Europe’s Royal Mediterranean

Posted on 16 April, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Mediterranean Deployment

Eight ships are set to sail in Europe next year

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

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.

Royal Caribbean Int’l reducing Europe deployments

Posted on 25 March, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean Int’l reducing Europe deployments

By Johanna Jainchill

Royal Caribbean International will reduce its ships deployed in Europe next year to eight, down from 12 in 2012.

This year, the cruise line will operate nine of its 22 vessels on the Continent; 2014’s one ship reduction will be the Vision of the Seas, which will operate in Northern Europe this year but not next. Royal Caribbean has not yet announced the vessel’s 2014 deployment.

In Europe next year will be the Liberty of the Seas, the Navigator of the Seas, the Serenade of the Seas and the Splendour of the Seas in the Mediterranean, and the Independence of the Seas, the Adventure of the Seas, the Brilliance of the Seas and the Legend of the Seas in Northern Europe.

Next year’s Northern Europe cruises opened for booking this week; the line’s Mediterranean cruises go on sale March 28.

Celebrity invests in New York

Posted on 12 March, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Celebrity invests in New York

By Tom Stieghorst

*Insight Having finished the Solstice-class shipbuilding program, Celebrity Cruises has pivoted to focus on yields.

Typical is the campaign unfolding in the New York area, one of 10 urban centers where the demographics match up well with Celebrity’s pitch for “modern luxury.”

To goose sales while moving rates upward, Celebrity is making its presence known in multiple ways. It has a list of 1,500 agents in the New York area it will be contacting to get better acquainted.

Representatives have been attending targeted events, such as the New York Wine Expo earlier this month.

Through May 31, Celebrity is offering area agents a bonus commission for sailings of six nights or more of $200 for a suite and $75 for balcony cabins, plus $100 onboard credit for clients. And starting next week, Celebrity will conduct a sales blitz with the goal of face-to-face contact with 750 New York area agents. *TomStieghorst

“We’re going to be out for a full week,” said Celebrity’s Northeast sales manager Sheri Pasternak. “We won’t see our families, but it’s all good,” she said.

With three sales reps for New York, northern New Jersey and Long Island, Celebrity normally keeps in touch with 300 to 400 area agents. For the March Madness push, Pasternak is getting help from a sales team flown in from Miami for the week.

To capture agents’ attention, there will be extra commission incentives, giveaways, mystery caller contests, and consumer offers exclusive to the New York area.

“It’s kind of something new for us, that we’re trying,” Pasternak said. “We don’t have the kind of dollars that our sister company Royal [Caribbean] has for TV, so we’re really doing more local efforts and truly laser-focused.”

The push continues in April, Pasternak said, with “lunch n’ learn” sessions in three or four northeastern cities.

Sailing options from New York will increase this year with the year-round debut of Norwegian Breakaway in May. That month, Celebrity Summit starts a summer of sevem-day New York-Bermuda cruises, the same route offered by Breakaway.

“We’re up against some hefty competition, and we understand that,” Pasternak said.

But she thinks the time is right for Celebrity’s “modern luxury” branding to break through.

“Even though we’ve had it for a year and a half, its now just starting to resonate with the consumer,” she said. “So we’re going to continue that even more so, and really get the price that we deserve.”