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Deployment 2018-19 booking season begins

MADflyer

By MADflyer,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Thorben-Hendrik

Thorben-Hendrik

Posted
Posted
Indy and Navigator are definitly in Southampton for 2018. 2019 Southampton will be getting a different ship and its a Q Class (source - my firend who works at ABP Southampton). Also Oasis 4 and 5 will launch from Southampton.

That is no surprise at all - as all new builds stay around the area where they are build for a while - so why would it be different for O4 in 2018 Q4 in 2019 and O5 in 2021...

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shipfriend_max

shipfriend_max

Posted
Posted
Indy and Navigator are definitly in Southampton for 2018. 2019 Southampton will be getting a different ship and its a Q Class (source - my firend who works at ABP Southampton). Also Oasis 4 and 5 will launch from Southampton.

 

Also Harmony has been launching from Suthampton, and I think Oasis 4 and 5 will just spend a mini season there, shortly after delivery, and sent elsewhere than.

 

Interesting to know that Quantum 4 is due to be based in Southampton in 2019 - did your friend also mention whichother ships will sail from there (including RCCL and other companies)?

I could imagine that Indy and Q4 are based in Southampton in 2019, and Indy is kept there due to an obviuos high demand for that ship...

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted

If Oasis 4 follows the same pattern as Harmony I would suspect that she will spend 2 weeks at most in Southhampton doing preview and mini cruises before heading to her summer home port in Barcelona.

 

If she is not significantly different that Harmony it would not surprise me if the bypassed Southhampton altogether and sent her straight to the better weather in Barcelona.

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OfTheSeasCruiser

OfTheSeasCruiser

Posted
Posted
Carnival Corp. announced that Fathom Cruise Line will cease operations in June of 2017. They will no longer offer sailings to Cuba. The 'Fathom Experience" had already been announced for offer on other Carnival Corp. lines starting next year and will focus only on enhanced shore excursion experiences. The ship will return to Carnival's P&O line.

 

While RCI had announced Empress sailings through April of 2017, it appears that Empress is being pulled from the current itineraries after the current release.

 

Port bookings at Key West have been retracted following the current last published sailing.

 

Bookings remain from November of 2017 at Key West.

 

It has been difficult to find other port bookings yet for Empress. Where or if Empress is being redeployed is unclear.

 

It is unlikely that RCI will offer Cuba sailings in the near future. This could be expected with some of the events of the last month.

 

Thanks for the information, as always.

 

It will be interesting to see what become of Empress. I'd love to see them take more advantage of her small size, now that Cuba seems unlikely.

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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

Posted
Posted (edited)

I wonder what they are going to do about Barbados. I remember reading about how Royal planned on building a dock that could fit an Oasis class ship, and there was a possibility of homeporting a ship there.

 

I am also interested in what they are going to do with Empress. The 4/5 night cruises are nice, but considering she was built for more port-intensive cruises, I would love if they would do 8-11 night one way cruises from Miami to San Juan or Barbados that was very port intensive. Like a 9 night Miami-Barbados, then a 9 night Barbados-Miami. If they don't repeat any ports, people could opt for a B2B, or a resort stay in Barbados or San Juan. I think that would be a very nice thing for Empress to do. Also, I would like to see some variety in the 5 nights to include more ports like Labadee, Falmouth, Roatan and Belize.

 

However, I really hope Royal doesn't rid Empress. I loved the work they put into it, and there is so much opportunity for Empress with Royal again. The refurbs made it so nice inside, and you couldn't tell it was over 20 years old while you were on it. Even if they use it to open up a cruise market from the West Coast again, or get an edge on the Bermuda industry and have her dock in Hamilton or St.George's (can she fit in either or these?), they could definitely use her size and ease to fill a ship to their advantage.

 

However most things listed above probably haven't entered the minds of anyone in the RCI headquarters for business reasons we cruisers would never understand. :)

Edited by OceansOfTravels
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bertrande

bertrande

Posted
Posted
Does anyone think there will be any more ships sent to Asia and/or Australia? They all seem to be sailing full.

 

I wish they would and also for Q and O class ships not sailing out of a China port (including or excluding HK), to retain all Suite Class benefits!

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FloatMe

FloatMe

Posted
Posted
The Barbados/Oasis Class idea sounds interesting. If O4 is going to Miami, maybe Allure or Harmony out of PE can take over the 10/11 night Southern cruises. That could be popular.

I would personally be surprised if O-class would ever stray from the 7 night model (at least in the U.S.). IMO o-class is Too large a ship to fill consistently for 9 to 11 night itineraries and 3 to 5 night itineraries. Per passenger, per night cost would have to be lowered. I think you would find far few children and families cruising on the current Navigator or Freedom 8 to 9 nt itineraries and more cabins at only double occupancy.

