Odyssey of the Seas

The Meyer Werft shipyard has released a few photos that show off the progress being made on Odyssey of the Seas.

Within Hall 6 of the Meyer Werft shipyard, the shipyard's webcam was updated with a wide view of the ship in position.

In addition to the weekly webcam photo of Odyssey, the shipyard also added a couple of other photos to indicate Odyssey will soon be on the move.

In the next few days, Odyssey will move to a new position within the hall to the water side of the complex.

Meyer Werft set up palings today, and due to the exact positioning of the palings, the ship has a fixed stand after the move.

The updated photos of Odyssey come just days after a construction site fire caused some damage onboard the ship, that the shipyard's owners are concerned could cause delays in the construction plans.

While no change to scheduled sailings has occurred, Royal Caribbean did tell Wall Street in May that impacted shipyard operations will result in delivery delays of ships previously planned for delivery in 2020 and 2021.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has delayed Odyssey of the Seas' debut until at least April 2021.

Bernard and Tim Meyer posted a video providing a sobering look at the German shipyard's operations, and touched on an incident on a Royal Caribbean ship under construction and what it could mean for the project.

The Meyers shared a video that talked about some of the issues at the Meyer Werft shipyard, where Odyssey of the Seas is under construction.

Tim talked about Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship in the video.

Recently, a fire was reported at the construction site, which was the second reported fire in the last few months. This incident, coupled with project complications on other ships under construction, lead Mr. Meyer to speak about the situation at hand in German.

"And the fire at 713 Odyssey of the Seas is another stroke of fate in this overall very difficult situation. It results in high property damage and leads to further expensive delays."

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has announced it has pushed back Odyssey of the Seas debut, and cancelled all scheduled sailings through April 2021.

On June 24, the second fire reportedly involved insulation materials and took place on deck 2 of the ship. On May 28, there was another fire reported on deck 8 near a stateroom.

Meyer Werft is also juggling other issues, including P&O Cruise Lines refusing to take delivery of its new ship, Iona, which has financial consequences for the shipyard.

Last week, Royal Caribbean Vice President of Revenue Management Michael Goldner was asked about any delays in the status of Odyssey of the Seas, where Mr. Goldner indicated an update was likely forthcoming.

"We will know within the next week or two on whether there's any impact on the delivery. I don't have an answer for you today but in the next week or two we will have a more definitive answer."

The current schedule has Odyssey of the Seas arriving in Port Everglades in early November to begin sailings, with her first sailing on November 5.

Thanks to Rich Freudenberg for assisting in translating the video.

The Meyer Werft shipyard has posted a brand new photo of the construction progress being made on Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas.

Photo by Meyer Werft

Odyssey will be Royal Caribbean'es next new cruise ship, and is under construction in Hall 6 of the shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Just about every week, Meyer Werft updates its webcam to showcase a new photo of the ship and progress being made.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and is scheduled to debuts in November 2020 when she sails out of Port Everglades, Florida.

Odyssey has been under construction since the steel cutting ceremony in February 2019, and was scheduled to debut in November 2020.

There is speculation the ship's debut may be delayed, based on comments from Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd. that it expects "delivery delays of ships previously planned for delivery in 2020 and 2021."

Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship has a new construction photo update to check out this week.

The Meyer Werft webcam was updated with a new construction photo of Odyssey.  With the ship's hull construction getting more complete, seeing changes from a webcam positioned away from the ship makes seeing changes a bit more challenging.

Photo from May 18

Photo from June 15

In addition, the shipyard shared photos of the SkyPad arriving to the shipyard this week.

The bungee trampoline virtual reality experience is 16 m wide and 9.7 m high, and has a weight of 24.7 tons. SkyPad will be mounted on deck 14 and will be the fourth Royal Caribbean ship to offer the experience.

When complete, Odyssey of the Seas will be Royal Caribbean's second Quantum Class cruise ship and sail from Port Everglades, Florida, and then transition to Rome in May 2021 and become the first Quantum Ultra Class ship to cruise Europe for the summer. 

Odyssey will feature a number of firsts onboard, including the first Quantum Class ship with Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, a Playmakers Bar location in the SeaPlex, a revamped Adventure Ocean and two-level pool deck.

Royal Caribbean has not announced everything about the ship quite yet, as we are still waiting to hear about the entertainment onboard. 

While no sailings have been cancelled or specific plans altered yet, Royal Caribbean has warned Wall Street analysts Odyssey's scheduled debut later this year could be delayed due to the health crisis impacting the shipyard operations.

The Meyer Werft shipyard has released a couple of new construction photos that show off the recent progress made on Odyssey of the Seas.

Our latest glimpse at Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship was shared with the context of how the shipyard's workers are still working hard, despite this challenging time.

Photos by Meyer Werft

Odyssey is under construction in Papenburg, Germany.

While no change to scheduled sailings has occurred, Royal Caribbean did tell Wall Street that impacted shipyard operations and will result in delivery delays of ships previously planned for delivery in 2020 and 2021.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and will sail from Port Everglades, Florida.

There is a brand new photo of the construction progress being made on Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship, Odyssey of the Seas.

The photo is from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Odyssey is under construction in Hall 6.

Periodically, new photos of the construction progress are released by the shipyard.

In the last couple weeks, Royal Caribbean warned Odyssey's scheduled debut later this year could be delayed due to the health crisis impacting the shipyard operations.

