Splendour Of The Seas sold to TUI, last sailing for RCCL april 4th 2016

[Biker19]

But unless they really have a big change in policy- they have to have some small ships- otherwise they can't sail to Alaska- I don't see the larger ships to be capable of getting into the small places that see the glaciers.

 

Which means they have ships to cover Norway, too. As well as the smaller Med islands. But those itineraries can be left, as they are less core to RCI's history.

 

All of the current "small" ships will be gone in the next 5 years but I'm sure some Celebrity EDGE class derived design will be their replacements.:cool:

[SaintL]

Im pretty sure that most of the vision class will be gone by 2020. there just not competitive.

[MOSusan]

She was our first Royal Caribbean ship. She won us over and we've done all our family trips on Royal ever since. But just like an older car maintenance costs will start to add up and it make sense to replace the older model.

 

Thanks for the memories.

[DutchCruiseFan]

I will definetly miss her, really wanted to sail on her again somewhere in the future :(

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Im pretty sure that most of the vision class will be gone by 2020. there just not competitive.

 

I think there is still a place for some of these smaller ships. for example in Baltimore and Vancouver/Alaska. The big girls can not fit.

 

PS--I wish we could get a bigger ship in Baltimore, but the turning basin and bridges are an issue. [or so I am told by the experts on CC, which is not me. :p]

[Susie51]

Thank you for the update.

[mjldvlks]

Splendour was our first RCI ship. We chose that cruise for the itinerary, timing and pricing -- the ship was not even a consideration. We had a great time. Enough so that we were Diamond in about 2 years. Here is a picture of Splendour at anchor with Brilliance at Santorini on that cruise:

 

Edited March 2, 2015 by mjldvlks

[The_Big_M]

What's a "Double Double" strategy mean? The only thing that comes to mind is doubling capacity, and doubling the revenue/ship

 

It's about investors, rather than the product.

 

The strategy is to achieve double-digit return on invested capital

and double earnings per share within three years from when it was announced.

[poncho1973]

Agree...they won't get rid of all smaller ships because they have several locations that require them...Alaska being just one.

 

But any aging vessels and some of the excess smaller ones are likely going to shrink in number. Now with Majesty and Splendour moving away...there could be others on the "roadmap" to also be moved.

 

Unless one believes the Nicaraguan Canal will (1) really happen (2) really open by 2020 which means that basically any ship in the fleet can head to Alaska.

 

Even the widest cruise ship today would have no problem with that canal. If it goes beyond the groundbreaking a couple of months ago.

[MAHA]

My husband and I love the Vision and Radiance classes of ships. Smaller, more intimate with better service than the larger ships. We are late 50's to early 60's and don't use a flowrider, an ice or roller skating rink, a rock wall, etc. We enjoy being able to see smaller ports of call that the behemouth ships cannot get into. I would love for Royal to build some more Radiance class ships. They have lots of glass to view the ocean while sailing. Freedom felt too crowded when we sailed on her in 2009. If Royal gets rid of all the smaller ships, ports like Baltimore won't be able to have cruise ships. Royal will lose us if they get rid of the smaller ships. The largest we enjoy sailing is Voyager class, but they are 3rd on the list behind the Radiance and Vision classes.

 

Mary Anne

Edited March 3, 2015 by MAHA

[slogam]

I'm sure the Legend is right behind her.

 

My hunch is that Legend will be sold in Asia.

May be to CTRIP China like Celebrity Century

and managed by the Join Venture company set up by RCCL and China.

Same arrangement as Celebrity Century.

[alfaeric]

Unless one believes the Nicaraguan Canal will (1) really happen (2) really open by 2020 which means that basically any ship in the fleet can head to Alaska.

 

Even the widest cruise ship today would have no problem with that canal. If it goes beyond the groundbreaking a couple of months ago.

 

It's not an issue of the Panama Canal- it's an issue of the small places that the ships have to get into in Alaska.

 

Ports are small, fjords are narrow, etc. I suspect the same thing for Norway. But Alaska is a key component to the cruising industry.

[poncho1973]

It's not an issue of the Panama Canal- it's an issue of the small places that the ships have to get into in Alaska.

 

Ports are small, fjords are narrow, etc. I suspect the same thing for Norway. But Alaska is a key component to the cruising industry.

 

Am I wrong in thinking that the Radiance-class ships can still get into those tight spots?

 

I was only thinking about getting there and wasn't thinking about the tight spots... but there are still 5 other Vision-class ships and 4 Radiance-class ships.

 

This isn't a wholesale evacuation from the <91000 GWT ship business. 9 of the 11 ships in the fleet will still be sailing. All these ships are reasonably close in size (except for Enchantment's length) in the 120'-130' wide by 870'-970' long range. That's about 35m-40m wide by 265m-300m long for the non-American folks.

