Empress Returning to RCCL?

[John&LaLa]

Jax to Hamilton, Bermuda, would be even more awesome (though I'd bet more on Norfolk for that run).

 

Savannah, Charleston, Jacksonville all would be good for us. Norfolk might work with an auto train trip to VA once we have more time available

[pspercy]

What about the current emission rules (grade of fuel oil etc) for US waters ?

[alfaeric]

What about the current emission rules (grade of fuel oil etc) for US waters ?

 

RCI is upgrading all of their ships with scrubbers so that they can continue to use bunker fuel. Which I bet will fit onto the twin engine Empress' exhaust.

 

If not for that, they would then use a two fuel tank solution. But RCI has an agreement with the EPA for this alternative.

[Scotty G]

It is promotion and promotion brings different opinions....and for all the no's there are plenty of 'yesses'.

 

This poll might help decide ;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2273473

[John&LaLa]

They are teasing us on FB

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

They are teasing us on FB

 

And Instagram, and Twitter.

 

No hints pertaining to where she is headed...

[butterflycruise]

sailed her twice and especially loved being seated by the large aft window in the DR. Sailing out of Philadelphia to Bermuda and being able to dock in Hamilton and St George was a real treat. Any one know why Philadelphia ship yard can't be considered a viable port??

[Tapi]

About the balconies, maybe they can do "French balconies", with sliding glass doors and railings, but not an actual balcony. This may be a good alternative without changing the ship's aesthetics too drastically (and may be more cost effective than installing real balconies).

 

Empress may be small, but she's one of the most beautiful ships I've sailed on, inside and out. Very glad to see she's coming back!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

About the balconies, maybe they can do "French balconies", with sliding glass doors and railings, but not an actual balcony. This may be a good alternative without changing the ship's aesthetics too drastically (and may be more cost effective than installing real balconies).

 

Empress may be small, but she's one of the most beautiful ships I've sailed on, inside and out. Very glad to see she's coming back!

 

I thought of that too, but that raises the problem of the air conditioning. I've read on here that you're supposed to keep your sliding door closed all of the time because it affects the air conditioning in your cabin and those around you. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong) For this reason, I don't think french balconies would work.

[Yorkvillain]

About the balconies, maybe they can do "French balconies", with sliding glass doors and railings, but not an actual balcony. This may be a good alternative without changing the ship's aesthetics too drastically (and may be more cost effective than installing real balconies).

 

Good idea but then there would be the problem of the door being open with the Air conditioning on.

[Charles4515]

sailed her twice and especially loved being seated by the large aft window in the DR. Sailing out of Philadelphia to Bermuda and being able to dock in Hamilton and St George was a real treat. Any one know why Philadelphia ship yard can't be considered a viable port??

 

 

The port is 100 miles up the Delaware River. That means 100 miles with the casino and shops closed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tapi]

I don't think the Bahamas/Caribbean would work any more, too many bells and whistles to compete with not only from RCCL ships but also regular competitors.

 

 

 

She may fit in the short Bahamas cruise market. Norwegian Sky is old and small, and Carnival is using some of their oldest, smallest Fantasy class ships in these routes as well. They are even repositioning the Victory and replacing it with the awful Sensation in Miami to do the 4/5 night itineraries. It's definitely not a market where "bells and whistles" matter much.

 

Personally, I would love to see the Empress test the waters at some of the smaller, underdeveloped markets (Charleston, Mobile, Norfolk, etc), but not necessarily on short itineraries. Carnival has had a monopoly on these smaller ports of embarkations using their aging Fantasy class ships with wildly successful results. Many passengers who sail from these smaller "drive to" ports of embarkation are first time cruisers or people who prefer to save money by driving than to sail on the newest and largest ships. Empress, sailing from some of those cities, and offering unique itineraries, may be a winning combination to keep the ship sailing at full capacity year round.

[Tapi]

Good idea but then there would be the problem of the door being open with the Air conditioning on.

 

 

Hmmm, I wonder if the engineers could come up with a sensor system that shuts the air conditioning to the cabin when the balcony doors are open. I've stayed at hotels recently that work that way. Obviously, this is not my expertise, just curious if something like that is feasible.

[DarthGrady]

The French style balconies are nice, especially when they're discounted. Carnival has them on their Spirit Class ships behind the lifeboats.

[cruisexlife]

Philadelphia would be a good idea. San Pedro recently had 4 ships do cruises from it at once, so they had to get a literal circus tent and do embarkation and debarkation that way. The reason it wouldn't work in Philadelphia would be because of the snow and cold the are expereicnes from October-March, as well as iffy/windy April and Septembers. Maybe if the Bermuda cruises were only a summer thing, it would be perfect.

