Royal Caribbean to base Voyager of the Seas in Sydney

[Australian family]

Royal Caribbean Cruises has just announced that its "megaliner" Voyager of the Seas will be based in Asia and Australasia from 2012 - including a five month season based in Sydney from November 2012.

 

The 3840-passenger vessel will also cruise in China between June and October 2012, and will be the fifth Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited ship sailing in the region in 2012/13 - alongside Rhapsody of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Millennium.

 

"There are clear opportunities in the China and Australia markets, which are key areas for Royal Caribbean International's global development," said ceo Adam Goldstein at a press conference in Shanghai.

 

Royal Caribbean Australia md Gavin Smith said the positioning of Voyager down under "demonstrates our company's tremendous belief in the future of this region and we are extremely honoured to shape the future of cruising in Australia".

 

Voyager of the Seas has 1556 staterooms and will introduce a host of innovations including its 'Royal Promenade' indoor main street, an ice rink, skating track, golf simulator and inside cabins with a view.

 

She will operate 12 New Zealand, South Pacific and Australian itineraries ranging from one to 18 nights, sailing from Sydney and Fremantle.

 

Royal Caribbean said the cruises were due to open for sale early next month.

 

Source Cruise Weekly

 

How does Voyager of the Seas compare to Radiance of the Seas?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Whats with the rush Downunder?

Why are they targeting Australia?

 

Great news for us down here.....

but they would not go to all the expense of repositioning

if bookings were OK in the States.:eek:

 

[AuzzieCruiser]

I'm one happy chappy.:D

My favourite ship will be sailing from my home town!! :)

[mike@sea]

Wow, very good move. I am impressed by RCI. Don´t think that they are targeting Australia here, but more so China and rest of Asia. Makes sense, that´s where the money is plus a big hunger for some "westernization". Those people love to travel, they love everything that has an international label on it.

Hope that RCI will internationalize their product a bit more now as well. Let´s start with the food ! Please....

[charliegirlac]

YaY!! Absolutely love the Voyager of the Seas! Just hope that they price it right - we live in Melbourne, Australia and we havent cruised from Australia yet as it is just so expensive! We are booked on Allure in September for $1600 for the two of us for the week in the Caribbean. A cruise on Rhapsody in Australia for 13 nights is over $1800 each! So lets hope they price it right. Royal ships are so much nicer than the regular run ships that we have at the moment.

 

Australian Family - Voyager is a different class of ship completly to Radience. It is bigger, has a promenade and ice rink and all the wonderful things that come with those things. It is a great ship!!

[The_Big_M]

but they would not go to all the expense of repositioning

if bookings were OK in the States.:eek:

 

Actually, she's being redeployed from Europe.

 

As to why: bookings and yields are good here, and the newer ships are doing particularly well. Makes sense to spread their attractions around, instead of crowd them in limited areas and that way you can get a range of customer groups.

[klingoncruiser]

Voyager has been out of Galveston, Tx during the winter for several years. They are bringing in a bit newer Voyager Class ship for us here. Glad to see the Voyager head to Australia. It will be an interesting change for you guys down under. Enjoy!

[mondas42]

Do you know when in 2012 VOS will be deployed. We were looking to book a Med cruise on VOS in June 2012 as advertised on the RCI UK site, but if she is to be re-deployed would that mean these cruises would be cancelled?

[brfan]

I wonder if this announcement is the reason why the Sept 2012 Hawaiian and Austrailia repos haven't been posted for Radiance and Rhapsody of the Seas yet?

 

With Celebrity sending Solstice and now Royal Caribbean sending Voyager to Australia, I wonder if either (or both) the Radiance and Rhapsody might be going somewhere else after their Alaska itineraries are done in Sept 2012?

[Topo Gigio]

Would like to see the repositioning cruise from Europe to Australia.

[AuzzieCruiser]

With Celebrity sending Solstice and now Royal Caribbean sending Voyager to Australia, I wonder if either (or both) the Radiance and Rhapsody might be going somewhere else after their Alaska itineraries are done in Sept 2012?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they kept one, if not both down here in Australia during our summer. We have two other cities that need some competition in the local market.:)

[emmy]

As a Canadian whose daughter lives in Sydney this just gives me another option for a cruise ship when I visit. Great news:)

[brfan]

I wouldn't be surprised if they kept one, if not both down here in Australia during our summer. We have two other cities that need some competition in the local market.:)

 

Hopefully because I would really love to do the Hawaii to Vancouver (or reverse) again on the Rhapsody.

