Two of Royal Caribbean's biggest cruise ships were spotted in Southampton over the weekend, giving locals in the area a glimpse of these popular ships.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Sarah Lynn stopped by the Port of Southampton to take a few photos of these ships.

Sarah went on a ferry that toured the cruise ships anchored off the South Coast of England, and took photos of the ships for all of us to enjoy.

A few Royal Caribbean ships have been positioned off the southern coast of England, and make periodic stops in Southampton for resupply.

It is noteworthy to mention that Anthem of the Seas just completed a refurbishment in Damen Shiprepair Brest in Brest, France.

Anthem was due for routine maintenance that focused on preventative upkeep work.

There are no major aesthetic upgrades to Anthem of the Seas announced, so this is purely a traditional dry dock to take care of "under the hood" work, such as painting and engine work.

Two of Royal Caribbean's biggest cruise ships were spotted in Southampton over the weekend, giving locals in the area a glimpse of these popular ships.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Sarah Lynn stopped by the Port of Southampton to take a few photos of these ships.

Sarah went on a ferry that toured the cruise ships anchored off the South Coast of England, and took photos of the ships for all of us to enjoy.

A few Royal Caribbean ships have been positioned off the southern coast of England, and make periodic stops in Southampton for resupply.

It is noteworthy to mention that Anthem of the Seas just completed a refurbishment in Damen Shiprepair Brest in Brest, France.

Anthem was due for routine maintenance that focused on preventative upkeep work.

There are no major aesthetic upgrades to Anthem of the Seas announced, so this is purely a traditional dry dock to take care of "under the hood" work, such as painting and engine work.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance work in France.

In addition to the high profile Royal Amplifications, about every 5 years, Royal Caribbean ships undergo routine maintenance to address preventative upkeep of the ship.

Anthem of the Seas is at the Damen Shiprepair Brest, which is located in Brest, France photos of the ship undergoing the work was shared in a Facebook post.

Anthem of the Seas had her maiden voyage in April 2015, and she is due for scheduled maintenance this year.

There are no major aesthetic upgrades to Anthem of the Seas announced, so this is purely a traditional dry dock to take care of "under the hood" work, such as painting and engine work.

The Damen shipyard is no stranger to Royal Caribbean vessels. In October 2014, Oasis of the Seas arrived for maintenance work att their Rotterdam shipyard for a 14-day drydock that focused on modifications to her three Azipod main propulsion units and the four bow thrusters.

In addition, the Kvaerner Masa-Yards (now Meyer Turku) was where Enchantment of the Seas went for her lengthening, where the ship was cut in half and a new section added in the middle.

Royal Caribbean announced two upcoming sailings in June in order to assist with repatriating crew member efforts.

Vision of the Seas’ June 13th, 2020 and Anthem of the Seas’ June 20th, 2020 sailings are the two cancelled sailings that were announced today.

Royal Caribbean is using these ships to ferry crew members home due to local travel restrictions.

Unfortunately, local travel restrictions and commercial flights have made it extremely challenging to get our crew safely home. We’ve been working with our partners at Cruise Lines International Association and the CDC for months to get our crew safely home, and sailing to their home country is the best option.

As a result of the cancellation, Royal Caribbean is providing these guests with the option of a 125% Future Cruise Credit or a 100% refund.

Future Cruise Credits issued on these sailings should be received by Friday, June 5th, 2020.

The Vision of the Seas June 13th sailing was scheduled to be a 12-Night Mediterranean Greek Isles cruise from Barcelona.

The Anthem of the Seas June 20th sailing was scheduled to be an 8 Night Spain & Portugal Cruise from Southampton.

Royal Caribbean's plans to get crew members home was reported in the last 24 hours.

The crux of the matter that prevented crew from getting home sooner was evidently the CDC's rules for disembarking crew that included provisions such as requiring crew go home via chartered or private transportation.

In the letter from Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley to crew, it explains the legal entanglement that is created by sending crew home now, "The CDC will only allow us to disembark crew members if company executives, myself included, are willing to attest — subject to criminal penalties including imprisonment — that we will not use any public transportation and that each crew member will comply with certain conditions after disembarking the ships. We are happy to do all the things they requested, but the criminal penalties gave us [and our lawyers] pause."

