ThirdGenCruiser

I was on from Cape Town to Barcelona, but to be honest I think I was too exhausted from the back-to-back-to-back port days to notice the vibe change after Rome 😴. But the ship was certainly much more busy after Ravenna compared to the African segment before. The Rome to Barcelona 9-night sailing was among the shortest of the 17. Perhaps this short length didn't help? I mean think about the difference between a regular 3 vs 7 night cruise. I do wonder what the ambience would have been like for the other 9-nighter between Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Personally, I'd like the next world cruise to still allow booking a portion of the full itinerary. Could the solution be to have longer (but fewer) sailings overall?

This week on the Serenade of the Seas Ultimate World Cruise, CEO Michael Bayley suggested 2026 or 2027 for a South Pacific Royal Beach Club - possible connection with Lelepa? Refer 36:06:

Yes, all of Segment 3's minis except for the first sailing (starting in Cape Town instead of Dubai). I wasn't ready to leave in Barcelona, but also thankful to catch up on some much needed sleep (with only one sea day between June 17th to July 10th and the rest being port days). 🙂

So many great bartenders on the UWC (for the four sailings I was on for). Not only Reynold, but also Yongki, Melanie, Lester, Jeanevic, Kadek and Czar. All of them would see me coming and know what I was about to order 😁.

I recently visited Dakar in Senegal on Serenade of the Seas last month without arranging a visa in advance. Pre-cruise, I also came across conflicting information about Visa requirements for Australian citizens. Neither the Senegal Embassy in Tokyo or CIBTvisas (suggested by RCI customer outreach) could clarify since they never responded to my enquiry. Once onboard, Serenade guest services said that as an Australian citizen I did not need to organise a visa for Senegal. I was able to get off the ship in Dakar, no problem. Phew! It is worth mentioning that the Africa West Coast was not Serenade's originally advertised itinerary and some cruisers were already onboard prior to the change (as it is a world cruise).

Oh, interesting. I guess it must be a late show then to cater for both early and late seating diners.

I have seen reports that there are only 700-800 guests onboard for the current Dubai to Cape Town sailing. If true that must be one spacious ship! 🙂

Fortunate to have sailed aboard (the original) Legend of the Seas when it repositioned from Australia to Hong Kong in 2016. As for reusing retired ship names for new builds... that could make for confusing discussions among past cruisers! E.g. 'How was the Legend's ice show?', 'Uhh... what ice show?' 😆

For the upcoming Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise that will sail up the west coast of Africa (northbound), at an onboard meeting it was said that some of the countries will require the YFV to be allowed on shore (those with exemptions would stay onboard in places that do not recognise them). However, the exact countries were not disclosed. You may like to watch it yourself as someone kindly uploaded this meeting YouTube (10:23 to 11:06):

@Tatra603 This video from on onboard town hall meeting discussed Visas (5:27 to 7:29): TL;DR: the ship will organise visas for Ghana, and for other countries it is case by case where guests should reach out to Royal Caribbean to discuss individually.

@Chiliburn Regarding Africa, Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise has changed course (sailing May/June 2024). Previously: 18 nights Dubai to Athens via Suez Canal 11 nights Athens to Istanbul 13 nights Istanbul to Ravenna Now: 18 nights Dubai to Cape Town 24 nights Cape Town to Ravenna The revised UWC itinerary as at 1 March was: Since then, the UWC has switched Ivory Coast with a second port in Ghana due to strict visa and vaccine requirements. Ghana requires visas for all guests and all onboard must be vaccinated against yellow fever (even if not getting off the ship). I am not sure that Anthem or Voyager would call at Ghana and Ivory Coast because of this.

By the way, should the title of this discussion be 2025/26 season?

@Chiliburn

Itineraries originally shared by @Jumping Cruiser in the 2025-2026 RCI deployment discussion: Voyager from Brisbane: https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/Australia/VY_2025-2026_Australia_Deployment Anthem from Sydney: https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/Australia/AN_2025-2026_Australia_Deployment

Speaking of Fiji, it would be cool if Royal Caribbean would call there during the 2025/2026 season (or beyond).

At least a change of ship would mean a chance to see different production shows. I'd take Adventure over Voyager but only because I've previously sailed on the latter!

