Empress of the Seas to Leave RCI Fleet

Hi Everyone !

Royal Caribbean has announced that Empress of the Seas will be leaving the Fleet, to join Pullmantur. Her last sailing for Royal Caribbean will be on March 7, 2008.

Here is a link, if you would like to read the details : http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=977813&highlight=

Not a surprise as this was discussed as a possibility last month. She will be a perfect fit for Pullmantur.

Here is the article that was posted on Seatrader this morning.

http://www.cruise-community.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=11503

I will be sorry to see her go; but the writing was on the wall from what I have been reading. I thought the Empress was an amazing ship. I wonder if they will replace her with another, since she is the only one with 7 itinerary cruise to Bermuda.

So much for the Bermuda 7 day cruises which dock in Hamilton and St. George. Oh well it's a sign of the times.

booooooooooooo:(

Knew it was coming as well, but that is a shame.

Hope they do replace her with another smaller ship for the 7 day in Bermuda.

I don't want to do bigger ships that dock for a in dockyard for a 1 1/2 days

ugh, I was just researching her and the member reviews for a bermuda cruise, she still held up a 4.4 rating at that age!!!!!! Impressive. Well, we'll have to adjust as always, afraid I won't get to sail her before transfer:( What a loss

How sad. That was the first ship I sailed on. It might have been small but they treated you like a Princess the whole time.

:( Just when I fell in love with cruising, too. Empress will be gone and now I'm seeing on other threads that they may be pulling Grandeur out of Baltimore. That leaves Baltimore and Norfolk with brand new cruise port facilities with no ships sailing out of them except for a very few Carnival 6-day Bahama trips and cruises to nowhere from Norfolk, according to the websites for those ports.

Bermuda is my destination of choice since I used to live there. I, too, hope that RCI will be coming up with something to fill the gap. I was getting ready to buy my 100 shares of RCI stock but maybe I'll hold off for a while. No sense in having the stock if there aren't any cruises for me to take.

Sorry to see her go. I sailed her in 05 and thought she was a beautiful & very classy ship! Sure wish they would have brought her back to Tampa year round instead........:(

I must agree with all the Bermuda posters here, just a wonderful port of call, my favorite. We sailed another line (Radisson at the time) over there, which was terrific. Also agree that docking at the West End (as the bigger ships must, I've heard) is not optimal. Empress and other smaller ships can dock right in Hamilton, that's far better.

I would think this market would be able to have enough demand for some smaller, newer ships, but I guess I'm wrong. We were lucky to be able to sail Seven Seas Navigator to Bermuda the last summer she sailed there, and at what we thought was a great price.

This is so sad. Not all of us are lovers of mega ships! Makes you wonder who's in charge of marketing when all they build is bigger, bigger and yet bigger! There are some small islands left that only small ships can get into -- guess RCI has no interest in them. And I notice the stock is taking a hit today!

This is so sad. Not all of us are lovers of mega ships! Makes you wonder who's in charge of marketing when all they build is bigger, bigger and yet bigger! There are some small islands left that only small ships can get into -- guess RCI has no interest in them. And I notice the stock is taking a hit today!

While I, like you, prefer ships smaller than the latest generation of vessels, the economies of scale apparently dictate that the major lines continue building larger and larger ships and to date, they do a pretty good job of filling them and attracting more people to cruising. The marketers must be doing something right since overall profits are up and aside from a soft Caribbean market, the rest of their cruises are reported to be selling quite well. I suspect that the announcement about the Empress played a very minor role, if any, in today's stock performance. If you have watched the stock over the past years you will have noticed that it is quite volatile but has climbed considerably over the past few months, and even with the hit it is taking today, is better than it was only a few weeks ago.

Boo-Hiss, :mad: Empress of the Seas will always hold a very special place in our hearts. She is a terrific ship and the crew is fantastic. I hope they replace her with another small ship, we are not fans of the mega ships.

:( Just when I fell in love with cruising, too. Empress will be gone and now I'm seeing on other threads that they may be pulling Grandeur out of Baltimore.

What threads? I know RC's pulled the April 19 '08 repositioning off the website but I have only been getting conjecture about what's been going on but I'm curious to read more.

