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Is Royal Caribbean building any small ships?

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Pratique

Pratique

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

They have been doing that with every new ship built.  As they build more large ships it actually gets easier for them as they have more ships and more staff to draw from. 

They are still rebuilding from the pandemic shutdown. I think they lost a lot of experienced folks. Whatever the reason this guy with 10 years experience seemed concerned.

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

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35 minutes ago, Pratique said:

IMHO Royal is not interested in the small cruise ship market. They will leave that to lines like Margaritaville at Sea. Royal is shooting for the moon on the megaships and the handful of itineraries that they can sail at full capacity year round.

RC is focused near term on big amusement parks at sea, sure. But there is still a smaller ship market, especially as some ports start to limit big ships, plus those that already do. Plus there's been enough rumor about a new smaller class in the future that something's definitely up, especially as Vision and Voyager ships start to be cost prohibitive.

 

 

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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3 minutes ago, Pratique said:

They are still rebuilding from the pandemic shutdown. I think they lost a lot of experienced folks. Whatever the reason this guy with 10 years experience seemed concerned.

They absolutely did loses lot of people had years of experience however they have been building their staffing levels back-up over the past year.  While their is a learning curve to these positions for most of them once staff have completed a full contract they will be pretty much up to speed.  

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

RC is focused near term on big amusement parks at sea, sure. But there is still a smaller ship market, especially as some ports start to limit big ships, plus those that already do. Plus there's been enough rumor about a new smaller class in the future that something's definitely up, especially as Vision and Voyager ships start to be cost prohibitive.

 

 

Royal will definitely build smaller ships in the future.  The only thing is that the smaller ships may not be as small as some would like them to be.  Royal eventually will have its smallest at somewhere between 130k and 140k tons

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

Posted
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Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Royal will definitely build smaller ships in the future.  The only thing is that the smaller ships may not be as small as some would like them to be.  Royal eventually will have its smallest at somewhere between 130k and 140k tons

Agreed. I'd imagine they'd want to keep any new ship, no matter the size, with as similar of an experience to Oasis+ as possible. Can't do that at 70k or 90k GT like Vision/Radiance.

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Pratique

Pratique

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51 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Agreed. I'd imagine they'd want to keep any new ship, no matter the size, with as similar of an experience to Oasis+ as possible. Can't do that at 70k or 90k GT like Vision/Radiance.

Maybe I’m not thinking creatively enough but I wonder how they could get a mega ship experience in a midsize ship. Or if that even makes sense? These ships with the outdoor venues really only work in warm climates and quite frankly people who prefer a smaller ship don’t like the mega ship experience.

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Pratique

Pratique

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59 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royal will definitely build smaller ships in the future.  The only thing is that the smaller ships may not be as small as some would like them to be.  Royal eventually will have its smallest at somewhere between 130k and 140k tons

Why wouldn’t they just use Celebrity as the platform for this? It seems more logical to me.

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

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11 minutes ago, Pratique said:

Maybe I’m not thinking creatively enough but I wonder how they could get a mega ship experience in a midsize ship. Or if that even makes sense? These ships with the outdoor venues really only work in warm climates and quite frankly people who prefer a smaller ship don’t like the mega ship experience.

You could offer a scaled down version of offerings of an Oasis ship on a Voyager ship. You couldn't do it on a smaller ship like Vision/Radiance.

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Miss Vickie

Miss Vickie

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2 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Celebrity S class really are beauties.  My only grip is the centrums rather than a Royal Promanade.  It just makes the interior chopped up with no grand space like the Promenades get you.  Having said that, LOVE so many other things on those ships.  Sunset bar, the lawn area, the gorgeous dining room, Sushi on 5, the indoor pool and hot tubs, the outside focus and connection to the sea, I could go on and on...

I prefer the centrum to the Royal Promenade. We’ve been on only one ship with the promenade, Adventure, years ago. I felt like once I boarded the ship the only place I could see the sea from was my balcony. It was way too interior-oriented. And at the time they allowed smoking in some of the venues in the promenade, meaning the whole thing smelled of smoke. I don’t know if that has changed.

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Pratique

Pratique

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2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Not everyone likes the Celebrity experience.  Celebrity doesn't cater to kids and multi generational families like Royal does.

Okay then, do kids and multigenerational families want a smaller ship? Where is the market for Royal to do that and be distinctive from NCL etc.?

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

Posted
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2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

We are talking Voyager class size.  Lots to do. 

I'm one of those cruisers who cruises with families who prefers Voyager/Freedom class. And I know I'm not alone just based on who I see on board those ships.

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Rackham

Rackham

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51 minutes ago, Pratique said:

Maybe I’m not thinking creatively enough but I wonder how they could get a mega ship experience in a midsize ship. Or if that even makes sense? These ships with the outdoor venues really only work in warm climates and quite frankly people who prefer a smaller ship don’t like the mega ship experience.

 

With the "Project Discovery" moniker, I'm anticipating it'll be something of a Quantum meets Radiance in the handy neo-Panamax size. Though with the rumors of Icon originally being smaller than Oasis, then it went big as more and more ideas came together, I wonder how much of Icon-style might be a part of a new ship class? The Aquadome? A Royal Promenade with ocean views? Deck space in a similar vein to Surfside on the topside?

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c-leg5

c-leg5

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1 hour ago, Miss Vickie said:

I prefer the centrum to the Royal Promenade. We’ve been on only one ship with the promenade, Adventure, years ago. I felt like once I boarded the ship the only place I could see the sea from was my balcony. It was way too interior-oriented. And at the time they allowed smoking in some of the venues in the promenade, meaning the whole thing smelled of smoke. I don’t know if that has changed.

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Pratique

Pratique

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30 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

No, pretty much all they did

 

Complaints were food, accommodations, and lack of a true Margaritaville theme

One must have low expectations and then use the booze to lower them even more.

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Lady Hudson

Lady Hudson

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We do not need the “amusement park at sea” experience but we don’t mind sailing on them.  I would think that all cruise lines will continue to need a few smaller ships to continue sailing to ports that can’t handle the “big girls”.  I also am questioning —maybe it’s rumor — that some ports that may be closing to ships (think Bar Harbor, Key West) because of the increased size of ships.  Hope any new build will have retractable stacks for ports with lower bridges.  My two cents.  Katherine 

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