Royal leaving New Orleans again?

[tjosh7]

With the departure of Majesty in New Orleans, will Royal replace her or leave again?

[neverbeenhere]

IMO, obviously. No.  They need to be able to keep the average fare high enough to justify placing a ship in a port.

[ReneeFLL]

19 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

IMO, obviously. No.  They need to be able to keep the average fare high enough to justify placing a ship in a port.

Why do you think they won't be able to keep the fare high enough?

[twangster]

I saw a rumor or maybe it was someone's glimmer of hope that Grandeur could go there but I think if Royal was planning that they would get the cruises posted so deposits could begin to roll in.  

 

Royal has had an on again, off again relationship with NOLA.  It must not produce the numbers that Royal can attain elsewhere.  That's not saying they can't make money there, just that they can make more money somewhere else.  

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, tjosh7 said:

With the departure of Majesty in New Orleans, will Royal replace her or leave again?

@Ourusualbeachbeach answered this same question on his thread when I asked it. He said obviously there are more profitable routes. Asked and answered in the current thread about selling majesty and empress... if you wanted additional comments why not post them in the current thread about majesty and empress being sold? I'm sad too as that's the only other drive to port for me.

 

That's why I asked this same question lol. I hope they change their mind and replace her, but so far sounds like a no.

[tjosh7]

I really limit my time here (only 452 posts versus 76,130) so my sincere apology for not spending even longer searching through these boards when I can easily post just like you.  Also, my concern was specific to the Majesty and New Orleans, not the Empress.  Have a Merry Christmas!

Edited December 18, 2020 by tjosh7

[firefly333]

43 minutes ago, tjosh7 said:

I really limit my time here (only 452 posts versus 76,130) so my sincere apology for not spending even longer searching through these boards when I can easily post just like you.  Also, my concern was specific to the Majesty and New Orleans, not the Empress.  Have a Merry Christmas!

My question also was specific to majesty not empress as I live in texas so new orleans my 2nd choice. No need to criticism was just saying he is a knowledgeable ta and can usually depend on his answers.  I would trust his reply over some random reply tbh is the only reason I mentioned it.

 

I'm sad too at his reply. I've done a b2b on majesty only once and hoped to do her again. 

 

I guess you will have to make the drive over to Galveston maybe or carnival or ncl. Wasnt the answer I hoped for myself. 

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, tjosh7 said:

I really limit my time here (only 452 posts versus 76,130) so my sincere apology for not spending even longer searching through these boards when I can easily post just like you.  Also, my concern was specific to the Majesty and New Orleans, not the Empress.  Have a Merry Christmas!

 

New Orleans presents some of the same challenges that Baltimore does.  It takes a long time to sail down the Mississippi River to get to the ocean, and that limits the hours of some of the onboard venues.  (I truly forget the ramifications for NOLA, although I know them well for Baltimore).  The time involved also impacts which ports can be reached from NOLA on a 7 night cruise.

 

There are also issues of weather and traffic having an impact on transit times.

[OCruisers]

NOLA is an enjoyble place to be pre and post cruise so that's what we like about sailing out of there.  

[cruisegus]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:11 PM, Merion_Mom said:

 

New Orleans presents some of the same challenges that Baltimore does.  It takes a long time to sail down the Mississippi River to get to the ocean, and that limits the hours of some of the onboard venues.  (I truly forget the ramifications for NOLA, although I know them well for Baltimore).  The time involved also impacts which ports can be reached from NOLA on a 7 night cruise.

 

There are also issues of weather and traffic having an impact on transit times.

not familiar with Baltimore, but yes in NOLA transit time to the casino opening is at least 7 hours which makes the first night late an probably misses some passengers.

I agee that NOLA is a great port of departure city, with plenty of activity.

[Etta1213]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:43 PM, OCruisers said:

NOLA is an enjoyble place to be pre and post cruise so that's what we like about sailing out of there.  

Also, I've seen comments to the effect that cruisers enjoy the trip down the Mississippi. We haven't sailed from NOLA on RC, but we were talking about it. I'm disappointed.

[twangster]

30 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

Also, I've seen comments to the effect that cruisers enjoy the trip down the Mississippi. We haven't sailed from NOLA on RC, but we were talking about it. I'm disappointed.

 

Sailing out of NOLA is like combining a river cruise and ocean cruise.  Not exactly obviously as you are on a massive ship compared to the typical river ship but it is really neat passing so close by large ships heading in the other direction and seeing land on both sides.

 

Once in the Gulf you can see oil rigs lit up at night all around.  Very cool.  

 

I've done NOLA cruises twice but only once on Royal.  Vision was there in 2019 for a spell.  Easy downtown port with different transfer options such as Uber/Lyft/Taxi etc.   

 

However it is a long transit down the Mississippi so the casino and shops are closed for all of day one.

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, Etta1213 said:

Also, I've seen comments to the effect that cruisers enjoy the trip down the Mississippi. We haven't sailed from NOLA on RC, but we were talking about it. I'm disappointed.

It is very cool to sail down the Mississippi River! We first did it on Grandeur quite a few years ago in April and watched until dark. On cruises since then, our sailing down the river has always been in the mostly dark, winter sailings, and we hit the Gulf and the oil rigs around 11PM. 

 

Until our most recent cruise out of NOLA in February 2020 on Majesty. There was a storm in the Gulf on Thursday night and the Captain announced that our return to NOLA would be delayed until 1PM on Saturday. It absolutely stunk for the folks that were waiting to board, but it was an awesome opportunity for those of us that were onboard. 

 

We were able to cruise up the Mississippi River in the daytime!  It was really neat! I will liken it to the Inside Passage, from a west coaster. You could see all the farms, and the river boats and barges in the daytime, and wildlife and activities on both shores. It was a very unique and enjoyable experience. 

 

The flight change costs were outrageous, (even on SWA) but it was great for a pre lockdown and final cruise on Majesty. I do hope RCG puts another ship there. 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Coralc

[WeMissSeaView]

Royal only sails out of New Orleans for a few months at a time.  Majesty was only scheduled to sale out of New Orleans from January 2020 through April 2020.  In the past few years I have sailed out of New Orleans on the Majesty, Vision, Serenade and Voyager.  I hope that Royal will send a ship back to New Orleans sooner then later.  The sailing down the Mississippi River is wonderful.

[SilkySal]

11 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

Royal only sails out of New Orleans for a few months at a time.  Majesty was only scheduled to sale out of New Orleans from January 2020 through April 2020.  In the past few years I have sailed out of New Orleans on the Majesty, Vision, Serenade and Voyager.  I hope that Royal will send a ship back to New Orleans sooner then later.  The sailing down the Mississippi River is wonderful.

I beg to differ. We were booked on the Majesty from New Orleans in September, 2020, which was canceled, so lifted and shifted our booking to September, 2021, which was also canceled when RCI sold the ship. Really wanted to cruise down the Mississippi so we were very disappointed.

[Coralc]

As I recall, RCG was going to have a ship in New Orleans year round. 

[WeMissSeaView]

2 hours ago, SilkySal said:

I beg to differ. We were booked on the Majesty from New Orleans in September, 2020, which was canceled, so lifted and shifted our booking to September, 2021, which was also canceled when RCI sold the ship. Really wanted to cruise down the Mississippi so we were very disappointed.

Did not realize that Royal had extended the time Majesty would be in New Orleans.  Originally it was only for 4 months just like the Vision was in New Orleans in 2018/2019 for just a few months.  If and when Royal sails from New Orleans, I will be booking another B2B.  Only got to do the first leg of my B2B on the Majesty this past March.