Odyssey re-deploying due to Middle East conflict?

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Royal advertised Odyssey's cruises from Israel "with fully vaccinated crew".... Stand to reason that BEFORE you sell cruises to 50.000 pax, you have all your ducks in a row.

 

 

Maybe they sell the cruises and hope the ducks fall into place in time for the plans to work. Then if it doesn't work out they take their time returning the money if they can't talk you in to accepting an FCC.

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Could it be the Israeli gov't told RCI to cancel?

 

No way. The gov't "lives" here, and knows the dynamics of those crises.

 

Royal worth sales for the almost sold out cruises -- 50 million $. Just dumb business decision to let it go. It would had gained Royal so much popularity. Now everyone says they're done with Royal, which, it is believed, "succumbed" to cheap politics.

 

Already lots of pressure from the US government and UN to stop. I give it another few days tops, since we're already in what in soccer it's called "penalty time" -- one bad strike and women and children will be killed on Gaza Strip, one direct hit when Iron Dome cannot "cope" on our side, and it will escalate. As it is now, both sides have achieved, more or less, their "goals". In a matter of time -- the same old, same old will be back in force 😢.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Now everyone says they're done with Royal, which, it is believed, "succumbed" to cheap politics.

That is what's so surprising - as desperate as RCI is for revenue to give that up so easily is weird. Cancel culture seems to be winning again.

[dani negreanu]

12 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Maybe they sell the cruises and hope the ducks fall into place in time for the plans to work

 

The whole "raison d'etre" of those cruises was: "fully vaccinated crew with fully vaccinated cruisers" [aka, giving Israel a prize for being mostly vaccinated]. 

 

Royal advertised the cruises 3 weeks before it was possible to book.

 

During this time, Israelis keep asking about the crew being "fully vaccinated", and time and again the assurance came that "no worries, by the time the 1st passengers will embark, the whole crew will be fully vaccinated,.... etc.

 

People tend to believe "big international companies" which bestow upon us, the natives in the Middle East, the honor of booking one of their newest ships....

 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Its a face saving exercise, RC do not want the media attention on them, offering cruises whilst there is armed conflict in the area. 

 

TBH i dont think RC know what they are doing full stop, lack of decision making but plenty of knee jerking.........

[Jimbo]

Might be time for another update from CEO Richard Fain on Youtube. For the lastest going ons.

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Might be time for another update from CEO Richard Fain on Youtube. For the lastest going ons.

 

Here I'll summarize the next video

 

"Things are going great, cases are down, vaccines are up, and every day we're getting closer to cruising!"

 

Repeat that for the entire 10 minutes of video, and there you have it.

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Here I'll summarize the next video

 

"Things are going great, cases are down, vaccines are up, and every day we're getting closer to cruising!"

 

Repeat that for the entire 10 minutes of video, and there you have it.

Super, just what I wanted to hear AGAIN and  AGAIN.  lol

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

The whole "raison d'etre" of those cruises was: "fully vaccinated crew with fully vaccinated cruisers" [aka, giving Israel a prize for being mostly vaccinated]. 

 

Royal advertised the cruises 3 weeks before it was possible to book.

 

During this time, Israelis keep asking about the crew being "fully vaccinated", and time and again the assurance came that "no worries, by the time the 1st passengers will embark, the whole crew will be fully vaccinated,.... etc.

 

People tend to believe "big international companies" which bestow upon us, the natives in the Middle East, the honor of booking one of their newest ships....

 

When someone posted earlier that vaccination date of may 7th was cancelled I wondered why may 7th, they would have had to vaccinate crew in April to sail first week of June.

 

Good chance the info on the crew website is not accurate.

 

As you said it does not make sense why they couldn't simply postpone the first couple of sailings instead of the entire schedule.

 

Maybe royals insurance company would not allow them to sail out of Israel due to the recent events.  

 

Wonder if we ever will know the true reason.

 

[Jimbo]

3 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

 

 

Wonder if we ever will know the true reason.