Royal Caribbean International President & CEO Michael Bayley provided an update last week on what to expect.

"We are working on that with the yard. Everything was on schedule. There have been delays because of obviously there has a lot going on around the world, and it impacted the shipyard at the same time. Our newbuild organization is deep in project discussion now with the yard itself. We don't have any definite dates yet. I would hope in the coming weeks we will have something firmed up."

"I think there may be some delays, but we're working through it as a team to try and figure that out."

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and will sail from Port Everglades, Florida.

The primary propulsion for Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas were mounted this week on the cruise line's next new cruise ship.

Photo by Meyer Werft

The multidirectional pods that drive the ship were added while the ship is under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

According to the shipyard, the duo are propelled at 41 megawatts and both pods can accelerate the ship to a maximum speed of about 22 knots.

Photos by Meyer Werft

Azipods can be rotated 360 degrees, providing the ship maximum maneuverability and are have been the standard form of propulsion for all of Royal Caribbean's new cruise ships in recent years.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and is scheduled to debuts in November 2020 when she sails out of Port Everglades, Florida.

There are plenty of questions among cruisers in this time of a global cruise suspension, and Royal Caribbean shed a bit of light on some of these topics.

Earlier on Tuesday, Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade Support & Service Vicki Freed took questions from travel agents about a variety of topics that many guests are wondering about.

In addition to announcing a doctor's note is no longer needed for guests who are over 70 years old, a number of hot topics were hit during the question and answer session of the call, and here are the answers provided to concerns many readers have had as well.

Changes to buffets

One agent wanted to know how Royal Caribbean will handle guests going to the buffet once sailings start back up.

Royal Caribbean Director, Post Cruise Guest Relations & Shared Services, Laly Rodriguez, commented, "We're still ironing out some of the different details, as to whether there'll be folks serving. We might have different shifts for our buffets, and have different options taking place in our main dining venues. Those are still being worked out, but as soon as we know, you'll know."

Refunds

A very hot topic is when guests can expect to receive refunds for canceled sailings.

Ms. Rodriguez provided an explanation on the current refund situation, "When we first started with our global suspensions, we anticipated that refunds would take us about 30 days, but given the volume and being able to handle all the volume that we are receiving, it seems that we are closer to a 45 day window."

"We've been able to modify some of our processes, add things that we didn't have in the past, like bots processing the refunds; we've added resources to accounting; we've always been looking to speed this up"

"Your clients should be seeing their refunds in about 45 days, and hopefully with the next batches of suspensions that we've announced, the timing should get tighter and tigher."

In addition to the refunds being processed, Royal Caribbean will be sending a proactive apology communication to guests in order to explain how long it has been taking to get through all of the refunds promised.

"Seaface" mask trademark

Last week, I broke the news of Royal Caribbean's trademark of a name for a sanitary mask, and Ms. Freed was asked if there was any update on what this was all about.

There was not much information to share, but Ms. Freed had this to say, "Other than what I read on the RoyalCaribbeanBlog that we have a patent for it, I don't know anything else about it. I'm sure it will be adorable with Crown and Anchors, and whatever else designs we can come up with."

Ms. Rodriguez elaborated, "This whole situation has made us as a cruise line take on a bunch of other innovations that we've never thought we'd been in the business of taking on."

"This is one of a number of innovations that our team's are exploring as we look forward to safe and healthy and a fun return to cruise. So keep your eyes peeled for more hopefully."

Alaska cruises in 2020

When asked about cruises to Alaska this year, Ms. Freed offered an optimistic attitude, "Alaska's certainly a real possibility that we will be sailing there. The end of July, certainly I'm optimistic.

Pushing back final payment dates

Another question asked was if Royal Caribbean would shorten or change the final payment date due to the current situation.

Royal Caribbean Account Executive Brittany Yochum spoke to this concern, "At this time, we're not pushing back any of our final payment dates, especially because we do have the Cruise with Confidence policy out through the end of August."

Odyssey of the Seas update

Just like readers here, travel partners were curious if Odyssey of the Seas has any kind of update on the progress being made.

Ms. Yochum provided a brief update, "She is still being built, and we are definitely working on our way to still having her be delivered."

President's Cruise

Another question asked as if there would be any changes to Royal Caribbean's President's Cruise on October 25 out of Barcelona on Allure of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's manager of the Sales Training Team, Renee Didier, answered, "The President's Cruise is still in our scope, and of course we're going to look forward to welcoming our guests onboard. So right now, we are still planning that cruise."

The Meyer Werft shipyard has released a brand new photo of the progress being made on Odyssey of the Seas.

Odyssey of the Seas is under construction in Hall 6 of the shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Meyer Werft updates a new photo around once a week with a look at the general progress being made.

Odyssey of the Seas had her last block added earlier this month, and purely from these webcam photos, it looks like progress is steadily being made to the ship.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and is scheduled to debuts in November 2020 when she sails out of Port Everglades, Florida.

Despite Royal Caribbean's worldwide cruise shutdown that was just recently extended again, work continues on the cruise line's newest cruise ship, Odyssey of the Seas.

Odyssey is under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and, the shipyard released a 360 photo of the build hall where Odyssey of the Seas and other ships are being worked on.

Viewable in the 360-view is Odyssey of the Seas, which recently had her last block added, along with the first phase of the AIDAcosma and other blocks of AIDAcosma nearby.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship, and is scheduled to debuts in November 2020 when she sails out of Port Everglades, Florida.