Ships moved to different ports (merged)

[packedandready]

OK...help me make sure I have this:o.

 

Voyager now is on her way to Spain. She will return to Galveston Nov. '10 through April '11 and then leave again. And then, Mariner will come to Galveston around Nov. '11 through April '12 and come back seaonally. Am I correct?????

[Cruising89143]

OK...help me make sure I have this:o.

 

Voyager now is on her way to Spain. She will return to Galveston Nov. '10 through April '11 and then leave again. And then, Mariner will come to Galveston around Nov. '11 through April '12 and come back seaonally. Am I correct?????

 

Correct and the Voyager will be going to NOLA in November of 2011.:)

[isujim]

I'm sure RC will have a Mardi gras cruise...........they usually did when the Granduer was in NO..........it was expensive.......but I think they even had a special 10 night itinerary if I remember correctly.......but the memory isn't what it used to be:rolleyes: but I would expect some special February cruises out of NO.........

[isujim]

Seriously..........brochures are a thing of the past. I think things are changing so quickly based on economics that I think you will see a phase out of brochures over time...........except for maybe a general brochure outling the ships, etc........

 

I know TA's are really going to have to stay on top of things for those that don't use the internet.........

[bluey258]

this is great !!!!!!!!!!!:D:D

[scubasteve00]

Thank you Royal Caribbean for coming back to NO! This is the closet port to us!:D

[jerin]

Not as convenient as Galveston for me, but my family is from New Orleans, so I have lots of places to stay, even if it's a full day's drive rather than a half. We may do New Orleans just from the historical perspective -- my father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all navigators on ships that sailed out of New Orleans.

[Ocean Boy]

A return to French Quarter could be the thing to finally get me to fly in for a cruise a few days before it sails!:):)

[Debde]

Really good news. The pre-stay alone is a huge draw for me.

[pegasusa]

What great news! We've been wishing for this since we had to cancel our April 2006 Grandeur of the Seas cruise out of NOLA. (I think it was the Grandeur)

[sweetcruiser106]

Extremely thrilled. Can't wait. I wonder where she will go!

Anne:D

[Debde]

Extremely thrilled. Can't wait. I wonder where she will go!

Anne:D

 

I think the blog said

Grand Cayman

Cozumel

Jamaica

Labadee???

[sweetcruiser106]

Not entirely thrilled with Jamaica, but love the rest. Can't wait!:D

Anne

[Seatravelers]

This is the most wonderful news! A RCCL ship close enough that we can drive to the port. And, everyone in the South knows the day/night before the cruise in NO will be better than most ports in the US. Great entertainment, restaurants, hotels and most within walking distance of port. How very exciting. Now, we all need to support these cruises like crazy so RCCL will remain in NO and even think about bringing bigger and newer ship there with longer initineraries. We will definitely sail on Voyager from NO and hope lots of others join us and support her stay in such a wonderful city! Made my day...:)

[Mrsg324]

I have family in NOLA so this does make me happy. I just want one out of Galveston too.

[isujim]

I have family in NOLA so this does make me happy. I just want one out of Galveston too.

 

Well this is your lucky day........when the Voyager is in NO, the Mariner will be in Galveston:)

[Mrsg324]

Well this is your lucky day........when the Voyager is in NO, the Mariner will be in Galveston:)

 

 

I see that now. I didn't read the link until after I posted!

My question is, will Mariner be year round? It doesn't say much about it.

[spencercoop]

I see that now. I didn't read the link until after I posted!

My question is, will Mariner be year round? It doesn't say much about it.

 

No, the Mariner will be going to Europe. So she will be in Galveston seasonally.

[Pumbaamd]

We sailed Grandeur to NOLA on a repo after Katrina. We sailed on Mariner from LA back in February. We sailed Voyager from Galveston last year. We are pleased by the current news as RCCL goes back to NOLA and Galveston gets a newer version of Voyager. The bad news is LA is losing a ship. And, as shareholders, we understand that decision.

Congrats to NOLA and Galveston!

Rick and Deirdra

[coolsky]

For all of you who are fans of sailing out of Galveston Texas, your news has Finally come. Mariner of the Seas will sail two different round trip cruises out of Galveston Texas from November 2012 to April 2012.

[spencercoop]

There are more than 5 other threads with this news posted already...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187346

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187361

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187371

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187359

 

and 3 have already been merged.

[willing292]

for all of you who are fans of sailing out of galveston texas, your news has finally come. Mariner of the seas will sail two different round trip cruises out of galveston texas from november 2012 to april 2012.

 

 

more importantly, when and how are they moving it from the west coast????

[spencercoop]

more importantly, when and how are they moving it from the west coast????

 

Beginning of 2011 around South America.

[Scotty G]

more importantly, when and how are they moving it from the west coast????

 

http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/ :D:eek:

[Texaspepper]

Royal Caribbean - Changes to Deployment

 

Today Royal Caribbean International announced significant changes to the deployment of Mariner of the Seas beginning in early 2011. This is an important announcement and it deserves comment.

First, we will not be offering 15 seven night Mexican Riviera cruises from January 16, 2011 to April 24, 2011 that until now have been open for bookings. I apologize to our customers who had booked on these sailings. We felt obligated to make this change in order to align the ship’s new itineraries with the seasonality of traveling around the southern end of South America as well as the timing of the Brazilian and European cruise seasons. For customers who are affected by this change, we are offering compensation as explained on our website under itinerary updates or you can contact your travel partner for further details.

