Deployment Schedule 2016-2017. Let the guessing begin

[bigeck]

I found it interesting that Celebrity announced their deployment schedule early booking period on October 8th, 2014, a full month prior to their November 11 th first deployment opening for sale for loyalty members.

 

The order of Celebrity deployment was also interesting with Europe out first, followed by Alaska, Bermuda and Canada/NE. They then went with Australia, Panama Canal, South America and Galapagos, followed by Asia and then lastly their Caribbean sailings over the period of 5 weeks.

 

I have wondered if early booking statistics from Celebrity were being shared with RCI prior to the deployment of RCI ships.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Multi_Dest/Flyers/14040978_CEL_Deployment_Open_Schedule_2016_2017.pdf

 

I'm sure Royal opened them up to C&A members first the last few years

[shipfriend_max]

I am not sure what to read through the only RCI bookings at Hong Kong. They have not booked Voyager's turn-around cruises , but have the few bookings for Legend over the year, with May 2016, October 2016 and April 2017 booked.

 

http://www.kaitakcruiseterminal.com.hk/schedule/

 

Very interesting! Thank you!

Seems that Legend seems to sail Australia between May 2016 and April 2017, or more Southern regions in Asia.

But this also implies that she will not spend her summer period in Alaska, when her final call at HongKong is in May 2016 - if she would be transferred to Alaska than, she would not arrive there prior to June, where she would enter the Alaska season quite late...

[Hoopster95]

Retractable funnels?

 

From DEIx15x8's Quantum review, check out his video of Quantum's retracable funnels.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45362919&highlight=retractable#post45362919

[springaussie]

The official announcement for so the called Harmony of the Seas is late February.

Interesting to note Adam Goldstein will be in Australia late February.

Maybe the announcement will be Asia or Oz.

[Hoopster95]

So it seems that the Hawaii sailings might be dropped down, if Radiance will not return to Austarlia - would be sad... :(

 

Really hard to believe... it would be like Copenhagen being dropped one year, and the next year Harwich dropped with no ship going to Norway at all. I give this scenario for Hawaii a zero chance of occuring, so imho there will be a ship going from Alaska through Hawaii to OZ or Asia, has to be :confused:... these sailings always sell at premium rates and rarely have to go "on sale".

 

Maybe some Hawaii round-trips are offered, before Radiance might switch to Caribbean via Panama Canal for her winter season...

 

I thought of this too... how are the Princess sailings doing? HAL does this too. Would this flood the market? I would not do this sailing whatsoever... 9-10 days at sea with only 4-5 days in port in Hawaii. Horrible itinerary imho

 

Is MadFlyer indicating maybe Voyager??

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Really hard to believe... it would be like Copenhagen being dropped one year, and the next year Harwich dropped with no ship going to Norway at all. I give this scenario for Hawaii a zero chance of occuring, so imho there will be a ship going from Alaska through Hawaii to OZ or Asia, has to be :confused:... these sailings always sell at premium rates and rarely have to go "on sale".?

 

Maybe the idea that Radiance was leaving Oz was just a big rumor? And the ships in Alaska will be the same as the upcoming 2015 season?

[shipfriend_max]

Maybe the idea that Radiance was leaving Oz was just a big rumor? And the ships in Alaska will be the same as the upcoming 2015 season?

 

 

Could well be also...

I also think it would be a loss if the Hawaii sailings were dropped down fully... :(

And in the past there have been a lot of rumors which became not true at the end...

But regardless of whether Radiance will leave Australia or not: I see her doing Alaska again in 2016, and Jewel as well.

 

Hoopster95, yes I thought about sailings similar to those of Princess.

But I also like the one way cruises more, since the ratio between days at sea and days at Hawaii is quite better, IMHO.

 

 

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[Life is Good Cruising]

If Bermuda gets her ports dredged thn there is a good chance on seeing Anthem in Bayonne for summer of 2016, if not then expect another ship to replace her.

 

Nothing officially announced yet, but it's very likely that Anthem (or even Ovation) will sail from Cape Liberty in summer 2016...

 

 

IMO, if Bermuda doesn't dredge I see Anthem leaving Bayonne and going off to China and Liberty coming back to Bayonne.

[shipfriend_max]

IMO, if Bermuda doesn't dredge I see Anthem leaving Bayonne and going off to China and Liberty coming back to Bayonne.

 

 

I personally see Anthem sailing from Ft Lauderdale than, and Independence coming to Cape Liberty.

Liberty otS, however, surely stays in Galveston year-round... ;)

 

 

 

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[OfTheSeasCruiser]

IMO, if Bermuda doesn't dredge I see Anthem leaving Bayonne and going off to China and Liberty coming back to Bayonne.

 

Both Anthem and Quantum going to China?! I think that's a bit of a stretch!

Edited February 11, 2015 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[Ethanol95]

Both Anthem and Quantum going to China?! I think that's a bit of a stretch!

