empress first 6 sailings canelled

[Merion_Mom]

I did not pay any extra and even got upgrade from inside to OV. Not sure how I managed that after reading all these post.

 

It looks like the prices simply aligned. Apparently not true for poor coaster.

[MattInFLL]

OK, so Marine Traffic shows her still very much parked in Cadiz. Which means none of the crew Facebook posts mean much because clearly whatever is happening is not being communicated to the crew/workers who all thought they were leaving today, and so no one knows nothing. Except Scotty I suppose.

 

 

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Edited March 22, 2016 by MattInFLL

[Expat Cruise]

You need to also look at this from another side. Royal has clearly stated that this ship was being brought back into the line to be use for Cuba, once Cuba is open. The cruises listed and sold really were just holding cruises to keep the ship working. Today Monday Cuba approved Carnivals application to begin cruises starting May 1 from Miami.

 

The Empress is set to go into service one day before that and Royal also has made application for service and it should be approved any day now. Do you think the rest of the cruises will happen? Do you think if the do they will be changed to include Cuba? Or do you think this ship will just go straight into service for the Cuba market?

[Merion_Mom]

OK, so Marine Traffic shows her still very much parked in Cadiz. Which means none of the crew Facebook posts mean much because clearly whatever is happening is not being communicated to the crew/workers who all thought they were leaving today, and so no one knows nothing. Except Scotty I suppose.

 

 

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If they are going to Freeport, they have to time it well. They can't arrive before their scheduled time, because the facility won't be ready for them, and/or RC would have to pay extra to have it sitting there, waiting for its slot.

[LMaxwell]

The Empress is set to go into service one day before that and Royal also has made application for service and it should be approved any day now. Do you think the rest of the cruises will happen? Do you think if the do they will be changed to include Cuba? Or do you think this ship will just go straight into service for the Cuba market?

 

I know the carrier reserves the right to "change itinerary for any reason" but there are many who will NOT visit Cuba, and I think RCI understands that, and so I don't believe the will just flip a switch on people booked for Cozumel and GC, etc., and take them to Cuba.

 

What remains to be seen is what sort of pricing a cruise to Cuba can command. If demand is high and prices are high it is possible you can see cancellations and redeployments with revised itineraries.

 

The way to satisfy guests though is to honor held bookings and clearly there is an issue with the ship because it doesn't stay tied up for free and lost sailings is lost revenue.

 

Interesting questions, and it is fun to speculate, but until anything more is known about why the ship is still in Cadiz we all are just guessing.

[ZoeyVictoria]

I am on the May 28 sailing. I figure I have about a 20% chance of going on the Empress to the Caribbean as planned, a 30% chance of going on the Empress to Cuba, and a 50% chance of being forced to cancel because of changes being made that I can't tolerate. If that happens, I just want more notice than the first group was given.

[MattInFLL]

If they are going to Freeport, they have to time it well. They can't arrive before their scheduled time, because the facility won't be ready for them, and/or RC would have to pay extra to have it sitting there, waiting for its slot.

 

 

Oh for sure. Just saying that trying to read the tea leaves by finding FB posts of crew members is not going to give us the answers... :) They seem just as in the dark as all of us.

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

Oh for sure. Just saying that trying to read the tea leaves by finding FB posts of crew members is not going to give us the answers... :) They seem just as in the dark as all of us.

 

 

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I am thinking that they confiscated everyone's cell phones! ;) :eek: :D

[ZoeyVictoria]

I am thinking that they confiscated everyone's cell phones! ;) :eek: :D

 

I think you may be right. This is 2016, when there is no privacy and there are no secrets; everybody and everything is fair game to be exposed on the Internet. How are they managing to keep such a huge secret from the world?

[undercat]

I think you may be right. This is 2016, when there is no privacy and there are no secrets; everybody and everything is fair game to be exposed on the Internet. How are they managing to keep such a huge secret from the world?

 

Somewhere there must be nondisclosure agreements involved. Some folks may be under NDA, and others simply aren't being told.

 

Scotty knows, though. We know he told us he knows. But does he really know? Or do we?

[Merion_Mom]

Somewhere there must be nondisclosure agreements involved. Some folks may be under NDA, and others simply aren't being told.

 

Scotty knows, though. We know he told us he knows. But does he really know? Or do we?

 

He knew before. Does he know now? ;) :D

[Maybug7]

Surely they won't cancel my cruise a 2nd time....there will be hell to pay!

