Vision of the Seas sailing from Bermuda starting June 2021

[billslowsky]

If I'm going to pay the airfare to Bermuda, I'll just stay there a few nights instead of paying the cruise fare to go to CoCo Cay...  plenty of nice restaurants and bars in Hamilton and beautiful Bermuda beaches.

 

You fly in - the airport is by St. George's.  Then a surely "economical" cab ride to get to the port basically the length of the island.  This isn't going to be like flying into Ft. Lauderdale.  Then you repeat going home - along with 1,000 others.

[RFerrington]

37 minutes ago, nchusker said:

So I'm wondering what is going to happen with cruises out of San Juan for Nov. 2021. We have one Nov. 6 on Vision to Ft. Lauderdale.

Us, too.  October 30.

[sandebeach]

Hotels in Bermuda are expensive, but Bermuda is a lovely island. Went to Bermuda on Anthem last summer. Hubby didn't get a chance to play golf, so this may be something he is interested in doing. 

[twangster]

6 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Us, too.  October 30.

 

Millie's time in St. Maarten ends at the end of August.  That's possibly trying to keep her post-Alaska cruises intact.

 

Once we see some dates this week we should know more for Adventure and Vision.

Edited March 23, 2021 by twangster

[grandgeezer]

28 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Is it possibly a maneuver by the cruise lines?  Are they telling US authorities that they can no longer wait for the US to permit cruises out of the US and that they will go where they have to go in order to resume business activity.  Doesn’t mean they won’t  be back sailing out of US ports when they can, but in the interim they are saying to US authorities, “It’s now up to you,”

If that’s the case, it’s a situation the cruise lines can’t win. In 2019 almost 49% of cruisers worldwide were from the U.S. The top three busiest cruise ports are in the U.S. Where do you suggest the lines move their ship to and who do you replace a good share of the passengers with? Cruises haven’t sailed from the U.S. in over a year and our economy seems to be surviving. Businesses fail all the time, I think we will survive without them. If the cruise lines are so arrogant and smug that they don’t want to play by our rules, bye, bye.

[BSocial]

49 minutes ago, nchusker said:

So I'm wondering what is going to happen with cruises out of San Juan for Nov. 2021. We have one Nov. 6 on Vision to Ft. Lauderdale.

the Blog article indicates Bermuda home port is only a summer season, from June through August.  

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by BSocial
Clarify

[BSocial]

6 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

If that’s the case, it’s a situation the cruise lines can’t win. In 2019 almost 49% of cruisers worldwide were from the U.S. The top three busiest cruise ports are in the U.S. Where do you suggest the lines move their ship to and who do you replace a good share of the passengers with? Cruises haven’t sailed from the U.S. in over a year and our economy seems to be surviving. Businesses fail all the time, I think we will survive without them. If the cruise lines are so arrogant and smug that they don’t want to play by our rules, bye, bye.

I give credit to them for trying to bring in some revenue!  Sounds like our (US) Government has no real plan or timeline on approving US departures.    

[dswallow]

5 minutes ago, BSocial said:

I give credit to them for trying to bring in some revenue!  Sounds like our (US) Government has no real plan or timeline on approving US departures.    

 

The other problem is apparent the CDC things the Department of Transportation and maybe some other departments are really responsible yet I can't quite remember a single Department of Transportation edict coming out about cruise ships.

 

In other words, the CDC is still recovering and is still somewhat clueless.

 

The reality is that cruise sailings are unfairly being severely restricted compared to any land-based hotel, restaurant, transportation system or entertainment facility. We can only speculate about the why. But none of the speculation says anything good about any of the US agencies potentially involved.

Edited March 23, 2021 by dswallow

[Another_Critic]

I wonder how many Bermuda residents will be up for a boat ride to Coco Cay?

[ILCTCRUISER]

29 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

If that’s the case, it’s a situation the cruise lines can’t win. In 2019 almost 49% of cruisers worldwide were from the U.S. The top three busiest cruise ports are in the U.S. Where do you suggest the lines move their ship to and who do you replace a good share of the passengers with? Cruises haven’t sailed from the U.S. in over a year and our economy seems to be surviving. Businesses fail all the time, I think we will survive without them. If the cruise lines are so arrogant and smug that they don’t want to play by our rules, bye, bye.

Not suggesting anything.  Poising a question.  Cruise lines need US ports.  Merely posing the question:  Is this how cruise lines are positioning themselves?

[dswallow]

3 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Not suggesting anything.  Poising a question.  Cruise lines need US ports.  Merely posing the question:  Is this how cruise lines are positioning themselves?

 

What do you mean by "positioning themselves"?  Right now they cannot sail from or visit a US port, so what is left for them to even do?

[ILCTCRUISER]

2 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

What do you mean by "positioning themselves"?  Right now they cannot sail from or visit a US port, so what is left for them to even do?

I believe they’ve gotten to the point where they’ve decided they’re no longer going to sit on their hands and wait for the US to open up.  They want to restart operations, and they figured out how and where to do so.  Positioning?  They’re making it known they’re open for business.  The Far East and now the Caribbean and Bermuda.  Very limited, yes.  But will others follow suit?

[missingyou]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Excellent!   I am glad to see that Royal has been working away on setting up these homeports.      We have been to Bermuda on several vacations as well as cruises.     Love it!   On the top of our favorite list.   

Last I read Bermuda was going to open back up on July 1st for tourists, but as we all know everything changes on a daily basis.     

Flights are usually not cheap to Bermuda, especially prime summer season.     Hopefully Air2Sea has been working out some deals on flights.

So the ship will be used as a floating hotel at the dock - sounds good to me.     

I agree - we love Bermuda I think this is a great option good for RCI and good for Bermuda.