Thanks for posting the information Andy. It will be interesting to see what they propose for similar itinerary and accomodations. We have had a deposit on the 11 night April 08 sailing since October. And unfortunately, I have cancelled that credit card, so moving it to a new cruise would be preferred. :D

Oh man, this breaks my heart!

I put together a little group cruise every 2 years; have done both eastern and western Caribbean, Panama Canal, and was planning the next one for early 2009 on Empress for her "Exotic 10 day Southern Caribbean." I saw the ship in Bermuda, when I sailed on my last transatlantic voyage, where I chatted with a passenger aboard her, who was 100% positive about this little ship; the outstanding service, atmosphere, etc.

Wonder who RCCL will now use for the southern Caribbean? Anyone know if the Brilliance size class of ships can get into these small ports? And if these larger ships will have to tender everywhere?

Gosh, I am almost tempted to book a cruise on Empress for 2008!

So sad!

This was the very first ship I sailed on! Did 2 bermuda trips on her, loved them!

But this is a sign of the times, instead of booking Empress for our May cruise to Bermuda, we booked Explorer instead.

Hope they'll bring in another small ship for those 7-day cruises to Bermuda (docking at inside ports).

Sad to see the ship go.

But it will have much higher popularity in the Spanish market then in the American market. (Much lower standards for cruising since it's newer there)

Maybe the "Empress" name will be given to one of the new Genesis-Class ships.

I am sad to see the Empress leaving, we really wanted to book the exotic Caribbean cruise, we sailed on her when she was the Nordic Empress, and so enjoyed it.

Boo-Hiss, :mad: Empress of the Seas will always hold a very special place in our hearts. She is a terrific ship and the crew is fantastic. I hope they replace her with another small ship, we are not fans of the mega ships.

She will always hold a very special place in our hearts too.

At least we will get to sail her one more time in November.

And, I had the pleasure of meeting you and Lori on her in December of 2004 and we still chat on here. :D

I also wish they would add a smaller ship to the fleet.

<P><IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/mad.gif" border=0 smilieid="8"> <IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/mad.gif" border=0 smilieid="8"> I have been waiting, and waiting for the 2008 summer itineraries for Bermuda to come out.   Now I see that RCCL is leaving the fleet.  <IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/eek.gif" border=0 smilieid="9"> <IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/eek.gif" border=0 smilieid="9">  Does anyone know if they will still sail from Philly to Bermuda with another ship??  <IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/confused.gif" border=0 smilieid="10"> </P>

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Never sailed on her but its always sad to see an older ship sold off to another line. I am a fan of the megaships, but I also enjoy the feeling of a smaller ship, I think Sovereign was a good size, but it was our first cruise, so of course it was perfect ;) . I think something between the size of Radiance and Voyager with maybe a 'mini promenade' would be just right!

I wonder if this means Sovereign's days are numbered, I can't immagine them putting another $35 million into her being 19 years old and it has been almost 3 years since her last refurb :( .

Sorry, I don't know what happened to my last post. Here it is again.

I have been waiting and waiting for the 2008 summer itineraries for Bermuda to come out. Now I see that Empress is leaving the fleet. Does anyone know if they will still sail from Philly to Bermuda with another ship???? Thanks.

Sorry, I don't know what happened to my last post. Here it is again.

 

I have been waiting and waiting for the 2008 summer itineraries for Bermuda to come out. Now I see that Empress is leaving the fleet. Does anyone know if they will still sail from Philly to Bermuda with another ship???? Thanks.

Royal Caribbean hasn't announced it, but I would not be surprized if they put Grandeur doing 7 night Bermuda cruises out of the Northeast since Explorer will already be covering 5 night Bermuda and 9 night Caribbean iteneraries out of Bayonne.

I too will miss this ship. My one and only cruise was almost 12 years ago when she was known as Nordic Empress. She got me hooked on cruising, unfortunately I have not been able to take any cruises since due to limited time and funds (3 kids will do that to you). I was hoping to take another cruise on her, but I guess that won't happen. I most remember her 9 story atrium with sculpture and waterfall, and the 2 story dining room with a view at the back of the ship. We had an inside cabin on deck 9 towards the back, just one flight up to the pool/lido deck. I hope she has many more years to come with Pullmantur (still in the RCI family anyway).