Odyssey re-deploying due to Middle East conflict?

[Badatz2]

It's interesting that the only 2 cruises left on the Israel site are the first one in June and the last in October

Like Dani said businesses are closed here until Tuesday morning , but if unfortunately Royal wants to make a move,  they don't have to wait till then.

I was really looking forward to this ground breaking season, especially for the fresh Kosher food in multiple venues, and it would be a shame to see it go away.  I hope that Royal holds out a little more before making a decision

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, Badatz2 said:

I hope that Royal holds out a little more before making a decision

 

+1 agree.

 

[rockmom]

15 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Odyssey has crown loft suites.

Odyssey has Grand Loft (3 total), Owners loft (1 total) and Royal Loft (1 total) No crown loft.  

 

Allure has all of those, plus 25 Crown Loft.  

[ONECRUISER]

33 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I guess all the crew were vaccinated while docked at Haifa.  Will be a shame for everyone in Israel that booked, I'm sure they would love to hop on the ship for a respite from the violence.

Were they? Kool if were able to since Article I read yesterday said they'd get Vaccinated after TA...  Crew Center: 

Royal Caribbean International has canceled Odyssey of the Seas cruises from Israel scheduled for this summer from Haifa to Cyprus and Greece. Several crew members on board reported that the news was announced by the ship’s captain via the PA system. The decision comes after the escalating conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Today Odyssey of the Seas is in Limassol, Cyprus to meet Anthem of the Seas where ship-to-ship transfers will take place. The Odyssey crew without U.S. visa will be transferred on Anthem of the Seas. Anthem will then sail to the U.K. and Odyssey will sail to the U.S.

The crew said that Odyssey will set sail to the U.S. as soon as the crew transfers are completed.

“Odyssey will go to Port Canaveral very soon and all crew that doesn’t have U.S. visa will transfer to anthem o/s” the crew member said.

In March Royal Caribbean International announced fully vaccinated cruises for Israel residents, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19. The ship’s crew was scheduled to be vaccinated in Haifa on May 7, however, this was canceled several times. Now the crew will get vaccinated in the U.S.

Edited May 15, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[Ocean Cat]

Seems to have worsened in the last 100  days. 
im not finding a lot of info on The Odyssey, even from You tube. Why would anyone choose Odyssey over Allure? I’m not a big cruiser and have never sailed on Royal. Considering the Allure in Nov-Jan. 
 

[Plum Happy]

It’s Official.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/15/israel-conflict-royal-caribbean-cancels-odyssey-haifa-sailings/5108878001/
 

 

[orville99]

21 minutes ago, rockmom said:

Odyssey has Grand Loft (3 total), Owners loft (1 total) and Royal Loft (1 total) No crown loft.  

 

Allure has all of those, plus 25 Crown Loft.  

Unfortunately, I was confusing Odyssey with Ovation. My bad. Given that Odyssey was scheduled to end up in FLL after her European tour, FLL or Miami would make the more logical port for her to sail from this summer.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, later said:

We have B2Bs in August, September, and October on Allure.  We are in crown lofts so I hope that don’t swap ships.  
 

2 different class ships would make moving over guests a mess.

Lol so far out of Galveston they moved jewel to liberty and allure to liberty. 3 different classes of ships.

 

My march 2022 b2b in my signature was supposed to be allure. Terminal 3 delayed. Now I think it will be delayed again and perhaps my 2 allure they will offer to move us to liberty again. I'll be bummed but allure cant dock until they build the new terminal. (Which is still not started).

 

They will move you to a lower class ship and no obc, I'm proof. 

[Cruiseenthusiast101]

Do we know if this will affect the November sailings potentially? I was looking at booking Allure for Thanksgiving, but would jump on Odyssey in a heart beat, if it’s switched. 

[smokeybandit]

Looks like it's official now

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/15/israel-conflict-royal-caribbean-cancels-odyssey-haifa-sailings/5108878001/

[little britain]

Why do we need another thread on this? 

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Looks like it's official now

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/15/israel-conflict-royal-caribbean-cancels-odyssey-haifa-sailings/5108878001/

They had no other choice, as expected. Not worth chancing it.

[Tolkmit]

9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Looks like it's official now

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/15/israel-conflict-royal-caribbean-cancels-odyssey-haifa-sailings/5108878001/

 

Unfortunate for everyone is Israel who was excited for the ship. Although I imagine with the Odyssey likely sailing from the US, once the conflict dies down (as history suggests will be relatively quickly) they can spin up another ship and deploy it to the region at that point. Seems like interest was quite high.

 

Have to imagine Odyssey will be the first ship to sail from the US for Royal, if there continues to be positive momentum towards cruising with regards to the CDC. Already staffed, and brand new so they can charge a premium.

[bigeck]

15 minutes ago, little britain said:

Why do we need another thread on this? 

Not really but will probably get another few before the end of the week

 

[Badatz2]

19 minutes ago, Tolkmit said:

 

Unfortunate for everyone is Israel who was excited for the ship. Although I imagine with the Odyssey likely sailing from the US, once the conflict dies down (as history suggests will be relatively quickly) they can spin up another ship and deploy it to the region at that point. Seems like interest was quite high.

The Odyssey was a three fold attraction for Israeli cruisers. Firstly a brand new ship homeported in Israel, a relatively short drive from everywhere.  Secondly one with all the latest bell and whistle attractions.  And thirdly, (really firstly for me and I am sure for thousands of others), the opportunity to eat fresh Kosher food and not to make due with the prepackaged meals and other things.  

Hopefully there many be other opportunities in the future, but I am not really optimistic.  As we say in Israel, "Chaval", it's a shame.