[Baron Barracuda]

19 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

I believe they’ve gotten to the point where they’ve decided they’re no longer going to sit on their hands and wait for the US to open up.  They want to restart operations, and they figured out how and where to do so.  Positioning?  They’re making it known they’re open for business.  The Far East and now the Caribbean and Bermuda.  Very limited, yes.  But will others follow suit?

kudos to Fain for getting a few ships back in service, but Quantum, Adventure, Vision and Millie only amount to 10% of RCG's total berths (excluding TUI), and they'll be sailing at reduced capacity. So not much help for the bottom line.  Still, it's a start.

 

Unfortunately not much opportunity to expand further.  Difficult logistically for  small ports to service mega ships.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Baron Barracuda

[Sunshine3601]

2 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

kudos to Fain for getting a few ships back in service, but Quantum, Adventure, Vision and Millie only amount to 10% of RCG's total berths (excluding TUI), and they'll be sailing at reduced capacity. So not much help for the bottom line.  Still, it's a start.

 

Unfortunately don't see much opportunity for RCG or others to follow in a major way.    

You forgot Odyssey out of Israel.     And I suspect an announcement about some sailings out of UK or maybe Harmony out of Spain will be released soon.    

Something is better than nothing for their bottom line.

I am confident that sailings will go smoothly since everyone will be vaccinated.    They have to take it cautious and not over do it on setting up new homeports.   Baby steps is the best plan, IMO

 

[LXA350]

1 hour ago, nchusker said:

So I'm wondering what is going to happen with cruises out of San Juan for Nov. 2021. We have one Nov. 6 on Vision to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

It's much to early at this stage, will depend a lot on how the next months will develop with Vaccinations etc, hence by August maybe there will be some clearer perspective on how the fall / winter season might look in terms of crusing.

[Radiioman46]

I view it as a way for these cruise lines to do "test" cruising and verify that the vax only protocol will work. Which may have the added benefit of illustrating to the CDC that this protocol works.  

[martinpj]

4 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

That is a lot of money to spend four days sailing back and forth to Coco Cay.  I thought the St. Maarten  and Nassau sailings were a great idea, but not the Bermuda itinerary.

 

4 hours ago, RosieRoo said:

Just checked a r/t fare from Boston to Bermuda in July and it was $780. for one person. The air will likely cost more than the cruise. 

I see flights for $400 for the month of July.

[martinpj]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

You forgot Odyssey out of Israel.     And I suspect an announcement about some sailings out of UK or maybe Harmony out of Spain will be released soon.    

Something is better than nothing for their bottom line.

I am confident that sailings will go smoothly since everyone will be vaccinated.    They have to take it cautious and not over do it on setting up new homeports.   Baby steps is the best plan, IMO

 

Mexico announcements is what I bet is next

[MADflyer]

13 minutes ago, martinpj said:

Mexico announcements is what I bet is next

Definitely. There are so many Domestic and International regular and charter flights to Cancun. 

[broberts]

5 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

You say interesting, I say frustrating.

 

While I am normally a supporter of the CDC, this is getting ridiculous. They need to let ships start sailing from the US. 

 

What is truly ridiculous is the suggestion that the CDC should abandon its mandate to keep Americans safe.

 

We may agree or disagree with the CDC but ultimately it is the organization legally responsible for minimizing interstate and foreign transmission of infectious diseases.

 

Frankly the constant harping on the CDC stance by many in these forums strikes me as childish and selfish. Surely as adults we can have the patience to wait until it is deemed safe to open up travel? As to the cruise industry, it is not going away anytime soon. When normal travel resumes there will be cruising. There is just too much profit in it for there not to be.

[djjoe]

4 hours ago, billslowsky said:

If I'm going to pay the airfare to Bermuda, I'll just stay there a few nights instead of paying the cruise fare to go to CoCo Cay...  plenty of nice restaurants and bars in Hamilton and beautiful Bermuda beaches.

 

You fly in - the airport is by St. George's.  Then a surely "economical" cab ride to get to the port basically the length of the island.  This isn't going to be like flying into Ft. Lauderdale.  Then you repeat going home - along with 1,000 others.

 

[toad455]

I can see a ship(Anthem) out of the UK and Harmony out of Spain beginning in late June. Then a ship (or two) out of Calica or Cozumel. RCCL could have ten ships sailing this summer.

[djjoe]

Just now, djjoe said:

Long Slow Cab Ride.

By land it's 21.4 miles from airport to Royal Naval Dockyards, almost an hour of expensive cab ride. We have been to Bermuda many times starting with our first cruise in 2004. If you time it right you can taxi to Hamilton, high speed ferry to Dockyards. THe other possibility is taxi to St. Georges and enjoy the long scenic ferry ride to Dockyards. No matter how you figure it, it's basically a trip from one side to the other in Bermuda.

[Mikew0805]

9 hours ago, broberts said:

 

What is truly ridiculous is the suggestion that the CDC should abandon its mandate to keep Americans safe.

 

We may agree or disagree with the CDC but ultimately it is the organization legally responsible for minimizing interstate and foreign transmission of infectious diseases.

 

Frankly the constant harping on the CDC stance by many in these forums strikes me as childish and selfish. Surely as adults we can have the patience to wait until it is deemed safe to open up travel? As to the cruise industry, it is not going away anytime soon. When normal travel resumes there will be cruising. There is just too much profit in it for there not to be.

Where did I say they should "abandon a mandate to keep Americans safe?" Please do not put words in my mouth.

 

They have already provided guidance that fully vaccinate people can gather indoors without masks or distancing. How in the world would that not apply to cruises, if all are required to be vaccinated to board? 

 

So the only thing childish or selfish here is for one to not critically think before responding. Allowing ships to start sailing in June/July is not unreasonable, or unsafe considering the above.