Reducing the RCCL Fleet, Before or After the Start-up?

[Jimbo]

Anyone care to guess and how many ships and which ones?

[CSHS1979]

38 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Anyone care to guess and how many ships and which ones?

 

Everything under 90,000 tons to start

[wolfcathorse]

Monarch arrived at the scrappers in Turkey yesterday. I'm guessing today she is officially dead.

[zekekelso]

Since I don’t think there is such a thing as RCCL after the startup, I’ll put my money on before. Hopefully I’m wrong. 

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, zekekelso said:

Since I don’t think there is such a thing as RCCL after the startup, I’ll put my money on before. Hopefully I’m wrong. 

Interesting!

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, wolfcathorse said:

Monarch arrived at the scrappers in Turkey yesterday. I'm guessing today she is officially dead.

According to our resident expert, she likely has a few days left until the monthly high tide.

[Hoopster95]

10 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Anyone care to guess and how many ships and which ones?

 

I had an idea several years ago, posted it a few times on threads like this...

RC's theme is family cruising on inner-focused mega ships, spend money on board and not on shore, etc. Who cares about the ports... the ship is the main draw. The itinerary is consideration #22 on the list after dining options, lounges, types of suites, entertainment, etc etc etc etc. Any ship class under Voyager Class does not fit at all with what RC has been selling to the public for years. It's all about Oasis Class, Q Class and Icon going forward.... with Navigator/Mariner doing the cheapo 3/4 day "booze-cruises" that Majesty/Monarch did for years. Now Voyager Class take over as the less modern ships and much older sisters to the bigger girls in the fleet. 

 

How's this for a bold statement:

Empress, Majesty, Vision, Rhapsody, Grandeur & Enchantment either sold or scrapped (gone and no longer part of RCG)

All Radiance Class ships transferred/sold to a subsidiary, ie. like a restructured Pullmantur. (still part of RCG)

 

No more Vision or Radiance ships whatsoever in the new fleet.

It's all about how many ships, (and people $$$$$) can fit into CocoCay and Labadee on the same day.

[UKWLDCruise]

Or enough ports declare bans for large passenger number carrying ships and the big boys are all redundant apart from ferrying people to and from Coco Cay and Labadee.  No one really knows and the way they are all losing money the idea that the companies  we know won't be around much longer is not that wild.

[Ashland]

9 hours ago, zekekelso said:

Since I don’t think there is such a thing as RCCL after the startup, I’ll put my money on before. Hopefully I’m wrong. 

Sorry...I disagree that RCI will be gone...However the list that Hoopster95 gave is interesting.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Have to agree with Hoopster 95 , and I can see RCL leaving Europe and just leave Celebrity to take up the slack 

[cgolf1]

21 minutes ago, Airbalancer said:

Have to agree with Hoopster 95 , and I can see RCL leaving Europe and just leave Celebrity to take up the slack 

 

Good luck getting families going on Celebrity. We are mid 40s and on our first Celebrity cruise on the Edge, their ship targeting a younger customer base, I would guess 80 to 90% of the people onboard were older than us, and not just by a couple of years. We liked the experience, but it doesn't have all the fun stuff RCCL has to keep the kids and families happy. They would need to rebrand Celebrity to get families on there.

Edited July 15, 2020 by cgolf1

[NordicPrince]

RCG - The thought of it wounds the heart. 

 

Good bye to the wonderful history of Royal Caribbean.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Good luck getting families going on Celebrity. We are mid 40s and on our first Celebrity cruise on the Edge, their ship targeting a younger customer base, I would guess 80 to 90% of the people onboard were older than us, and not just by a couple of years. We liked the experience, but it doesn't have all the fun stuff RCCL has to keep the kids and families happy. They would need to rebrand Celebrity to get families on there.

If you are doing a EU cruise you may have 1 or 2 seadays , and you don’t need all the silliness that they have on  RCL ships 

I would choice Celebrity 100% of the time if the prices are close 

[Another_Critic]

9 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

Empress, Majesty, Vision, Rhapsody, Grandeur & Enchantment either sold or scrapped (gone and no longer part of RCG)

 

No more Vision or Radiance ships whatsoever in the new fleet.

 

Which excludes RCI from embarkation or debarkation at Baltimore and Tampa without major bridge reconstruction or port relocation.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Another_Critic

[livingonthebeach]

One thing is for certain - this crisis has totally broken RCI's existing business model.  They are scrambling to stop the bleeding and exploring where the risks and opportunities lie.  In this highly disruptive environment, decisions regarding individual ships, will likely occur when they get a better handle on how they are going to hit the reset button and reinvent themselves for the long term in a post-pandemic world. 

 

This thread back in April discusses some of the ships that were already on the chopping block:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruising89143]

10 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

I had an idea several years ago, posted it a few times on threads like this...

