No facts please, only opinions and conjecture

[TEXASMUNK]

Just my observation....RCI is moving away from a US focused company to a worldwdie focused cruise line.

I think the days of seeing year round cruising to the Caribbean from multiple ports are drawing to a close. Ships based in Australia, Europe, Dubui, South America, etc will become the norm versus the exception.

 

The head to head with Carnival, which (to Carnival's credit) drives per person pricing down plus the international interest in cruising makes the world far more financially appealing than Galveston, New Orleans, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, etc....Yes we will see seasonal ships, but year round is a fond memory.

 

It is either that or RCI wants to gain more Diamond Plus members from the international community before they change the rules again...You know, just to irritate folks.

[Cruising89143]

I was on the Liberty of the Seas back in May 2007 for one of the two night pre inaugural sailings. During one of the talks, Adam Goldstein stated at that time they fully intended to put the word "International" back in their name. Looks like they are keeping their word. They are going to follow the money but they are not the only ones. Look at HAL, Princess and even NCL.

 

As far as irritating the loyal Royals, from what I have read on this board, they won't have to work too hard to do that. ;)

[readytogo2]

Lets just hope as time goes on, more and more ships will be built by all cruise lines. I don't fear the caribbean cruises are coming to an end because these cruises for most americans are more affordable. I have been trying to cruise at least once a year. If there were no more Bahama, Caribbean and Mexican cruises available to me, I would not be able to cruise as often as I have. By them moving ships to other parts of the world, the people that live there are now also finding it more affordable to cruise without having to fly. People cruise more often when they don't have to pay airfare to fly across the oceans. Anyway, that is only my hope and my opinion:)

[cb at sea]

Some cruiseline will "fill the niche" if RCI leaves the Carib....have no fear..there WILL be a decent cruise vacation available!

[JBert]

Do I think RCCL is leaving the Caribbean? No.

 

I think that what they're doing is a smart business decision. While we may not like what they're doing at the moment, just remember that it's just the beginning.

 

Look at it this way. At the end of 2010, we're going to have Oasis and Allure here, along with 2 Freedom class ships (don't quote me on that). Not to mention a hand full of smaller yet adequate ships still leaving different ports around the US. For all we know, theres going to be more moves in the future. RCCl could very well move another ship back to the West coast eventually - or not.

 

The way I see it - give things time to simmer down. The economy is still in a deep recession, and RCCL appears to be doing what it can to stay in and grow its business. This can ultimately become a good thing if these moves can provide a more competitive market.

 

While I consider myself "loyal to royal", I wouldn't hesitate to try another line if a destination isn't serviced by a Royal ship.

[JuPe]

Living here in Europe, I've been able to enjoy the "internationalization" of RCI although I wouldn't mind to take a TA or Caribbean cruise if I would have more time. Europe is also served by many "national" cruise companies more oriented to specific language groups and cultural habits. It looks to me that especially in the Mediterranean companies such as RCI and NCL have been able to address many markets at once. Many ports (for example Barcelona) have been investing in great facilities as there's more ships.

At least RCI is positioning its two most innovative products for the Caribbean market. I don't think the Caribbean is becoming a niche market, but along the huge ships I think there's place for more medium size ships (which the yards in Finland would be more than happy to build).

[madforcruising]

RCI, has the I for International in their brand name and I think they are putting it alife.

 

RCI is a business and they will go where the money is or where they think the money is.

 

I doubt they will abandon the Caribbean completely, especially as Oasis and Allure won´t have much elsewhere to go right now.

 

However IMO it´s a good business decision to spread out their ships all over the world and try to open new markets for them, as well as to try to get people from the US to cruise to foreign destinations.

 

Just think about the great deals we keep reading about on CC for Caribbean cruises. In the long run with such cheap cruises the lines have to lose money, now if they can sell their ships at higher prices in other regions of the world there´s only one option for them.

