If Royal has to reduce it's Fleet, which ships will be first to go?

[Jimbo]

Anyone have any views on this?

 

Majesty, Empress.........any others?

Edited May 23, 2020 by Jimbo

[wolfcathorse]

They'll keep one or both of the smaller ships in case Cuba opens up again. But the Vision class will go, followed by the Radiance class. Problem is, to reduce your fleet you have to have buyers, and the fleet is too well maintained to send them to the scrap yard.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Rhapsody, it is old , not in great shape 2-1/2 years ago 
not good flow on the ship 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, Airbalancer said:

Rhapsody, it is old , not in great shape 2-1/2 years ago 
not good flow on the ship 

Looking forward to our Rhapsody B2B cruise, March 2021. 

[LXA350]

With COVID-19 the end of Majesty and Empress seems to have come. Should Cuba open up again in the next years you still have the Radiance Class that could be used or alternartively such cruises will only be possible through AZAMARA or SILVERSEA.

 

For the timebeing we will see Majesty and Empress be in cold layup and once the ships can be sold RCL will take the oprotunity to do so, or even i no choice they might get scraped.

[Doug & Linda]

Sad but true.....Rhapsody is listed on the market currently....https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1997/cruise-ship-2417-passengers-stock-no-s2509-3024096/

 

[wolfcathorse]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:47 PM, LXA350 said:

With COVID-19 the end of Majesty and Empress seems to have come. Should Cuba open up again in the next years you still have the Radiance Class that could be used or alternartively such cruises will only be possible through AZAMARA or SILVERSEA.

 

For the timebeing we will see Majesty and Empress be in cold layup and once the ships can be sold RCL will take the oprotunity to do so, or even i no choice they might get scraped.

I thought the Radiance class was too big for Cuba, that's why they used Empress and Majesty, port size constraints

[Yorkvillain]

Sad but true.....Rhapsody is listed on the market currently....https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1997/cruise-ship-2417-passengers-stock-no-s2509-3024096/
 

A listing on that website means nothing.

[Ourusualbeach]

6 minutes ago, Doug & Linda said:

Sad but true.....Rhapsody is listed on the market currently....https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1997/cruise-ship-2417-passengers-stock-no-s2509-3024096/

 

They have had at least one of the vision classes ships listed in there for years. 

[Ourusualbeach]

They said 8 ships for RCCL. Not sure if that includes Pullmantur 

 

Majesty, Empress, possibly 3 Vision class and a couple Celebrity.

 

While I know the Radiance class is popular I wonder how expensive they  are to maintain  with their gas turbine engines.  If they have or are coming up upon expensive maintenance then I could see them being sold before the Vision class.Celebrity’s Millennium class  is the same design. 

[TMLAalum]

Please not the Empress! I really want to sail on her in October 2021!

[Jimbo]

29 minutes ago, Doug & Linda said:

Sad but true.....Rhapsody is listed on the market currently....https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1997/cruise-ship-2417-passengers-stock-no-s2509-3024096/

 

Did you notice the price of Raspsody was dropped to half price on May 28th? Guess they really want to get rid of it....

Edited May 31, 2020 by Jimbo

[mugtech]

I predict Grandeur will be gone in 2021.

[cgolf1]

Whatever class the Brilliance is, I really hope that they keep those. That was probably the best laid out ship we have been on. It is tied at the top of our list with 2 other ships for the best we have sailed!

[mworkman]

I don’t see them selling radiance class..Alaska and Southern Caribbean has been serviced by this class ship until this year.

[BND]

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

I predict Grandeur will be gone in 2021.

Wow.  You have the gift lol.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

Whatever class the Brilliance is, I really hope that they keep those.

She is part of Radiance class.

[Cruise a holic]

I think the smaller and older ships would be the first to go-  Royal should keep all ships, Freedom and above.

 

We were disappointed with the Explore class.   Most of the new "younger" crowd  who enjoy sailing, might prefer all of the bells and whistles of the newer ships.  While retaining some of the features of the older ships.  IMO best for multigenerational travelers.

