23 ships that could be laid-up, sold or scrapped

[Jimbo]

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'm still trying to figure out how The Points Guy became an authority on the cruise industry.  

 

As a million miler on a U.S. airline I'm very familiar with the site but it never bothered with the cruise industry until recently.  Recently there have been a number of click bait type cruise articles on it.

All you need is a computer and key board =  Expert

[twangster]

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

All you need is a computer and key board =  Expert

 

Plus an abundance of time when your main gig falls apart. 

 

Gotta drive site traffic somehow.  Click bait titles work wonders for driving ad revenue from site traffic.

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, EatonDoolittle said:

That would give a bit more useful life to the oldies (Majesty, Empress, Pacific Princess), as they can comfortably fit into the Havana harbor and existing dock. 

The Cuba "premium" Majesty and Empress enjoyed was already fading before sailings there were cancelled - that was one of the main reasons it was worth while keeping those ships (and because the others could make money elsewhere). Even if they were to resume, not sure RCI would use those two ships - they have newer/"better" ships in Vision class to use on that route.

[CruisingJoe09]

17 hours ago, JAMESCC said:

For he life of me I can't understand I can't understand why Empress is still in the Royal Caribbean fleet and it's up in NJ here for part of the year. Not to sound like a snob but no way I would even contemplate sailing on that ship.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 

I initially thought that myself but on 2nd thought, given how small Empress is, she can do a lot of unique itineraries so if possible, I think it would be worth keeping her around post COVID. Majesty is actually the ship that is kinda superfluous in the fleet at this point, I'm not really sure what purpose she serves any more.

 

As for her being in NJ, she's an add on to the NJ ships, it's not like she's replaced one of the mega ships. And let's not try and pretend that NJ isn't lucky with the ships deployed there - Oasis, Freedom and Anthem all porting there at some point in 2021.

[yogimax]

3 hours ago, gcelkk said:

So sad to miss my back to back on Empress in May.  Wow, to miss docking downtown instead of the navel yard in Bermuda.  I love Empress for the unique itinerary’s and great crew.

 

Majesty is a pretty cool ship also.  My favorite is the deli.  Just a short set of steps up over the buffet, it never seems to be busy.  We plan a trip to New Orleans just to sail her again.

We were on one Empress cruise that docked at the three ports, Hamilton, Naval Yard and St. George.

[twangster]

I really enjoyed my 2019 Empress cruises.  Great little ship.  Plus she was retrofitted with hand washing stations in the WJ so from a health perspective she's a step ahead of many ships.

[NancyIL]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

I really enjoyed my 2019 Empress cruises.  Great little ship.  Plus she was retrofitted with hand washing stations in the WJ so from a health perspective she's a step ahead of many ships.

 

I really enjoyed your Empress trip reports!

[WeMissSeaView]

I sailed on the Empress last November out of Miami.  The last time I sailed on her before that was 26 years earlier in 1993 when it was the Nordic Empress.  Yes, she is old and small and very few balcony rooms.  She does have a charm and beauty about her.  I am scheduled to be on her next year out of Montreal if she is still sailing.

[chengkp75]

I read the list, and it looks like he was just listing old ships, without any regard to financial status of the company, condition of the ship, demand for the ship, or any other reason.

 

Typical ship histories show that at age 15 a ship starts to accumulate significantly higher maintenance costs, particularly with having to start doing drydocks every 2.5 years instead of every 5 years with a diver inspection in between, and with the statutory additional inspections done during these dockings after 15 years (more steel thickness testing and resultant steel renewal).  How long a company keeps a ship after 15 years is dependent on their own business model, and the level of investment in the ship.

 

RCI does have 3 times the debt/equity ratio of the other two major cruise lines (NCL and Carnival), so that can be a large consideration in fleet size, and also as noted before, the level of investment the line has recently put into the ship.

[Ought To Be Cruising]

On 6/24/2020 at 3:51 PM, WeMissSeaView said:

I sailed on the Empress last November out of Miami.  The last time I sailed on her before that was 26 years earlier in 1993 when it was the Nordic Empress.  Yes, she is old and small and very few balcony rooms.  She does have a charm and beauty about her.  I am scheduled to be on her next year out of Montreal if she is still sailing.

I am glad to see this post,  I tried to book the Empress for  next OCT. I believe . Montreal to San Juan.  But reading this thread so far... I don't know... they can't use my deposit from a cancelled cruise until they have my FCC #. which may take 3 months. I still think we may give her a try. We were on the Majesty in Feb.  and the cabin was small  but we did fine.