Second, just to be clear about what Mariner of the Seas will be doing as well as the implications for two of our other ships, here is a summary of the new information:

Mariner of the Seas

On January 16, 2011 Mariner will begin her odyssey to Europe. She will depart from Los Angeles on a special 16-night voyage to Valparaiso, Chile and then continue on as part of an exotic 14-night voyage through the Chilean Fjords, the straits of Magellan and around Cape Horn of Chile and on to Sao Paulo (Santos), Brazil.

Once in Sao Paulo (Santos), Mariner of the Seas will offer a short season of 6-night Brazilian sailings in addition to a special 8-night voyage which will be offered over the Carnaval holiday. On March 13, 2011, Mariner of the Seas will offer a transatlantic sailing from Sao Paulo (Santos) to Rome (Civitavechia). In Rome, Mariner of the Seas will offer a unique 9-night Eastern Mediterranean sailing followed by a series of alternating 12-night Holy Land and Egypt itineraries. This program will be offered from March 27, 2011 to July 10, 2011 and again from September 8, 2011 to October 14, 2011.

 

From July 22, 2011 through September 2, 2011, Mariner of the Seas will offer 7-night Western Mediterranean sailings from Rome. In addition to Rome, guests will have the option to embark in Genoa, Italy.

For the winter of 2011-2012, Mariner of the Seas will head to Galveston and offer a series of alternating 7-night Western Caribbean voyages starting on November 20, 2011.

Splendour of the Seas

With Mariner of the Seas now heading to Rome, we will be able to offer a new program for Splendour of the Seas out of Venice. On April 14, 2011 Splendour of the Seas will sail from Lisbon to Venice on an 8-night voyage. Once in Venice, she will conduct an alternating series of 10-night Greek Isles and 11-night Greek Isles and Turkey itineraries. This program will commence on April 22, 2011 and end November 18, 2011.

At the conclusion of the Europe season, Splendour of the Seas will once again return to Brazil.

Guests booked on the previously announced sailings from Rome will be given the option of rebooking on the new Mariner of the Seas program.

Voyager of the Seas

As previously announced Voyager of the Seas will homeport in Venice, Italy for the summer of 2011. Starting May 15, 2011, she will offer a unique 6-night Mediterranean voyage from Barcelona to Venice. Once in Venice, she will offer a weekly 7-night Adriatic Sea Coastal program from May 21, 2011 to October 15, 2011. On October 22, 2011, a new 8-night Mediterranean voyage between Venice and Barcelona will be offered. This will be followed by a transatlantic voyage from Barcelona to New Orleans.

When Mariner of Seas returns to the U.S. in the fall of 2011, she will homeport in Galveston. This will enable Voyager of the Seas to relocate to New Orleans and restart our New Orleans program that we stopped after Hurricane Katrina. The program will commence on November 12, 2011 and last until April of 2012. The weekly 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary will offer Falmouth, Jamaica; Cozumel, Mexico and George Town, Grand Cayman.

Our deployment decision reflects both strategic and financial considerations. Royal Caribbean has had a major presence at the Port of Los Angeles and on the west coast of Mexico for many years with various ships and it is our hope to return in the not too distant future. Our preference would have been to continue to deliver Mariner of the Seas’ Mexico Riviera itinerary. Unfortunately, while the ship delivered great value to its guests on that itinerary, it will deliver superior performance for our shareholders as well as great value for our guests on the routes that we have announced today.

Our readers will see that Mariner of the Seas’ move continues to increase Royal Caribbean’s capacity in Europe. In 2011, half of our 22 ship fleet will be there for the summer season. Our ships in the rapidly growing European market are capturing demand from Europeans to cruise closer to home. Our increasing range of itineraries also provides customers from North America, Latin America and Asia/Pacific with a wonderful array of choices of destinations and length of cruise throughout Europe. In particular, we are pleased that our Venice-based itineraries on Voyager of the Seas (7-nights including Koper, Slovenia; Ravenna and Bari, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia as well as an overnight in Venice) and on Splendour of the Seas (10- & 11-nights including Split, Croatia; Chania (Souda), Crete; Corfu, Athens (Piraeus), Mykonos, Santorini and Katakolon, Greece on the 10-night itinerary and Kotor, Montenegro; Split, Croatia; Ephesus (Kusadasi) and Bodrum Turkey; Athens (Piraeus), Mykonos and Santorini Greece as well as an overnight in Venice the 11-night itinerary) will provide guests with so many unique destinations.

We look forward to operating Mariner of the Seas in Los Angeles until next January and I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who works with us and serves our guests in California and in Mexico.

All of the details of these programs will be available at royalcaribbean.com. You can find the press release here.

One postscript from behind the scenes – in the days leading up to this announcement our team created and then implemented (today) an entire communications strategy. We had to take into account local, regional and federal authorities in multiple countries including of course port authorities who will be affected by these changes whether favorably or unfavorably. Given that our ships move and that cruise industry trends and consumer preferences are dynamic, it’s critical that we maintain positive relationships around the world. While it’s not fun to call someone and tell them we are going to move our ship from their port, it’s better to let them know directly from us than for them to see it first online or in a newspaper.