 

However I have a feeling the "beards" at Royal are in the process of making a decision. The Sept 2012 and May 2013 Hawaii repo itineraries were posted on Royal Caribbean's website briefly without pricing, but were removed after a couple of days and haven't returned. To me this is a sign that a change may be under consideration and this announcement might be the reason.

[Bobal]

Would like to see the repositioning cruise from Europe to Australia.

 

Ooh yes :D wonder when that will become available.

[The_Big_M]

Would like to see the repositioning cruise from Europe to Australia.

 

It's not direct. It's actually being repositioned to China for 5 months, then being re-positioned from there to Australia in October/Nov for another 5 months.

[The_Big_M]

Do you know when in 2012 VOS will be deployed. We were looking to book a Med cruise on VOS in June 2012 as advertised on the RCI UK site, but if she is to be re-deployed would that mean these cruises would be cancelled?

 

Yes, the European cruises scheduled for the latter half of 2012 will be cancelled. She'll be redeployed to China in June 2012, though we haven't seen the exact date, so I'm not sure if any of the Med cruises in June will remain.

[room010]

This is more about tapping into the vast Chinese market rather than the Aussie one but it's good news for those of us who currently have to fly half way around the world to even get to an embarkation port for practically any cruiseline. China and Asia generally (including Australia) is where the smart $$$$$ is being invested these days.

[mondas42]

Hmm, just spoken to RCI about this and they say that VOS is staying in the Med until at least Oct 2012

[cruisenfever]

Here is the official press release Royal Caribbean International Introduces Voyager of the Seas to China

[39august]

So how is she going to get to China from Europe? Suez canal? Now if we could just find out where Serenade is going to be deployed!

[cruisenfever]

So how is she going to get to China from Europe? Suez canal? Now if we could just find out where Serenade is going to be deployed!

She will be sailing out of Barcelona after her April TA from San Juan on April 21, 2012.

[Clarea]

So how is she going to get to China from Europe? Suez canal? Now if we could just find out where Serenade is going to be deployed!

Voyager would have no problem transiting Suez. There are no locks. The canal depth is about double the draft of Voyager. The closest limiting factor I can see is a bridge, which is about 230' above the water. That's about 20' more than Voyager needs.

[pspercy]

How will =X= smoking policy go over in Asia ? Seems like the majority smoke a lot unless things have changed in the last few years.

[Albert Ross]

SHANGHAI, June 8, 2011 – At a press conference today at the Shanghai International Conference Center in China, executives from Royal Caribbean International told an audience of 300 travel agents and media partners that it will introduce Voyager of the Seas to the China market in 2012.

Michael Bayley, executive vice president of International for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Dr. Zinan Liu, group managing director for China and Asia, revealed that Royal Caribbean International will deploy the 3,114-guest Voyager of the Seas to Shanghai, China in June 2012. Offering a wide variety of itineraries, ranging from four nights to 10 nights, the move is designed to offer exciting new cruise experiences to Chinese vacationers, as well as attract cruise guests from around the world to visit China and sail around Asia.

 

“There are clear opportunities in the China market, a key area for Royal Caribbean International’s global development,” says Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International. “Our brand’s strategy for China is to leverage Royal Caribbean International’s leading position in the market by offering innovative ships and customized services. And we look forward to working with our travel partners and helping to grow the cruise economy in China. ”

 

Voyager of the Seas will be double the size of any cruise ship operating in China, and in the Asia-Pacific region – weighing in at nearly 150,000 gross registered tons and more than double the size of Legend of the Seas. Spanning 11 guest decks and with 1,556 staterooms, the ship will come to Shanghai from Europe and offer a variety of sailings to ports in Japan and Korea until August, including Fukuoka and Kobe in Japan, and Busan and Jeju in Korea. Voyager of the Seas will depart for Sydney, Australia in October.

[PH8]

So much for the Caribbean part of Royal Caribbean.......:rolleyes: I think it's in the minority now..