Tag Archives: Adventure of the Seas

Royal Caribbean makes ship change for summer 2015

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By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean will send the Explorer of the Seas to Europe in the summer of 2015 instead of the Adventure of the Seas as previously announced.

Adventure of the Seas will continue to sail from San Juan while Explorer will homeport at Southampton, England, and offer three- to 16-day roundtrip cruises from late April through September 2015.

Prior to starting European service, Explorer will have a month-long drydock to be revitalized and receive features such as virtual balconies.

Last week, an Adventure of the Seas cruise was delayed in San Juan for three days after propulsion issues led Royal Caribben to replace the ship’s propellers, which took longer than expected.

The delayed cruise was the final one before a scheduled drydock for maintenance.

Royal Caribbean will add cabins to Voyager ships

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Royal Caribbean will add cabins to Voyager ships

By Tom Stieghorst
Each of Royal Caribbean’s Voyager-class ships will gain about 75 additional cabins during revitalizations scheduled to begin in the next few months.

Royal Caribbean International CEO Adam Goldstein disclosed the capacity increase in a call with Wall Street analysts to discuss third-quarter earnings.

The Voyager class started in 1999 with the introduction of Voyager of the Seas. Each of the five Voyager-class ships currently have capacity for 3,114 passengers at double occupancy.

Goldstein said that when Voyager was introduced, it was never expected to sail outside the Caribbean, but the ships have led expansions into Europe and Asia. He said the five ships account for about 25% of the cruise line’s total capacity.

 

During Royal Caribbean’s third quarter financial results conference call, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein mentioned that as part of the fleet-wide revitalization program, all Voyager class ships will receive 75 new staterooms.


Voyager class ships are the next batch of Royal Caribbean’s ships to get the upgrades that will roll out many new amenities and upgrades, first seen on the Oasis class.  These new staterooms, however, are a departure from other ship upgrades and unique to the 

 

Voyager class.

The order of upgrades is currently scheduled as follows

  • Navigator of the Seas: February 2014
  • Adventure of the Seas: April 2014
  • Voyager of the Seas: May 2014
  • Explorer of the Seas: February 2015

Mariner of the Seas received her upgrade back on May 2, 2012 and did not receive a stateroom upgrade at that time.

Europe’s Royal Mediterranean

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Mediterranean Deployment

Eight ships are set to sail in Europe next year

Liberty of the Seas will head to the Mediterranean in 2014.

// © 2013 Royal Caribbean International

Liberty of the Seas will head to the Mediterranean in 2014. // © 2013 Royal Caribbean International

The Details

 Royal Caribbean International recently announced that Liberty of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, and Splendour of the Seas will sail the Mediterranean in 2014, in addition to the Northern Europe deployment of Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas and Legend of the Seas. The move means that the cruise line will have a total of eight vessels in Europe next year. Bookings opened for these sailings are currently open.

Most of the 2014 Europe fleet will have undergone Royal’s revitalization program, delivering an expanded array of dining options from the casual dining Park Cafe, Boardwalk Dog House and Rita’s Cantina to the Samba Grill Brazilian steakhouse, the new Viking Crown Lounge with a menu of appetizers in a reconceptualized modern club atmosphere, Izumi Asian Cuisine and the Chef’s Table.

The recently revitalized ships also feature Wi-Fi throughout the vessels, digital signage, flat-panel televisions in newly refreshed staterooms and a poolside, oversized LED movie screen. Independence of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas each have a FlowRider and cantilevered whirlpools, as well as Europe’s only ice-skating rinks at sea, which are also onboard Navigator of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas.

Cruisers six to 36 months old can enjoy the new Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, while three to 11-year olds are led by college-accredited counselors in educational and entertaining programs developed with Fisher Price in the complimentary Adventure Ocean program. Teens have their own dedicated lounge and activities such as learning to mix music in Scratch DJ sessions or the teen-only rock-climbing wall and FlowRider surf simulator sessions.

On Splendour of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas, guests can enjoy the new retro-hip R Bar as performers perform the new aerial-acrobatic Centrum Experience performed throughout more than four decks of the ships’ atriums. Guests aboard Liberty of the Seas can take in the Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever by night.

Liberty of the Seas will sail roundtrip from Barcelona on a seven-night, Western Mediterranean itinerary, calling at Provence (Marseilles) and Nice (Villefranche), France; and Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Rome (Civitavecchia), and Naples/Capri, Italy; the Aug. 10 sailing calls at Cannes instead of Nice. A four-night, roundtrip itinerary departing May 14 will offer vacationers a taste of the Freedom-class experience, with a call at Nice and Florence/Pisa. An eastbound trans-Atlantic sailing on May 1 and westbound on Oct. 26, both 13-night itineraries, will bookend the Europe season.

Navigator of the Seas will homeport in Rome (Civitavecchia) to sail a seven-night Eastern Mediterranean itinerary, which calls at Sicily (Messina), Italy; Athens (Piraeus) and Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece; and Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey. The seven-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise, sailing roundtrip from Sicily (Messina). A May 4, 15-night Galveston to Rome cruise or Nov. 9, 14-night Barcelona to Galveston sailing take guests trans-Atlantic.

Nine to 12-night Italy, Greek Isles and Turkey cruises sail from Barcelona from May through August, and Venice from late August through October. From Barcelona, Serenade of the Seas will alternate 12-night Mediterranean Greek Isles and Mediterranean Venice itineraries, the latter featuring an overnight in Venice. From September, Serenade will homeport in Venice and alternate 10-night Greek Isles and 11-night Greece and Turkey itineraries. A 16-night trans-Atlantic cruise from New Orleans to Barcelona sails on Apr. 26.  Vacationers also can choose a nine-night eastbound sailing from Barcelona to Venice on Aug. 27 and a 10-night westbound return on Oct. 27.

Splendour of the Seas will homeport in Venice for its entire Europe season and alternate seven-night Greek Isles and Greek Isles & Turkey itineraries. The ship will reposition from Sao Paolo, Brazil, to Barcelona for a 14-night trans-Atlantic voyage on Apr. 25, and then start its Europe season with an eight-night Italian Mediterranean and Adriatic itinerary from Barcelona to Venice. Splendour concludes its Europe season with a seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Barcelona on Nov. 15, before returning to Sao Paolo on Nov. 22 on a 15-night westbound trans-Atlantic itinerary.