 

Then the Caribbean has only that much to offer and it gets old after a while. There will always be cruises into the Caribbean, but probably not as much as all have been used to, which will also drive up the price a bit as the demand will be higher on a reduced supply. IMO what has happened in the last several years has been just like some "overfishing". There has been such a high supply of cruise options to this part of the world that over the time the demand has been lower than the supply and prices went on a downstream.

 

Now there´s the loyal cruisers that are not only loyal to the cruiseline, but also to the Caribbean and who don´t want to or can´t afford (nothing wrong with that) to cruise somewhere else. Those cruisers might feel alienated with such decisions and become less loyal and venture out to other lines. I´m sure nobody at RCI wants this, but sometimes you can´t avoid it. While it might be more costly to get a new customer than to keep an old one, this might not hold truth anymore when the "old customer" has come to the point of just looking for the cheap deals and doesn´t spend as much onboard anymore either, while the "new customer" can be introduced to cruising in other regions, is willing to spend more money on the cruise fare and onboard.

 

Of course it all is cyclic and at some point in the future the now new to cruising people are the then "old customers" and the whole thing will start over again and eventually the Caribbean will recover from the "overfishing" and be the place to go again and generating higher fares.

 

As it´s been said no facts just opinions;)

 

 

On a personal note I for one have absolutely no interest in the Caribbean. My upcoming cruise is a Caribbean one, but honestly it´s destination ship (Oasis) and not the least bit itinerary.

[bmazzo]

Lets face it. You can only do the Ensenada, Cabo... Cozumel, Belize... St Maarten, St Thomas run so many times. Also some of the Caribbean trips have been so heavily discounted that it makes more sence to deploy their ships where people want to go and they can charge a premium. It's business.

[NorbertsNiece]

Am on pain killers and feeling fed up and that's my excuse.

 

You have so much choice in the USA to hop on a cruise ship to a myriad of destinations from many many ports. How lucky is that! You have a range of climates, scenery and cultures. In the UK, for us to achieve that kind of choice we have to get on a plane. Yes, we can get on Independence out of Southampton and Jewel out of Harwich and a repo on Vision but that's it where RCCL is concerned.

 

Becoming truly International is definitely a plus. If I have to get on a plane to experience the world RCCL will capture my business by offering those ports that I can get to easily. Also, the cost and reliability of flights is a huge factor for me on a limited budget.

 

I'm not sure what loyal to royal means. It's my cruise line of choice as so far it has offered the itineraries that I want at a price I can afford with a product I feel comfortable with. We don't ever get the chance of a state discount here.... that would be something..... to offer a county discount! Lol. I don't believe we even get a forces discount. That would indeed be an international product if that would be brought into play.

[Debde]

I don't think any diamond plus status thing has anything to do with the moves. To me-it seems simple-where the best money making source is for the company.

[dfishner]

RCL is in business to make money and they will follow it where ever it goes and if an area in the country is not making it you can be sure it will be axed for something that will deliver more dollars. Mariner is a good example of that.

 

Europe is very popular so I see no reason why ships should not be based there. If this helps grow RCL business that is a good thing for the company and hopefully for all of us in the future, heck their stock is growing which should make the shareholders happy and who knows maybe RCL will even start some new builds in the not to distance future. Of course there is that little debt from Oasis, Allure and the Solstice class that needs to be payed down first.

[akcruz]

My opinion is that people can only do so many caribbean cruises before they get burnt out on them. By moving the ships around and doing different itineraries it may actually get more people back again that have strayed to those companies doing different things. With more and more people taking cruises more and more often the same route can get old fast.

 

As someone else mentioned with the 2 Oasis class ships sailing with thousands of passengers they don't need lots of ships doing the caribbean. These two can handle those that want that route.

[xpcdoojk]

Texasmunk, you get the award for the best thread title. In fact the title is so good it could be the title for 99% of all threads. Congratulations.:D

 

jc

[Texas Teen]

Just my observation....RCI is moving away from a US focused company to a worldwdie focused cruise line.

I think the days of seeing year round cruising to the Caribbean from multiple ports are drawing to a close. Ships based in Australia, Europe, Dubui, South America, etc will become the norm versus the exception.