 

 

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[Cruzin-K]

I know the carrier reserves the right to "change itinerary for any reason" but there are many who will NOT visit Cuba, and I think RCI understands that, and so I don't believe the will just flip a switch on people booked for Cozumel and GC, etc., and take them to Cuba

 

You are right about that. I will not go to Cuba and would be livid if a cruise I'd booked suddenly had an itinerary change that included Cuba. I would be forced to cancel. Maybe someday when I retire from my job, long after the Castro brothers are gone, it will be an option, but not now.

 

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[beachnative]

He knew before. Does he know now? ;) :D

 

Scott's post was like the "Puzzle Room" on the Anthem. If people will gather clues from his message and then look at what is happening in the rest of the fleet they should come up with a conclusion by doing some math.

[Expat Cruise]

You are right about that. I will not go to Cuba and would be livid if a cruise I'd booked suddenly had an itinerary change that included Cuba. I would be forced to cancel. Maybe someday when I retire from my job, long after the Castro brothers are gone, it will be an option, but not now.

 

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Well I strongly believe you will be livid. This is not personal against you but lets look at the facts.

 

1) Royal has applied for the rights to travel to Cuba from the United States.

 

2) Empress was brought back into Royal as a ship for the Cuba Cruises.

 

and then last week at Seatrade Cruise Global these comments were made in a round table about Cuba.

Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd

 

"What [Cuba] will do, and it's already doing in some sense, is create a halo of interest, and as people start to go and talk about Cuba, I think it will raise the Caribbean in total... It adds 2 percent or 5 percent to the supply of places to go, and it will add 10 percent to 20 percent to the demand for cruising."

 

And then these comments:

 

 

Vicki Freed, Royal's senior vice president of sales, trade support and services, recently told a group of travel agents that inventory on the Empress will likely be parceled out month by month.

 

“We’re not going out too far, because we’re waiting for Cuba to open up,” Freed said at a CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. training seminar. “The minute Cuba opens up, we know this is the right-sized ship for Cuba.”

 

 

“As of this moment, the Cuban government has not granted permission for any America-based cruise line to call to Cuba,” said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for RCCL. (This changed yesterday)

 

So you have the CEO bringing a ship back into the line to service the market. You have all three major cruise lines apply to Cuba to do cruises. And you have a senior VP telling travel agents that they should not book to fart out on Empress. That the minute it opens Empress is the right size ship and the only ship of this size in Royal.

 

Do you really think they ave spend millions of dollars just to sit this out? Do you believe they want to let Carnival or Norwegian get a foothold in this market?

 

This ship is going to Cuba as quick as the approval ink is dry.

[LMaxwell]

Well I strongly believe you will be livid. This is not personal against you but lets look at the facts.

 

1) Royal has applied for the rights to travel to Cuba from the United States.

 

2) Empress was brought back into Royal as a ship for the Cuba Cruises.

 

and then last week at Seatrade Cruise Global these comments were made in a round table about Cuba.

Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd

 

"What [Cuba] will do, and it's already doing in some sense, is create a halo of interest, and as people start to go and talk about Cuba, I think it will raise the Caribbean in total... It adds 2 percent or 5 percent to the supply of places to go, and it will add 10 percent to 20 percent to the demand for cruising."

 

And then these comments:

 

 

Vicki Freed, Royal's senior vice president of sales, trade support and services, recently told a group of travel agents that inventory on the Empress will likely be parceled out month by month.

 

“We’re not going out too far, because we’re waiting for Cuba to open up,” Freed said at a CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. training seminar. “The minute Cuba opens up, we know this is the right-sized ship for Cuba.”

 

 

“As of this moment, the Cuban government has not granted permission for any America-based cruise line to call to Cuba,” said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for RCCL. (This changed yesterday)

 

So you have the CEO bringing a ship back into the line to service the market. You have all three major cruise lines apply to Cuba to do cruises. And you have a senior VP telling travel agents that they should not book to fart out on Empress. That the minute it opens Empress is the right size ship and the only ship of this size in Royal.

 

Do you really think they ave spend millions of dollars just to sit this out? Do you believe they want to let Carnival or Norwegian get a foothold in this market?

 

This ship is going to Cuba as quick as the approval ink is dry.

 

Great points with many supporting statements; but what is the revenue gain for them to take those May - August cruises and switch itineraries? At that point just "run what ya got" and then go. I don't think 3 months of Fathom calling every other week is going to cost RCI, or anyone else, the market.

