Independence UK 2020 sailings cancelled

[twangster]

Sorry for the folks impacted but it was foreshadowed in recent earning calls with investors and subsequent executive interviews such as this one with Jason Liberty, CFO.

 

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/05/08/what-royal-caribbean-wants-investors-to-know.aspx\

 

    " Geographic hits and misses

 

     It's rare that booking patterns are strong in all regions of the world and like most years, we are seeing some variation this year.

          -- Liberty (on the call)

 

      The cruise line operator noted strong demand in the core Caribbean geography that accounts for about half of its global business. Volumes were surprisingly weak in Europe, meanwhile, likely due to economic uncertainty around Brexit.

 

      The company is responding by shifting some assets toward the U.S., and that move highlights a key advantage of Royal Caribbean's diversified approach to deploying its ships. "We've built a business model that can play in the rain," Liberty told me, so sluggish demand in any one area isn't likely to drag down overall results."

 

Brexit may not be the primary factor as this journalist speculates but regardless of the reason, bookings are soft in Europe.  Royal will always follow the money and put ships where they make money.  Shareholders expect no less.  

[notladjr]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Big headache for anyone who has booked the TA, especially anyone who might have tagged on a B2B. 

We are booked on the May TA for our 40th wedding anniversary. Had splurged on a junior suite for the first time. I am so disappointed. So many of the TA's are too early in the Spring for good weather once you get to Europe but this one was perfect arriving in the UK mid May. I guess my ambitious plan to be Diamond by early 2021 has taken a hit! 

[Saab4444]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

Sorry for the folks impacted but it was foreshadowed in recent earning calls with investors and subsequent executive interviews such as this one with Jason Liberty, CFO.

 

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/05/08/what-royal-caribbean-wants-investors-to-know.aspx\

 

    " Geographic hits and misses

 

     It's rare that booking patterns are strong in all regions of the world and like most years, we are seeing some variation this year.

          -- Liberty (on the call)

 

      The cruise line operator noted strong demand in the core Caribbean geography that accounts for about half of its global business. Volumes were surprisingly weak in Europe, meanwhile, likely due to economic uncertainty around Brexit.

 

      The company is responding by shifting some assets toward the U.S., and that move highlights a key advantage of Royal Caribbean's diversified approach to deploying its ships. "We've built a business model that can play in the rain," Liberty told me, so sluggish demand in any one area isn't likely to drag down overall results."

 

Brexit may not be the primary factor as this journalist speculates but regardless of the reason, bookings are soft in Europe.  Royal will always follow the money and put ships where they make money.  Shareholders expect no less.  

It is not a surprise that European bookings are very low for Royal as all their 2020 rates are ridicuously high since they opened them for booking in December.

 

Even if bookings in the Caribbean are very high the rate per day is always half of what Royal earns in North Europe, even if they would go back to a more reasonable price level. E.g. a standard balcony cabin in Europe sells for 150-200 USD per person per day. They tried to make 250 USD and up per person per day in 2020 and failed, in the Caribbean it is more around 100 USD per person per day.        

[upwarduk]

49 minutes ago, boingboingbaggy said:

I am totally heart broken. The TA on Indy was going to be the one where I scatter my wifes ashes in the Caribbean. Wanted Indy and early November as the criteria. Nothing else now appeals to me. Probably means we will never see Indy in the UK again. Really bad show RCL. 😥

Have you looked at Celebrity and Azamara, who are part of the same company?

We had a cruise cancelled on Indy, which was for my 70 th birthday. We were allowed to book a Celebrity cruise to Hawaii, although it wasn’t actually on my birthday. However, I was more than happy, as we had never been to Hawaii befiore.

[twangster]

10 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

It is not a surprise that European bookings are very low for Royal as all their 2020 rates are ridicuously high since they opened them for booking in December.

 

Even if bookings in the Caribbean are very high the rate per day is always half of what Royal earns in North Europe, even if they would go back to a more reasonable price level. E.g. a standard balcony cabin in Europe sells for 150-200 USD per person per day. They tried to make 250 USD and up per person per day in 2020 and failed, in the Caribbean it is more around 100 USD per person per day.        

 

I've often assumed that European's are more savvy with their money spending less on board compared to American's.  Is that a fair assessment?

 

Do you think the higher base rates in Europe driven by the reduced revenue on board? Why are base fares so much higher in Europe?

[kernow]

I wonder if P and Os decision to include tips in the base fare has also had an impact on RCL bookings. The fact that they are often cheaper than RCL from Southampton and that there are now no extra tips to pay makes them look a better buy. I still prefer RCL but I know many people just look at the price, also their drinks are much cheaper and priced in pounds.

[kalaniiwow]

OK, they changed their minds on twitter. It's now 25% FCC based on the fare (no matter what you've actually paid as a deposit).

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, kalaniiwow said:

OK, they changed their minds on twitter. It's now 25% FCC based on the fare (no matter what you've actually paid as a deposit).

 

That makes more sense, and is line with the policy that is typically offered to US bookings.

[timf2001]

1 hour ago, molsonschooner said:

Maybe RC just realized that they have no ships in Fort Lauderdale next summer. 😂 Maybe they will do 7 nights. 

This fills an obvious hole in their schedule, unfortunately at the expense of those planning to visit Europe.  It also leaves RCI without any Norway or Baltic itineraries, as Anthem only sails south out of Southampton.