 

The head to head with Carnival, which (to Carnival's credit) drives per person pricing down plus the international interest in cruising makes the world far more financially appealing than Galveston, New Orleans, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, etc....Yes we will see seasonal ships, but year round is a fond memory.

 

It is either that or RCI wants to gain more Diamond Plus members from the international community before they change the rules again...You know, just to irritate folks.

 

Sadly, I have to agree. If Royal Mediterranean International keeps this up, within a few years, the only ships we would see departing the US in the Summer would be Oasis, Allure, a ship or two departing from the Northeast, and a ship or two departing from Seattle going up to Alaska! :mad:

 

Am on pain killers and feeling fed up and that's my excuse.

 

You have so much choice in the USA to hop on a cruise ship to a myriad of destinations from many many ports. How lucky is that! You have a range of climates, scenery and cultures. In the UK, for us to achieve that kind of choice we have to get on a plane. Yes, we can get on Independence out of Southampton and Jewel out of Harwich and a repo on Vision but that's it where RCCL is concerned...

 

We don't have many choices for RCCL here in the Summer! Driving to Florida from North Texas would be at least a 16 hour drive, you can forget driving to the Northeast from here, you can forget about driving to Seattle from here, and that leaves us with no other options exept to drive to the airport & fly to a departure port! Unlike England, the United States is Huge, and most US departure ports are too far away to drive!

[not2old]

We are somewhat happy for our European neighbors that they, too, can enjoy cruising. However, we are an elderly couple who enjoy cruising to the Caribbean and enjoy RCCL ships. While the Oasis and Allure are beautiful, they will never be able to do Southern Carib routes and that is also a popular destination. While we are "loyal to Royal", we will probably soon be forced to use other cruise lines to see the Southern Carib. Seems like RCCL is beginning to put all it's eggs in one basket (ie:Europe) and forgetting those of us in the USA. Some of us just cannot afford to trave to Europe, no matter how enticing the ports may be. I think that in the next five years there will be another turn around and RCCL will be interested in "courting" Americans again to sail with them. After all, the economy in Europe is not any better than ours in America- or is it??

[land lover]

just my observation....

 

It is either that or rci wants to gain more diamond plus members from the international community before they change the rules again...you know, just to irritate folks.

 

 

roflmao!!!

[Aquahound]

RCI, has the I for International in their brand name and I think they are putting it alife.

 

They also have a C for Caribbean. ;)

 

But yea, they are following the money. The major cruise lines have pretty much taken over the cruise industry in Europe.

[Cruising89143]

Some cruiseline will "fill the niche" if RCI leaves the Carib....have no fear..there WILL be a decent cruise vacation available!

 

 

And who do you think that will be? Celebrity, Prnicess, HAL, Costa, MSC. NCL? Nope, all have a very strong presence in Europe?Alaska during the summer and very little to no presence in the Caribbean. That leaves one cruise line and not everyone wants to cruise on Carnival. RCI will still have the second strongest presence with ships sailing from the eastern U.S ports during the summer months.

[Benita]

RCCL is still doing the Caribbean year round. The problem is, they built these two mega-mega-mega ships which hold many thousands of passengers and command a huge price premium, so they don't want to compete with themselves to fill up the ships in South Florida. There will be no other 7 or 8 day cruises from the area - the Liberty will be only doing 4 and 5 nighters after the 2011 season. The other ships are being moved elsewhere and doing other itineraries in the hopes of tapping into those markets more.

Is it a good idea? Time will tell. We are Diamond Plus with RCCL, but don't have the inclination to pay 50% more for the Oasis and Allure. We will be on the Liberty for the 8 day cruise in Feb, 2011 and once that is stopped, will probably do the one week cruises on HAL and Celebrity if the Oasis class prices remain that high.

[TEXASMUNK]

This is so much more fun than facts!

No one argues with anyone else...we all get make up what we think, and get a smile or two out of it!

[livylotte]

It is either that or RCI wants to gain more Diamond Plus members from the international community before they change the rules again...You know, just to irritate folks.

