Early this morning a fire broke out on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. Guests and crew were sent to their muster stations and life boats were prepared to be deployed if necessary. Thankfully, that proved to be unnecessary. Here’s what we know according to Royal Caribbean’s  public relations Twitter account, @RoyalCaribPR.

• There was a fire aboard Grandeur of the Seas.
• The Captain ordered guests to their muster stations.
• The fire was extinguished.
• Critical functions like power, propulsion, and communications continued uninterrupted.
• The ship diverted to Freeport from its planned destination of CocoCay.
• All guests and crew are accounted for.
• The ship will spend today in Freeport. Guests have been allowed ashore while the ship is being evaluated.
• @RoyalCaribPR tweeted this photo of the fire and smoke damage.

I have been and continue to be a fan of cruise vacations, and especially a fan of Royal Caribbean International. This is an important reminder that bad things can happen anywhere, anytime. It is also a good reminder of the importance of safety drills and following safety instructions. Likely or not, you may need to use the information shared in these drills someday. The same can be said for the safety demonstrations aboard airliners as well. Now we will wait and see what the investigators discover as a cause of the fire. Hopefully, lessons will be learned to prevent a future occurrence.

My flight from Tampa to Atlanta spent a tiny bit of time out over the Gulf of Mexico Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day to fly, and I couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful blue water only broken by the wake of ships and boats sailing to who knows where. After a relatively chilly few days in Tampa, my mind turned to sailing somewhere warm. Soon enough, we were on the ground in Atlanta, and I was on my way to the curb where MrsMJ was waiting. We are blessed that our home is a short walk from a favorite Mexican spot, where we enjoyed lunch and a few of these.

For whatever reason, Margaritas remind me of cruising. The conversation quickly turned to how much fun it would be to get out of town for a day or two, preferably to somewhere warm. MrsMJ then blurted out of the blue, “is there a short cruise we can take leaving around the 15th or so?” JOY!!! iPhones are great for many things including searching for cruises. Our favorite lines, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean offer apps and/or mobile sites that are completely capable of quick searches and even booking a cruise, so we started looking. Nothing, and I mean nothing was coming up on short notice at a price we wanted to pay, but more importantly offered sailing dates we could make work with very limited time. There were a few possibilities, but nothing was working out.

Then I remembered, a favorite ship of ours, Monarch of the Seas, is setting sail on her farewell cruise for Royal Caribbean later this month. Not only that, the cruise is a 3-night weekender that fits perfectly with our schedule. This was getting serious. Time to break out the iPad! A few clicks, and what do you know? Not only was the timing right, but so was the price!! Within 2 minutes, I had booked a cruise over Margaritas!! My attention immediately turned to flights. Using the FlyDelta app for iPad, I was able to identify flights that would work for us, and booked those too.

Were this just any old Bahamas cruise, I probably wouldn’t be this excited. But this is the final cruise of Monarch of the Seas for Royal Caribbean. The ship is heading to drydock after this cruise and will reemerge at RCL’s sister line, Pullmantur. Monarch holds the distinction of being the ship where I turned 40 and where I watched my first space shuttle launch. In fact, my cruise later this month will be my 5th aboard the ship. Not a record for me, Majesty of the Seas holds that honor, but notable nonetheless. I’ve never been on the farewell cruise for a retiring (transferring) ship, so this should be interesting. I expect a special occasion with a lot of celebration and a little nostalgia too. Once upon a time, Monarch of the Seas was the biggest ship in the world. Now, she’s considered smallish. I’m glad that I’ll get to sail on her last cruise with Royal Caribbean. I’m even breaking with my 3-night cruise dress tradition and busting out my tuxedo. I’ll raise a goodbye toast to Monarch in the style she deserves. And yes, I’ll blog about the experience too.

So, we know that actress Kristin Chenoweth will be godmother of Royal Caribbean’s next innovation, Quantum of the Seas. In this video she alludes to having learned about some of the innovations Royal Caribbean has in store for those of us that will cruise aboard Quantum of the Seas. MrsMJ and I were discussing our vacation plans for the long term today, and I think that without a doubt, we are booking an inaugural cruise aboard Quantum of the Seas!! Who’s sailing with us?

Lot’s of random stuff to talk about this morning. Some I’m a few days behind on, and others more current.

