Fate of Empress and Majesty of the Seas?

[kruzerci]

1 hour ago, johnjen said:

For both, put them on the Bermuda route and/or New England route. Great short itineraries.

 

The short itineraries attract a lot of new cruisers (part of the reason they poured money into Navigator and Mariner and put them on the 3/4 runs). 

 

I probably wouldn’t cruise on Royal Caribbean again if my first impression was Majesty or Empress...

[not-enough-cruising]

52 minutes ago, cruisebot21 said:

Easy - 

Move them both to non-US ports in the Caribbean and continue to do trips to Cuba.

 

 

Unless your passengers are holding a US passport

[cruisebot21]

50 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Unless your passengers are holding a US passport

 

 

With a home port reposition, could passengers not just travel to the Dominican Republic and hop onto a Cuban cruise? 

US citizens used to go on vacation to Canada, but then fly to a Cuban resort.....

 

 

[smplybcause]

46 minutes ago, cruisebot21 said:

 

 

With a home port reposition, could passengers not just travel to the Dominican Republic and hop onto a Cuban cruise? 

US citizens used to go on vacation to Canada, but then fly to a Cuban resort.....

 

 

 

Technically that was illegal unless you fell under the very narrow exception like family visits. I believe the new changes revert back to the old rules, but I'm not certain. 

 

Since Royal Caribbean is headquartered in the US I highly doubt they'd illegally bring US citizens there. 

[wwcruisers]

On 6/5/2019 at 3:39 PM, Merion_Mom said:

I guarantee you that the West Coast would welcome them with open arms.

Yes! Monarch (Majesty's sister) had long and successful run, doing 3&4 niters to Baja, out of San Pedro, California (LA's port), years ago! After years of procrastination, DH and I decided to try one of her 4-night cruises to Cabo, via Ensenada -- over Labor Day '08. We joked that we felt like party-crashers, because so many of the folks onboard already knew each other! Monarch was a very popular ship, back in those days.😁

Edited June 8, 2019 by wwcruisers

[actuarian]

22 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

Yes! Monarch (Majesty's sister) had long and successful run, doing 3&4 niters to Baja, out of San Pedro, California (LA's port), years ago! After years of procrastination, DH and I decided to try one of her 4-night cruises to Cabo, via Ensenada -- over Labor Day '08. We joked that we felt like party-crashers, because so many of the folks onboard already knew each other! Monarch was a very popular ship, back in those days.😁

My wife and I were on several of those cruises on the Monarch before we moved to Florida.  We loved those cruises and we particularly liked the dueling pianos that they used to have on the Monarch (and the Sovereign).  However, there were no California shore to ship power requirements in those days.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, cruisebot21 said:

US citizens used to go on vacation to Canada, but then fly to a Cuban resort.....

With the same restriction as if flying in from the US - you need a visa and declare that you are traveling under one of the 12 OFAC licenses (tourist is NOT one of them).

[IrishComet]

5 Night winter cruise to Canary Islands from Malaga?

[so,ton saint]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:50 PM, Biker19 said:

But that Honda is paid for and the monthly payments on the Benz are really big.

Just look at mv Boudicca 45 years old what a beautiful ship and fits perfect for the smaller ports, even to take the Normandy vets to France.

[so,ton saint]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:50 PM, Biker19 said:

But that Honda is paid for and the monthly payments on the Benz are really big.

Just look at mv Boudicca 45 years old what a beautiful ship and fits perfect for the smaller ports, even to take the Normandy vets to France.

[so,ton saint]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:50 PM, Biker19 said:

But that Honda is paid for and the monthly payments on the Benz are really big.

Just look at mv Boudicca 45 years old what a beautiful ship and fits perfect for the smaller ports, even to take the Normandy vets to France.

[Tapi]

On 6/8/2019 at 7:25 AM, Biker19 said:

With the same restriction as if flying in from the US - you need a visa and declare that you are traveling under one of the 12 OFAC licenses (tourist is NOT one of them).

