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Royal Caribbean booking trends slowest in six years

In:
13 Apr 2011

Royal Caribbean Associate Vice President & General Manager Jo Rzymowska said that booking trends in the United Kingdom are the slowest in the six years since she joined the company.  Rzymowska believes Britons are waiting longer than usual to book their summer holidays.

Speaking at the launch of a new travel agent training website in London last night, Rzymowska thinks people are just waiting until it's closer to their vacations to book, “This year the booking trends have been the latest in my six years in tenure,” she said. “There are definitely people who haven’t booked their summer holiday yet who are holding out.”

So why the slow down?  Rzymowska believes it's a combination of recent global events and concerns of economic uncertainty.

The good news for Royal Caribbean is that despite the reluctance of some to book, sales for 2011 are still up and Rzymowska thinks the rest of the year will be good as well.

The largest cruise ship in Europe docks for the first time in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

In:
11 Apr 2011

The port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain was graced today with the first visit of Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in Europe.  Liberty has come to the Island from Miami as a stopover before the start of its summer season in the Mediterranean.

A statement released by the Port Authority ensures that the ship is two inches longer than its sister ship, Independence of the Seas, which is 339 feet long and 154,407 gross registered tons, with capacity to 4,375 cruisers.

Liberty of the Seas is served by 1,300 crew, 730 of them dedicated to ensuring safety on board.

The ship, built in Finland in 2007 at a cost of $ 800 million, remain in port until 18:00 pm and depart in the direction of Cadiz to continue to cover a voyage of fourteen days that end in Barcelona, ​​home port of their routes for the Mediterranean. 

Mariner of the Seas debuts in Italy

In:
28 Mar 2011

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Sea arrived for her new Mediterranean itineraries for the first time in Italy.  The ship arrived in the early hours of the morning to Civitavecchia, where she will be home for the entire 2011 season, until the end of October.

During the "Italian baptism," the ribbon-cutting ceremony has been entrusted to champion Fiona May. Mariner of the Seas was also the scene of a unique event, "Run for Royal", the first 3km never sailed on a cruise ship, which involved five runners.

Yesterday in Civitavecchia, in the presence of a large group of journalists, travel agents, port authorities and sports stars and entertainers, there was an Italian baptism of Mariner of the Seas, the new queen of the Royal Caribbean's Mediterranean Fleet, for the first time in the Mare Nostrum.

The ship's godmother of the event was Fiona May, an Italian athlete, twice world champion of long jump, welcomed on his arrival the ship was established in 2003.

Lina Mazzucco, general manager Royal Caribbean Italy, explains the choice: " In a lively and passionate character and style of Fiona, we recognized the spirit of Mariner of the Seas, a ship full of character, dedicated to the Italians, lovers of sport and a holiday at the same time dynamic and healthy, which makes the wishes of the family. Its elegance, femininity and perseverance in life as in sport, we did see in her the perfect spokesperson for this amazing ship . "

For the first time ever in the history of the company, the ship will depart from Genoa Royal - apart from Civitavecchia - and will offer seven-night cruises to the guests that will touch Cannes, Ajaccio, Barcelona, ​​Palma de Mallorca.

More than half of Royal Caribbean fleet will be in Europe in 2012

In:
24 Mar 2011

Royal Caribbean is planning on sending a record amount of its ships to Europe for the 2012 cruise season, which constitutes more than half of its fleet.  The cruise line announced 12 of its 22 ships will be serving European itineraries in 2012 as demand in the region is expected to continue growing.

By sending 12 ships in 2012, it will increase Royal Caribbean's presence in the continent from 11 in 2011 and 8 in 2010.

More changes for Royal Caribbean in Europe include

  • Serenade of the Seas will sailing out of Barcelona starting in 2012
  • Royal Caribbean has also added cruises out of Amsterdam, Holland, where Brilliance of the Seas will call Copenhagen home as it conducts northern Europe itineraries
  • Mariner of the Seas will add Holy Land cruises as well as seven-night Western Mediterranean voyages from Rome
  • Vision of the Seas will visit the Holy Land as well as some Northern Europe itineraries
  • Liberty of the Seas will offer new five-night Western Mediterranean cruises

Royal Caribbean has also announced it will offer cruises from 8 "interports" (locations that passengers can board ships wile in the middle of a scheduled itinerary).  The interports will include

  • France
    • Toulon
    • Marseille
    • LeHavre
  • Italy
    • Genoa
    • Messina (Sicily)
    • Bari 
  • Valencia, Spain
  • Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey

 

Maiden calls will be made at Arhus, Denmark; Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; and Kenes (Lofoten), Norway

Recession pushed Royal Caribbean further into Europe

In:
17 Mar 2011

At the cruise industry conference and trade show Cruise Shipping Miami 2011, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein indicated that the recession has forced Royal Caribbean to send more ships to markets outside of the United States, such as Europe, to seek higher revenue.

