Tag Archives: Oasis of the Seas

Royal Caribbean ‘could base Oasis-class ship in Mediterranean’

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Royal Caribbean ‘could base Oasis-class ship in Mediterranean’

By Jane Archer

Royal Caribbean International has refused to rule out basing one of its mega Oasis-class ships in the Mediterranean when a third vessel launches in 2016.

The line’s president and chief executive officer Adam Goldstein refused to discuss plans for the new vessel, dubbed Oasis 3, but said the cruise line was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the reaction to Oasis of the Seas’ micro-season in the Mediterranean next autumn.

Oasis, which holds 6,400 passengers when full, will be operating two five-night cruises from Barcelona and a seven-night voyage from the Spanish port to Rotterdam in September 2014. It will be the first time an Oasis-class ship has sailed in Europe.

Oasis returns to Port Everglades in Florida on a 13-night cruise from Rotterdam on October 14, also embarking passengers at Southampton on October 15.

Speaking today at a steel-cutting ceremony for Oasis 3 at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France, Goldstein said bringing Oasis to Europe had been an ‘experiment’ but demand had been ‘quite promising’.

He added: “We always felt demand would be high but we needed to do it in real life to be sure. We are offering attractive itineraries so we already feel we have the ports we need for Oasis to operate in Europe.”

Because of its size, Oasis will fit into a limited number of ports. The five-night Mediterranean cruises will call at Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Naples, while the seven-night voyage to Rotterdam stops at Malaga and Vigo in Spain. Goldstein confirmed 2015-16 itineraries would be revealed in early 2014.

The keel for Oasis 3 will be laid at the end of April 2014, with delivery set for spring 2016. The 227,700-ton ship will hold 6,360 passengers when full.

Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain refused to comment on planned features but said the new ship will be ‘fundamentally’ the same as Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

It will be the biggest cruise ship built at STX’s St Nazaire shipyard, where Queen Mary 2 was built a decade ago.

Royal Caribbean brands transatlantic sailings as Ocean Voyages

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Royal Caribbean brands transatlantic sailings as Ocean Voyages

By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean International has created a package called Ocean Voyages for its seasonal repositioning cruises across the Atlantic.

The cruise line calls Ocean Voyages “a collection of special sailings that offer unique onboard programming, new shore excursion packages and unbeatable value.”

Ocean Voyages will be offered on 11 ships, including late 2014 crossings of Oasis of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas.

Cruises will include a guest expert, who will lead a line-up of entertainment programming and activities, spotlighting topics such as culture, dance, film, visual arts, photography, wines and cuisine. Each Ocean Voyage will include a Black & White Masquerade Party.

Ocean Voyages offer what Royal calls a “prix-fixe” menu of three popular shore excursions at each port of call, customized to the itinerary. Examples include a tour of the side-by-side calderas in the Azores, or Teide National Park in the Canary Islands. Prices will start at $99.

To promote the new product, Royal Caribbean is offering a free premium beverage package on 13 select sailings for individual balcony and suite bookings between Sept. 11 and Oct. 15. Vacationers must ask for option code SPV3 to receive the offer.

RCCL overcoming negative media coverage of cruising, says Fain

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RCCL overcoming negative media coverage of cruising, says Fain

By Jerry Limone
_ Richard FainDespite the “unrelenting pressure of a deluge of negative publicity” on the cruise industry this year, things are looking up, said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Speaking during RCCL’s second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Fain said the company is overcoming what he called “the CNN effect” of media scrutiny on events that have occurred this year, including fires on the Grandeur of the Seas and Carnival Triumph and the Carnival Dream stalling.

Negative coverage “clearly hurt our bookings, and unfortunately to a greater extent than we originally understood,” Fain said.

The company’s net income for the second quarter was $24.7 million, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million in the same period a year earlier.

The company managed a profit despite the Grandeur fire in May, which resulted in the cancellation of six cruises. Royal Caribbean estimated that the financial impact of the Grandeur incident was about $11 million in the second quarter (an approximate $11 million hit is expected for the third quarter, too).

An unexpected noncash charge of about $15 million also was a second-quarter setback. The charge occurred because the company needed to readjust liability in its affinity credit card program.

Still, Royal Caribbean was profitable, and Fain credited robust onboard spending, effective cost control and the performance of its largest, newest ships — the Oasis and the Allure of the Seas.

Looking ahead, Fain said that bookings for the rest of 2013 and 2014 are ahead of where Royal Caribbean was at this time last year, in terms of load factor and pricing.

The company is still dealing with the effects of negative publicity from incidents in the industry that occurred earlier this year, Fain said, including “competitive pricing.”

However, he added, “We can already see indications that [the media coverage] factor is waning, and this is most encouraging going forward.”

Addressing concerns about cruise safety, Fain said, “I think most of you understand that the recent incidents in our industry are an aberration from an otherwise exemplary safety record over many decades.”