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RCVoyager

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Posts posted by RCVoyager

  1.  

    The Explorer is not a sister to the Freedom.  Freedom is one of three in the Freedom Class.  Explorer is one of five in the Voyager class.

    The Explorer is now pushing 20 years old.  The Freedom is somewhat newer.  All of this makes the NCL Epic look better to me.  Newer ship than either RCCL vessel in question.  An itinerary which includes Grenada and has more ABC options than RCCL at least for now.

  2. 26 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

    Apparently winter 2022 also means April, 2022. I checked to see if my April, 2022 cruise on Freedom of the Seas was effected and low and behold it is no longer listed. Only Empress of the Seas is available. Not too thrilled about this, but I did get this as the end result of a lift & shift from Enchantment of the seas. 

    Looks like the best option out of San Juan may be the NCL Epic.  I have been critical of NCL from my experience on it several years ago.  I like the itinerary that includes Grenada.  Hopefully the main dining room options are better than they were then.

  3. 19 hours ago, twangster said:

    Carnival historically put ships in certain places because they had "extra" old ships with no place to go.  They didn't want to sell those ships and give a competitor like Bahamas Paradise Lines more lower berths to compete with Carnival.  Often what they did was place these ships in certain markets that can't normally sustain a newer or bigger ship.  It's much easier to turn a profit on an older ship that's paid for with only operating costs to cover in order to reach profitability.   

    This practice became untenable when ships had to be put into layup since you can't just park a ship like a car and walk away from it for a year.  Consequently they scrapped some of their oldest and smallest.  

    Once cruising resumes I don't see Carnival backfilling those ships just to operate from a specific market.  They know where they made more money and where they made less money for whatever the reasons.  

    Royal has long placed it ships where they make more money that left certain markets such as California without service.  That's not to say they couldn't turn a profit in California simply that they can make more money with that same ship elsewhere.  With Carnival operating a (slightly) smaller fleet they will do the same.  If they can make more money in San Juan than they can in Alabama, Jacksonville or Charleston that is where they will move a ship to and from.  

    I appreciate your perspective on this.  I was hoping maybe the Breeze or Magic would be assigned to San Juan.  There are so many ships going out of FL these days and only a few out of San Juan.  We really like the Southern Caribbean itineraries and you can't do those in 7 days out of FL.  There is no doubt the cruise lines charge a little less out of San Juan which the passenger would generally spend on air to get there.  Makes your view make sense from a profit standpoint.

  4. It will be interesting to see how the cruise lines fill the vacuum that is being created by scrapped ships.  San Juan is our favorite port of origin.  We like both Royal and Carnival (on their newer ships).  We haven't considered Carnival out of San Juan for several years because the Fantasy (definitely not a new ship) is the ship Carnival ported in San Juan.  Now the Fantasy is scrapped.  Will Carnival put a nicer ship there or abandon (at least temporarily) San Juan as a home port?  Any thoughts from those who follow closer than me?

    I look at cruisetimetables.com all the time.  My guess is that the cruise lines will be reworking their schedules completely coming out of this, and that anything scheduled in 2021 is subject to change... that's even assuming the cruise lines will be running at all in 2021.

  5. In my opinion, the Fantasy Class and Spirit Class need to be retired.  Carnival could actually benefit from this situation.  There's about 14 or 15 ships that need to go. 

    For many people who take their first cruise the thought process is to try a cheap 3 or 4 night cruise to see if they like cruising.  Next thing you know they are on a Carnival Elation cruise to the Bahamas and have a negative experience never to come back to cruising again.  

    There will be lots of ship builders looking for jobs.  It will be the best time in a long time, possibly ever, to build new ships in 12 or 18 months from a cost of building view.

    Carnival could really be rewarded for dragging their feet into the bigger, better, newer arms race of ship building that has occurred over the last 20 years.

  6. 9 hours ago, Crazycruiser50 said:

    They are stuck at Sea because RCCL won’t pony up the money to get them home.  They want to keep them on board so they can start bringing in money again as soon as the CDC allows.  That being said how pleasant do you think your on board experience is going to be with crew that have been held prisoner for 4.5 months with zero pay? 

