Deployment 2023-24 booking season begins

[fsjosh]

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/deployment/2023_2024/2023_Deployment_Summary_Guide.pdf

 

This confirms that Explorer is the 5/9 night cruises out of Miami and that Navigator is staying in LA. Just serenade, spectrum, and icon to go.

 

I'd assume spectum will stay in Singapore.

 

Serenade it still a question since it's in Europe and not showing a TA on the schedule, and there's no obvious itineraries on the release schedule. Are a dry dock or retirement possible?

 

Icon should be the 7 night caribbeans on the schedule. With Explorer being in Miami, The port for Icon is in question again. There's not an obvious Sat or Sun slot in MIA, FLL, or PCN. Voyager or Explorer could be shifted to the other port. I'm starting to worry Icon is going to Galveston. *shudder*

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by fsjosh

[Chiliburn]

20 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

. I'm starting to worry Icon is going to Galveston. *shudder*

 

 

Worry , worry a lot. I think Icon will come to the Pacific 

[Coralc]

45 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

Serenade it still a question since it's in Europe and not showing a TA on the schedule, and there's no obvious itineraries on the release schedule. Are a dry dock or retirement possible?

 

Dry dock maybe, but retirement would be highly unlikely since Serenade will be sailing the world cruise. 

[fsjosh]

27 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Worry , worry a lot. I think Icon will come to the Pacific 

 

As long as it's after January 24 that's fine. lol

 

But based on the Deployment sched, it's spending "Winter 24" in the Caribbean. After that, all bets are off. 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Dry dock maybe, but retirement would be highly unlikely since Serenade will be sailing the world cruise. 

 

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. That starts December, so it probably takes November off for a dry dock/refresh, then has a TA to Miami for the World cruise. 

[ONECRUISER]

3 hours ago, fsjosh said:

 

As long as it's after January 24 that's fine. lol

 

But based on the Deployment sched, it's spending "Winter 24" in the Caribbean. After that, all bets are off. 

 

 

 

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. That starts December, so it probably takes November off for a dry dock/refresh, then has a TA to Miami for the World cruise. 

Think Serenade just spent last couple weeks Dry Dock in the Bahamas. 

[twangster]

Remember older ships need to visit a ship yard more frequently.  That's the downfall of an older fleet.  IIRC the magic age is 20 years old then it's every 2 1/2 years for mandatory ship yard visits.

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Remember older ships need to visit a ship yard more frequently.  That's the downfall of an older fleet.  IIRC the magic age is 20 years old then it's every 2 1/2 years for mandatory ship yard visits.

Yup, Marine Side Maint of about 10days worth. Royal doesnt put much into the Radiance Class(except more beds). I remember about 5 and 10yrs ago Cruised week after Serenades and Brilliance's Dry Docks. With Passengers on thats when they were doing the White Painting and remove/Staining of all Railings not during DD, was on B4B and they did this for weeks post. But in old days by time a Royal Ship needed updating of more they'd retire it. We'll see now post CV, hoping they'll keep trest of these Med size Ship's longer

Edited April 3, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[LooneyCruzer]

They need more new small ships. The destination ports are not getting bigger. 

[ocean sounds]

9 hours ago, fsjosh said:

, …I'm starting to worry Icon is going to Galveston. *shudder*

 

 

No worries for you - Harmony is sailing in Galveston Nov ‘23-Apr ‘24. 
 

However the last Galveston Port meeting had a slide that LNG bunkering will be ready for first ships in 2023.  Believe that is a reference to the NCL Prima which has been announced to be in Galveston then.    
 

Perhaps Icon2 to Galveston in the future? 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by ocean sounds
Add

[twangster]

Just now, LooneyCruzer said:

They need more new small ships. The destination ports are not getting bigger. 

 

That's not going to happen at Royal.  Mass market, mass volume.  

 

The destination ports are getting bigger.  Regions like Australia have been investing in port capacity so mega ships can go there.  That doesn't mean every port in the world will expand capacity, but enough are expanding capacity to hobble together mega ship itineraries in more areas.

[smokeybandit]

13 minutes ago, twangster said:

That's not going to happen at Royal.  Mass market, mass volume.  

 

It goes without saying it won't happen at any of the major cruise lines.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

It goes without saying it won't happen at any of the major cruise lines.

 

Never say never.  If Jason Liberty wants out of the job all he needs to do during the next investor call is announce the next class after Icon will be small ships.  Within 24 hours the BOD will replace him.  

[smokeybandit]

Just now, twangster said:

 

Never say never.  If Jason Liberty wants out of the job all he needs to do during the next investor call is announce the next class after Icon will be small ships.  Within 24 hours the BOD will replace him.  

Then he'll have to change his name to Jason Grandeur.

[fsjosh]

3 hours ago, ocean sounds said:

No worries for you - Harmony is sailing in Galveston Nov ‘23-Apr ‘24. 
 

However the last Galveston Port meeting had a slide that LNG bunkering will be ready for first ships in 2023.  Believe that is a reference to the NCL Prima which has been announced to be in Galveston then.    
 

Perhaps Icon2 to Galveston in the future? 

