused by an electrical fire. Royal Caribbean International issued a statement Wednesday that said the fire started in the mooring area in the aft of the ship.

Royal Caribbean paid for hotel stays and airplane flights back home for all the cruise ship guests.

The women were told that Royal Caribbean would give them a full refund of their trip and said they would gladly take advantage of the free cruise voucher that Royal Caribbean officials offered them for next year. They said they would take another Royal Caribbean cruise because they were treated so well by Royal Caribbean staff.

“From the moment it happened until the day we left, they were just incredible,” Winters said of the Royal Caribbean staff.

“They put us first. Our safety first from the moment it happened,” DeCamp said.

The ship’s staff tried to keep the guests entertained and that Royal Caribbean staff recognized the firefighters onboard, the women said.

“We were just very very pleased with the way we were treated and the whole situation was handled,” Winters said. “We thought they did an excellent job.”

Royal Caribbean announced today that it has signed an agreement to build a third Quantum class cruise ship with the Meyer Werft shipyard. This will new ship will be the sister ship to Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, both of which are set to be built as well.

Royal Caribbean expects the third Quantum class ship, which is yet unnamed, to be delivered sometime in mid-2016.

Quantum of the Seas will debut in November 2014 with Anthem of the Seas following in 2015.  Royal Caribbean also has a third Oasis class ship that will be delivered in 2016 as well.

Today @royalcaribbean confirms 3rd Quantum-class ship to be built at Meyer Werft Shipyard.

— Royal Caribbean PR (@RoyalCaribPR) May 30, 2013

Aside from the announcement that a third Quantum class ship is being built, there are no further details at this time.  There's been speculation about names and it's very likely this third ship's name will come from a pool of unused names Royal Caribbean trademarked last year.  The unused names are Passion of the Seas, Vantage of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas and Pulse of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean announced today it will cancel the next six cruises for Grandeur of the Seas so that the ship can undergo repairs that are needed after a fire occurred earlier this week onboard.

Grandeur of the Seas is expected to return to service on July 12.

Guests booked on cruises that were scheduled to occur between May 31 and July 5 will recieve a full refund along with a certificate for 25% off their next Royal Caribbean cruise.

Guests that were booked on one of the cancelled Grandeur of the Seas cruises should call their travel agent or 1-888-824-0012.

Royal Caribbean also said it moved the Grandeur of the Seas from the Freeport Cruise Terminal to a berth at the Grand Bahama Shipyard, where repairs will take place.

Analyst Tim Conder of Wells Fargo estimated the cost to Royal Caribbean at $15 million to $20 million, including refunds, repairs and canceled cruises.

Royal Caribbean is allowing its Crown and Anchor Society members the first chance to book their spot aboard Quantum of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship that is under construction, will have her inaugural cruise in November 2014.  The ship features a number of ammenities new to the cruise industry such as an observation pod and skydiving simulator.

Those interested in booking can call Royal Caribbean directly, consult a travel agent or book online.

The general public will be able to book their cruise on Quantum of the Seas starting on June 4.

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.