 

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

Posted
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The Barbados/Oasis Class idea sounds interesting. If O4 is going to Miami, maybe Allure or Harmony out of PE can take over the 10/11 night Southern cruises. That could be popular.

 

I think it could be popular, but if O4 isn't going to Florida, it's going to San Juan. WHile I know Royal talked about homeporting a ship that was not as big as Oasis in Barbados, I don't think they have that kind of market built yet. However Royal does great on its San Juan cruises, so if Quantum 4 doesn't go to San Juan, I would not be surprised for O4 did.

 

However I most closely see O4 in Galveston, or doing Navigators split Miami/Europe routes.

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Joe12

Joe12

Posted
Posted
I think it could be popular, but if O4 isn't going to Florida, it's going to San Juan. WHile I know Royal talked about homeporting a ship that was not as big as Oasis in Barbados, I don't think they have that kind of market built yet. However Royal does great on its San Juan cruises, so if Quantum 4 doesn't go to San Juan, I would not be surprised for O4 did.

 

However I most closely see O4 in Galveston, or doing Navigators split Miami/Europe routes.

 

I don't personally see an Oasis in Galveston, for several reasons, but the Navigator's Miami/Europe routes is very likely.

San Juan would be good too, but the airport would be a nightmare.

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ssb

ssb

Posted
Posted (edited)

Liberty is sailing full in Galveston and recurring comments by RCCL staff while cruising , and comments in Galveston that RCCL has been in discussion of a larger ship in Galvestion make it a possibility.

With New terminal and improvements to dock being completed reinforce it.

The port size can handle a larger ship than Freedom Class RCCL.

Vision also is coming in November 2017 .

 

Five ships are sailing out of Galveston presently. Disney, RCCL , 3 Carnival.

Edited by ssb
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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted
I don't get the comments that Royal is doing great in SJ and TX. The ships may be full but they are the cheapest fares in the North America market. Have prices started to rise with Liberty

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

 

You are not the only one that's thinking this. I think they would run into huge problems trying to fill a ship the size of Oasis from SJ. im not sure if prices have risen pit of TX but every time I do a generic search on Royal's site those cruises out of Galveston always show up as being some of the cheapest.

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travelgoddess1

travelgoddess1

Posted
Posted (edited)
I don't personally see an Oasis in Galveston, for several reasons, but the Navigator's Miami/Europe routes is very likely.

San Juan would be good too, but the airport would be a nightmare.

 

From personal experience, I don't believe Galveston has the infrastructure to support an Oasis-Class ship. There are not enough hotels on the island, nor are there enough taxi's. Only a few hotels offer shuttle service. Traffic on and off the island could very possibly be grid-locked.

 

We no longer sail out of Galveston. Even though I like the town, there are too many issues, never mind the fog. JMO

Edited by travelgoddess1
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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

Posted
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I don't personally see an Oasis in Galveston, for several reasons, but the Navigator's Miami/Europe routes is very likely.

San Juan would be good too, but the airport would be a nightmare.

 

Last time I went, it was a nightmare due to the renovations. I hope these renovations were extensive enough that they could possibly support a ship like Oasis in the future. The lucky thing though is that many will do pre/post cruise stays, even if for a night or two, so not everyone will be going to the airport at once. Or at least not as many as a cruise from Miami or Fort Lauderdale will give.

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OceansOfTravels

OceansOfTravels

Posted
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I don't get the comments that Royal is doing great in SJ and TX. The ships may be full but they are the cheapest fares in the North America market. Have prices started to rise with Liberty

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

 

I cannot speak for Galveston, but for San Juan it has to do with the flight prices. For an SJ cruise that is $800 per person, and flights that are $400 per person, it'll equal $1200, but an FLL cruise that is $1000 and flights are $200, it also equals $1200. At that point, it becomes a battle over ship and ports. But San Juan cruises are cheap not only for Royal, but for every line that sails from SJ across the board, because the cruise lines know how much the flights are.

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
I cannot speak for Galveston, but for San Juan it has to do with the flight prices. For an SJ cruise that is $800 per person, and flights that are $400 per person, it'll equal $1200, but an FLL cruise that is $1000 and flights are $200, it also equals $1200. At that point, it becomes a battle over ship and ports. But San Juan cruises are cheap not only for Royal, but for every line that sails from SJ across the board, because the cruise lines know how much the flights are.

 

 

Depends from where you fly to San Juan.....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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