Royal Caribbean International has announced its new Wonder of the Seas will homeport at Port Canaveral beginning November 2022, according to a press release.
The Wonder will sail seven-night itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from the port.
Destination highlights include Cozumel, Mexico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and each cruise will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay.
“We’re very proud to have Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas homeport here, and we look forward to welcoming her next fall,” stated Capt. John Murray, Port CEO. “This is terrific news for our entire Port community and another endorsement of our commitment to excellence in providing a world-class experience for our cruise guests.”
After a 21-month operational pause, the Grandeur of the Seas is resuming service for Royal Caribbean International today. The vessel is also launching a new program for the company that features Barbados as a new homeport.
Sailing from Bridgeport, the Vision-class ship is now offering a series of island-hopping itineraries throughout the Southern Caribbean and Latin America.
The program includes new ports of call for the Royal Caribbean, with itineraries ranging from seven to 14 nights.
For its first cruise, the Grandeur is offering the “Southern Caribbean Explorer” itinerary that features calls in Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia, in addition to three new ports: Scarborough, Tobago; Port of Spain, Trinidad; and Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Another itinerary offered is the “ABC Caribbean Adventure Cruise” featuring Grenada, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, Trinidad and one day at sea.
In January, a longer 14-night cruise also includes stops in Central and South America, with calls to 11 ports, including Limón, Costa Rica; Colón, Panama; and Cartagena, Colombia.
The vessel is the third in the series of six ships and entered service originally in 1996. Built in Finland, it has a capacity for 1,950 guests and 74,140 tons.
In 2012, the vessel underwent a major bow-to-stern revitalization. During the five-week-long, $48 million drydocks, the Grandeur received venues first introduced on Oasis-class ships, including new dining options such as the Giovanni’s Table Italian trattoria and the Park Café casual eatery.
The ship’s seven-deck Centrum atrium was also transformed into a chic and lively new space that features an array of daytime activities, as well as unique nighttime entertainment with high-flying aerialists.
The Grandeur of the Seas is the first of three ships that are resuming service for Royal Caribbean International in December.
On Dec. 16, the Brilliance of the Seas is set to welcome guests back for a series of cruises departing from Tampa, while, on Dec. 23, the Enchantment of the Seas resumes service in Baltimore.
With the three vessels returning, Royal Caribbean will close out the year with 20 of its ships back in revenue service.
Independence of the Seas in Southampton Photo Credit Spacejunkie2
How full are Royal Caribbean Group’s cruise ships?
The company reported on Friday that ships in its core deployment regions in the third quarter saw a load factor of 44 per cent occupancy.
Despite the low load factor, the company said that those ships were cash flow accretive excluding start-up costs.
Total revenue per passenger cruise day was up 12 per cent versus record levels seen in 2019 based on strong onboard revenue performance.
The company said in its third-quarter earnings release it hopes to ramp up to load factors of 65 to 70 per cent during the fourth quarter and expects ships in the fourth quarter will be cash flow accretive even when including start-up costs.
By the end of the year, the company expects that 50 out of 61 ships will have returned to service, representing almost 100% of core itinerary capacity and approximately 80% of worldwide capacity.
The remaining ships are expected to return by the spring of 2022 and return to historical load factors in the third quarter of 2022.
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