[Merion_Mom]

We're not going to Cuba. ( I am addressing this to my fellow already-booked Empress people)

 

Seriously.

[Big_G]

Great points with many supporting statements; but what is the revenue gain for them to take those May - August cruises and switch itineraries? At that point just "run what ya got" and then go. I don't think 3 months of Fathom calling every other week is going to cost RCI, or anyone else, the market.

 

At the risk of pissing off that many people I'd say you are probably right.

[MADflyer]

Great points with many supporting statements; but what is the revenue gain for them to take those May - August cruises and switch itineraries? At that point just "run what ya got" and then go. I don't think 3 months of Fathom calling every other week is going to cost RCI, or anyone else, the market.

 

The revenue motivation may be the 'restricted visa' travel. If passengers are 'required' to only go ashore with cruise line arranged shore excursions and activities, then the guaranteed revenue on a Cuba sailing will be higher, especially if the ship were to overnight.

 

I do not think that RCI will have any need to change any existing sold itineraries, especially now that they have 'pushed' some of the first 6 sailing's passengers into those sailings by restricting 're-booking' only to Empress sailings through July 2016.

 

I would be more interested to know whether they will sail to Cuba prior to their already planned January of 2017.

[Aquahound]

We're not going to Cuba. ( I am addressing this to my fellow already-booked Empress people)

 

Seriously.

 

Exactly. The embargo is still in place. Cuba is not open to American tourism. A ship cannot just change it's itinerary to include Cuba...not under current laws. Americans still need to meet the approved categories for travel to Cuba, and cruises from the U.S. are going under the humanitarian flag and require volunteer work.

[MommaBear55]

Exactly. The embargo is still in place. Cuba is not open to American tourism. A ship cannot just change it's itinerary to include Cuba...not under current laws. Americans still need to meet the approved categories for travel to Cuba, and cruises from the U.S. are going under the humanitarian flag and require volunteer work.

 

Is this how Carnival got permission? Are they going to require volunteer work? Really am curious, not looking to be argumentative.

[MADflyer]

Exactly. The embargo is still in place. Cuba is not open to American tourism. A ship cannot just change it's itinerary to include Cuba...not under current laws. Americans still need to meet the approved categories for travel to Cuba, and cruises from the U.S. are going under the humanitarian flag and require volunteer work.

 

Cultural Exchange is one of the approved categories, I believe. This could easily be used by any cruise company traveling to Cuba.

 

While President Obama did not go into details in his very eloquent speech to the Cuban people this morning, he did specifically mention changes coming 'immediately' to ease travel restrictions.

[John&LaLa]

You are right about that. I will not go to Cuba and would be livid if a cruise I'd booked suddenly had an itinerary change that included Cuba. I would be forced to cancel. Maybe someday when I retire from my job, long after the Castro brothers are gone, it will be an option, but not now.

 

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How do you feel about Labadee

[FLACRUISER99]

You are right about that. I will not go to Cuba and would be livid if a cruise I'd booked suddenly had an itinerary change that included Cuba. I would be forced to cancel. Maybe someday when I retire from my job, long after the Castro brothers are gone, it will be an option, but not now.

 

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You better not book any cruise that goes anywhere near Cuba then as the cruise contract that you agreed to states that they can substitute any port.

[Expat Cruise]

Exactly. The embargo is still in place. Cuba is not open to American tourism. A ship cannot just change it's itinerary to include Cuba...not under current laws. Americans still need to meet the approved categories for travel to Cuba, and cruises from the U.S. are going under the humanitarian flag and require volunteer work.

 

As of a few days ago:

 

Yes have a President that has a pen.

 

Reported by News Network Fox:

 

"The United States is removing Cuba from its list of countries deemed to have insufficient security in their ports, eliminating a major impediment to free flow of ships in the Florida Straits. The move marks one more step toward normalized relations ahead of President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba.

The shift clears the way for U.S. cruise ships, cargo vessels and even ferries to travel back and forth with much less hassle."

 

"U.S. cruise lines including Carnival are gearing up to start sailing to Cuba as Americans, ... The Obama administration has started giving approval to U.S. cruise lines to operate there, though they need corresponding approval from the U.S. government.

 

Millions of Americans are expected to visit Cuba in the coming years in a sharp increase, although a formal U.S. ban on tourism technically remains in effect."