Before the recession, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean got most of their customers from North America but the economic quagmire pushed the cruise giant to look abroad and encourage new source markets.  It's a strategy that Goldstein indicated would not be changing any time soon.

Europe, in particular, has been a target of Royal Caribbean as Goldstein sees it as a market that can provide much of the growth needed for Royal Caribbean to continue to grow.

A record 15 million people worldwide cruised in 2010 and 2011 is expected to exceed that number, thanks to higher demand outside of North America as well as a largely untapped market of potential cruisers in North America of which only 3 percent of the population has cruised.

Independence of the Seas will make six stops in Alicante, Spain in 2012

In:
16 Mar 2011

The Alicante Port Authority announced today that Royal Caribbean has agreed to have Independence of the Seas make six stops at Alicante, Spain in 2012 after an agreement was reached between the two entities.

This agreement has been announced in the course of the exhibition "Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, which since yesterday and tomorrow is held in Miami, and where the APA participated as part of the Spanish delegation.

Through this collaboration, the Independence of the Sea will arrive at the port of Alicante on six occasions between the months of June, July and August 2012.

Independence of the Seas was considered the world's largest until the construction of "Oasis of the Seas" in November 2009.

Liberty of the Seas ready to kick off Mediterranean cruise season

In:
16 Mar 2011

With a maximum number of passengers by 3436 guests, Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas will arrive for the first time in Europe and will add another large cruise ship to that side of the Atlantic. Between April and October of this year, Liberty of the Seas will offer a selection of cruises with a length of four to seven nights in the western Mediterranean from its homeport of Barcelona, Spain.

At the beginning of the season is a series of short cruises on the program. On April 16, 2011 the first route leads to a 5-night trip to Villefranche (Nice), Civitavecchia (Rome) and Cagliari on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. This route is booked for other departure dates between April 2011 and May 2011 from 479 EUR per person in twin inside cabin. 

Caribbean worried about more ships going to Europe

In:
15 Mar 2011

With another Royal Caribbean ship moving from the Caribbean to Europe in the summer of 2012, the Caribbean Tourism Organization has expressed concern over the growing momentum to take business away from their region of the world.

Royal Caribbean announced earlier than Serenade of the Seas would be leaving the Caribbean in favor of a European itinerary and the CTO is taking steps to develop alternative strategies, with the goal of becoming more competitive in the cruise line business during the summer period.

The Caribbean is still an in-demand place to visit and remains highly rather and Caribbean cruises form a significant part of tourism in general.  Supporting this data is the fact that arrivals increased by 6% in 2010, which continues to build upon strong tourist figures that have been steadily accumulating over the past four decades.

Of particular concern is the Southern Caribbean, which experiences good demand in the winter but the summer season is disadvantaged by the geographic factor and the high cost of fuel.

Royal Caribbean confirms its commitment to Livorno, Italy

In:
03 Feb 2011

Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, the sister ship of the third and final Freedom class ship, is calling the port of Livorno, Italy home for the second time during the 2011 cruise season.  Independence will alternate eastern and western Mediterranean cruises, sailing from Southampton in the UK.

In the 2011 season, there are 12 ships calling at Livorno. After Independence of the Seas, will support in the Tuscan port the other ships of the fleet, the first stop will be to Liberty of the Seas April 27, will then be the turn of Brilliance of the Seas May 9, Voyager of the Seas 17 May, Adventure of the Seas May 18, Grandeur of the Seas July 27, and Navigator of the Seas November 7 and Navigator of the Seas November 7. 

"Always the port of Livorno, the company has for a role of primary importance - says Lina Mazzucco, general manager of Royal Caribbean Italy. "We were able to significantly increase the scale of the fleet which become 91 against 79 last year. Similarly, increases the flow of passengers, who went from 227,000 in 2010 to over 323,000 in 2011. "

Royal Caribbean enters passengers transfer deal with Norwegian Air Shuttle

In:
02 Feb 2011

Royal Caribbean has struck a deal with European low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle to fly about 8,000 Royal Caribbean guests to a number of destinations in the Mediterranean during the upcoming summer season.

As part of the deal, Norwegian Air Shuttle will transport cruise passengers from Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo to Malaga, Barcelona, Palma, Rome and Venice.

"We are very happy with the contract with RCCL. Cruise passengers have high requirements for comfort, which we can satisfy with our many new planes," Norwegian Air Shuttle sales director Lars Sande said.

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