Freedom OTS - Missing cruises in Nov/Dec 2024?

[Cigar King]

Hi all - We have a B2B booked on Freedom for 12/1 and 12/7 2024.  A few weeks ago they went missing.  I assumed it was a glitch and ignored it.

 

Today I decided to look into it a bit, and I noticed that all the Freedom cruises after 11/3/24 are gone.  After that, the next available date is 12/29/24.  Any ideas why?

[Cigar King]

Any ideas?  I can't be the only one on one of Freedom's 7 missing cruises.

[Jumping Cruiser]

21 minutes ago, Cigar King said:

Any ideas?  I can't be the only one on one of Freedom's 7 missing cruises.

 

I believe that she is due a dry dock. There is a port call in Funchal (Madeira) on 21st November, looking like she is headed towards Europe. Plus, there are two calls in Cadiz (Spain), one on 24th November and another on 16th December. Putting all this info together, I imagine that she will go for her dry dock during this period, so some cruises may be cancelled. There is a chance that they create an eastbound and westbound TA to make up some revenue for the lost sailings or provide an option to transfer affected passengers.

 

Although, January 2025 is also blocked off for Freedom. Plus, there are two calls in Cadiz (Spain) too, one on 16th January and another on 7th February. It is possible that they are just trying to work out the best time for dry dock or negotiating with the shipyard. Obviously, they will provide everyone with more info at some point, but I think this is likely to be something related to a drydock.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Jumping Cruiser

[Cigar King]

Thanks for the info.  I had a hunch it was something like that.  We have a B2B in a 2BR GS and we're just going to wait and see how it shakes out.  Maybe they'll swap ships?

 

[monorail81]

Well, that’s irritating….we're scheduled for one of those sailings. I hope they break the news sooner rather than later to give us the opportunity to plan for something different… 

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, monorail81 said:

I hope they break the news sooner rather than later to give us the opportunity to plan for something different… 

RCI generally decides changes more than 330 days out to avoid also having to pay air fare change fees.

[Cigar King]

It's nice to know we'll only have to suffer the waiting for information for 6 months...

 

😉

[Anton]

I was booked for two December 2024 cruises on Freedom and started wondering why they weren’t available anymore but I still had bookings for them.  The official story from RCI was “Revenue has pulled those sailings for inventory management.”  Those words usually mean something is up, and perhaps not something good, so I moved to the 10 night Explorer during the same time period. It’s odd that they have the New Years cruise still available but nothing prior to it for over a month, and then nothing after that holiday sailing until February.  So January is missing too.

[monorail81]

On 4/30/2023 at 12:33 PM, Cigar King said:

Hi all - We have a B2B booked on Freedom for 12/1 and 12/7 2024.  A few weeks ago they went missing.  I assumed it was a glitch and ignored it.

 

Today I decided to look into it a bit, and I noticed that all the Freedom cruises after 11/3/24 are gone.  After that, the next available date is 12/29/24.  Any ideas why?

Kudos to you for figuring this out earlier. Gave me time to mentally prepare for the email yesterday.  Still irritated though. 

[Cigar King]

No worries.  Did it work out for you?  We moved to Oasis and since their 2BR GS is more expensive, AND the first leg is a Thanksgiving cruise now, we came out ahead in the deal.

 

[monorail81]

Not yet. I can’t do any of the Oasis because of work. Going to try one of the October Freedoms which will mean one less day.  Our TA tried several times today to call Royal and kept getting disconnected. So, we’ll see. 

[GW248]

Anyone else on this one?  Couldn't find a roll call...  😉

 

[Coralc]

I don't think you will find one if it is deadheading. LOL 😀

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, GW248 said:

Anyone else on this one?  Couldn't find a roll call...  😉

 

 

Freedom is scheduled for Funchal (Madeira) on the 21st of November, with the port booking showing origin as Lanzarote. There would be a sea day between Funchal and Lisbon, which matches up with the deadhead departure date of the 23rd. That and the time frame between that and her last cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, which ends on the 9th of November (14 nights) make me wonder if there's a revenue TA ending in Lisbon on the cards. 🤔

Edited July 1, 2023 by FionaMG

[Cruising89143]

Not a lot of info but yes it’s a dry dock. 

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/07/royal-caribbean-cancels-holiday-freedom-sailings-for-drydock/