Pullmantur's Ships Will Be Returned To Royal Caribbean

[bobmacliberty]

13 hours ago, Biker19 said:

 

 

I never sailed on either Sovereign or Monarch, but that's a sad video to watch.  Seems like there must be a better use for them, but I guess not.

[CSHS1979]

17 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I never sailed on either Sovereign or Monarch, but that's a sad video to watch.  Seems like there must be a better use for them, but I guess not.

 

As modern as they were, they are from a different era

[Cruising89143]

Sovereign class was good for their time but time has passed them by. One had to book at least a JS to have a decent size stateroom. IMHO the Sovereign was best after her 2004 major refurb. 

Comments from Fain.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23245-royal-caribbean-not-looking-to-sell-ships.html

[Germancruiser]

I agree- they were good at their time and they had their time. Anyway- it is almost a shame dissmanteling a ship in such great condition- and it was according to the pictures when the removed everything that was worth keeping.

[Ourusualbeach]

8 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

I agree- they were good at their time and they had their time. Anyway- it is almost a shame dissmanteling a ship in such great condition- and it was according to the pictures when the removed everything that was worth keeping.

While we had some great cruise on all 3 of the sisters I think that their ultimate downfall and demise was their size and lack of balconies.  They were too large to be repurposed for unique itineraries and with having so few balconies it would be hard to maintain a higher revenue per passenger.   

[pstone1]

22 hours ago, hloakes said:

Sovereign of the Seas was our first cruise on 2003. It was a great experience and set us up to go on many other cruises.

 

It is sad to see this happen, but as F27TW said, it is always inevitable. 

Sovereign was our first cruise too.  We sailed twice on her and then sailed 7 times on Monarch!  Good times!  Sad to see them go!

[SRF]

On 7/14/2020 at 12:38 PM, LeesSummitCruiser1 said:

Studied nothing proven.  Will take a year to prove it provides immunity short term.  Will take 3 to 5 years to prove it provides longer term immunity.  MRNA vaccines have to be transported in liquid nitrogen. Even if they work they will be difficult and expensive to administer.  WE have no other proven corona virus vaccines.  I hope one works but all we will know this year is a vaccine is safe to administer and generates an antibody titer.  Also what if after a few weeks and a few million doses Gillian Bare syndrome shows up in a few individuals.  Will that shut down the vaccine like it did the 1976 national flu vaccine?

 

 

All they have to show to release is short term immunity.  Long term studies can continue while the vaccine is being used.

 

Transport in liquid nitrogen is a pain, but not impossible.

 

[KmomChicago]

19 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

As modern as they were, they are from a different era

 Yes, same as Carnival's Fantasy class. Just as today, rabid fans of Royal Caribbean described Sovereign Class as the greatest ships at sea, and on the other side, Carnival rolled out 8 of its own megaships with loyal adherents.  But things have changed and it's time for them to go.  

[Saab4444]

As long as Song of America is still sailing Sovereign should not go!  There are many much older and, more important, uglier looking ships around that are still sailing. I do not care that much about Monarch and Majesty but Sovereign was the first and best.

[Dennis#1]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

As long as Song of America is still sailing Sovereign should not go!  There are many much older and, more important, uglier looking ships around that are still sailing. I do not care that much about Monarch and Majesty but Sovereign was the first and best.

Sovereign was also our first cruise.  Had such a great time on her.  Still miss her.

[Cruising89143]

Sovereign is currently underway heading to Aliaga, Turkey to join the Monarch. 

[WeMissSeaView]

I was on the Majesty in March when all sailings came to a stop.  My B2B was cut short by one cruise.  I hope that was not the last time that the Majesty sails for Royal with passengers.

[Kbonner]

5 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

I was on the Majesty in March when all sailings came to a stop.  My B2B was cut short by one cruise.  I hope that was not the last time that the Majesty sails for Royal with passengers.

Did you enjoy one of the lounges for either D, D+, Pins or suites ? No - than it is time for the Majesty to be beached as it falls short of RCIs standard

[chengkp75]

54 minutes ago, ChC said:

RCL could turn Sovereign and Majesty into a quarantine ship, one based in Miami and one based in Spain, so when cew members are joining ship in USA and Europe, they can do their 14 days quarantine onboard instead of a land based hotel. It would save RCL some money, free up land based hotels for tourists, and have a completely closed ship for quarantine purpose, while conduct crew training  and familiarisation on board.

Unless the crew were exchanged from the "quarantine" ship directly to the ship needing the crew, by tender/launch, you introduce them back into the transportation industry, with potential for infection during the transfer.  Secondly, each time a person gets assigned to the "quarantine ship", you either need to completely separate them from the rest of the people onboard, or you need to reset the 14 day clock for everyone onboard.

[KmomChicago]

We are talking about a pretty simple decision here, even among a lot of complicated factors. The many risks recently identified as being involved with cruising, paired with the fact that ships built after 2000 are quite different than those built before (lots more balconies being perhaps the critical difference) mean that we most likely just don't have enough need for the old ships to keep them all in service.  Some of the ships more than 20 years old will stay in service if cruising gets started in time to make use of them. 