 

Just my opinion, others might differ.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Cruise a holic

[Hoopster95]

Any ship in the range 25 years old will be closing in on being retired, sold or transferred. The most recent removed from RCL (Sovereign 21 years, Monarch 22 years, Splendour 21 years, Legend 22 years, and Grandeur 25 yrs old next year) were all around that age. Majesty was all but gone as well with the announcement it was being transferred to Pullmantur in 2015 (at 23 yrs of age), however plans changed when Cuba itineraries announced. Both Empress & Majesty are immediately goners imho in this new world we live in.

 

As a frame of reference, Voyager of the Seas first cruise was November 1999! She's 20 years old.

 

RCL over at least the last 10 years have been focusing on family cruising, opening up their ships to the masses to increase revenue & market share. Nothing about Vision or Radiance Class fit what RCL has been trying to sell, and likely will continue to sell in the near future. Those of us wanting the Vision/Radiance Class experiences of 2000-2004 need to look at Azamara, Oceania, Virgin and the like.

 

In the not too distant future (5 years'ish?), I feel that the only ships running for RCL will be Voyager Class and larger. Jewel is the youngest of the Radiance Class ships, built in 2004. In 2029 she'll be 25. If anything, a couple of Radiance Class ships may be kept in the fleet that long to do specific itineraries (just like Empress and Majesty were doing 2 years ago to Cuba).... perhaps Baltimore & Vancouver for example.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Hoopster95

[pcur]

On 5/23/2020 at 12:45 PM, davekathy said:

Looking forward to our Rhapsody B2B cruise, March 2021. 

I agree.  We love the Rhapsody.  I wonder if they do (per the link to the sales ad), which ship will replace her out of Tampa?

Edited May 31, 2020 by pcur
Saw the ad to sell the Rhapsody

[cruisnfool]

I think covid will change the thought process of ship size. I think people will choose smaller ships. Personally why they are beautiful ships I think the days of 5900 passengers is gone. I would like to see ships between voyager, radiance and quantum classes.

[orville99]

IMO, the old, small ships will all eventually go. Any ship going into "cold" layup will never sail under the RCL banner again. Vision class will be first active ships to disappear, followed by radiance class. I also expect that RCL will begin replacing these ships with newbuilds that have similar vertical profiles (so RCL can continue to service popular markets like Baltimore, Tampa, Alaska, and European, but they will be both longer and wider to allow for capacity and amenities found on their larger ships.

[LXA350]

35 minutes ago, cruisnfool said:

I think covid will change the thought process of ship size. I think people will choose smaller ships. Personally why they are beautiful ships I think the days of 5900 passengers is gone. I would like to see ships between voyager, radiance and quantum classes.

 

It depends if you refer to smaller ships such as found on Azamara or Silversea, which is a different price category or the offering on RCL for instance. Here you are at the end better of on a full Oasis Class ship (Harmony, Symphony and currently still Allure) as these ships have a more modern design and offer more square foot space per pasenger compared to the Voyager Class, especially after all the dry docks where capacity has been increased by a few hundred guests u o public spaces.. But I do personally think the Oasis Class is already too big and that anything more than the Quantum Class in passenger capacity is too much.

[John&LaLa]

53 minutes ago, pcur said:

I agree.  We love the Rhapsody.  I wonder if they do (per the link to the sales ad), which ship will replace her out of Tampa?

 

Tampa might be a casualty.  It's not like there aren't 3 other departure ports available for that market 

[John&LaLa]

43 minutes ago, cruisnfool said:

I think covid will change the thought process of ship size. I think people will choose smaller ships. Personally why they are beautiful ships I think the days of 5900 passengers is gone. I would like to see ships between voyager, radiance and quantum classes.

 

Royal thinks the opposite, much more for folks to do on big ships. They've even said they are cheaper to operate on a per capita basis.

 

I do understand the lure of the small ship, but I really don't think that's a viable plan