 

They are all close in size and jettisoning 9 more ships in the next decade or so seems like a lot. In past 46 years they've only got rid of 8 ships (with 2 more planned) so it's not like they just dump dozens of ships all the time.

Edited March 3, 2015 by poncho1973

[alfaeric]

Am I wrong in thinking that the Radiance-class ships can still get into those tight spots?

 

I was only thinking about getting there and wasn't thinking about the tight spots... but there are still 5 other Vision-class ships and 4 Radiance-class ships.

 

This isn't a wholesale evacuation from the <91000 GWT ship business. 9 of the 11 ships in the fleet will still be sailing. All these ships are reasonably close in size (except for Enchantment's length) in the 120'-130' wide by 870'-970' long range. That's about 35m-40m wide by 265m-300m long for the non-American folks.

 

They are all close in size and jettisoning 9 more ships in the next decade or so seems like a lot. In past 46 years they've only got rid of 8 ships (with 2 more planned) so it's not like they just dump dozens of ships all the time.

 

Radiance can, but I don't consider it a big ship.

 

But my point is that to continue to sail to Alaska, there has to be Radiance or Vision sized ships available. Radiance are better, with more balconies- better for Alaska.

[TinkBellaMom]

We are booked on the Splendour Sept. 12th sailing from Venice. We have sailed on the Oasis twice and loved her, but we chose the Splendour for her itinerary. We will be in Venice for 4 days before and really want to see the Adriatic ports on this vacation.

I don't know much about the history of the Splendour, but we were looking forward to a smaller ship. Do you think the service and such will change because she has been sold. That would be very disappointing, we have been planning this trip for many years. I know its not supposed to be about the ship--but it is sort a big part of the whole experience.

[LMaxwell]

We are booked on the Splendour Sept. 12th sailing from Venice. We have sailed on the Oasis twice and loved her, but we chose the Splendour for her itinerary. We will be in Venice for 4 days before and really want to see the Adriatic ports on this vacation.

I don't know much about the history of the Splendour, but we were looking forward to a smaller ship. Do you think the service and such will change because she has been sold. That would be very disappointing, we have been planning this trip for many years. I know its not supposed to be about the ship--but it is sort a big part of the whole experience.

I would not be concerned whatsoever about lower service on your cruise.

[Rick654]

Hello,

 

Tampa is another place where ship size is limited, in this case by the height of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Royal has the Vision and Brilliance based here this year. Larger ships just can't get in.

By the way, I'm booked on the Splendour's last cruise with Royal the April 4, 2016 Suez Canal from Dubai to Venice.

[cariad1000]

I'm sailing on Splendour on March 27th 2016. Sad that this will be my last time sailing on her.

[vek239]

Just saw the article today. We had already booked what will be the Splendour's last cruise. We've sailed on her once before from Galveston years ago.

[Proseknitic]

In spite of the trend for whiz-bang ships, there are financial advantages to small ships.

 

1) it isn't just port size in Alaska, there are full requirements and hull requirements for any ship sailing where there could be glaciers calving. That means Vision and Radiance class ships.

 

2) Some ship will need to replace the Majesty - that 3/4 day route from Miami is a cash cow. There is no point in putting a large, fancier ship than a Radiance class ship at that port. Those are 3-4 days drinking and gambling cruises mostly US passengers and mostly within cellular range.

 

3) The Vision Class ships aren't really family friendly as much as the larger ships. For a significant percentage of Royal Loyalists - this is a benefit. It does add to the expense with huge numbers of PC/D+/D onboard. It makes them not attractive for many new cruisers.

 

4) I actually see the Legend as the last ship to leave of the Vision Class. She is older, true, but is the ship best equipped for new ports which has been her role for over a decade.

 

I don't see Royal giving up Baltimore, as those sailings do well. I don't see them giving up the Leaf Peepers out of Camp Liberty in the Fall (smaller Canadian ports), I don't see them giving up Alaska and I am not holding my breath on completion of the new Panama Canal in any reasonable time frame. There are smaller European ports, especially like Venice. There are the South American Runs (Rhapsody winter 15-16).

 

What Royal does need to do is make more of an effort for the non-English passengers as those are the ones who fill the ships outside the US/UK. Costa/MSC/NCL all do a much better job in the Med.

 

-Holly

just a personal opinion from someone who spends much more time than might be sensible on ships but does NOT like or wants to pay for the new, fancy and extremely overcrowded large ships. My RCCL stock has gone from $24->$81/share. Not all bad .....

[bogofman]

There are a lot of British passengers who prefer the British ship experience cruising the Med with £ as the on-board currency etc.

 

Currently Thomson has a lot of really old ships, so it makes sense to move the older ships across to Thomson to replace their aging fleet, they will be able to keep existing and attract new cruisers by offering better ships, I would not be surprised if more ships move across .

[Jakanne1]

Splendour of the Seas is to be renamed as Thomson Discovery. It has just been announced. :)