Royal Restarts in Singapore with Cruises to Nowhere

[Ethanol95]

How does it work exactly, is it for a GLS - say you pay a lower price then it is sky, but if you pay a higher price its star? Or is it certain categories of staterooms? Most Suite categories for my sailing still look available, except that instead of offering Star Class, its only capped at Sky Class currently.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Or is it certain categories of staterooms?

This, regardless of cost.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Biker19

[Sail n Snow]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

If you don't mind sharing, what are the Royal Up prices like (min-max) for each category?

I can’t see them yet but back in Dec it was min 120 for the suite above a one bedroom and went up from there.  
 

On another board folks have posted $60 min bid from balcony to JR suite. One person got it at that too.  

[Ethanol95]

4 hours ago, Mykl said:

Yes, Star Class is available, but it looks like most of those rooms were already booked for many of the sailings. 

Which category of suites are these? Loft suites? 

[masteradept]

27 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Which category of suites are these? Loft suites? 

Grand Loft, Owners' Loft and Royal Loft are Star Class, Sky Loft is not. It used to be Star too, not sure why it got excluded after that.

[Ethanol95]

2 minutes ago, masteradept said:

Grand Loft, Owners' Loft and Royal Loft are Star Class, Sky Loft is not. It used to be Star too, not sure why it got excluded after that.

I see Owner's loft and Grand Loft but both are stated as Sky Class, which I thought was weird, unless I saw it wrong.

[Sail n Snow]

49 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

I see Owner's loft and Grand Loft but both are stated as Sky Class, which I thought was weird, unless I saw it wrong.

So I tried some mock bookings and found a n owners loft but under details it does not say Star and don’t give the full details however the Sky class does.  

 

When I was booking back in late Oct I do remember seeing them say Star class with the details. 
 

Per RC website the following are Star

• Royal Loft Suite
• Villa Suite – 4 Bedrooms
• Owner’s Loft Suite
• Grand Loft Suite
• Owner’s Panoramic – 1 Bedroom
• Grand Panoramic – 1 Bedroom
• Star Loft Suite
• Spacious AquaTheater Suite with Large Balcony – 2 Bedrooms
• AquaTheater Suite with Large Balcony – 2 Bedrooms 

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, Sail n Snow said:

Per RC website the following are Star

• Royal Loft Suite
• Villa Suite – 4 Bedrooms
• Owner’s Loft Suite
• Grand Loft Suite
• Owner’s Panoramic – 1 Bedroom
• Grand Panoramic – 1 Bedroom
• Star Loft Suite
• Spacious AquaTheater Suite with Large Balcony – 2 Bedrooms
• AquaTheater Suite with Large Balcony – 2 Bedrooms 

A lot of those are only available on Oasis class ships; not available on Quantum. Don't rely on the RCI web site to be up to date and/or accurate.

[Sail n Snow]

Also there is an issue with the cruise planner.  On a 3 night cruise the UDP is 371sgd which is high considering on our 4 night it was advertised at 175 and below.  
 

also I tried to book a sushi class and it had it for days 7,8 and 11 of the cruise.   I think they may have rushed to add the new cruises to the system and it caused issues. 
 

As it was I booked a March cruise after they announced the extension and I could only book an inside guarantee. There was no option to pick my own room so inventory may not be fully loaded properly yet. 

[Sail n Snow]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

A lot of those are only available on Oasis class ships; not available on Quantum. Don't rely on the RCI web site to be up to date and/or accurate.

I guess the question is can they just have Sky class and temporarily delete Star class or it’s an IT glitch

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, Sail n Snow said:

I guess the question is can they just have Sky class and temporarily delete Star class or it’s an IT glitch

While anything is possible in this COVID era, it is very unlikely RCI would mess around with established Royal Suite class categories. You can blame just about anything on an RCI IT glitch.

[masteradept]

Sounds like an  IT glitch, I can definitely confirm GLS, OLS and RLS are Star class for these sailings.

[Ethanol95]

They should just simplify it to regular class and sky class for suites. Much simpler

 

[Ourusualbeach]

20 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

They should just simplify it to regular class and sky class for suites. Much simpler

 

It may be simpler but there is a huge difference in benefits between Sea, Sky and Star classes.  I’m not so sure those paying the Star Class suite prices would like seeing their benefits cut. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

They should just simplify it to regular class and sky class for suites.

The whole point of Suite Class is to have different levels to allow for maximum revenue. Otherwise RCI would have left O and Q class ships the same as the other classes which don't have Suite class. RCI is not trying to make life simple for you, but max the revenue to them.

