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Empress Returning to RCCL?

Piepkorn

By Piepkorn,
in Royal Caribbean International

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MADflyer

MADflyer

Posted
Posted

There are some indications that the final cruise for Empress with Pullmantur will end on the 13th of February, 2016 at Sao Paulo. This would follow her last currently booked 7 night sailing, prior to the originally planned series of 3 and 4 night sailings that appear to be being cancelled.

 

If this date were to hold, Empress could possibly have completed dry dock by mid-March 2016 and could be sailing for RCI as early as April, 2016.

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

Posted
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Yes, and those "many people" probably live near you in Florida, a short drive to the ship, and can take 2 days off of work and just go. Living in Maryland, I cannot do that. Many cannot do that. Unless you live within close distance of the port, it becomes impossible to book last minute, unless you have some sort of free flight rewards program, which again, the practical cruiser does not have.

 

Many people can't book last minute, regardless of what port a ship sails from.

 

We don't even know what port it will homeport from. Even though I live in S. Florida, I can't book last minute -- I have a job just like others do.

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wwcruisers

wwcruisers

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I'll be one of those.

 

Darth -- if you do, PLEASE come back and post one of your fabulous photo-reviews! It may be a while before we can manage to book the newly re-furbished Empress. So, I can't imagine any better "first glimpse" than through your camera lens! :cool:

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DarthGrady

DarthGrady

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Darth -- if you do, PLEASE come back and post one of your fabulous photo-reviews! It may be a while before we can manage to book the newly re-furbished Empress. So, I can't imagine any better "first glimpse" than through your camera lens! :cool:

I definitely will!

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

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Cuba would be great!!

 

At the risk of fanning the flames here, this was mentioned as a possibility during the "Captain's Q & A" by the Captain on Navigator last week.

 

I believe that part of the reason Royal has not said where they plan to sail Empress could very well be that they want to go to ports in Cuba, but right now unless it is a 'humanitarian' cruise they have to wait for Congress to make changes to our relationship with Cuba if they want to sail from a US port, namely Miami.

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lovetocruiserccl

lovetocruiserccl

Posted
Posted
I have a hard time believing that the Empress would be returning to RCI, but I'd be all for it if it happened. I love both the small and mega ships, so I'd definitely be open to trying her out.

 

The comments about Cuba make sense, but so does the possibility of her being sent to Azamara. We shall see! :cool:

 

P.s. Just thinking out loud here, but I'd love to see them send her back to Philly to do Bermuda runs again! A 25-30 minute ride to the port would be awesome...

 

The only thing about leaving from Philadelphia it takes so long to get to International Waters.

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DEIx15x8

DEIx15x8

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What if all this suspense is for nothing. Could Royal Caribbean's plan be to use her for Cuba so they want her ready the moment things open up and can be first in? In order to do that they have to ensure she isn't locked into other sailings too far out. Opening a ship up to booking just 6 months out also doesn't sound like a very profitable idea, especially for an older ship. Maybe the plan is to use her as a charter ship ensuring they get a set rate for each sailing by doing private cruises for conferences and other events. That way things can be more short term and then easily switch over to Cuba when ready.

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BillB48

BillB48

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BillB48

In round numbers, Philly is about a 100 miles and B'more is about double that.

 

I haven't left from Baltimore. So it's 200 miles to International Waters

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat!

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shipgeeks

shipgeeks

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Posted
Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat!

 

What ship?

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Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted (edited)
Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat!

 

 

The canal is not deep enough for today's mega cruise ships. I doubt that Empress could use it either but what ship were you on?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited by Charles4515
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BillB48

BillB48

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The canal is not deep enough for today's mega cruise ships. I doubt that Empress could use it either but what ship were you on?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Actually the draft wouldn't be the limiting factor for the big ships, the C&D draft limit is 33' which is enough for most if not all of today's larger cruise ships. The problem is the other draft... air draft which is 132' on the C&D. The ship I was on was the Norwegian Crown (ex Crown Odyssey now sailing for Fred Olsen as the Balmoral). NCL had just returned her to the fleet. She had the ability to fold over the forward mast to clear the bridges on the Canal. I'm pretty sure the Empress is in the too tall category as well.

 

Really a unique cruise, not only did we do the C&D but also transited the Cape Cod Canal.

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conwakr

conwakr

Posted
Posted (edited)

Empress is still my all time favorite ship. We pulled in across the pier from her in Cartagena earlier this year and I took a gazillion pictures and remembered her fondly. I'd love it if she came back into the fleet on an interesting itinerary. Cuba would be a no-brainer. I sailed on Empress in 1997, such a beautiful, classy ship.

Edited by conwakr
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