Tag Archives: Anthem of the Seas

Royal Caribbean opens new terminal in Bayonne

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Royal Caribbean opens new terminal in Bayonne

By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. held a dedication ceremony for a new 125,000-square-foot terminal at Cape Liberty in Bayonne, N.J.

The new terminal is located adjacent to the original 2004 terminal and will serve as the passenger processing center for Quantum of the Seas when it arrives on Nov. 10.

The new facility is the first phase of a $55 million expansion and includes a 950-space parking garage. Bayonne already earns an estimated $500,000 a year from a parking tax inaugurated in 2008.

Cape Liberty Cruise Port Opens New Terminal

PHOTO: Cape Liberty Cruise Port has opened a new terminal to house Royal Caribbean’s new Quantum of the Seas. (File photo courtesy of Cape Liberty Cruise Port)

The first phase of the $55 million port expansion includes a state-of-the-art guest terminal, with 125,000 square feet of check-in, customs and immigration, and luggage-processing space, as well as a 950-car parking structure. The new facility is at 4 Port Terminal Boulevard, adjacent to the first terminal that opened in May 2004. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey have dedicated the second cruise terminal at Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J., which will house the new Quantum of the Seas starting Nov. 10.

Cape Liberty is about 15 minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport and seven miles south of Manhattan. The port has been the year-round home of Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas and seasonal homeport for Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Summit.

Quantum of the Seas will sail to the Caribbean and Bahamas starting in November, but will move to Shanghai, China, in May. It will be replaced by Liberty of the Seas for the summer and then Quantum’s sister ship, Anthem of the Seas, for winter 2015.

Cape Liberty has the second-largest passenger volume among Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coast ports, according to a study titled “The Contribution of the North American Cruise Industry to the U.S. Economy in 2011.” The facilities generate an estimated $500,000 per year to the City of Bayonne and help generate $390 million annually.

Viking Crown Lounge eliminated in Oasis of the Seas renovation

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Viking Crown Lounge eliminated in Oasis of the Seas renovation

By Tom Stieghorst
Oasis drydock October 2014The Viking Crown Lounge on Oasis of the Seas is no more.

A feature of every Royal Caribbean International ship since the 1970s, the Viking Crown Lounge has been remodeled into Coastal Kitchen and a new bar area for suite guests.

The Quantum of the Seas, scheduled to begin service in November, will be the first ship without the space. Instead, Quantum and sister ship Anthem of the Seas will have a North Star observation pod.

On Oasis, as on most Royal Caribbean ships, the Viking Crown Lounge is attached to one of the funnels. The circular space will remain but will be used for a new Suite Lounge and the Mediterranean-Pacific cuisine of Coastal Kitchen, which is also reserved for suite guests.

Royal Caribbean added 10 suites, including two large Grand Suites in the very aft of deck 11, during a dry dock just completed in Rotterdam, Netherlands. But it has also eliminated the midship Royal and Presidential suites on that deck, replacing them with smaller cabins.

New retail names joining Oasis include Kate Spade New York and Michael Kors. A gallery store for pop artist Romero Brito has been added, as well.

Oasis offered three European sailings, its first ever, prior to the dry dock. It will return to Fort Lauderdale to resume Caribbean itineraries starting Oct. 27.

Biggest, newest ships can thrive in Europe, Asia: Goldstein

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Goldstein - 'In the Mediterranean, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the largest ships can be viable and thrive'Goldstein – ‘In the Mediterranean, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the largest ships can be viable and thrive’

Oasis of the Seas turning around in Barcelona this month and Quantum of the Seas going to China next year show that Europe and Asia can handle cruising’s biggest and newest hardware. As Adam Goldstein, president and coo of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., put it: ‘In the Mediterranean, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the largest ships can be viable and thrive.’

When Oasis of the Seas made its inaugural call at Barcelona two weekends ago, it generated three times the media response of anything the company has ever done in the region, Goldstein said. Apart from the publicity, the operations were impressive—a ‘great accomplishment’ by the Port of Barcelona.

‘It clearly shows Europe is capable right now of supporting the biggest ships in the world and the infrastructure exists to support Allure of the Seas for a full season next year,’ Goldstein told Seatrade Med in Barcelona last week. ‘We now have the opportunity to deploy our biggest and best new ships here. This bodes well for the Mediterranean.’

It’s the culmination of a sequence of development. The current Oasis ‘micro-season’ paves the way for Allure’s full season. Going step by step over time gives everyone the chance to acclimate.

‘The infrastructure that exists to handle 6.4m passengers wasn’t here 20 years ago,’ Goldstein said. ‘The fundamental capability to accommodate growth in the Mediterranean is available if there’s adequate planning.’

From a source market perspective, Europe remains ‘a mainstay of the business for us and the industry. We’d all like to see the macroeconomic situation in Europe be better than it is,’ he added. However, the good news is that Spain is showing signs of recovery.

The market is growing, although at a slower rate. ‘We’re able to generate profitability here. It’s really attractive to cruise in Europe. The business is doing well,’ Goldstein told Seatrade Insider during an interview in Barcelona.

Last year cruises in Europe attracted nearly 1m non-Europeans, demonstrating resilience following the global recession.

And Asia is emerging as the third major cruise operating region of the world.

After the recent deal to sell Celebrity Century to China’s Ctrip.com International, it’s too early to tell how the relationship will develop. ‘We’re in discussions to see,’ Goldstein said. ‘They’re already a producer for us. We hope to maintain and build the relationship.’

The fact that Quantum of the Seas will operate year-round from Shanghai is ‘remarkable. It’s an amazing development for the Royal Caribbean International brand and the company to so quickly have one of our newest ships operating in China.

‘I don’t think anybody foresaw something like this,’ he said, adding that just 10 years ago, China was ‘a gray spot on the map’ for the cruise industry.

Next year Royal Caribbean will have four ships there, counting also Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Legend of the Seas.