While Bayley said he hopes the threat of criminal prosecution will be removed, he said, “we have decided that the importance of getting you home is so great that we will sign these documents as they are written today to help get you off the ships.”

Thanks to Katina Bradley for alerting us to this announcement.

Royal Caribbean announced two upcoming sailings in June in order to assist with repatriating crew member efforts.

Vision of the Seas’ June 13th, 2020 and Anthem of the Seas’ June 20th, 2020 sailings are the two cancelled sailings that were announced today.

Royal Caribbean is using these ships to ferry crew members home due to local travel restrictions.

Unfortunately, local travel restrictions and commercial flights have made it extremely challenging to get our crew safely home. We’ve been working with our partners at Cruise Lines International Association and the CDC for months to get our crew safely home, and sailing to their home country is the best option.

As a result of the cancellation, Royal Caribbean is providing these guests with the option of a 125% Future Cruise Credit or a 100% refund.

Future Cruise Credits issued on these sailings should be received by Friday, June 5th, 2020.

The Vision of the Seas June 13th sailing was scheduled to be a 12-Night Mediterranean Greek Isles cruise from Barcelona.

The Anthem of the Seas June 20th sailing was scheduled to be an 8 Night Spain & Portugal Cruise from Southampton.

Royal Caribbean's plans to get crew members home was reported in the last 24 hours.

The crux of the matter that prevented crew from getting home sooner was evidently the CDC's rules for disembarking crew that included provisions such as requiring crew go home via chartered or private transportation.

In the letter from Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley to crew, it explains the legal entanglement that is created by sending crew home now, "The CDC will only allow us to disembark crew members if company executives, myself included, are willing to attest — subject to criminal penalties including imprisonment — that we will not use any public transportation and that each crew member will comply with certain conditions after disembarking the ships. We are happy to do all the things they requested, but the criminal penalties gave us [and our lawyers] pause."

While Bayley said he hopes the threat of criminal prosecution will be removed, he said, “we have decided that the importance of getting you home is so great that we will sign these documents as they are written today to help get you off the ships.”

Thanks to Katina Bradley for alerting us to this announcement.

The global cruise suspension has seemingly put all plans in flux, but Vice President EMEA at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Ben Bouldin expects Anthem of the Seas to follow through with her 2020 visit to the UK.

Cruise Trade News quoted Mr. Bouldin from a webinar saying that he expects Anthem of the Seas to come to the UK in 2020 and to have her refurbishment once shipyards are open.

"This is the focus of a lot of my time right now trying to work out when Anthem of the Seas will come back. Nothing’s guaranteed but I do use the word when rather than if because I do expect Anthem to come to the UK."

"I do expect it to have a marine dry dock in Europe although we are of course at mercy of when they open up currently. When that’s done, we can evaluate what’s left in the season and the opportunities we have in terms of sailings."

The refurbishment work scheduled for Anthem of the Seas is not part of the Royal Amplified program. Instead, it is related to the continuous maintenance all Royal Caribbean ships undergo about every five years.

Anthem of the Seas was scheduled to sail from Southampton beginning in May 2020, and offer cruises to destinations in Europe through October 2020.

In addition, Anthem of the Seas is scheduled to sail from Southampton again in the summer of 2021.

Mr. Bouldin also touched on the fact he thinks Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas are both still on schedule for delivery.

"Odyssey will happen for sure. We are still seeing what her delivery date will be with the slow down in the shipyards, but she’s on her way for sure and we look forward to her being in Rome next summer."

"The same is true for Wonder of the Seas, which has plans to go to China and significant work is underway on that. Projects are in various degrees of process, but we hope to stay on course for the huge and exciting pre-development that we had."

Mr. Bouldin's comments echo comments made by Royal Caribbean earlier this week that also indicated Odyssey is on target.

The Port of Galveston will meet on Tuesday with the Board of Trustees to discuss a variety of topics, including Royal Caribbean's proposed construction delay of Terminal 3.

The Port Director's Report has been posted in advance of the meeting, and it includes a few interesting talking points that will be covered in the meeting.

Galveston is working with Royal Caribbean on the possibility of receiving Anthem of the Seas at the current Cruise Terminal 2. There is no dates associated with this plan, just the posting of the idea.

