Deployment 2017/18 - first guesses and implications

[MADflyer]

I'd agree that the former might have caused the latter.

 

Someone on one of the FB pages also rumored that monarch would be coming back. Of course, it is rumors, but maybe pullmantur will be eliminated as someone mentioned earlier. This is a lot of speculation, but that is what is fun about this thread!:D

 

Pullmantur just brought together all the elite of the Spanish travel market on the 3rd of December and introduced their 'new' concept. They have added a chef with 2 Michelin stars to lead their new culinary experience.

 

They are also bringing their tours 'in-house' and will offer 5 types of tours in every port; Culinary, Relaxation, Family, Fun or Adventure.

 

Pullmantur has a long history as a land operator and this was always one of their strong points before RCL also sold off their airline and their tour company.

 

They are going with the positive news that they will be able to offer 1000 more berths per sailing with Monarch versus Empress to the Spanish market.

 

Monarch has been fully rebooked for the Norwegian/Artic/Baltic/Scandinavian sailings in 2016. They have brought in Horizon to take some of the Empress MED Sailings.

 

The Northern Europe/Baltic season for Empress last summer was extremely successful unlike the Caribbean sailings marketed to Brazil and Latin America.

 

The Spanish travel market is strengthening greatly again and Pullmantur are well positioned to take advantage of that.

[SharkCruiser24]

When do they normally release the Canada/New England itineraries?

 

thanks!

 

I want to do this cruise with my mom in 2017. Fingers crossed for a Vision Class ship. I've never been on one and my mom likes that size. Maybe between Grandeur and Anthem, so we'd go out of Baltimore on Grandeur.

[MADflyer]

Here is the first deployment flyer for Empress of the Seas from Miami for March to June.

 

The ship does continue into the next deployment season with a 5/5/4 pattern.

 

The 5 night sailings are a variety of Key West/Grand Cayman and Mexican Riviera with some overnight stops at Cozumel.

 

The 4 night sailings are a variety of Key West Bahamas and Bahamas only sailings.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/15048027_Empress_Caribbean_Deployment_Flyer.pdf

[mapleleafvoyage]

Following

[CRUISEBOY305]

Here is the first deployment flyer for Empress of the Seas from Miami for March to June.

 

The ship does continue into the next deployment season with a 5/5/4 pattern.

 

The 5 night sailings are a variety of Key West/Grand Cayman and Mexican Riviera with some overnight stops at Cozumel.

 

The 4 night sailings are a variety of Key West Bahamas and Bahamas only sailings.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/15048027_Empress_Caribbean_Deployment_Flyer.pdf

 

The overnight Cozumel sailings are now showing 'Sold Out'. Not sure how accurate that is. We all know how much RC's site likes to mess with us. :p:p:p

[MADflyer]

The overnight Cozumel sailings are now showing 'Sold Out'. Not sure how accurate that is. We all know how much RC's site likes to mess with us. :p:p:p

 

They are being loaded now and have not yet been available.

 

RCI sailings show SO sold out when not available NA now.

 

They have incentivized the TA market and are taking bookings from their groups and incentive markets from today as well though.

 

While many cabins may disappear quickly, many will return to inventory 60 days out as incentivized bookings sometimes have a higher cancellation rate.

[shipfriend_max]

Does it say where Freedom is going? I heard she was leaving Florida

 

Freedom is booked for Europe, she is appearing at the cruise schedule for Villefranche between May and Oct 2017.

 

See my attachment - a facebook page has posted that, according to its sources, seven ships are scheduled for Europe in 2017: Indy, Freedom, Navigator, Jewel, Brilliance, Vision, Rhapsody. Wondering about Serenade?! :confused:

[MADflyer]

Freedom is booked for Europe, she is appearing at the cruise schedule for Villefranche between May and Oct 2017.

 

See my attachment - a facebook page has posted that, according to its sources, seven ships are scheduled for Europe in 2017: Indy, Freedom, Navigator, Jewel, Brilliance, Vision, Rhapsody. Wondering about Serenade?! :confused:

 

Are we supposed to clarify why a Facebook poster left off Serenade from their list?

 

As we know, deployment is subject to change at any moment, but current indicators are that she will continue to be based out of Copenhagen/Stockholm.

 

Some of these indicators have been in place since early summer of 2015 and have been openly discussed in this and other CC threads.

 

The bookings at Le Havre were made many months ago and Serenade arrives a bit earlier than normal.

 

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA dim. 03/05/2015 04:50 dim. 03/05/2015 23:22 ZEEBRUGGE CHERBOURG

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA mer. 11/05/2016 07:00 mer. 11/05/2016 20:00 CORK ZEEBRUGGE

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA sam. 29/04/2017 07:00 sam. 29/04/2017 21:00 CORK ZEEBRUGGE

[John&LaLa]

Are we supposed to clarify why a Facebook poster left off Serenade from their list?

 

As we know, deployment is subject to change at any moment, but current indicators are that she will continue to be based out of Copenhagen/Stockholm.

 

Some of these indicators have been in place since early summer of 2015 and have been openly discussed in this and other CC threads.