 

What about cruises from Barbados? RCI has a good base with Europe, England especially, Maybe week-long, no sea day island hopper cruises would draw 2000 people from somewhere on the planet every year. The Barbados cruise boarding facilities are built for smaller ships, so it could work, but Empress may be a little big. I recently read about Royal doing an expansion there and building an are for a terminal. Having an all-port cruise would take the passengers away from the ship and more towards the ports. How do you guys feel about a Barbados homeport?

 

I would do it in a flash, I vowed the next time I do the Carnival Southern Caribbean route, I'm boarding in Barbados! :D

[LMaxwell]

Is this a done deal? I mean I haven't seen anything other than this thread and even the Pullmantur site has itineraries well into 2016. :confused:

[oneputt18]

Is this a done deal? I mean I haven't seen anything other than this thread and even the Pullmantur site has itineraries well into 2016. :confused:

RCCL confirmed it on Facebook and Twitter. Article said it will be return after a "full bow to stern makeover"

[LMaxwell]

Some may enjoy this cutaway view with links at the bottom for high resolution sections

 

http://www.khulsey.com/royal-caribbean-empress-of-the-seas.html

[KMVigs]

RCCL confirmed it on Facebook and Twitter. Article said it will be return after a "full bow to stern makeover"

 

And Instagram!

[LMaxwell]

Just for some perspective, here is a picture of Oasis of the Seas next to Holland America Maasdam.

 

For comparative purposes Maasdam is 7,000 tons larger and 30 feet longer than Empress of the Seas (55,000 vs 48,000; 721 feet versus 691 feet).

 

[MADflyer]

Is this a done deal? I mean I haven't seen anything other than this thread and even the Pullmantur site has itineraries well into 2016. :confused:

 

This was announced by the Chief Financial Officer. Due to the nature of this sort of financial maneuver, they would not have informed anyone outside of the Executive Suite at RCL, I would not think.

 

Information did leak the day prior to the announcement of the write down on Pullmantur. Management at Pullmantur were not aware of this action prior to that as far as I have understood.

 

The result so far has been a huge tax savings on record earnings where RCL have made more money than the ship would have earned over the next year and both Mr. Fain and Mr. Goldstein are selling options and took home almost $17 million between them.

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/as-stock-peaks-fain-goldstein-net-millions-in-rcl-share-sales.html?nspPage=1

[Philly Steve]

The port is 100 miles up the Delaware River. That means 100 miles with the casino and shops closed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Still, a shorter distance to the open ocean than Baltimore. Much money was spent on cruise ship terminal development in Baltimore so that port had the upper hand.

 

Still, it would be great to have a Philly homecoming for Empress.

[Saab4444]

All this ideas about US ports do not make sense. RCI would not make such a special move just to go back to one of the old US ports for former or slightly modified itenaries.

 

The purpose of Empress must be Cuba cruises and if homeporting in the US is not possible due to legal requirements she will start e.g. in the Domenican Republik or Jamaica similar to European cruise lines do it. In this case no cultural purpose like with Fathom needs to be added.

[Tapi]

RCI would not make such a special move just to go back to one of the old US ports for former or slightly modified itenaries.

 

The purpose of Empress must be Cuba cruises.

 

 

I don't discount the possibility of Cuba cruises, but this market is still in its very early infancy, so it will still be a while before we see a traditional mass market cruise from a US port carrying Americans to Cuba. We WILL see it, just not yet. Most American cruise passengers are not quite ready for the conditions imposed on Cuba cruises along with the exorbitant prices currently associated with them.

 

From what I've read, the decision to bring Empress back was not a well planned strategic one, but purely a fast financial one. Heck, the ship supposedly will be back in 4 short months! Pullmantur needed to shrink, and Royal most likely felt that returning the ship to its fleet made more sense than trying to sell it to a low bidder or keeping it losing money at Pullmantur. Royal will find a home for Empress, but I don't think that it will be something too exciting, at least initially. Once itineraries are announced, I feel that it may be more in line with the excitement associated with Majesty going to Port Canaveral to do short Bahamas cruises. [emoji13]

Edited October 27, 2015 by Tapi

[cot427]

This was announced by the Chief Financial Officer. Due to the nature of this sort of financial maneuver, they would not have informed anyone outside of the Executive Suite at RCL, I would not think.

 

Information did leak the day prior to the announcement of the write down on Pullmantur. Management at Pullmantur were not aware of this action prior to that as far as I have understood.

 

The result so far has been a huge tax savings on record earnings where RCL have made more money than the ship would have earned over the next year and both Mr. Fain and Mr. Goldstein are selling options and took home almost $17 million between them.

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/as-stock-peaks-fain-goldstein-net-millions-in-rcl-share-sales.html?nspPage=1

 

Thanks for posting! Great article - I have to start following seatrade. Coming from a finance/accounting background, I like this sort of thing. Glad the stock is doing well too!