Why did they sell Soverign of the Seas?

[KevinsCruising]

I was watching tv the other day and they had a mini series on the Soverign of the Seas going to dry dock. Royal Caribbean still owned the ship at the time but it seems the ship was sold very shortly after coming back into service.

 

Does anyone know why it sold right after Royal Caribbean put all that time and money into its dry dock changes ??

 

Just curious about this ship cause it is the one we had our Honeymoon on.

 

Thanks

[Merion_Mom]

I was watching tv the other day and they had a mini series on the Soverign of the Seas going to dry dock. Royal Caribbean still owned the ship at the time but it seems the ship was sold very shortly after coming back into service.

 

Does anyone know why it sold right after Royal Caribbean put all that time and money into its dry dock changes ??

 

Just curious about this ship cause it is the one we had our Honeymoon on.

 

Thanks

 

They sold it to their own subsidiary, Pullmantur, in Spain.

 

The rebuilding was in 2004. She left the Royal Caribbean fleet at the end of October 2008. That's hardly "right after".

 

:)

[KevinsCruising]

Your right....didnt realize it was 4 years. I guess it couldnt compete with the newer ships anymore. :rolleyes: Thanks for the imput

[crookedhalo]

As Merion_Mom said she was sold to one of their subsidiaries, so technically they still own her:D If you search, you'll find a thread (fairly recent if I remember) about a member having seen her in Europe and took pics.

[hannibal54]

The Soverign of the Seas was the first Cruise Ship that I took in 2000.

[F27TW]

Makes me wonder if this is the future for the Monarch and the Majesty since they were all sister ships at one time.

[Alexis]

Makes me wonder if this is the future for the Monarch and the Majesty since they were all sister ships at one time.

 

Pullmantur is also where the Empress of the Seas went. She can also be seen once in a while in the Southern Caribbean. ;)

She was my favorite little ship.

[Merion_Mom]

Yes, and both have sort of kept their names.

 

They are now known as the Empress and the Sovereign.

 

:)

[island lady]

Makes me wonder if this is the future for the Monarch and the Majesty since they were all sister ships at one time.

 

Was told on one of my Monarch cruises that the 19 year old "grand lady" had a sale deal going and RCI was about to close on the sale. Something must have happened, as they now tell us that RCI is going to keep her around for another 5 years.

In the words of the waiter we talked to... "she is a cash cow and almost always sails full"

 

We love cruising on her and consider her our "home cruise ship". :)

[snoop-a-loop]

While I know a lot of people would hate to see the Monarch & Majesty leave the fleet, it would be awesome to have some newer ships (with larger cabins) running the Bahamas cruises. The Voyager and Explorer, or even Rhapsody and Vision, would be perfect.

[dz9yvr]

They didn't spend any extra money making those ships pretty for Pullmantur. As someone noted, they are now called Empress and Sovereign. Any place where the ship was labled Sovereign of the Seas, they just painted over the "of the Seas". It looked a little tacky.

[Scotty G]

The Sovereign was transfered within the RCCL corporation going from RCL to Pullmantur. The following is from Wikipedia:

 

MS Sovereign (formerly MS Sovereign of the Seas) is one of three large cruise ships of the Sovereign class formerly operated by Royal Caribbean International. At the time of her maiden voyage on January 16, 1988, she was the largest cruise ship in the world at 73,192 gross tons. She was initially based at the Port of Miami. In 2006, she sailed three- and four-night cruises to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, Florida. These cruises visit CocoCay, one of RCI's privately-owned islands, in the Berry Islands group. Her refurbishment in 2005 was the subject of The Learning Channel mini-series "Drydock - A Cruise Ship Reborn".

Like other RCI ships of similar size, Sovereign has a multi-deck atrium lobby called the Centrum, and a top-deck, funnel-mounted Viking Crown Lounge with panoramic views of the sea. In November 2008 Sovereign of the Seas was transferred to the fleet of Pullmantur Cruises and renamed MS Sovereign. Sovereign set sail on its first voyage with Pullmantur Cruises on March 23, 2009

[Merion_Mom]

They didn't spend any extra money making those ships pretty for Pullmantur. As someone noted, they are now called Empress and Sovereign. Any place where the ship was labled Sovereign of the Seas, they just painted over the "of the Seas". It looked a little tacky.

 

They actually removed things. And not just the crown & anchor logo pieces.

 

For instance, they took out the Johnny Rockets that was installed during the refurbishments.