 

The bookings at Le Havre were made many months ago and Serenade arrives a bit earlier than normal.

 

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA dim. 03/05/2015 04:50 dim. 03/05/2015 23:22 ZEEBRUGGE CHERBOURG

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA mer. 11/05/2016 07:00 mer. 11/05/2016 20:00 CORK ZEEBRUGGE

ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES LTD AGENA TRAMP SERENADE OF THE SEAS 9228344 BHS 2003 293.2 32.2 8.5 PCA sam. 29/04/2017 07:00 sam. 29/04/2017 21:00 CORK ZEEBRUGGE

 

They were just wondering. Thanks for the clarification

[MADflyer]

The Empress press release and port bookings though 2019 at Key West indicate a long term deployment at Miami.

 

Updated 2017 Summer / 2018 Winter Deployment predictions

 

Deployment confirmed to great degree. (cruise schedule and press release confirmed)

 

Adventure, year-round San Juan

Allure, Port Everglades year round

Anthem, year-round Bayonne

Brilliance, European deployment, Barcelona 12 nights / Tampa

Empress, year-round Miami 5/5/4 night pattern

Enchantment, year-round Miami

Explorer, Alaska Seattle home-port / Sydney deployment

Freedom, European deployment, Barcelona / PE East/West sailings

Grandeur, year-round Baltimore deploymentSmilies

Harmony, year-round Port Everglades deployment

Indy, European deployment, Southampton. / PE 6/8 pattern

Legend, China, returns to Hong Kong home-port / Australia

Liberty, year-round Galveston

Majesty, year-round Port Canaveral deployment

Mariner, China, returns to Shanghai from Singapore

Navigator, European deployment, Southampton / Miami 5/9 pattern

Oasis, year-round Port Canaveral

Ovation, China Beijing deployment / Sydney

Quantum, China, year-round Shanghai home-port

Radiance, Alaska Vancouver home-port / Sydney

Rhapsody, European deployment, Civitavecchia home-port. / Tampa

Serenade, European deployment, Copenhagen / PE longer sailings

Vision, returns to Venice home-port / Dubai

Voyager, returns to Singapore

 

Deployment Likely (through port bookings and statements)

 

Jewel, European deployment, Eastern and Western ? (showing at Villefranche every other week summer 2017) / San Juan winter

 

Speculated deployment

 

All ships accounted for and all subject to change at any time.

Rhapsody could turn out to be a 'wild card' as her ports are hard to track.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Rhapsody, European deployment, Civitavecchia home-port. / Tampa

 

Jewel, European deployment, Eastern and Western ? (showing at Villefranche every other week summer 2017) / San Juan winter

 

Both Rhapsody and Jewel home-ported at Rome? How about a 2nd ship in Venice, as there will be on 2016?

Edited December 24, 2015 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[MADflyer]

Both Rhapsody and Jewel home-ported at Rome? How about a 2nd ship in Venice, as there will be on 2016?

 

All RCL bookings for Civitavecchia are not showing publicly. As so many ports are not reporting for 2017 yet, it is impossible to know the ships home ports.

 

Venice will become clear when Dubrovnik reports, but they do not have 2017 bookings public yet.

 

When Palma reports that will help clear up Rome as they show port prior and port following.

 

If they are doing Eastern/Western on Jewel, it would seem a Rome deployment would be most logical.

 

They could also do some Rome/Venice/Rome sailings with Rhapsody.

[shipfriend_max]

Have a look at the Amsterdam cruise schedule for 2017:

http://www.ptamsterdam.nl/nl/cruises-portal

 

Between May and July 2017, Vision otS is reported for Amsterdam as turn around call, every 11-12 days.

Seems that Vision is going to sail on 11-12 night Northern Europe sailings to Norway (including North Cape), maybe Baltic and British Isles as well.

For July/August 2017, she seems to switch to another home port, such as Copenhagen or Hamburg.

 

Vision, returns to Venice home-port / Dubai

 

So Vision needs to be updated:

Vision to sail from Amsterdam and Copenhagen or Hamburg

Edited December 30, 2015 by celebrity_fan

[springaussie]

Happy New Year to all who participate in this post.

[John&LaLa]

Happy New Year to all who participate in this post.

 

Happy NYE to you as well. How long till midnight. I'm guessing it's happened in NZ already

Edited December 31, 2015 by John&LaLa

[MADflyer]

Happy New Year to all who participate in this post.

 

Happy New Year.

[MADflyer]

That is great that Amsterdam has reported for 2017. It makes so much sense to sail from a port with such good world-wide air connections. The feeder routes for these sailings are incredible both by Air and Rail.

 

Currently Vision calls at

 

Venice 19 April 2017

Malta 22 April 2017

Palma de Mallorca 24 April 2017

Cartagena, Spain 26 April 2017

 

Maybe a Malaga B2B from Venice to Malaga to Amsterdam?

 

Gibraltar 2 May 2017

Amsterdam 9 May 2017

[MADflyer]

Port bookings at Palma seem to indicate that Rhapsody might be based out of Venice and Barcelona and may do one directional sailings from June.

