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Independence of the Seas 2020 – no more Southampton but COCO CAY!


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1 minute ago, twangster said:

That's great.  Why are cruise bookings off in the UK?

I honestly don’t think they are, what’s the pax difference Indy to Anthem? It’s kinda like for like but the Indy must fit the Caribbean better, nothing to do with low booking otherwise they would send a smaller ship..

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1 minute ago, Jason12 said:

I honestly don’t think they are, what’s the pax difference Indy to Anthem? It’s kinda like for like but the Indy must fit the Caribbean better, nothing to do with low booking otherwise they would send a smaller ship..

Anthem can take roughly 500 extra passengers.

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10 minutes ago, Jason12 said:

I honestly don’t think they are, what’s the pax difference Indy to Anthem? It’s kinda like for like but the Indy must fit the Caribbean better, nothing to do with low booking otherwise they would send a smaller ship..

So Royal's CFO lied to investors on it's earnings call with investors?  

That doesn't make sense.  

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The prices for Royal Caribbean Compared to the many other cruise lines out of Southampton are ridiculous. When they were released the message boards on facebook and such like were all disgusted with the pricing structure compared to the US. I get that US will be cheaper due to many many more ships but the UK pricing is awful IMO.

 

That's why I choose to fly elsewhere and cruise

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1 minute ago, twangster said:

He is an executive with the cruise line.  Right up there with the CEO.  Seems odd he would offer that European bookings are slow if they aren't.

 

To honest I did not realise they are only having one ship out of Southampton so scrap everything I’ve said ? I just thought they were replacing the Indy..? so yes something is going wrong..

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2 minutes ago, J_Keeble said:

The prices for Royal Caribbean Compared to the many other cruise lines out of Southampton are ridiculous. When they were released the message boards on facebook and such like were all disgusted with the pricing structure compared to the US. I get that US will be cheaper due to many many more ships but the UK pricing is awful IMO.

 

That's why I choose to fly elsewhere and cruise

We don’t use Southampton anymore, prefer to fly Barcelona or Florida..?

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Just now, Jason12 said:

To honest I did not realise they are only having one ship out of Southampton so scrap everything I’ve said ? I just thought they were replacing the Indy..? so yes something is going wrong..

Send us Empress over here and offer short 3/4 night sailing to Amsterdam / Rotterdam and Bruge.

 

you would get loads of English lager louts on her! I would defiantly book up!

Us Brits just want booze cruises LOL

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54 minutes ago, J_Keeble said:

I cant help but think the pricing was just far too high.

I can site one example of pricing, I was looking to book a long summer 2020 cruise in the Mediterranean, I pulled up the booking on Royal and saw that I had a choice of Anthem or Indy out of Southampton, I looked at similar cruises on both, 13-14 days, leaving Southampton, 2 sea days, stop in Gibraltar and then the Mediterranean stops, then 2 days back.

Anthem was $15k for a Grand suite (Which got me Sky class) and Indy was $22k for a Grand suite and I get the Suite perks, I will be Diamond+ for this cruise.

This blew me away, I assumed that Indy would be cheaper if for no other reason it's an older ship (Yes, recently AMPED) and did not have all of the bells and whistles that Anthem does.

Needless to say I booked Anthem for the cheaper price.

 

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

I think Brexit is a factor, albeit maybe not the primary one this journalist decided to blame.  It's the easy scapegoat but at the same time you can't dismiss Brexit completely either.

Don't mean to insult you Brits, but it is wreaking havoc with money and many different companies that operate globally with a presence in the England.  It's a mess.  Uncertainty breeds instability.  What else would one expect?  It's not going to be a smooth ride through this for you folks.  Have family there, wish you all the best.   

There’s not much more that scares investors more than uncertainty. Even if you’ve warned them of headwinds, underperforming against estimates wreaks havoc on stock prices. 

Airlines do this all the time, with only hours notice. Everyone should just be glad that there’s minimal impact on flights, hotels, etc..

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1 hour ago, Joe01 said:

I'm not here to talk politics, but I can't really see how Brexit would affect ship bookings. 

If I’ve got customers that booked that booked two year ago out a price that no longer covers the inflation that occurred between them and then sailing I could potentially be losing money. 

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The article @twangster posted clearly states the bookings are down in Europe. Whether you want to blame Royals high prices or Brexit is up to the individual. It is disappointing I’m sure for Europeans. I myself was looking to go to Europe either next year or the year after. I might look at Celebrity or Princess as well. I like Royal very much and prefer them, but there are other options.

 

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1 hour ago, J_Keeble said:

Although I think having both Anthem and Independence is asking too much of the market. They are both very big ships.

 

Last time Anthem came it was joined by Navigator I Believe and that worked. But maybe as Anthem was brand new it had more pulling power. just on a side note P&O are bringing out a new ship IONA next year at Southampton.