[Ethanol95]

57 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The whole point of Suite Class is to have different levels to allow for maximum revenue. Otherwise RCI would have left O and Q class ships the same as the other classes which don't have Suite class. RCI is not trying to make life simple for you, but max the revenue to them.

Then their IT needs to catch up

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

Then their IT needs to catch up

Folks on this site have been saying that for many years. 

[Ethanol95]

With many live trip reports already from Quantum, would anyone be interested in seeing another one? I'll be going next month and wanted to see if there was interest for a semi-live report.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

With many live trip reports already from Quantum, would anyone be interested in seeing another one? 

Considering no one else is doing one, I'm sure most would enjoy it, especially with regards to any changes from earlier sailings.

[Hogbay]

1 hour ago, Ethanol95 said:

With many live trip reports already from Quantum, would anyone be interested in seeing another one? I'll be going next month and wanted to see if there was interest for a semi-live report.

As Quantum Is the only RCI sailing yes yes we are very interested as is several Governments. 😇

[Ethanol95]

1 hour ago, Hogbay said:

As Quantum Is the only RCI sailing yes yes we are very interested as is several Governments. 😇

Haha Sure, I'll make a new thread!

[Ethanol95]

1 hour ago, Hogbay said:

As Quantum Is the only RCI sailing yes yes we are very interested as is several Governments. 😇

Here is the thread! 

 

[Biker19]

On 10/8/2020 at 4:40 PM, Biker19 said:

The Global class may change that, if they ever happen - the German shipyard (owned by Genting) building them just got a partial bailout - the only other cruiseline which will have a Flowrider.

Looks like the ship (Global Dream) will be finished with new financing:

 

Genting Hong Kong's creditors have agreed to a holistic US$2.6bn recapitalization that will make the company solvent and provide capital and stability during the COVID-19 recovery.

 

At Dec. 31, Genting HK's liabilities exceeded assets by $3.26bn.

Subject to final approval by certain creditors and stakeholders, the restructuring is expected to be implemented as soon as possible within the coming months.

 

This builds on the group's recent liquidity boost following new share subscriptions in Dream Cruises by investment group Darting and Ocean World, a Genting HK subsidiary. This raised $59m of new cash from Darting, while Ocean World set off nearly $248m in intercompany loans.

The recapitalization involves a new €215m subordinated secured loan facility and an €85m silent participation, which takes effect via provision of a limited-recourse equity stake to the lender in exchange for contributing funding.

€300m in new funding from Germany's WSF

There is €300m in new funding from Germany's Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) for MV Werften and/or certain subsidiaries to complete the building of Crystal Endeavor and Global Dream. This will be guaranteed by Genting HK and certain wholly owned subsidiaries of MV Werften and secured by a composite security and guarantee package.

 

The recapitalization also amends terms for $981.05m of debt to include a material extension of the facilities' maturity and the reduction and harmonization of interest margins for up to 24 months.

Amortization payment requirements for nearly $1.5bn of separate secured financing arrangements entered into by Dream Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises are suspended until the earlier of June 29, 2023, or the date falling 24 months after the recapitalization's implementation date.

 

All guarantees and security under the company's existing financing arrangements will be retained, along with the implementation of limited credit enhancement arrangements including granting of new security and assignment of rights.

Global Dream and Crystal Endeavor

There is continued provision for drawdowns under existing pre-delivery financing arrangements available to Genting HK to complete Global Dream. And a new committed €280m post-delivery financing facility for Crystal Endeavor on substantially standard market terms will be provided by certain existing lenders. This facility will be guaranteed by the company.

 

The reorganization further includes suspension of financial covenant testing under all of the group’s existing financing arrangements which contain financial covenants until the earlier of June 29, 2023, or the date falling 24 months after the recapitalization's implementation date, other than in respect of a minimum liquidity covenant which will be reset to an appropriate level.

There will be a full reset of financial covenants until the earlier of June 29, 2023, or the date falling 24 months after the recapitalization's implementation date for the purposes of facilitating a fully funded business plan aligned with anticipated market recovery.

Genting HK to seek $154m of additional liquidity this year

In addition, Genting HK and/or its subsidiaries shall seek to raise at least $154m of additional liquidity by Dec. 31 this year. Should this be unsuccessful, the company will pursue additional   liquidity-raising transactions, including equity financing for at least $30m and entry into conditional, committed standby loan facilities of $124m provided by Mecklenburg Vorpommern state and the WSF.

 

Hit hard by the pandemic, last August Genting HK asked creditors to form a steering committee for a restructuring. 

 

$2.6 billion recapitalization for Genting Hong Kong (seatrade-cruise.com)