I agree. This would seems to ectreme in imo for RCI to drastically change again. Even if they did, it surely won't last long cause i'm pretty sure the Chinese market for demand will slow over a few years with many new ships in Asia. Not just from RCI but other brands as well. It may be supplying too much for a demand of half of what it's planning to give.

[springaussie]

Maybe the idea that Radiance was leaving Oz was just a big rumor? And the ships in Alaska will be the same as the upcoming 2015 season?

 

 

The name Radiance of theSeas has started appearing more in port schedules in the Oz NZ area over the last few weeks.

Interesting article on the Voyager Class deployment in the South Island New Zealand.

Maybe Radiance is staying now..

http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/66035762/south-island-cruise-ship-calls-in-jeopardy

[geoff2802]

The name Radiance of theSeas has started appearing more in port schedules in the Oz NZ area over the last few weeks.

Maybe Radiance is staying now..

 

 

Yes, I see she is listed in Port Chalmers (Dunedin NZ) for 6 visits, the first being Nov 16 2016 and the last April 15 2017. First Sydney call is listed as Oct 9 2016. I think she's coming back to Sydney for at least another season.

The Oz, NZ and Transpacific itineraries usually sell at good yields. I also think she will do Alaska again in 2016.

 

There are still a series of apparent decoy entries are still in the Sydney port schedule, under the name of Explorer, Voyager and also Celebrity Solstice (Oct 2016 while she is actually away in Asia for drydock). At least one entry for Radiance is also suspect, showing a call at Sydney on April 2, conflicting with a call at Dunedin on April 1. As you've pointed out previously, they appear to be for an additional Royal ship. My money is still on Quantum, but I'm unsure how many ports in the area can accommodate a ship of this size. Sydney OPT now can. Does anyone know which other Oz/NZ ports can?

 

 

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[shipfriend_max]

No idea which ports can accommodate Quantum, but I am pretty sure that ports which can handle Voyager Class are also able to accommodate Quantum...

 

Do you have any links for the other cruise lists of Dunedin, Port Chalmers, etc?

 

My money for the other additional ship joining Australia is on Navigator.

She is expected for Europe in 2016, and surely will be transferred to Asia and Australia after her Europe season. Similar to Explorer, I guess.

 

 

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[geoff2802]

Here is the link to the Port Otago schedule. This port (or part of it) is also called Port Chalmers and serves the city of Dunedin.

http://www.portotago.co.nz/6/2.html

The extra ship coming to Oz (if this comes to pass) may well be Navigator as you say. We sailed on her from Galveston last June - loved the Flowrider. [emoji4]

 

 

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[shipfriend_max]

Here is the link to the Port Otago schedule. This port (or part of it) is also called Port Chalmers and serves the city of Dunedin.

http://www.portotago.co.nz/6/2.html

The extra ship coming to Oz (if this comes to pass) may well be Navigator as you say. We sailed on her from Galveston last June - loved the Flowrider. [emoji4]

 

Thank you for the schedule - I have also found Port of Fremantle's ship schedule and Radiance and Explorer, as well as Voyager are expected to call there in late 2016 and 2017... [emoji4]

 

I also think the next ship joining Australia/NZ will be Navigator - seems the Voyager Class ships are doing quite well on the Australian cruise market... [emoji5]

[Mass2Cruise]

Just want to throw out there that Anthem is showing on the St Maarten schedule every other Monday throughout the summer of 2016. But then again, we saw this with Q and then look what happened. Guess they plan on keeping Anthem in Cape Liberty long term!

[geoff2802]

Thank you for the schedule - I have also found Port of Fremantle's ship schedule and Radiance and Explorer, as well as Voyager are expected to call there in late 2016 and 2017... [emoji4]

 

 

 

I also think the next ship joining Australia/NZ will be Navigator - seems the Voyager Class ships are doing quite well on the Australian cruise market... [emoji5]

 

 

Yes, they are popular. The only problem with the Voyager class ships is that they are too big for many of the South Pacific islands. Of course Q would also have this issue. These islands are small with only basic facilities and tendering is required. Radiance or Vision class ships are needed for these itineraries. The Voyagers are great on the cruises to NZ and around the Australian coast though, with plenty to do on board.

 

 

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[shipfriend_max]

Yes, they are popular. The only problem with the Voyager class ships is that they are too big for many of the South Pacific islands. Of course Q would also have this issue. These islands are small with only basic facilities and tendering is required. Radiance or Vision class ships are needed for these itineraries. The Voyagers are great on the cruises to NZ and around the Australian coast though, with plenty to do on board.

 

Yeah, I could imagine - if I would plan an Australia/NZ cruise, I'd also book Voyager-Class, or Solstice [emoji5] - or maybe Radiance...