[LXA350]

9 hours ago, New Mexico 8 said:

I am glad to see this post,  I tried to book the Empress for  next OCT. I believe . Montreal to San Juan.  But reading this thread so far... I don't know... they can't use my deposit from a cancelled cruise until they have my FCC #. which may take 3 months. I still think we may give her a try. We were on the Majesty in Feb.  and the cabin was small  but we did fine.

 

The itinarary is really special, compensates the old ship. You need to follow over the next months what will happen, I guess if they decide to get rid of Empress this anouncement would be made rather sooner or later, after which you will know if the cruise can happen.

[cruiserking]

I don't think Royal will be in a big hurry to sell the Empress. She is a unique ship with a great following. Empress can easily sail into smaller ports around the world. 

 

Particularly coming out of this Covid-19 pandemic I think smaller ships will be a lot more appealing. We were supposed to have boarded Empress today for 7-night cruise to Bermuda. Porting in Hamilton and St. George is a unique experience and one that I hope is still available to book aboard this classic, elegant little liner.

 

Jonathan 

[Yorkvillain]

We were supposed to have boarded Empress today for 7-night cruise to Bermuda.

Same here.

[homedepot124]

We were also suppose to be on Empress today leaving for Bermuda.  This was to be our second week of back-to-back on Empress to Bermuda.  Our first week was originally suppose to be Canada and New England but it was changed to Bermuda. 

[yogimax]

All sorts of problems with Empress...

 

1. Really small cabins (c. 100 square feet).  If beds are together, one person has to climb to the bottom of the bed

    to get out in the middle of the night.

2. No balcony cabins (except the few that are labeled as Junior Suites.)

3. No D, D+ lounge or event.

4. No "bells or whistles."

4. Probably very fuel inefficient.

 

In addition, do you remember what happened when RCCL brought her back from Europe?  They had to cancel weeks of cruises because of mouse infestation in the galleys.

 

Having said that, I will miss her as she was one of the first ships we sailed.

[Midwestgal]

If they get rid of all the smaller ships what would they use for Port of Tampa? 
I’m not sure what ships are the right size for that port.

[NancyIL]

41 minutes ago, Midwestgal said:

If they get rid of all the smaller ships what would they use for Port of Tampa? 
I’m not sure what ships are the right size for that port.

 

The Radiance-class ships can sail from Tampa. Hopefully a few of those will remain. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by NancyIL

[Milwaukee Eight]

22 minutes ago, NancyIL said:

 

The Radiance-class ships can sail from Tampa. Hopefully a few of those will remain. 

Sailed on Brilliance out of Tampa twice. Fog can be an issue. 

[John&LaLa]

Tampa, like Baltimore, is easily replaced with better ports only a few hours away

[Midwestgal]

22 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Sailed on Brilliance out of Tampa twice. Fog can be an issue. 

 

22 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Sailed on Brilliance out of Tampa twice. Fog can be an issue. 

Oh okay. I’m actually not familiar with that class of ship. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

2 hours ago, Midwestgal said:

 

Oh okay. I’m actually not familiar with that class of ship. 

Radiance Class. 

[cruiserking]

On 6/29/2020 at 1:56 PM, Yorkvillain said:

 

Same here.

 

I am constantly imagining where we'd we be had Empress sailed.

 

Sipping cocktails on that beautiful aft deck gazing at the pastel buildings on Front Street as the sun sets over the turquoise sea. 

 

How about you?

 

Hope Empress is cruising to Bermuda next June so we trade these couch dreams for the real deal.

 

Jonathan

[Yorkvillain]

I am constantly imagining where we'd we be had Empress sailed.
 
Sipping cocktails on that beautiful aft deck gazing at the pastel buildings on Front Street as the sun sets over the turquoise sea. 
 
How about you?
 
Hope Empress is cruising to Bermuda next June so we trade these couch dreams for the real deal.
 
Jonathan

Ugh. We were just talking about that earlier. We would be docked in Hamilton right now. HAMILTON! Not the Royal Naval Dockyard. The main reason we booked it.

Maybe next year if the Empress is still with us.

[TravelinGert]

On 6/23/2020 at 7:27 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Because she was returned to Royal specifically to sail to Cuba and they are holding out hope that she can resume those sailings after November. 

 

I really hope they get to resume sailings to Cuba. I really want to go but my husband says he'd only feel comfortable with a cruise there, not going to stay on the island for a week.

[livingonthebeach]

P & O just sold Oceana.  

 

"It makes the 2000-built 2,016-guest ship the first "modern" cruise ship sold due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23193-p-o-cruises-has-sold-the-oceana.html