 

 

Harmony is there on Sundays, meaning they have an open Saturday slot. None of the 3 big Florida ports have a sat or sun opening. Or at least not every week and Icon is assumed to have a 7 day schedule, so sat or sun departures. And the RCL blog post about the new Galveston port mentions specifically it can handle Icon. Could be some sort of agreement with Galveston that to build the new port, they get the first new ship. I really hope not, but I really don't see where else it could go. Unless Explorer's 5/9 rotation doesn't touch a weekend on either day which would mean like a Friday/Wednesday rotation. 

[twangster]

19 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

Harmony is there on Sundays, meaning they have an open Saturday slot. None of the 3 big Florida ports have a sat or sun opening. Or at least not every week and Icon is assumed to have a 7 day schedule, so sat or sun departures. And the RCL blog post about the new Galveston port mentions specifically it can handle Icon. Could be some sort of agreement with Galveston that to build the new port, they get the first new ship. I really hope not, but I really don't see where else it could go. Unless Explorer's 5/9 rotation doesn't touch a weekend on either day which would mean like a Friday/Wednesday rotation. 

 

Galveston can't sustain more berths right now.  A Saturday and Sunday mega ship would oversaturate the market.  They would compete with each other and neither would sail full.  Great idea for consumers though to drive down rates that are already some of the cheapest in the country.  

[fsjosh]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Galveston can't sustain more berths right now.  A Saturday and Sunday mega ship would oversaturate the market.  They would compete with each other and neither would sail full.  Great idea for consumers though to drive down rates that are already some of the cheapest in the country.  

 

I don't want it to go to Galveston. Too limited on itineraries. I just don't see any Saturday or Sunday berths in the Caribbean for Fall 23/Winter 24 otherwise. 

[Ourusualbeach]

15 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

I don't want it to go to Galveston. Too limited on itineraries. I just don't see any Saturday or Sunday berths in the Caribbean for Fall 23/Winter 24 otherwise. 

Sorry have not kept up with projections of ships yet to be announced but who do you have in Miami on Saturdays.  Only the Oasis is there doing 7 night itineraries and she sails on Sundays.  Ships doing the shorter or rotating itineraries wont be using Terminal A leaving the prime Saturday departure slot at terminal A open for Icon

[fsjosh]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Sorry have not kept up with projections of ships yet to be announced but who do you have in Miami on Saturdays.  Only the Oasis is there doing 7 night itineraries and she sails on Sundays.  Ships doing the shorter or rotating itineraries wont be using Terminal A leaving the prime Saturday departure slot at terminal A open for Icon

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/deployment/2023_2024/2023_Deployment_Summary_Guide.pdf

Explorer is in Miami for a 9/5 rotation. I'm assuming that's a Saturday/Monday. Unless it's a midweek/midweek. Always possible. Or can Explorer park somewhere besides terminal A? 

[Ourusualbeach]

56 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/deployment/2023_2024/2023_Deployment_Summary_Guide.pdf

Explorer is in Miami for a 9/5 rotation. I'm assuming that's a Saturday/Monday. Unless it's a midweek/midweek. Always possible. Or can Explorer park somewhere besides terminal A? 

They wont use terminal A for an every other week sailing.  There are other terminals that they can use. Terminal A will be used by a ship that is there every Saturday

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It goes without saying it won't happen at any of the major cruise lines.

Agree, that will be saddest day for me when the Radiance and Vision Classes are gone

[twangster]

Just now, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, that will be saddest day for me when the Radiance and Vision Classes are gone

 

Sail the heck out of them while you can.

 

I saw the writing on the wall for Empress so I overdosed on her when she cheap and had no single supplement after Cuba closed.  In hindsight now I am very glad I sailed her a lot.  

[ONECRUISER]

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Sail the heck out of them while you can.

 

I saw the writing on the wall for Empress so I overdosed on her when she cheap and had no single supplement after Cuba closed.  In hindsight now I am very glad I sailed her a lot.  

Yeah sad to say was Booked on Empress before Canceled. Have done 250+ nites already on Radiance/Vision Class with 75 more Booked next 18 months. Was able get some Good/Great SOLO and Military Discounts   Includes my first TA and my 1st and 2nd Panama Canal. Shoot last time was on a Voyager Class was 3 Cruises in 1998-2001. 

[smokeybandit]

At least they've committed Rhapsody to a niche itinerary in 2024, so she's got some life in her yet.

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, fsjosh said:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/deployment/2023_2024/2023_Deployment_Summary_Guide.pdf

Explorer is in Miami for a 9/5 rotation. I'm assuming that's a Saturday/Monday. Unless it's a midweek/midweek. Always possible. Or can Explorer park somewhere besides terminal A? 

We sailed Navigator out of Miami in 2018 when she was doing 9/5 rotation. Our 9 night cruise departed on a Friday.

[fsjosh]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

We sailed Navigator out of Miami in 2018 when she was doing 9/5 rotation. Our 9 night cruise departed on a Friday.

 

Which would make the return on a Sunday, when Oasis is already there. 

 

But if like the PP said, they won't use Terminal A for a rotating ship schedule, it's not really an issue.