Cancellations incoming for previously booked shore excursions in the ports the ship will no longer be visiting. Also, I noticed that the cruise planner is showing most of the new ports (but existing excursions - new options aren't expected until April, IIRC). May 27 (previously Athens) sailing is currently showing: Day 2: Cruising Day 4: Walvis Bay, Namibia Day 5-6: Cruising Day 7: Luanda, Angola Day 8-9: Cruising Day 10: Takoradi, Ghana Day 11: Abidjan, Ivory Coast Day 12: Cruising June 7 (previously Istanbul) sailing is currently showing: Day 3: Dakar, Senegal Day 4-5: Cruising Day 6: Tenerife, Canary Islands Day 7: Cruising Day 8: Gibraltar, United Kingdom Day 9-10: Cruising Day 11: Corfu, Greece Day 12: Bari, Italy Day 13-14: Ravenna, Italy

For those not up to date in the main UWC thread, the winning alternative itinerary is Immersive Africa. This means the original Istanbul embarkation is off the table. See the following link for the new third quarter segment itinerary, Ultimate Africa & Med: https://edocs.rccl.com/guestdocs/edocs/email/royal/UWC_SEG_3.pdf Cruisers booked on the cancelled mini segments may be able to sail around Africa, but details are yet to be communicated. In an email from Royal Caribbean earlier today regarding the affected June 7th Istanbul sailing, they said: You’ll receive a communication by Friday, March 1st with all of your options, including one that has been highly requested, joining us on an Immersive Africa cruise – more to come on that! Friends and family pricing has been published for two sailings, one Dubai to Cape Town (18 nights) and the other Cape Town to Ravenna (24 nights). I can only presume that Dubai to Athens bookings will be able to do Dubai to Cape Town. For Cape Town to Ravenna it is not as clear because this new 24 night sailing replaces two back-to-back cruises, 11 night Athens to Istanbul and 13 night Istanbul to Ravenna. Hopefully this gets clarified in their March 1st communication.

As a mini segment cruiser, I have received this email from Royal Caribbean (emphasis mine): Regrettably, we can no longer offer the original itinerary you initially purchased for your Serenade of the Seas June 7th, 2024 sailing. We understand this is not an ideal situation, and we’re truly sorry for the impact this unexpected situation has on your vacation plans. The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, so we’re working through some alternate options that we hope will work for you and those in your party. You’ll receive a communication by Friday, March 1st with all of your options, including one that has been highly requested, joining us on an Immersive Africa cruise – more to come on that!

@GenSteve I am on that mini segment, as well as the (cancelled) one before it. Here is what RCI's cancellation email said regarding the Istanbul sailing: "Additionally, as we are still working through our itineraries with our Ultimate World Cruise guests, we’ll have more information for our June 7th, 2024 sailing in the coming weeks."

That may be true. Having said that, of the proposed two itineraries shown to those onboard (see post by suzyluvs2cruise), Immersive Africa has the overnight stop in Cape Town coloured in blue, the same as Dubai and Ravenna. As Dubai and Ravenna are ports where one sailing ends and the next begins, this leads me to believe Cape Town will be offered as a start and end point for individual sailings ... if Immersive Africa itinerary is voted in.

I am booked on several B2B sailings including the cancelled May 27th one and my email about the cancellation said: "Additionally, as we are still working through our itineraries with our Ultimate World Cruise guests, we’ll have more information for our June 7th, 2024 sailing in the coming weeks." The two options given to cruisers onboard, I understand only one of the options (Immersive Africa, aka scenic route) would result in total cancellation of the June 7th cruise. The other option (Africa & Greece) would retain the Istanbul departure on the same date, but with an itinerary change to include Egypt. Reading between the lines, if Africa & Greece itinerary wins then I presume you won't be cancelled. EDIT: But what I don't understand is why RCI hasn't given any indication of whether affected cruisers will have the option to do all or part of Africa based on their original booking. Assuming Immersive Africa wins, the overnight in Cape Town would line up with the originally planned overnight in Greece where one sailing was to end and the next one would have started. What RCI should do in my opinion (but no indication that they will) is offer to those booked on Dubai to Athens to sail Dubai to Cape Town. For those booked on Athens to Istanbul to Ravenna (B2B), RCI should invite them to sail Cape Town to Ravenna. But for guests originally booked to embark or depart at Istanbul (i.e. not B2B) it becomes more complicated as it looks like two cancelled sailings will merge into one extra long sailing.

What I do not understand is that at least one cruiser who was booked on multiple affected mini sailings did receive an offer to sail the African itinerary - see post 3979. Best of luck @Tatra603, keep us updated how things go. 🙂 To those currently onboard, let this not discourage you from continuing to document your journey around the world 😁.

Fortunately that one is already booked 😁. I did have four sailings back to back, ending in Barcelona. I sent off an email to 'Redeployments & Itinerary Changes' in my country asking about joining the leg starting in Cape Town. Looking at the Immersive Africa option presented onboard, Cape Town to Ravenna would be 24 nights. Fair point about differences in length - just hopefully the nightly rate is comparable.

Interestingly, someone on another site who says they are booked on several minis posted screenshots of their cancellation email and their Option 1 was: "Stay with us on the adjusted itinerary to be announced on February 27th" with originally booked stateroom and US$300 onboard credit. Whereas my Option 1 is "Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing". 🤔 I'm not sure if this other person's minis include both Dubai and original Athens embarkation - for me I was supposed to get on in Athens (for 4 sailings).