My parents who have been on close to 50 cruises have recently tried P&O and have another one booked for 4 weeks times with them as well as next year on the Iona. They were very impressed first time around with P&O and feel RCI no longer off value for money, and they’re Diamond Plus through RCI & Celebrity.  

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1 minute ago, 3trinitythree said:

My parents who have been on close to 50 cruises have recently tried P&O and have another one booked for 4 weeks times with them as well as next year on the Iona. They were very impressed first time around with P&O and feel RCI no longer off value for money, and they’re Diamond Plus through RCI & Celebrity.  

I've been hearing alot of this lately that RCCL is losing it's grip on the market as most cruisers are looking elsewhere due to the way their Loyal Customer's are being treated. I wonder how long RCCL will wake up and respect its Loyal Customers.

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1 minute ago, princevaliantus said:

I've been hearing alot of this lately that RCCL is losing it's grip on the market as most cruisers are looking elsewhere due to the way their Loyal Customer's are being treated. I wonder how long RCCL will wake up and respect its Loyal Customers.

My next cruise will be the 7th with RCI, and the 6th on the Indy. In those years the benefits have vastly been reduced, as have certain aspects that have disappeared. Last year I was unhappy with the new refit of the Indy and how it affected the overall experience, but we’ve decided to give it another go this year. Just hope I don’t regret this decision

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The cost of sailing out of Southampton is exceptionally high, so much so that I have also been looking at flying across to Barcelona to sail from there in 2020 - even with flights and an overnight stay it works out cheaper.

However...since yesterday the price of the cruise I was looking at (from Barcelona in Aug 2020) on Allure has suddenly increased over night by £210 ($280 approx) per person!

Barcelona is obviously nearest RC departing port to Southampton and Royal will be fully aware that they will probably get some knock on bookings as a result of moving Indy out of the UK, the fact they have pushed prices up for these sailings is pretty calculated in my opinion.

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59 minutes ago, Wilmsta said:

The cost of sailing out of Southampton is exceptionally high, so much so that I have also been looking at flying across to Barcelona to sail from there in 2020 - even with flights and an overnight stay it works out cheaper.

However...since yesterday the price of the cruise I was looking at (from Barcelona in Aug 2020) on Allure has suddenly increased over night by £210 ($280 approx) per person!

Barcelona is obviously nearest RC departing port to Southampton and Royal will be fully aware that they will probably get some knock on bookings as a result of moving Indy out of the UK, the fact they have pushed prices up for these sailings is pretty calculated in my opinion.

I would venture to say that everything RCCL does is calculated down to the Nth degree.

 

 

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2 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

I've been hearing alot of this lately that RCCL is losing it's grip on the market as most cruisers are looking elsewhere due to the way their Loyal Customer's are being treated. I wonder how long RCCL will wake up and respect its Loyal Customers.

I would say its Royal pricing itself out of the market..which results in a lower demand......Royal is defn not the cheapest over on this side at all. There are many other cheaper options and other options with way more perks and benefits....And just think of all the extra cabin space that Royal is adding with all these mammoth ships...something has to give at some point.

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10 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I would say its Royal pricing itself out of the market..which results in a lower demand......Royal is defn not the cheapest over on this side at all. There are many other cheaper options and other options with way more perks and benefits....And just think of all the extra cabin space that Royal is adding with all these mammoth ships...something has to give at some point.

I guess it's time to spread my wings!!!!

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21 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I would say its Royal pricing itself out of the market..which results in a lower demand......Royal is defn not the cheapest over on this side at all. There are many other cheaper options and other options with way more perks and benefits....And just think of all the extra cabin space that Royal is adding with all these mammoth ships...something has to give at some point.

is it really? I have been comparing prices for Carnival, NCL and Royal past 2 years for comparable sailings and yes Carnival is almost always the cheapest but I was surprised that Royal price sometimes is approaching Carnival territory (especially with Kids Sail Free promotion) 

I was super surprised that NCL price is ridiculously high... maybe I am not doing the search correctly? ?

This is why I have been alternating Carnival and Royal. 

 

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Just noticed on Twitter that they’ve told those who had a cruise cancelled have been given a 25% cruise credit towards another cruise. However, people have said cruises for 2020 on the Anthem have increased up to £500 pp since the announcement of the Indy no longer coming here in 2020. Giving with one hand whilst taking it straight back with the other hand. Disgusting behaviour tbh

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Well I don't look at kids cruises....but for anything I want to book..quite often with the perks NCL throws in or Celebrity its the  cheaper with them with the drinks and stuff thrown in.

 

I don't really look at Carnival but I have never seen a more expensive Carnival cruise yet..lol..

 

And the cost has defn been going up the past few years with Royal overall.....even if you don't compare them to other cruise lines.