 

Ok, there we have it, for the South Pacific Islands, smaller ships are needed - yes, surely Legend would be the ship used for Pacific Island cruises, but I also think the very popular Radiance-Class would be needed as well for those cruises - so I'd be wondering if she really left the Australian waters...

 

@Mass2Cruise: You are right, Anthem is calling in the same pattern in 2016 as Liberty in 2015, so the lust implies that Anthem is due to sail from Cape Liberty regularly (or maybe even Ovation, but for me, Anthem seems to be more logical).

Independence, however, is appearing on more and more European ports in 2016, so maybe Independence otS, listed at St. Maarten in summer 2016, will be replaced by another ship (Ovation, for example) soon.

 

Or a completely different idea :D: Ovation on the 7-night-runs from Barcelona, Indy and Navi from Southampton, and all three Oasis Class ships sailing from Florida in 2016 - two from Ft. Lauderdale, one from Pt. Canaveral...

[woodscruise]

Voyager had some traditional life boats installed during the Singapore drydock, and I would expect Explorer will have the same, my question is does Navigator and Quantum have the lifeboats come tenders.

[royzer76]

Really interesting to read all your thoughts on what will happen.

 

Really liking the 'indy back to uk/europe' thoughts.

 

She was the first ship I sailed on, so do have a soft spot for her and the 'Freedom Class' ships.

 

After sailing on Oasis last October we were not blown away by 'Oasis Class', we are however sailing on Allure in October this year and this will probably be our last on this class of ship.

 

As for 'Quantum' I don't really have a burning desire to sail on one of these ships, especially at the prices they want out of the UK. Not sure what it is - they just don't appeal to me at all.

 

So yeah I am all in favour of getting Indy back in the UK, so fingers crossed you guys got this right.

 

Thanks for the updates ... keep em coming.

[royzer76]

Here's the link

 

http://www.gibraltarport.com/cruise/schedules

 

As follows;

Gibraltar 2016

 

Apr 29th Brilliance

May 8th Anthem

17th Indy

June 7th Indy

21st Indy

July 13th Navigator

19th Indy

27th Navigator

Aug 2nd Indy

10th Navigator

16th Indy

30th Indy

Sept 7th Navigator

21st Navigator

22nd Indy

Oct 18th Adventure

20th Brilliance

26th Allure

 

Looks like Allure will do a summer on the Med again

 

Do you think this suggests that Anthem is on her way somewhere but not the UK again? This stop in May would be almost at the end of a TA Eastbound wouldn't it?? Looks like her last Caribbean sailing ends on 30 April. Then a TA leaving that day??

[shipfriend_max]

Really liking the 'indy back to uk/europe' thoughts.

 

She was the first ship I sailed on, so do have a soft spot for her and the 'Freedom Class' ships.

[...]

 

As for 'Quantum' I don't really have a burning desire to sail on one of these ships, especially at the prices they want out of the UK. Not sure what it is - they just don't appeal to me at all.

 

So yeah I am all in favour of getting Indy back in the UK, so fingers crossed you guys got this right.

 

I am the same opinion as you, that Quantum Class does not really impresses me - I also don't know why, maybe the fact that they do not really fit into the usual RCI lineup... :D

But I'd also like the fact to have Indy or another Freddom Class ship in Europe again - we plan a Transatlantic for spring 2016 and would LOVE to sail on a Freedom Class ship [emoji5], but Voyager Class would also be great - Navigator is also very likely to come to Europe and sail from Southampton.

 

I perosnally think, the Quantum Class ships do better on the US and Asian market, since such passengers seem to demand more for gimmicks such as bumper cars, North Star, RipCord etc...

[Ourusualbeach]

Do you think this suggests that Anthem is on her way somewhere but not the UK again? This stop in May would be almost at the end of a TA Eastbound wouldn't it?? Looks like her last Caribbean sailing ends on 30 April. Then a TA leaving that day??

 

That schedule could also suggest that Anthem is a placeholder for Ovation. Ovation is due out 2'nd quarter of 2016 which May would fall in to.

 

The Caribbean sailings ending April 30 coincide with the start of summer Bermuda sailings.

[shipfriend_max]

That schedule could also suggest that Anthem is a placeholder for Ovation. Ovation is due out 2'nd quarter of 2016 which May would fall in to.

 

The Caribbean sailings ending April 30 coincide with the start of summer Bermuda sailings.

 

That could well be - at the latest in November, two "Anthem of the Seas" show up at St. Maarten cruise schedule, someteimes even at the same day - so one of the two ships called "Anthem otS" must be Ovation otS.

IMHO there are several options than:

-Anthem from Bayonne year-round, or from Ft. Lauderdale, starting May 2016, fitting in for Oasis/Independence otS, departing on Saturdays - Indy back to Europe, however.

-Ovation from Bayonne after her debut, or sailing from Ft. Lauderdale from May 2016 on the 7-night-runs.