 

It is certainly possible that short - 3, 4, and 5 day cruises close to home will be the first phase of return to service, but there are plenty of newer and larger ships that can provide this. Ships that will probably NOT be doing long cruises to the Southern Caribbean, Panama Canal or Europe. It is very unclear what ports will be available, when, and how many  passengers they will accept.  I would argue that larger ships are more needed than ever with ports potentially being less of a draw.  Yes, I know there are people who prefer older smaller ships. We are talking about the need for hundreds of thousands of people to prefer them, in order to keep them all in service. 

 

Then it will be about the money. Is there enough demand for short cruises on the oldest ships to keep them around? Impossible to say. There are too many variables as yet unknown.  It is interesting to watch the saga unfold but all of our speculation is just that. 

 

As far as using the ships themselves for quarantine or hospitals, unfortunately it would take quite a bit to overcome public perception and official concerns of this as a risky solution to current pandemic issues.

[Dennis#1]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

We are talking about a pretty simple decision here, even among a lot of complicated factors. The many risks recently identified as being involved with cruising, paired with the fact that ships built after 2000 are quite different than those built before (lots more balconies being perhaps the critical difference) mean that we most likely just don't have enough need for the old ships to keep them all in service.  Some of the ships more than 20 years old will stay in service if cruising gets started in time to make use of them. 

 

It is certainly possible that short - 3, 4, and 5 day cruises close to home will be the first phase of return to service, but there are plenty of newer and larger ships that can provide this. Ships that will probably NOT be doing long cruises to the Southern Caribbean, Panama Canal or Europe. It is very unclear what ports will be available, when, and how many  passengers they will accept.  I would argue that larger ships are more needed than ever with ports potentially being less of a draw.  Yes, I know there are people who prefer older smaller ships. We are talking about the need for hundreds of thousands of people to prefer them, in order to keep them all in service. 

 

Then it will be about the money. Is there enough demand for short cruises on the oldest ships to keep them around? Impossible to say. There are too many variables as yet unknown.  It is interesting to watch the saga unfold but all of our speculation is just that. 

 

As far as using the ships themselves for quarantine or hospitals, unfortunately it would take quite a bit to overcome public perception and official concerns of this as a risky solution to current pandemic issues.

You bring up some interesting points to consider.  I personally like the smaller ships.

[LXA350]

The cruise industry took a bit hit and will likely be taking the longest by far to recover within the tourist sector. Hence, for cruiselines that have large fleets such as RCL the only thing that makes sense is to get rid of their oldest ships and reduce their costs. With new ships to come over the years additional capacity will be added again and should the situation allow it financially it will be better to order completely new ships for future increases of demand to rreach pre COVID levels than keeping ships with uncompetitive products and paying for them being in cold layup.

[Dennis#1]

So sad if RCCL gets rid of their smaller ships.  With the demise of the smaller ships, RCCL will no longer depart from both Baltimore and Tampa.  Wonder how many other ports around the world will also not accommodate the larger cruise ships.😪

[JHU]

Definitely agree with Dennis#1 regarding smaller ships.  I live in Baltimore and take two to three cruises a year because there is no need to fly, train or drive to Florida.

 

For other world-wide smaller ports, there's Azamara (RCCL). 

[MADflyer]

Early research is showing that the greatest interest being shown now is actually for small ship sailings. 

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23235-demand-strong-for-small-ships-according-to-agent-survey.html

[Jack McGowan]

Celebrity Constellation Captain has posted this on his Instagram story. 

[Jack McGowan]

I wonder if these will be the final pictures of her in the water.

[dmwnc1959]

Sovereign of the Seas was my first ever Royal Caribbean cruise (1997), albeit I’d been on a half-dozen CCL cruises before that happened. For years afterwards I bounced between most all the major cruise lines, coming back to RCI for a single cruise on the Voyager of the Seas (1999) and Allure of the Seas (2012). My final cruise was with Princess, a B2B on Royal Princess in 2013. After that I found a new hobby that, as a single passenger, was financially more suitable and I could stretch over an entire year instead of a week or two.

 

Seeing Sovereign go is heartbreaking. It was bound to happen. I turned 61 years old today, and I’m sure if I was a ship I’d been scrapped many years ago.

 

She was a stunner. And ahead of her time. She will always be remembered. And she will be sorely missed. 

[leyla]

Sovereign was also our first cruise ever taken.  Oct 26, 1996.  Was so excited when arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Very sorry and sad to see it scrapped this way.  Was looking forward to going on Monarch on the cancelled transatlantic with Pullmantur this spring.  Very sad!

[CSHS1979]

9 hours ago, JHU said:

Definitely agree with Dennis#1 regarding smaller ships.  I live in Baltimore and take two to three cruises a year because there is no need to fly, train or drive to Florida.

 

For other world-wide smaller ports, there's Azamara (RCCL). 

 

Couldn't you just drive to NJ?