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2 minutes ago, 3trinitythree said:

Just noticed on Twitter that they’ve told those who had a cruise cancelled have been given a 25% cruise credit towards another cruise. However, people have said cruises for 2020 on the Anthem have increased up to £500 pp since the announcement of the Indy no longer coming here in 2020. Giving with one hand whilst taking it straight back with the other hand. Disgusting behaviour tbh

THAT does not surprise me at all....big business at its best. In Royals defense...most companies would do the same. They'll blame it on  some business factor like  supply/demand....well duh, you remove a ship, the other jumps in cost!

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58 minutes ago, 3trinitythree said:

Just noticed on Twitter that they’ve told those who had a cruise cancelled have been given a 25% cruise credit towards another cruise. However, people have said cruises for 2020 on the Anthem have increased up to £500 pp since the announcement of the Indy no longer coming here in 2020. Giving with one hand whilst taking it straight back with the other hand. Disgusting behaviour tbh

That is terrible. Feel for those who have already booked, they probably had great deals - and will now be fleeced when trying to rebook. Poor show 

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6 hours ago, Joe01 said:

I'm not here to talk politics, but I can't really see how Brexit would affect ship bookings. 

If you read about companies threatening to close offices, factories etc due to leaving Europe or the lack of Brexit deal,  then who's going to put down a deposit on a 2020 cruise if they dont even know if they will have a job due to the threats made by numerous companies? this has a serious knock on effect down the food chain as those in companies that may leave UK or shut down may be saving their money just in case worst happens, this means less money spent in local shops, bars , restaurants even the poor taxi driver taking them places. so these other people in work places that are not threatening to leave the UK also suffer, thus meaning they also have less cash to spend on things..even cruises 

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I fail to see how Brexit is the reason Rccl is pulling Indy out of SH. I've been cruising since 2007 & have only cruised Rccl & Norwegian. Since 2014, I have noticed how not only has Royal prices been increasing fairly steady by no huge amount, imo; but, the cost of many of the onboarding prices as well as reductions in perks & the pushing of products & packaging.

Now I certainly contribute this to their Amp-Up investments. They have known long before 2018 of their Amping investments plans & have been pricing according in increments. That's the price of paying for Mega-ships, new & Amped private islands, amped ships live Mariner/Navigator and more to come, as well as the New Icon LNG technology, plus whatever bells & whistles that comes with all of that.

As far as Indy moving...it simple to me, given, Indy(a Freedom class ship) is a warm weather ship compared to Anthem which is built for either climate. Sales are truly down in the SH arena, because of the exorbitant prices, given credence that both ships currently in that market, at Rccl cost, is not feasible...so one ship had to be moved to booming region that hope to cash in on the new amp private island...like sales of some of the recent amped ship.

Rccl will continue this business model, because of the huge investments made on their overall Amped-Up Program...higher cost and nickle & diming is to be expected; and, as long as they continue to roll out the mega-ships(170,000+ ton), don't expect them to be customer friendly anytime soon. We all are paying for the latest & greatest and until Norwegian, Carnival, MSC, Virgin start rolling & increasing the competition for the latest & greatest, Rccl will continue cornering the market.

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7 hours ago, twangster said:

It business.  All businesses that operate globally with a presence in the UK are facing repercussions from Brexit, travel operators included.

Faced with uncertainty people are holding on to their money and not booking vacations in the same manner they have previously.  

Sorry but that’s simply not true. I’m in the UK, I work for a large organisation and do not know anyone, including myself that has changed the way they book holidays (vacations) due to Brexit. 

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38 minutes ago, Ray said:

If you read about companies threatening to close offices, factories etc due to leaving Europe or the lack of Brexit deal,  then who's going to put down a deposit on a 2020 cruise if they dont even know if they will have a job due to the threats made by numerous companies? this has a serious knock on effect down the food chain as those in companies that may leave UK or shut down may be saving their money just in case worst happens, this means less money spent in local shops, bars , restaurants even the poor taxi driver taking them places. so these other people in work places that are not threatening to leave the UK also suffer, thus meaning they also have less cash to spend on things..even cruises 

They didn't reduce capacity in the UK during the recession 10 years ago, even though Indy was their flagship at the time that the recession began. Might be some food for thought.

And if Brexit was going to be as devastating as you predicted, why did RCI even consider having Indy back in 2020?

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1 hour ago, Joe01 said:

It will probably be a while until they are released. Hoping Indy does 7 nighters - Navigator and Mariner are wasted on the 3/4 night cruises.

Not everyone can fit a 7 day cruise in their schedule/life. (That includes me at the moment). If Enchantment and Majesty were still the only options for short cruises, I would not have booked my upcoming 4 nighter (can’t wait to try Navigator!).  That being said, I do agree that it would make more sense for Indy to do longer itineraries. 

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