• Effective for sailings March 1 and beyond, Royal Caribbean will begin automatically adding a daily charge to your onboard account to cover staff gratuities. The charge will be $12.00 per person, per day for non-suite guests, and $14.25 per person, per day for suite guests. If you pre-pay your gratuities prior to boarding, this will not apply, and you can adjust the amounts if you are unhappy with services received.
• More Royal Caribbean – The cruise line is currently offering a “3 Day WOW” sale offering reduced deposits, and onboard credits that vary based on length of your cruise. Click here for details.
• Delta continues to impress me with investments it is making in its product. Building on recently enhancements to its transcontinental inflight product, Business Elite services will soon include “Westin Heavenly Bed” products. (HT: Gary)
• Where in the world is MJ this week? Washington, DC. Full hotel review coming Friday. Hint: I got one of the sweeter suite upgrades I’ve had in a while.

I blogged about a big promo Royal Caribbean has been running leading up to the Oscars. Well, the news is in and it is that Kristin Chenoweth is godmother of Royal Caribbean’s latest newbuild ship, Quantum of the Seas.

I think the new ship is going to be a star, but who cares?! You’ve got a chance to win a free promo cruise where you’ll meet Kristin herself AND follow that up with a cruise on Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas. There’s also a second prize featuring a 7-night European cruise aboard Liberty of the Seas. So, watch the video and surf over to Royal Caribbean’s website to enter.

Wonder which broadway show Quantum will feature? Hmmm.

-MJ, February 24, 2013

Royal Caribbean is offering the opportunity to win a 7-night cruise aboard Allure of the Seas or Oasis of the Seas. Known for their entertainment options, it appears Royal Caribbean is upping the game with a new show or new star or both on board. I entered, and so should you. You’ll need to Tweet to @RoyalCaribbean with your guess of who the new star is, and include the hash tags #Oscars and #RoyalCaribbean. More details here. Contest ends February 24, 2013.

Just in time for the worldwide birthday celebration of MJ on Travel yesterday, Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas exited dry dock in Singapore with much more than a fresh coat of paint. The ship looks great, and those summer 2013 itineraries? Oh yeah! Here’s a video that offers a taste of the improvements Royal Caribbean is making aboard many of its ships, including Legend of the Seas.

As an unapologetic fan of Royal Caribbean, you can rest assured that I am excited about these new ships. Quantum Class, and the first ship, Quantum of the Seas. Royal Caribbean has a history of pushing the envelope on exciting new ship designs, and I have no doubt that Quantum of the Seas will be something special. Yes, you can plan on MJ sailing on both of these new ships! Check out this video from Royal Caribbean.

Pay attention to the interwebs tomorrow, as according to Royal Caribbean’s PR Twitter feed, we can expect a major announcement about their upcoming Project Sunshine vessels sometime tomorrow. Could we finally get a glimpse of what these new ships are going to look like? I’ve got nothing but rampant speculation, so I can’t wait to see what the company has to say. My guess: we’ll see the logical extension of the Freedom Class vessels incorporating features from Oasis. And my money is on RCL introducing something brand new and unique to Project Sunshine too. Stay tuned.

Royal Caribbean is rolling out two new beverage packages that may make sense for some cruisers. The Classic and Premium beverage packages will enable cruise guests to pay one price at the beginning of the cruise and enjoy unlimited access to a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The Classic package includes beer (up to $6.25 in value), house wines by the glass, as well as all non-alcoholic cocktails, fountain soda and juices. The Premium package features everything in the Classic package, as well as all beers, frozen drinks and all cocktails including premium brands. The cost of the Classic package is $45 dollars per person, per day and the Premium package is $55 dollars per person, per day. These packages will be available on all Royal Caribbean sailings of 7 nights or longer beginning this month and must be purchased on the first day of the cruise. One interesting wrinkle is that if one person in a stateroom purchases a package, everyone 21 years of age or older in the same stateroom must purchase the package. I am sure that is to prevent people from “buying” drinks for others, but differs from Royal Caribbean’s sister-line Celebrity Cruises, which has no such restriction.

My take: I’m all for increased choices, and inclusive beverage packages are a choice that I like to have. Even though they are owned by the same company, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are offering different beverage packages in this case. Celebrity’s Premium package offers beer and wine as well as specialty coffees and bottled water as part of the package. Royal Caribbean’s offering does not include specialty coffees and wines are limited to house brands. On the other hand, Celebrity’s Premium package is $54 dollars per person plus a 15 percent gratuity while Royal Caribbean’s price of $55 dollars includes the gratuity.

All in all, I’m glad Royal Caribbean is now offering an inclusive drink package. I don’t think twice about buying the Premium package on Celebrity. Not including bottled water and specialty coffees, as well as limiting wines to house brands will make Royal Caribbean’s package offering less of a sure bet for me personally. If they named a dollar limit on wines (like the $12 dollars that Celebrity lists and is usually more than generous enough) and then discounted that from the price of higher quality wines, I’d be more likely to purchase the Premium package on my next Royal Caribbean cruise.