 

LOL well, moving into Europe is one way of emptying the Diamond Lounges but don't worry as soon as they start becoming too crowded RCI will move all the ships back to the US by which time all the annoyed D+ members will have moved onto another line leaving the lounges nice and empty for you :)

[BBTT]

1st-I am not "loyal" to any cruiseline, yes we have our favorite ships and lines but, in the end we book for price and northeast departure first. It seems that most-NCL, Disney,RCCL,Ccl,Cunard,Celebrity and others have moved quite a few ships to do the European runs. Looks to me that this IS a sensible move to stay financialy afloat-what would you do? Europe does have quite a few "regional" lines such as AIDA,Louis,Thompsons,P&O,MSC,Costa and more that I can't remember. Only problem I see is that some of those companys use mostly older, smaller ships (which by the way I enjoy) I cruise to be on the ocean that I love and as long as the staff is friendly and the food is hot and the drinks are cold and I get to go someplace that I don't have to go everyday (work) I amhappy. I am sure that there will be NO shortage of ships doing any run that is seling and somewhat profitable. Think about it-cruiselines like few other businesses can MOVE their product-they are SHIPS.

 

By the way we have been cruising for about ten years now and kids are 18(almost 19) and 16-my DREAM cruise for the future is Europe,Asia and up into the bAltics and Russia and in a few years the wife and I might be able to do that. Also have seen quite a few European ceuises advertised here in the states with "FREE AIR"

 

Edit-to Norberts Niece-hope you are feeling ok now that the painkillers have kicked in-works wonders (smiley face)

 

Sorry if I put too much "FACTS" in here but just my opinion

[PrincesScuba]

Texasmunk, you get the award for the best thread title. In fact the title is so good it could be the title for 99% of all threads. Congratulations.:D

 

jc

 

Funny and true!!! LOL!

[PrincesScuba]

1st-I am not "loyal" to any cruiseline, yes we have our favorite ships and lines but, in the end we book for price and northeast departure first. It seems that most-NCL, Disney,RCCL,Ccl,Cunard,Celebrity and others have moved quite a few ships to do the European runs. Looks to me that this IS a sensible move to stay financialy afloat-what would you do? Europe does have quite a few "regional" lines such as AIDA,Louis,Thompsons,P&O,MSC,Costa and more that I can't remember. Only problem I see is that some of those companys use mostly older, smaller ships (which by the way I enjoy) I cruise to be on the ocean that I love and as long as the staff is friendly and the food is hot and the drinks are cold and I get to go someplace that I don't have to go everyday (work) I amhappy. I am sure that there will be NO shortage of ships doing any run that is seling and somewhat profitable. Think about it-cruiselines like few other businesses can MOVE their product-they are SHIPS.

 

By the way we have been cruising for about ten years now and kids are 18(almost 19) and 16-my DREAM cruise for the future is Europe,Asia and up into the bAltics and Russia and in a few years the wife and I might be able to do that. Also have seen quite a few European ceuises advertised here in the states with "FREE AIR"

 

Edit-to Norberts Niece-hope you are feeling ok now that the painkillers have kicked in-works wonders (smiley face)

 

Sorry if I put too much "FACTS" in here but just my opinion

 

That was my first thought, as well.

 

A chain of resort hotels which finds its product on, say, St. Maarten, underutilized, is stuck. Royal Caribbean can just MOVE its "hotel" to somewhere there are paying customers.

 

Although announcements can come at any time, RC seems to be leaving Enchantment and Explorer in place on the East Coast, and has committed to the southern ports with Voyager in NOLA and Mariner in Galveston.

 

Sounds like a pretty well-distributed fleet............with the exception of the

West Coast of the U.S.

 

I guess Californians will just have to join the rest of the horde in flying to their cruises.

[LoneStarJeffe]

Just my observation....RCI is moving away from a US focused company to a worldwdie focused cruise line...I think the days of seeing year round cruising to the Caribbean from multiple ports are drawing to a close. Ships based in Australia, Europe, Dubui, South America, etc will become the norm versus the exception.

 

Short term I agree. Long term, I think it depends on how well the dollar does against other currencies.