 

Let's just hope we never find out it was just a way to get some added cash flow into RCCL bank account. That they never really intended to sail from there.

Somebody really has some explaining to do...........

Signs sure didn't show a June start.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Let's just hope we never find out it was just a way to get some added cash flow into RCCL bank account. That they never really intended to sail from there.

Somebody really has some explaining to do...........

Signs sure didn't show a June start.

I don't want to believe it was a way to generate cash flow.   I believe they had every intention of sailing out of Israel, especially since Israel was one of the first countries to have success with Pfizer vaccinations.

[cruise wizard]

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I don't want to believe it was a way to generate cash flow.   I believe they had every intention of sailing out of Israel, especially since Israel was one of the first countries to have success with Pfizer vaccinations.

 

I personally believe that liability insurance was the deciding factor covering the ship, crew and passengers.

[AC Stew]

Dani,

 

I can appreciate how disappointed you must be. I truly sympathize. I've no doubt that the Haifa cruises could have, and would have been a great success. And I agree with you, pulling all the sailings at this time might prove to be premature. I guess time will tell.

 

I've been fortunate to have spent a great deal of time in Israel over the years, and Dani speaks from knowledge and experience. Some of the CC comments I see here are well intentioned, but are made with a limited understanding of life in Israel. These past and present crises are terrible (for both sides) but yes, they're usually short-lived. Israelis seem to be "hard-wired" to deal with situations that you and I can barely comprehend! So I'm just saying, unless we really know what we're talking about, we shouldn't muddy the waters with opinions and speculation. It's all a complicated mix of so many elements.

 

And Dani, during a past Intifada, we were relocated from Tel Aviv to Hertzliya. I loved it there, and remember it fondly!

 

Good luck to you.

 

*** People, please don't flame me! I'm just attempting to provide some  food for thought as we "digest" this latest blip for future cruising.

 

 

 

 

[bonsai3s]

My two cents worth....

 

Yes, we've been to Israel...several times.  Israel...imagine an area much smaller than Florida.

Imagine South Florida being bombed...would you cruise?

 

[Jax129]

On 5/15/2021 at 9:52 AM, Vibe said:

Port Canaveral 

 

Royal Caribbean Expected to Cancel Odyssey's Israel Season, Ship to Move to U.S. - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

OMG that would be awesome if it came to PC.  I told my husband, even if we can't sail this summer we can stalk it....lol  I will be at Port Canaveral pointing out my balcony for my Odyssey cruise next summer

[AC Stew]

Just to clarify, of course, I was referring to Haifa cruising as it would have been prior to this current crisis! I would never suggest that travel should be undertaken in the very middle of this conflict! But as Dani said, in a couple of weeks, who knows.

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Let's just hope we never find out it was just a way to get some added cash flow into RCCL bank account. That they never really intended to sail from there.

Somebody really has some explaining to do...........

Signs sure didn't show a June start.

 

Do you ever wonder if the Nassau and Bermuda sailings are also a cash grab and won't happen

[Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Do you ever wonder if the Nassau and Bermuda sailings are also a cash grab and won't happen

Time will tell, someone living on Nassau or Bermuda would know better then us. To just see how they are preparing for an large  influx of cruise passengers.

Do we know for sure those ships are fully staffed, food suppliers lined up, etc. Are the facilities ready for embarktation and debarktation?

Right now do we know for sure on any of that?

 

For all we know RCL could have thought by now they would be sailing from Florida by now and would use those ships to start sailing from Florida once cruising started up again.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Jimbo

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Time will tell, someone living on Nassau or Bermuda would know better then us. To just see how they are preparing for an large  influx of cruise passengers.

Do we know for sure those ships are fully staffed, food suppliers lined up, etc.

Right now do we know for sure on any of that?

 

Ive seen video on the rush to create a temporary terminal in Nassau. I haven't seen anything on Bermuda, though.

 

But the logistics of supplying ships from those two locations are no doubt, challenging.