 

[100viper]

I’m going to be watching the RC website now. I’d be interested in snagging an Odyssey cruise from PC. 

[nyc12345]

On Royal Caribbean's website:

 

Odyssey of the Seas May 9 to October 28, 2021 sailings departing from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy. Odyssey of the Seas was to resume operations beginning June 2nd, 2021 out of Haifa, Israel. However, due to the unrest in Israel and the region, we have not been able to complete the preparation required to operate and as a result, sailings out of Haifa will be cancelled.

[Jimbo]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates

 

Wonder what this means for Harmony which is scheduled to sail from Rome in September.

 

One by one, before you know it all their ships will be sailing from non-US Ports.

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Jimbo

[Merion_Mom]

55 minutes ago, 100viper said:

I’m going to be watching the RC website now. I’d be interested in snagging an Odyssey cruise from PC. 

• Odyssey of the Seas May 9 to October 28, 2021 sailings departing from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy. Odyssey of the Seas was to resume operations beginning June 2nd, 2021 out of Haifa, Israel. However, due to the unrest in Israel and the region, we have not been able to complete the preparation required to operate and as a result, sailings out of Haifa will be cancelled.

[Tolkmit]

7 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

• Odyssey of the Seas May 9 to October 28, 2021 sailings departing from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy. Odyssey of the Seas was to resume operations beginning June 2nd, 2021 out of Haifa, Israel. However, due to the unrest in Israel and the region, we have not been able to complete the preparation required to operate and as a result, sailings out of Haifa will be cancelled.

 

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates

 

Wonder what this means for Harmony which is scheduled to sail from Rome in September.

 

 

Worth noting, first post is listed under cancelled ships and sailings. The Odyssey was originally sailing from Rome. Those sailings were cancelled. Then it was sailing from Israel. Those sailings are also cancelled. The first sentence quoted has been on the website for over a month, and is just saying the original Rome sailings were cancelled. They then added/updated the second sentence about her sailings from Israel being cancelled. This isn't meant to indicate she'll be sailing from Rome.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Tolkmit

[100viper]

Just posted on Michael Bayley’s Facebook:

 

“Today we announce the re deployment of Odyssey of the Seas from Israel to Florida.  The conflict makes it unsafe for our crew and guests and there is too much uncertainty.    In the next day or so Odyssey will begin its voyage to Florida.   More announcements to follow.”

[Jimbo]

20 minutes ago, Tolkmit said:

 

 

Worth noting, first post is listed under cancelled ships and sailings. The Odyssey was originally sailing from Rome. Those sailings were cancelled. Then it was sailing from Israel. Those sailings are also cancelled. The first sentence quoted has been on the website for over a month, and is just saying the original Rome sailings were cancelled. They then added/updated the second sentence about her sailings from Israel being cancelled. This isn't meant to indicate she'll be sailing from Rome.

Great, still means Harmony has a chance of getting canceled.

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Were they? Kool if were able to since Article I read yesterday said they'd get Vaccinated after TA...  Crew Center: 

Royal Caribbean International has canceled Odyssey of the Seas cruises from Israel scheduled for this summer from Haifa to Cyprus and Greece. Several crew members on board reported that the news was announced by the ship’s captain via the PA system. The decision comes after the escalating conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Today Odyssey of the Seas is in Limassol, Cyprus to meet Anthem of the Seas where ship-to-ship transfers will take place. The Odyssey crew without U.S. visa will be transferred on Anthem of the Seas. Anthem will then sail to the U.K. and Odyssey will sail to the U.S.

The crew said that Odyssey will set sail to the U.S. as soon as the crew transfers are completed.

“Odyssey will go to Port Canaveral very soon and all crew that doesn’t have U.S. visa will transfer to anthem o/s” the crew member said.

In March Royal Caribbean International announced fully vaccinated cruises for Israel residents, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19. The ship’s crew was scheduled to be vaccinated in Haifa on May 7, however, this was canceled several times. Now the crew will get vaccinated in the U.S.

Ahh I did not know they cancelled their vaccinations that were to start on may 7th.  Thank you for information.

[dani negreanu]

9 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Ahh I did not know they cancelled their vaccinations that were to start on may 7th.  Thank you for information.

 

Something about the vaccinations' starting date doesn't add [in my book].... IF the crew was supposed to be vaccinated in Israel -- we have only Pfizer.

 

In order to be "fully vaccinated" you need 2 Pfizer shots in the space of 21 days, and another 14 days to achieve "full vaccination" (35 days).  May 7th to June 2nd -- 26 days.

 

Royal advertised Odyssey's cruises from Israel "with fully vaccinated crew".... Stand to reason that BEFORE you sell cruises to 50.000 pax, you have all your ducks in a row.

 

IMHO, Royal rushed to cancel those cruises prematurely -- the port of Haifa and its surroundings is OUTSIDE the range of the rackets. The cruises didn't include stops in Israel.

 

This round of hostilities, which, sadly, is not the 1st, or 2nd, or even 3rd in the region, will be over in a few days.

 

Royal could have cancelled the first 2 or 3 cruises, to be on the safe side, not a whole season (until October!!!), and thus disappoint so many who were looking forward to their first holiday post-Covid.

 

It's not that the cruises out of US are in full swing, and they desperately needed another ship to meet the demand.

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

Royal could have cancelled the first 2 or 3 cruises, to be on the safe side, not a whole season (until October!!!), and thus disappoint so many who were looking forward to their first holiday post-Covid.

Right. Could it be the Israeli gov't told RCI to cancel? It's unlikely RCI will resell Odyssey at the rates they were getting for these sailings out of Haifa, plus they likely won't start sailing till at least August.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Biker19