Will Royal reduce the size of the fleet?

[Ourusualbeach]

With an almost certain reduced demand as well as  possible itinerary restrictions coupled with new ships still coming on line does anyone else see the early departure of the rest of the Vision class ships as well as Majesty and Empress?

[firefly333]

Seems like when this was done on the past they sold the older ships.

 

Would they be able to find buyers for those ships right now? 

 

I did majesty b2b about a million years ago out of Florida. We got ovs, insides too small even to me.

[Coralc]

Wow. We're all really bored aren't we?  Grandeur has already been sold. I don't know if they have yet recouped their investment in Empress. 

[John&LaLa]

Easy way to kill off the Concierge Lounges.😉

[Chiliburn]

Would they find new markets?

Royal doesn’t have a presence in India,maybe send a few of the older ships to India?

[Hoopster95]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

With an almost certain reduced demand as well as  possible itinerary restrictions coupled with new ships still coming on line does anyone else see the early departure of the rest of the Vision class ships as well as Majesty and Empress?

 

IIRC, the $2.2 billion loan from Morgan Stanley has RCL offering Celebrity, Azamara and anything not RCI as collateral. Anyone in the know please correct me if that's incorrect.

 

If the above is correct, and Royal doesn't pay down the $2.5 billion they owe this year, and unless they don;t get bailed out yet again or Morgan Stanley extends the due date of their loan, well maybe RCL as a whole will be down a whole bunch of ships.... whalla! I introduce to you MSCL " Morgan Stanley Cruise Lines"🙃

Edited March 26, 2020 by Hoopster95

[Chiliburn]

10 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

IIRC, the $2.2 billion loan from Morgan Stanley has RCL offering Celebrity, Azamara and anything not RCI as collateral. Anyone in the know please correct me if that's incorrect.

 

If the above is correct, and Royal doesn't pay down the $2.5 billion they owe this year, and unless they don;t get bailed out yet again or Morgan Stanley extends the due date of their loan, well maybe RCL as a whole will be down a whole bunch of ships.... whalla! I introduce to you MSCL " Morgan Stanley Cruise Lines"🙃

I wonder if they will honour C&A status.

 

[Hogbay]

29 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Would they find new markets?

Royal doesn’t have a presence in India,maybe send a few of the older ships to India?

Ships have been sent to India for along time but they tend to like beaching them and cutting them up 🤣

[mugtech]

Getting rid of the older smaller ships we mean fewer unique itineraries into smaller ports, would make for more boring itineraries.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Getting rid of the older smaller ships we mean fewer unique itineraries into smaller ports, would make for more boring itineraries.

Which is the direction Royal was already headed in 

[mugtech]

39 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Which is the direction Royal was already headed in 

For sure, would hate to see it speeded up, planning to go to Baltimore to see the Grandeur before her demotion.

[Merion_Mom]

RC would love to see a whole bunch of us shuffle over to Celebrity and Azamara, in search of new itineraries and the "small ship experience".  

[mugtech]

8 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

RC would love to see a whole bunch of us shuffle over to Celebrity and Azamara, in search of new itineraries and the "small ship experience".  

How about NCL?  Guess they wouldn't like that.

[mac_tlc]

If it wasn’t for the temporary opening of Cuba, Empress would be gone already. I think Majesty and Empress are on borrowed time, unless Cuba reopens after all this is over. 
 

Not sure of the economics, but temporary mothballing could be another alternative if they are a future market opportunity. 
 

mac_tlc

[ILCTCRUISER]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Easy way to kill off the Concierge Lounges.😉

We were thinking the exact same thing.  It seems this would be an opportunity for RCL to

reset the C&A program, including but not limited to the matter of the lounges.

Edited March 26, 2020 by ILCTCRUISER

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

We were thinking the exact same thing.  It seems this would be an opportunity for RCL to

reset the C&A program, including but not limited to the matter of the lounges.