Support for the Cuban People is still one of the listed licenses. It would require for cruise passengers to have a more detailed and strict schedule of activities ashore, but it would be legal. 

[Biker19]

16 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 It would require for cruise passengers to have a more detailed and strict schedule of activities ashore, but it would be legal. 

The license would be but getting there by ship would not be.

[Tapi]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The license would be but getting there by ship would not be.

Exactly .

 

I’ve asked if the restriction to “private vessels including cruise ships” would apply to a foreign registered ship sailing from a foreign port but which is owned by a US company, but I haven’t found an official and categorical answer to that question. If the answer is yes, I’m then wondering if Americans would be allowed to fly to a non-US port of embarkation and sail from there under the Support for the Cuban people license which is still valid. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Tapi

[John&LaLa]

On 6/6/2019 at 10:50 AM, Biker19 said:

But that Honda is paid for and the monthly payments on the Benz are really big.

 

I was under the impression that they never get paid off, they keep refinancing them to pay for newer tonnage

 

They might also be leasing them back from a holding company.  That's what my last employer did. 

[sherrjo]

On 6/6/2019 at 12:05 AM, Crazy planning mom said:

I agree with what others wrote.

Empress could do summers in Southampton since the Independence was taken away and Winters in Tampa.

No one from the UK wants small ships it would be a kick in the teeth to offer them tue oldest ship in the fleet after removing Indy. Also where would it go that voyager class ships can’t.? 

I wonder why RC doesn’t look at Hawaii trips. 

[itsmeagain]

If they go away, I would love to do the last cruise on both.  Before they started the Cuba runs I was scheduled for the last Majesty cruise.  We did both sovereign and monarchs last cruises and had a lot of fun.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

I was under the impression that they never get paid off, they keep refinancing them to pay for newer tonnage

Their SEC fillings typically shows financing of new ships for about 10 years - I assume most ships older than that are paid off (Oasis might be an exception).

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, sherrjo said:

No one from the UK wants small ships it would be a kick in the teeth to offer them tue oldest ship in the fleet after removing Indy. Also where would it go that voyager class ships can’t.? 

I wonder why RC doesn’t look at Hawaii trips. 

 

Kick in the teeth is better than no options. 

Just ask folks in California 

 

Hawaii requires a ship built in a US shipyard

Only NCL can do that 

[sherrjo]

33 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Kick in the teeth is better than no options. 

Just ask folks in California 

 

Hawaii requires a ship built in a US shipyard

Only NCL can do that 

Why does Hawaii require a US built ship? 

 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, sherrjo said:

Why does Hawaii require a US built ship? 

 

Any ship that operates only between US ports has that requirement (with a few exceptions).

[HBE4]

On 6/6/2019 at 10:09 AM, shipgeeks said:

Add one to Baltimore!  Grandeur always sails full; I imagine there is a market for an additional smaller ship there.

 

This makes perfect sense. Plus, the older clientele that sails from Baltimore will love the smaller, easy-to-navigate "traditional" ship without all those newfangled bells and whistles. 😉

[Saab4444]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Kick in the teeth is better than no options. 

Just ask folks in California 

 

Hawaii requires a ship built in a US shipyard

Only NCL can do that 

Pride of America is built by Lloyd Werft in Germany, she just sails under US Flag. 

[John&LaLa]

42 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Pride of America is built by Lloyd Werft in Germany, she just sails under US Flag. 

 

Not really, her hull was built in Alabama.

She was fitted out in Germany

 

NCL had to get an exemption. Since she was designed and primarily built here, Congress approved 

Edited June 11, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Saab4444]

13 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Not really, her hull was built in Alabama.

She was fitted out in Germany

 

NCL had to get an exemption. Since she was designed and primarily built here, Congress approved 

And Pride of Aloha and Pride of Hawaii? Both German built including hull.