    Just because you type it, doesn't mean it's true.

  7. 15 minutes ago, Ray said:

    Firstly havent a clue who james van fleet is

     

    Secondly you went way off subject, no one was talking about cleaning or social Distancing etc it was about getting crew home, and my question was how would YOU get them home? The answer to This one simple question we still await 

     

    Hopefully you can figure out how to get filipino and Indian crew home to their respective countries both of  which have closed their doors to all flights domestic and international because ALL cruiselines not just RC are struggling to work out a way to do it until lockdown measures are lifted in these countries.

     

    My friend who works for Aida may be lucky in that they are still being paid despite contract being up 7 weeks ago, they have a nice cabin, plenty food and activities to keep them amused but the one thing they dont have is a date to go home, Aida cannot tell them that! That answer lies with the Philippine government and when they decide it save to lift restrictions even for OFW 

    I think you pretty much hit it on the head, and I'll add that many if not most of the authorities around the globe have become drunk on the power of control.  If anyone thinks any of this has anything to do with health, safety, cleanliness, social distancing anymore, I've got some oceanfront property in Indiana to sell you.

  8. 13 hours ago, R yeo said:

    Riot-4

    63 Days Stuck at Sea: Protest Erupts on Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas

    By Jim Walker on May 15, 2020
    POSTED IN DISEASE

    Today, crew members aboard the Majesty of the Seasprotested Royal Caribbean’s latest failure to follow through with its  repatriation of its crew members. Several hundred crew members congregated on the pool deck making signs protesting Royal Caribbean’s refusal to follow through with plans to send the crew members home. The repatriation Riot-2-320x180.jpgplans have reportedly changed at the last minute on five occasions, including three times dating back to last month.

    The crew members chanted “send us home” and erected signs saying “Do You Sleep Well Mr. Bayley” (right) referring to the CEO of Royal Caribbean International Michael Bayley who was quoted earlier by the Miami Herald stating that flying crew members home via private charters was “too expensive.” Mr. Bayley collected around $25,000,000 in compensation in the last four years. A second sign (below left) stated “How Many More Suicides Do You Need?” This sign was created in reference to the Death of a Polish engineer who apparently jumped overboard from the Jewel of the Seas and the recent death of a Chinese assistant waiter who died on the Mariner of the Seasearlier this week.

    The protest was covered by Miami Herald reporter Taylot Dolven who has closely followed Royal Caribbean’s dilatory conduct.

    have written about the failure of cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, to repatriate their crew members in a timely manner several times.  Every major newspaper has covered the story of 75,000 to 100,000 crew members stuck Riot-1-320x285.jpgat sea, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Quartz, The Cut, SFGate, Guardian Fortune, USA TODAY,  ABC News CBS News, CNN, NBC News, Daily Mail  and even FOX News.

    The Miami Herald has done an outstanding job of covering this issue and has written about Royal Caribbean’s refusal to acknowledge and agree to comply with the CDC’s guilines for repatriating crew members, Royal Caribbean’s false accusations blaming the CDC for keeping its crew trapped on its ships, Royal Caribbean executives agreeing in principle to the CDC’s terms for repatriating the crew, and its ongoing refusal to repatriate its crew.  The Herald has covered the hunger strike which took place on the Navigator of the Seas due to Royal Caribbean’s unreasonable delays.

    As of three days ago, Royal Caribbean had agreed to the CDC’s guidelines and  signed the required acknowledgments for only 20 crew members, all of them U.S. nationals. As of yesterday, Royal Caribbean had increased the number of CDC approved repatriations of only 557 crewmembers, from the U.S., U.K. and the Philippines.

    I might add, the term "erupts" seems a bit harsh.  I don't see a single torch.  No pitch forks.  Heck, I don't even see anyone shaking a fist.  

  9. 14 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

    I know this is the Royal Caribbean blog but this has relevance here. Read between the lines for me because I am bad at that. Does mean they are going under? Its a bit vague I think.

     https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/05/norwegian-cruise-line-says-theres-substantial-doubt-about-its-ability-to-continue-as-a-going-concern.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar

    While there is no doubt the cruise lines will face big challenges in the coming months/years.  Being written by CNBC means that the cruise line will be shown in the most negative light possible.  Frankly,  I'm surprised they didn't lob in a "floating petri dish" grenade somewhere in the piece.

