Royal Caribbean cancels another cruise ship stop in Labadee due to local protests

Posted on 23 January, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean has decided to cancel today’s scheduled stop for one of its cruise ships at the cruise line’s private destination of Labadee in Haiti due to ongoing protests.

Photo by Michael C.

Navigator of the Seas was scheduled to stop at Labadee on Thursday, January 21, 2016, but Royal Caribbean canceled the port call and withdrew all employees from the site.

This is the second cruise ship to skip a stop in Labadee, after protests prevented Freedom of the Seas from allowing its guests to go ashore earlier this week.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean commented further on the situation, “Royal Caribbean has not received any guarantees or assurances that there will not be any protests in the future. If a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee, or we may have to cancel the visit completely.”

In regards to upcoming stops in Labadee, Royal Caribbean noted, “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and are in close communication with local and government officials in Haiti. At this time, we have not made any decisions regarding any additional upcoming port calls to Labadee. The next schedule call is Vision of the Seas, on Sunday, January 24.”

New photos of Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas

Posted on 20 January, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

photos by Jad Estuaire.

Royal Caribbean has released the latest construction photos of Harmony of the Seas from the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. Even though the huge 227,000 gross ton vessel looks complete on the outside there is still lots to do inside.

All the interior spaces are being put together so that guests first walk onboard this May they will feel the WOW factor. Crew members are starting to set up their departments and get the ship ready for sailing.

Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas will be the line’s third Oasis class cruise ship and she is launching in Spring 2016, but already, people are getting really excited about this new ship.

Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas construction almost half complete

Posted on 20 January, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean’s next Quantum class cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, has reached a construction milestone that brings it one step closer to entering service.

Royal Caribbean Australia & New Zealand shared this photo of Ovation of the Seas to show that she is almost half way to being completed.

It has been thirteen months since the steel cutting ceremony took place and if all goes well, she will be ready for conveyance down the River Ems for sea trials in the middle of March 2016.

Ovation of the Seas is under construction at the Meyer Werft ship yard in Papenburg, Germany. Ovation of the Seas will be debuting in April 2016 and will be offering cruises in Asia and Australia.