Personally I think the last thing they want to do is adjust the C&A program.  They need these people to return to cruising.  They are the last ones you want to P off. 

[gatour]

11 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

IIRC, the $2.2 billion loan from Morgan Stanley has RCL offering Celebrity, Azamara and anything not RCI as collateral. Anyone in the know please correct me if that's incorrect.

 

If the above is correct, and Royal doesn't pay down the $2.5 billion they owe this year, and unless they don;t get bailed out yet again or Morgan Stanley extends the due date of their loan, well maybe RCL as a whole will be down a whole bunch of ships.... whalla! I introduce to you MSCL " Morgan Stanley Cruise Lines"🙃

There is actually an option to extend it for a second year.

[goldfish65]

13 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

With an almost certain reduced demand as well as  possible itinerary restrictions coupled with new ships still coming on line does anyone else see the early departure of the rest of the Vision class ships as well as Majesty and Empress?

 

What happens when you have a cruise booked say next year, but they sell the ship before then?

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

 

What happens when you have a cruise booked say next year, but they sell the ship before then?

You would be redeployed and possibly offered a couple price protected sailings and some on board credit or just the OBC.  If it was within a year of departure they usually offer $200 air change fees as well. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

12 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I wonder if they will honour C&A status.

 

For sure NOT once they read the complainers here. Lol

[jalves]

Yes, I agree that its a good time for RCI to dispose of the older ships.  

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

We were thinking the exact same thing.  It seems this would be an opportunity for RCL to

reset the C&A program, including but not limited to the matter of the lounges.

Oh I think that is the last thing RCI would be thinking about doing. Who do you think it is that will be first back aboard the ships? For those who are not in love with cruising the images of the Diamond Princess will not fade that fast. It is the people that overcrowd the lounges that will shrug it off and get back to doing what we love. And the folks in Miami's corporate office will be grinning from ear to ear to have the problem of an overcrowded lounge in need of an overflow area.

[ILCTCRUISER]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Oh I think that is the last thing RCI would be thinking about doing. Who do you think it is that will be first back aboard the ships? For those who are not in love with cruising the images of the Diamond Princess will not fade that fast. It is the people that overcrowd the lounges that will shrug it off and get back to doing what we love. And the folks in Miami's corporate office will be grinning from ear to ear to have the problem of an overcrowded lounge in need of an overflow area.

I'm not suggesting they  SHOULD proceed with the changes.  I'm simply throwing out the idea that it could happen.  I'm happy with the benefits of being D+.  But I was probably much happier last December when I still had access to the CL.  We all recognize there have been a number of changes within the C&A program over the years just as there have been for the overall cruising experience.  These changes have ticked off D and D+ to varying degrees, but RCL made them and I'll hazard a guess management knew there'd be pushback.

[emeraldcity]

Actually I have to wonder if the smaller ships would be easier to fill. The chances of booking an Oasis class to capacity is likely a couple years down the road.

 

And I agree that their target market is going to be the loyal cruisers.

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by emeraldcity

[Ocean Boy]

14 minutes ago, emeraldcity said:

Actually I have to wonder if the smaller ships would be easier to fill. The chances of booking an Oasis class to capacity is likely a couple years down the road.

 

And I agree that their target market is going to be the loyal cruisers.

 

Smaller ships might be easier to fill. However, who knows if a full smaller ship is much less expensive to run than a partially filled Oasis class ship. Fuel efficiency may have improved over the years and I would think that the biggest change in crew between large and small ships would be the number of cabin attendants. They are not likely to be the highest paid workers on the ships. And if they do want to start attracting new families to cruising they probably have a better shot using O class ships than smaller ships. RCI might also want to get all of these pesky FCCs out of the way quickly though I suppose the alternative could be to make them difficult to use and hope that some expire. Who knows, I am just speculating.

 

I'm sure a lot of factors come into play when deciding the order and mix of ships that will be brought back on line first.