A decision will need to be made during the meeting on approving Royal Caribbean's request to delay the new Terminal 3 by one year. In late March, Royal Caribbean asked the Port of Galveston to delay the start of the new cruise terminal by one year.

If approved, the target completion date would now be September 1, 2022.

The conceptual plan for the East End Cruise Corridor (shown below) includes not only the new Royal Caribbean Terminal 3, but an additional 4th cruise terminal at the current Del Monte terminal.

Terminal 3 will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, and will be used by Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean has reiterated that Galveston is an integral part of Royal's strategic plan.

The plan for Terminal Three was announced in December 2019, with the added bonus of Allure of the Seas moving to Galveston to begin sailings shortly after the terminal opened in November 2021.

Many thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Galveston Steve for alerting us to this news.

The Port of Galveston will meet on Tuesday with the Board of Trustees to discuss a variety of topics, including Royal Caribbean's proposed construction delay of Terminal 3.

The Port Director's Report has been posted in advance of the meeting, and it includes a few interesting talking points that will be covered in the meeting.

Galveston is working with Royal Caribbean on the possibility of receiving Anthem of the Seas at the current Cruise Terminal 2. There is no dates associated with this plan, just the posting of the idea.

A decision will need to be made during the meeting on approving Royal Caribbean's request to delay the new Terminal 3 by one year. In late March, Royal Caribbean asked the Port of Galveston to delay the start of the new cruise terminal by one year.

If approved, the target completion date would now be September 1, 2022.

The conceptual plan for the East End Cruise Corridor (shown below) includes not only the new Royal Caribbean Terminal 3, but an additional 4th cruise terminal at the current Del Monte terminal.

Terminal 3 will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, and will be used by Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean has reiterated that Galveston is an integral part of Royal's strategic plan.

The plan for Terminal Three was announced in December 2019, with the added bonus of Allure of the Seas moving to Galveston to begin sailings shortly after the terminal opened in November 2021.

Many thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Galveston Steve for alerting us to this news.

The Port of Galveston will meet on Tuesday with the Board of Trustees to discuss a variety of topics, including Royal Caribbean's proposed construction delay of Terminal 3.

The Port Director's Report has been posted in advance of the meeting, and it includes a few interesting talking points that will be covered in the meeting.

Galveston is working with Royal Caribbean on the possibility of receiving Anthem of the Seas at the current Cruise Terminal 2. There is no dates associated with this plan, just the posting of the idea.

A decision will need to be made during the meeting on approving Royal Caribbean's request to delay the new Terminal 3 by one year. In late March, Royal Caribbean asked the Port of Galveston to delay the start of the new cruise terminal by one year.

If approved, the target completion date would now be September 1, 2022.

The conceptual plan for the East End Cruise Corridor (shown below) includes not only the new Royal Caribbean Terminal 3, but an additional 4th cruise terminal at the current Del Monte terminal.

Terminal 3 will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, and will be used by Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean has reiterated that Galveston is an integral part of Royal's strategic plan.

The plan for Terminal Three was announced in December 2019, with the added bonus of Allure of the Seas moving to Galveston to begin sailings shortly after the terminal opened in November 2021.

Many thanks to RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Galveston Steve for alerting us to this news.

In light of the global health crisis, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has altered the loans it took out to finance Anthem of the Seas and Spectrum of the Seas in order to take advantage of a 12-month debt holiday.

The deal was made between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Euler Hermes Aktiengesellschaft on April 8, and it essentially means Royal Caribbean to skip a few payments without accruing additional interest. Moreover, it provides the cruise line with $200 million of incremental liquidity through April 2021.

The deferral period is between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. The deferred money will be repayable in eight equal semi-annual installments between April 2021 and October 2024.

In addition, Royal Caribbean amended the export-credit backed loan facility incurred to finance Celebrity Reflection in order to incorporate the benefits of the Debt Holiday. Across these three facilities, the Debt Holiday initiative will generate $200 million of incremental liquidity through April 2021.

Royal Caribbean is also looking into taking advantage of the debt holiday initiative across the remainder of their Hermes-backed facilities.

The loan amendment has a few stipulations, including Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. may not take certain actions including:

• Payment of dividends
• Repurchase of stock
• Issuance of debt or equity other than for liquidity