  10. 34 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

    I think what will happen is that prices will stay about where they are for the next 6 months to a year in order to burn off all the rescheduled cruises.  Then, I think there will be a steep drop off in bookings which will cause prices to plummet.  However, I expect the extras (drink packages, dining packages, excursions and such) to maintain their prices or even go up.  I also think we will see a continued emphasis on health and cleanliness but probably a drop off in things like food quality in the mdr and available included items like entertainment and the like.  I think the net result will be a little negative overall.

     

     

  11. On 4/25/2020 at 7:08 PM, KathyC said:

    Royal has so many older ships in the fleet that I am sure are paid off by now; it's possible they can sail at half capacity to recoup most of the operating costs, and the extra goes to the ships they are still paying for.  I have to believe that sailing at half capacity, while still may be a loss for some ships, will be a smaller loss than not sailing at all?  

    Using the Voyager Class as the marker between newer and older ships, RCCL has 15 newer ships plus the Odyssey and Spectrum and 11 older ships with the Legend and Grandeur being subtracted soon if not already.  Their fleet is much newer than Carnival's which has about 7 newer ships and about 19 older.  The Fantasy Class is in need of retirement and the Spirit Class only slightly behind it.  RCCL and Carnival are the extremes of the major lines with all the others falling in between.

  12. 6 hours ago, ehw51 said:

    They need to have some one to try and blame. Cruise lines have been taking a beating since this started, it still comes up about the Diamond and the Grand Princess´s I still hear about it from friends that know we like to cruise. I tell them you fly don´t you, how clean is that, just have to be safe about it.

    I believe after the initial barrage of rebookings, there will be a big lull in bookings over the next 1 to 2 years.  In my opinion, there will be amazing prices offered, but dining packages, drink packages, and other add-ons will be more expensive, and I'm afraid service and food quality will take a hit.

  13. 1 hour ago, Ray said:

    And here lies the problem with the USA , common sense, Morals and ethics go out the window if someone can smell a way to make quick buck!!!!

     

    In this case common sense, morals, and ethics would be supported because of the lawsuits that would come if a harmless legal activity like cruising were outlawed or disallowed by these discriminatory activities.

    Even with all its warts, and believe me, I've been subject to some of those warts, the United States of America has done more for the benefit of human kind than any country in the history of the planet.  It's not close.

  14. 59 minutes ago, bobroo said:

    It's the exact same discussion.

    You are entitled to be as reckless and stupid as you want to be, but you are not entitled to allow your recklessness or stupidity to affect others.

     

    You've recently been on a beach in Florida? Been on a cruise? Went inside a retirement home?  I'm sorry but that behavior is now endangering all these other people here.

    Not on a beach in FL, but how about Disney?  Retirement home?  airplane, subway, city bus?  Movie theater, grocery store, school, ball game, church, restaurant, bar?  Union meeting? Court? Have you dated? Did you have s*x with someone who could have had a fever?  Did you get a list of that person's other partners with contact info so we can check them out?  Do you know anyone who has done any of these things?

    Are you going to tell an LGBT or whatever letters are now used they can't go an an LGTB cruise?  Good luck with that.  What about NAACP convention in Detroit?  You going to tell an employee he/she can't go there?  Do you want Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on the sidewalk in front of your house with their bullhorns?

    It will not work.

    Here's another one:  Do you want to be an employer who sends a young woman home for having a fever and then find out it's related to her menstrual cycle and nothing else?  Can you imagine the actual legitimate settlement that would come from that when you consider that RCCL is currently having to spend millions to defend itself because a grandfather picked-up his granddaughter and dropped her out an open window?  A window he denies he knew was open despite the video of him leaning the top half of his body out said window immediately before lifting the toddler.

    The answers will ultimately come from the education side.  Wash your hands.  Don't touch stuff.  If you are sick, stay home.

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