RC's theme is family cruising on inner-focused mega ships, spend money on board and not on shore, etc. Who cares about the ports... the ship is the main draw. The itinerary is consideration #22 on the list after dining options, lounges, types of suites, entertainment, etc etc etc etc. Any ship class under Voyager Class does not fit at all with what RC has been selling to the public for years. It's all about Oasis Class, Q Class and Icon going forward.... with Navigator/Mariner doing the cheapo 3/4 day "booze-cruises" that Majesty/Monarch did for years. Now Voyager Class take over as the less modern ships and much older sisters to the bigger girls in the fleet. 

 

How's this for a bold statement:

Empress, Majesty, Vision, Rhapsody, Grandeur & Enchantment either sold or scrapped (gone and no longer part of RCG)

All Radiance Class ships transferred/sold to a subsidiary, ie. like a restructured Pullmantur. (still part of RCG)

 

No more Vision or Radiance ships whatsoever in the new fleet.

It's all about how many ships, (and people $$$$$) can fit into CocoCay and Labadee on the same day.

I agree with the above comment 100%.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Which excludes RCI from embarkation or debarkation at Baltimore and Tampa without major bridge reconstruction or port relocation.

 

No biggie.  Easily replaced with nearby ports.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

No biggie.  Easily replaced with nearby ports.

 

Says the person with 3 "drive-in" ports.  😀

[John&LaLa]

10 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Says the person with 3 "drive-in" ports.  😀

 

Technically it's 4😉

But they are all close to 2 hours or more away now that we are in Central FL

 

So you're in SE PA, is that Philly or one of her suburbs?

Wouldn't that make Cape Liberty more convenient than Baltimore.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

So you're in SE PA, is that Philly or one of her suburbs?

Wouldn't that make Cape Liberty more convenient than Baltimore.

 

In the sub-suburbs.

 

Baltimore is ~90 minutes.

Cape Liberty is 2+ hours, more traffic, higher tolls, and much higher parking fees.  Doable, but I like to have other drive-able options.

 

But for those in the mid-Atlantic, Baltimore is basically the only port within reasonable distance, other than the limited [non-RCI] sailings from Norfolk.  Of course people are capable of adapting to the new reality if they chose to.

[John&LaLa]

5 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

In the sub-suburbs.

 

Baltimore is ~90 minutes.

Cape Liberty is 2+ hours, more traffic, higher tolls, and much higher parking fees.  Doable, but I like to have other drive-able options.

 

But for those in the mid-Atlantic, Baltimore is basically the only port within reasonable distance, other than the limited [non-RCI] sailings from Norfolk.  Of course people are capable of adapting to the new reality if they chose to.

 

Personally, I'd choose Anthem over Grandeur any day, and twice on Sunday.

 

Lived in Mid Atlantic around 7 years. DC suburbs. Never cruised from Baltimore. Just made more sense to fly to Florida. 

A couple of times it was Tampa😉

Edited July 15, 2020 by John&LaLa

[Another_Critic]

9 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Lived in Mid Atlantic around 7 years. DC suburbs. Never cruised from Baltimore. Just made more sense to fly to Florida. 

A couple of times it was Tampa😉

 

I haven't been on a domestic flight since 2012.  My last 3 transatlantics ended at Cape Liberty.  🙂 

 

My drive-able ports have consisted of Norfolk, Baltimore, Philly, Cape Liberty, Manhattan, and Quebec City.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Another_Critic

[John&LaLa]

35 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

I haven't been on a domestic flight since 2012.  My last 3 transatlantics ended at Cape Liberty.  🙂 

 

My drive-able ports have consisted of Norfolk, Baltimore, Philly, Cape Liberty, Manhattan, and Quebec City.

 

Our TA drives to Miami from Ontario.😉😱

 

I prefer to fly when it's more than 8 hours, but a family of four can be pricey

[Lady Hudson]

Cape Liberty adds at least one hour travel each way for us.  Traffic can be awful, tolls are very expensive.  And parking is more expensive too.  Pleasant drive to Baltimore for us and less expensive.  The port is a snap to drive in and out of — unlike Cape Liberty.  Of course we will sail from Cape Liberty if it is our only choice not to fly.  My understanding - the Philly port has been closed to cruise ships for many years.  My final trip from Philly was on the Celebrity Horizon.  Katherine

[zekekelso]

6 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Which excludes RCI from embarkation or debarkation at Baltimore and Tampa without major bridge reconstruction or port relocation.

 

Just a thought... what would happen if one of the older cruise ships "accidentally" crashed into the bridge. Ship sinks, so you don't have to scrap it, maybe there's even some insurance, and the bridge gets rebuilt taller, or not at all. Everybody wins !