Will RCCL Ever Build A Radiance Sized Ship Again?

[SelectSys]

I just got off the Navigator of the Seas last Saturday. This was my first exposure to Voyager class ships. I have also sailed on Vision and Radiance class ships as well. I must say that my preference was to the Radiance class over the other two.

 

With the Freedom and future Genesis class ships, does anyone expect RCCL to build a "smaller" ship again? Does RCCL care about turning off some of their current passengers? Will they try and shift people prefering something other than a mega ship to either Celebrity or their new line?

 

Just curious to know what others think...

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

We have been on over 30 cruises including five on RCI and two on Celebrity. We took our teenage granddaughters (separately) on Voyager and Navigator. My husband did NOT come out of the cabin except for meals and exploring the ports. The girls loved the ships -- especially the iceskating rink. We had long talks with one of the captains of the dining room during lunch and he thinks the line is going in the BIG direction because they have a "magic" formula for filling the big ships. This was at the time of the new Freedom of the Seas first voyage which was filled up with a waiting list. I really doubt that they will go back to a smaller ship in the near future. But, I really can't imagine them continuing to fill up the ships if we enter a recession period. I was glad to hear that Celebrity has bought two of the former Renaisance ships since we have just finished three cruises with Oceania. We love the size (674 passengers), the smoking policy and the food with Oceania. We're awaiting Oceania's new builds in 2009. We're also hoping to take a cruise on one of Celebrity's new small ships. They also have the same smoking policy as Oceania.

 

We WILL return to RCI for Alaska next year with one of the granddaughters.

 

Sheila

[Cruising89143]

Don't count on RCI to build anymore ships the size of the Radiance class. RCI had the option to build two more Radiance class ships and they let those options expire.

[negc]

When we spoke to Adam Goldstein on a Freedom pre-inaugural, he explained that RCI had determined that it was just not economically practical to build more ships of Radiance class or smaller. Even Celebrity's newest builds, the Solstice class will be considerably bigger than Radiance ships. The two R ships that they purchased are operating under the new Azamara cruiseline designation and are operating on longer and more exotic itineraries. As much as we prefer Radiance class ships, there is no denying the outstanding success they are having with the Voyager and Freedom class ships, and we will have to wait and see if Genesis will be equally as successful when those ships are introduced. Unless you believe that fuel prices will drop precipitously and that they will find ways around the other economies of scale that the mega ships offer, I doubt there is much likelihood that RCI will build another Radiance sized vessel in the foreseeable future.:(

[SelectSys]

You have all confirmed my intuition. I didn't realize that RCCL let options lapse on more Radiance ships. That would appear to be the nail in the coffin unless the passengers start defecting in mass - which doesn't appear to be the case so far.

 

Perhaps the new line reflects a hedging of bets or at least giving their existing passengers a new option. We'll see...