 

She could do a May 15th sailing from Rome to Venice and then

 

As Rome and Dubrovnik are not yet reporting it is difficult to see the pattern for the entire season.

 

Rhapsody might depart Barcelona on a repositioning sailing on the 17th of October 2017 after doing a Venice to Barcelona sailing.

[MADflyer]

Vision appears to head back to Dubai or another eastern port as she re-enters the MED on the 11th of September at Gibraltar after departing from Amsterdam on the 2nd of September.

[MADflyer]

Freedom of the Seas should arrive at Barcelona on the 7th of May 2017 from her TA.

 

Freedom then should begin weekly Sunday sailings from Barcelona with an updated itinerary that includes Villefranche with weekly calls, but Freedom will not be calling at Palma on the 7 night Western sailings during the season.

[MADflyer]

It is still unclear exactly what Jewel is doing, but she could be Rome and Barcelona based in some form.

 

She calls every other week at Barcelona and Palma and Cagliari, Sardinia every on a 14 day cycle from the end of June. This could even represent some sort of Venice/Rome to Barcelona 14 day pattern.

 

Without Rome and Dubrovnik it is difficult to know for sure.

 

She then appears to still do a Rome to San Juan TA at this moment doing European ports before the crossing, but that is still unclear.

[MADflyer]

Brilliance is still booked for what looks like the standard 12 night Barcelona sailings even with all the calls of both Rhapsody and Jewel at Barcelona and Rome.

 

It looks like RCI will focus more heavily on Western MED sailings in 2017.

[shipfriend_max]

Hi, and happy new year @all!!

 

@MADFlyer: Great work on investigating the port schedules for 2017 so far.

Similar to Celebrity and Princess, indeed RCCL seems to focus on Western Med in 2017, maybe due to current terror warnings.

 

Between mid of May and early July, Vision is listed t Amsterdam every 11-12 nights. IMHO she could do Norway/Baltic/British Isles cruises during that period, and from July to September sailing from Copenhagen or Hamburg.

RCCL reported to have a ship based at Hamburg in 2017, could well be that it's going to be Vision (or Serenade).

 

Surprisingly, both Rhapsody and Jewel otS are frequently calling at Palma de Mallorca throughout the summer season 2017.

If both are based in Civitavecchia. Maybe both Jewel and Rhapsody operate on alternating Eastern and Western Med cruises.

 

When Rhapsody is calling at Mallorca, her origin is nearly always Civitavecchia(or Malta), and destination Barcelona - seems to be a pattern, either a regular Western med itinerary, or one ways between Barcelona and Venice.

Jewel is always coming from Barcelona, with destination Cagliari.

On top of that, Jewel is frequently reported at Villefranche throughout summer 2017.

 

I am wondering about the 7 night Venice itinerary... :confused:

Will this cruise not be offered at all in 2017, or maybe operated by Serenade? Maybe Serenade and Vision will be swapped out more or less. Since Vision seems to be sailing out of Amsterdam (and Copenhagen/Hamburg) in 2017, maybe Serenade returns to Med?? :confused:

 

IMHO there are new possibilities:

-Jewel: Alternating 7-10 night Western/Eastern Med from Civitavecchia

-Serenade: Northern Europe from Copenhagen, or 7 nights from Venice

-Vision: Northern Europe from Amsterdam, and Copenhagen/Hamburg later on, spring/fall in Med

-Rhapsody: alternating Estern/Western Med from Civitavecchia, or 12 night Barcelona <--> Venice

 

If Serenade is going to stay at Copenhagen/Stockholm, which ship could sail the 7 night runs from Venice than??? :confused:

Brilliance seems to keep on doing the 12 night Barcelona runs.

Edited January 1, 2016 by celebrity_fan

[MADflyer]

What was giving me the impression that Rhapsody was doing one directional sailings and not closed loop sailings was the order of the 'Civitavecchia/Palma/Barcelona' calls.

 

She calls on each port every third week on a Thursday at Rome, Friday at sea or other port, Saturday at Palma and then every third Sunday at Barcelona.

 

Without more ports reporting it is just too difficult to know yet what the pattern is indicating.

[MADflyer]

Hi, and happy new year @all!!

 

IMHO there are new possibilities:

-Jewel: Alternating 7-10 night Western/Eastern Med from Civitavecchia

-Serenade: Northern Europe from Copenhagen, or 7 nights from Venice

-Vision: Northern Europe from Amsterdam, and Copenhagen/Hamburg later on, spring/fall in Med

-Rhapsody: alternating Estern/Western Med from Civitavecchia, or 12 night Barcelona <--> Venice

 

If Serenade is going to stay at Copenhagen/Stockholm, which ship could sail the 7 night runs from Venice than??? :confused:

Brilliance seems to keep on doing the 12 night Barcelona runs.

 

Without better information out of Dubrovnik or Rome it is really difficult to speculate on exact itineraries.

 

No Serenade bookings have yet to be changed and it would seem she would stay in the Baltic/Norway region.

 

As the Vision move was just added at Gibraltar, they may not have fully booked these itineraries yet.

 

These moves seem to come every year after they have deployed the Celebrity sailings. At least the changes are not coming the week prior to deployment, like was the case last season.