[minikiss]

12 minutes ago, kernow said:

I wonder if P and Os decision to include tips in the base fare has also had an impact on RCL bookings. The fact that they are often cheaper than RCL from Southampton and that there are now no extra tips to pay makes them look a better buy. I still prefer RCL but I know many people just look at the price, also their drinks are much cheaper and priced in pounds.

Agree would much rather be on RCCL or Princess than P&O. for us it's more about what's on the ship rather than a cheap price. Been on 1 P&O cruise and don't plan on getting on another one any time soon.......

But a lot of people out there look at price first.

I wanted to do this years Canaries cruise on Princess, but had to switch to the Indy due to the "fun stuff" it's had added. Hubby gets bored and I needed to get us on the best ship with the most things for him to do. Again a reason why I had convinced him the Trans on Indy would be a good choice.

 

Glad to hear they have seen sense to keep the FCC in line with the US. if not i'm guessing it would have left a very bitter taste in a lot of Brits mouths.  

[voyager70]

18 minutes ago, timf2001 said:

This fills an obvious hole in their schedule, unfortunately at the expense of those planning to visit Europe.  It also leaves RCI without any Norway or Baltic itineraries, as Anthem only sails south out of Southampton.

 

Royal has Baltics and Norway sailings in 2020 from Copenhagen & Stockholm.

 

[CruisingJoe09]

I had hoped to do the 14NT Scandinavia sailing. No idea where to go from here.

[kernow]

9 minutes ago, CruisingJoe09 said:

I had hoped to do the 14NT Scandinavia sailing. No idea where to go from here.

Celebrity Silhouette?

[CruisingJoe09]

1 minute ago, kernow said:

Celebrity Silhouette?

I'm young, so Celebrity isn't really my thing.

Edited May 9, 2019 by CruisingJoe09

[rattla]

59 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

I've often assumed that European's are more savvy with their money spending less on board compared to American's.  Is that a fair assessment?

 

Do you think the higher base rates in Europe driven by the reduced revenue on board? Why are base fares so much higher in Europe?

 

I think there may be a small amount of that but more so it’s the costs to run the ship from the UK are a lot more I’d imagine.  Plus the exchange rate is so bad at the moment they have to charge brits more to get the same amount of USD.

id think the new island will be cheaper to visit and also generate more revenue (from water park etc) so I guess they’ve worked out they can make much more profit from sailing there.

[Suebiker]

We are really gutted.  We had booked a cruise during school holidays.  We had chosen this ship for it's facilities and itinery .  The alternatives are not comparable.  We had booked a Baltic's cruise and now our only option from Southampton are Med cruises .  We also booked early to get a good price and a good cabin.  We have lost all those benefits now. Totally fed up.  Reluctant to book with them ever again now if this is how they treat customers 

[LeDemonBlond]

Disappointing. We had booked the 14 day med Italy Indy cruise next year. That cruise checked off all the boxes for us.    Not sure what Plan "B" looks like.  

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, kernow said:

https://help.royalcaribbean.co.uk/hc/en-gb/sections/360004499552-Independence-of-the-Seas-2020-changes-to-sailings

 

I've just spotted this on one of the UK TA sites and have found this on the RCL UK site. Looks like only Anthem will be sailing from Southampton next year. 

 

Sorry if it's already been posted but couldn't see anything on here.

Thanks for posting,this is the first I had heard of this.

Just booked Allure from Barcelona for next year but had been looking at Independence too.

Graham.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Big_G said:

According to the blog that we can't mention here, Independence was diverted because of the high demand for the Perfect Day in Coco Cay sailings.

Which will mean a very overpriced Anthem being filled by Independence guests losing out on sailing Independence from Southampton next year.

[kernow]

Coincidence? Just received an email from NCL advertising their Northern Europe cruises from Southampton next year. 😀

[cbowls30]

4 minutes ago, kernow said:

Coincidence? Just received an email from NCL advertising their Northern Europe cruises from Southampton next year. 😀

Me too hilarious 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

I wonder if P and Os decision to include tips in the base fare has also had an impact on RCL bookings. The fact that they are often cheaper than RCL from Southampton and that there are now no extra tips to pay makes them look a better buy. I still prefer RCL but I know many people just look at the price, also their drinks are much cheaper and priced in pounds.

I agree.

Even as a D+ we have booked a P&O cruise from Southampton this year and a TA back to Southampton next year on P&O.

Our P&O loyalty gets us 8.5% discount off everything on board.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, timf2001 said:

This fills an obvious hole in their schedule, unfortunately at the expense of those planning to visit Europe.  It also leaves RCI without any Norway or Baltic itineraries, as Anthem only sails south out of Southampton.

P&O new ship Iona are sailing all next year to the Fjords.

[CruisingJoe09]

Do you think Southampton will get another decent ship again? 

 

Some do like QN class, but I'm not one of them and I would hate to think that this is it.

Edited May 9, 2019 by CruisingJoe09

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

I wonder if P and Os decision to include tips in the base fare has also had an impact on RCL bookings. The fact that they are often cheaper than RCL from Southampton and that there are now no extra tips to pay makes them look a better buy. I still prefer RCL but I know many people just look at the price, also their drinks are much cheaper and priced in pounds.

I wonder what compensation RC will give for airfares and pre-cruise hotels for people who have already booked?