Royal Caribbean announce it is cancelling its three cruises in Quebec, Canada for Brilliance of the Seas.

Port of Quebec spokesman, Anick Métivier, commented on the decision, "This is a repositioning of the ship that the cruise line has decided to do.  Cruise lines reposition their ships generally based on fluctuations of the international market, and it is beyond our control."

As a result of the cancellation, the Port of Quebec has downgraded its projections for cruise passengers for the year from 117,500 to 111,000.  Despite the cancellation, this will still be the second best cruise season ever for Quebec.

Two other Royal Caribbean ships are still planning cruises to Quebec.  Explorer of the Seas will be arriving in Quebec from September 18 to 20, 2013 and another visit planned in 2014.  Legend of the Seas will make her inaugural visit to Quebec in 2014 as well.

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas is undergoing upgrades and enhancements at Victoria Shipyards in British Columbia, Canada and will be ready to sail out on Thursday.  The choice Royal Caribbean made of these shipyards has a lot to do with the competitive options offered by Victoria Shipyards.

Royal Caribbean's vice-president of technical projects, Kevin Douglas, believes that Victoria Shipyards was the right choice to handle Radiance of the Seas' upgrades, "It’s not just an economic argument, it’s whether the shipyard has the capability to do all the work we need, is there the infrastructure around the shipyard.  We want to get in and out quickly.  On the West Coast of Canada and the U.S., this would be our choice, no question about it.".

In just three weeks, the shipyard will have Radiance of the Seas back into service to begin the Alaska cruise season.  Radiance is scheduled to leave Esquimalt Harbour on Thursday, bound for Vancouver to pick up passengers.

During it's time in the shipyards, 1700 workers have been working on upgrading, replacing and enhancing many aspects of Radiance of the Seas.  The ship's overhaul is meant to keep her a competitive option in a cruise market where the newer and bigger ships can cause customers to overlook the older ships in the fleet.

Royal Caribbean announced new itineraries for 2012 that will sail from Baltimore, Maryland to Bermuda aboard Enchantment of the Seas.

The announcement adds a new set of six-night cruises to Bermuda as well as eight-night Bermuda and Northeast United States cruises that will sail out of Baltimore in the spring and summer of 2012.  Enchantment's new six-night itinerary will make 3-day calls to Kings Wharf, Bermuda

In addition, Royal Caribbean is also planning to send Explorer of the Seas, which is based out of Bayonne, NJ, on a new seven-night round trip cruise in September and October of 2012 that will feature three days in Bermuda.  The new itineraries will include five and nine-night Bermuda & Caribbean itineraries through the spring and summer of 2012.

Adding to the news, Jewel of the Seas will continue its ninth season of sailings out of Boston, MA of roundtrip seven-night Canadian cruises.

Photo by Shawn Rouse

Canada is proposing a cut in the amount of sulfur that cruise ships may have in their fuel for 2012, which could make cruising to Canada much more expensive for cruise lines.  The current regulations stipulate cruise ships within 200 miles of the Canadian coast can use fuel that is 1.5 to 2.5 percent sulfur. The proposed cuts, set in an agreement with the United States, would demand sharp cuts in sulfur in the next five years with the first ones kicking in in 2012.

Fred Olsen, a British cruise line, said it is considering dropping Halifax as a port of call in 2012, saying the new rules could cost it thousands of dollars a day for each ship in Canadian waters.

The new sulfur limit would be 1 percent by 2012 and 0.1 percent by 2015. 

Royal Caribbean already serves a few Canadian ports but Canada is looking for even more cruises to stop north of the border.  Canadian ports in Quebec, the Maritimes and Newfoundland are working hard collectively to attract more cruise ships to the region.  Currently Royal Caribbean serves Canada from ships out of the port of Bayonne, New Jersey and there are plenty of flights out of Canada into Newark where it's only a 15-kilometre trip between the airport and the port.

Currently, European cruise lines, such as Costa and MSC, are very active in Canada.  These cruises feature predominantly European tourists while Royal Caribbean rivals Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines have a long-standing Canadian presence and have the most capacity in this market.

If Canadian markets have their way, they'd like to see Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines increase their presence in Canada to create more options for Canadian cruisers as well as help generate more tourism money in the ports.