 

Oh, and throw hurricane season right around the corner into that equation

Edited May 16, 2021 by John&LaLa

[Jimbo]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Ive seen video on the rush to create a temporary terminal in Nassau. I haven't seen anything on Bermuda, though.

 

But the logistics of supplying ships from those two locations are no doubt, challenging.

 

Oh, and throw hurricane season right around the corner into that equation

Sounds like a mess just waiting to happen.........More disgruntled cruisers and more cancellations. But RCCL got the cash in hand 🙂 It's all good!

 

With Nassau engineering: Can't wait to see what a temporary terminal in Nassau would look like? Hurricane proof?

 

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Jimbo

[Roger88]

Cant wait to go to Bermudas as well. I am sure it will be geat. This year will be the best year to visit Bermudas. I heard some of the major lienrs will also travel there 

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I personally believe that liability insurance was the deciding factor covering the ship, crew and passengers.

Yes, I too believe that, especially since it is a brand new ship.

Maybe when things calm down they will send a different ship to sail from Haifa.

[smokeybandit]

34 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Ive seen video on the rush to create a temporary terminal in Nassau.

 

That video is of them creating a permanent terminal

 

https://www.nassauportconstruction.com/

 

THe "temporary" one is the Hilton ball room

[Tolkmit]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Time will tell, someone living on Nassau or Bermuda would know better then us. To just see how they are preparing for an large  influx of cruise passengers.

Do we know for sure those ships are fully staffed, food suppliers lined up, etc. Are the facilities ready for embarktation and debarktation?

Right now do we know for sure on any of that?

 

For all we know RCL could have thought by now they would be sailing from Florida by now and would use those ships to start sailing from Florida once cruising started up again.

 

So... in your mind, Royal decided to start selling cruises to get cash, which they know would be cancelled and they would have to give refunds or FCC shortly after; rather than just take out additional loans on the lines of credit they have already reported to stockholders as having and are thus legally required to have proof of for the SEC? And are also now faking all of the social media accounts of the massive number of crew that are posting pictures of themselves being on board those ships and the buffets full of food for the crew, in order to make it look like those ships will sail?

 

If you are this deep into wild unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that cruise lines are just evilly doing whatever they can for money, I'm not sure anyone is going to be able to prove otherwise to you. No, we don't know "for sure." We also don't know for sure that gravity exists. But all the evidence says it does, and none of the evidence says it doesn't.

[SeaHunt]

8 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Right. Could it be the Israeli gov't told RCI to cancel?

 

I realize that many here don't agree with this lawyer, but maybe Dani N and others can look at his article from 4/22 and see if it would be a fair reporting of Israeli sources (without having to use google translate, like me):

 

"Ynet further learned that because the ship’s crew has not yet been vaccinated, one of the goals of the cruise line “is to vaccinate the entire crew . . .  before receiving the passengers.” The newspaper in Israel states “at the same time, the sailing corporation has not yet received approval from the Israeli Ministry of Health and it is not yet clear whether they will succeed in the vaccination mission in time – before the first guests arrive in June.”

 

As we reported last week, the Israeli Ministry of Health informed several media outlets (Israel Hayom and Channel 12 News TV) that and the chances of approving the shipping company’s health protocols “are very low.” Meanwhile, the cruise line is continuing to market the cruise from Haifa as a certainty".

 

Another international newspaper, Globes, denies that the crew is being vaccinated in Israel:

“The fact that the ship is setting sail and returning in three weeks time had led to speculation that the crew are being vaccinated in Israel. But the Ministry of Health denies this. ‘The Ministry has not approved the vaccination of the crew and will not vaccinate them.’ For its part Royal Caribbean insists that it will meet all Ministry of Health regulations. Globes has been told that Ministry of Health officials will board the ship to ensure that all regulations are being met.”

 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2021/04/articles/disease/odyssey-of-the-seas-arrives-in-israel-israels-minstry-of-health-still-has-not-approved-royal-caribbeans-health-protocols/