 

 

Here is the Empress as she is now:

 

[Mark_K]

Makes me wonder if this is the future for the Monarch and the Majesty since they were all sister ships at one time.

It's pretty much the future for all cruise ships eventually. Either that or India to be cut up for scrap.

[F27TW]

Ahh .. i didn't realize Empress ended up at Pullmantur as well. Now, for the Trivia Question:

 

I know she left RCCL as "Empress Of The Seas", but what was her original name at RCCL ?

 

(Hey maybe we can start a new Trivia Thread -- I'll bet we can all come up will a zillion good questions!).

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

She was originally the Nordic Empress. I cruised aboard her back in 1993 when she still had her original name.

 

Actually, she was ordered by Admiral Cruises (which Royal Caribbean bought when the ship was still under construction). Admiral intended to name her the Future Seas, but she entered service as the Nordic Empress (with some Royal Caribbean modifications during construction).

 

Chuck

[F27TW]

Hi,

 

Actually, she was ordered by Admiral Cruises (which Royal Caribbean bought when the ship was still under construction). Admiral intended to name her the Future Seas, but she entered service as the Nordic Empress (with some Royal Caribbean modifications during construction).

 

Chuck

 

Hmm - did not know that ! Thanks, Chuck!

[ryansmom]

The Soverign of the Seas was the first Cruise Ship that I took in 2000.

 

our first cruise too (2003)

 

Made me pull out the scrapbook and show our son (who loves cruising).

 

Paging through it, I noticed we were on Deck 9 (oceanview).

 

Also noticed there were no balconies! :rolleyes:

 

THAT is an old ship! Anymore, ships are mostly balconies!

 

I'm glad I have all those pictures I took of her.....

 

[Scotty G]

Obviously Sovereign is gone but not forgotten. She still lives with the many that cruise on Oasis. One of the logos from Sovereign is hung above the stern of Oasis:

 

 

Read the story here: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/chairmans-blog/?p=244

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

The Sovereign of the Seas was a top ship in her day. When she entered service back in 1988, she was the largest ship ever built for cruising and the first ship to have a large atrium with glass elevators. In effect, she was the first modern megaship. I cruised aboard her in June 1988 when she was only about five months old. Back then, there was a lot of excitement about the Sovereign (similar to the Oasis of the Seas today). Also, I cruised aboard the Sovereign of the Seas again in 1995.

 

It is true that the Sovereign of the Seas did not have balconies when she orignally entered service. However, balconies were added to her suites on Deck 10 during her last years with Royal Caribbean (this made her more similar to her later sisters, the Monarch of the Seas and the Majesty of the Seas that originally were built with balconies on Deck 10).

 

I still think the exteriors of these ships are very attactive.

 

Chuck

[seacruise9]

Hi Scotty G,

 

Thanks for posting this link. I did not realize that the Sovereign's logos were aboard the Oasis and Allure. This is great. I look forward to seeing the logo when I cruise aboard the Allure this September.

 

Chuck

[snoop-a-loop]

Ahh .. i didn't realize Empress ended up at Pullmantur as well. Now, for the Trivia Question:

 

I know she left RCCL as "Empress Of The Seas", but what was her original name at RCCL ?

 

(Hey maybe we can start a new Trivia Thread -- I'll bet we can all come up will a zillion good questions!).

 

Between all of these older ships, I think there is quite a bit of trivia out there. A trivia thread would be great!

[uksimonusa]

Obviously Sovereign is gone but not forgotten. She still lives with the many that cruise on Oasis. One of the logos from Sovereign is hung above the stern of Oasis:

 

 

Read the story here: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/chairmans-blog/?p=244

 

Hi Scotty G,

 

Thanks for posting this link. I did not realize that the Sovereign's logos were aboard the Oasis and Allure. This is great. I look forward to seeing the logo when I cruise aboard the Allure this September.

 

Chuck

 

Although that was the plan, too use one logo for Oasis and one for Allure, they were found to be in to bad condition to use on the new ships, so new crown and anchors had to be made :(

[fl-raybee]

Great info on the LOGO. Thanks

Does anyone know where the Sovereign Clock is?

[Downdie]

They didn't spend any extra money making those ships pretty for Pullmantur. As someone noted, they are now called Empress and Sovereign. Any place where the ship was labled Sovereign of the Seas, they just painted over the "of the Seas". It looked a little tacky.

Now I get it. These ex RCCI and Celebrity ships are so tacky they compensate all their passengers with all that free booze on board.