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Deployment 2025-26 booking season begins

SummmerInKefalonia
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little britain "Live from...." Rare

little britain

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

We’re eagerly awaiting the release next week but I I feel we will be disappointed with the ports. Really hoping for an arctic circle cruise in July or August with a stop in Honnigsvag. Based on the Southampton itineraries I’m not holding out hope that there will be stops in Flam or Geringer from the cruises from Amsterdam/Rotterdam.

 

There is an MSC cruise that caught our eye that has ‘sailed’ to the top of out list!. 14 Night out of Hamburg that goes all the way to Svalbard! It has a 2300-0500 stop on Honnigsvag which seems odd. Also, no Flam or Geringer on this one (they have other sailings that go there) but lots of other port stops.

 

We’re going to wait until the itineraries for Royal to come out and if nothing we like then we will go with MSC. Never cruised them before but never opposed to branching out. 

MSC are good. Have sailed with them several times. Don’t forget to do the loyalty tier match before sailing for extra discounts and benefits on board. Preziosa is a nice ship. Not too big. 
I’ve just priced up the June itinerary… it’s quite expensive so will wait to see what RCI come up with ( especially as the 2 new added Jewel 2024 Arctic and TA cruises were a great price but sadly my budget is blown for 2024 already!) 

 

Older ships will not be allowed into Flams in 2025 

Edited by little britain
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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

We’re eagerly awaiting the release next week but I I feel we will be disappointed with the ports. Really hoping for an arctic circle cruise in July or August with a stop in Honnigsvag. Based on the Southampton itineraries I’m not holding out hope that there will be stops in Flam or Geringer from the cruises from Amsterdam/Rotterdam.

 

There is an MSC cruise that caught our eye that has ‘sailed’ to the top of out list!. 14 Night out of Hamburg that goes all the way to Svalbard! It has a 2300-0500 stop on Honnigsvag which seems odd. Also, no Flam or Geringer on this one (they have other sailings that go there) but lots of other port stops.

 

We’re going to wait until the itineraries for Royal to come out and if nothing we like then we will go with MSC. Never cruised them before but never opposed to branching out. 

Only Euribia will be able to go to Geiranger and Flam from 2025, no Royal ship and no other MSC ship.

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cublet

cublet

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, little britain said:

MSC are good. Have sailed with them several times. Don’t forget to do the loyalty tier match before sailing for extra discounts and benefits on board. Preziosa is a nice ship. Not too big. 
I’ve just priced up the June itinerary… it’s quite expensive so will wait to see what RCI come up with ( especially as the 2 new added Jewel 2024 Arctic and TA cruises were a great price but sadly my budget is blown for 2024 already!) 

 

Older ships will not be allowed into Flams in 2025 

Hello,

 

And (and not the first time for saying this) on board MSC if you ask for Prosecco, you get Prosecco and not the swill that is served in Royal's bars.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

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adolfo2

adolfo2

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

We’re going to wait until the itineraries for Royal to come out and if nothing we like then we will go with MSC. Never cruised them before but never opposed to branching out. 

Book MSC now (it's refundable) and decide later if RC works for you.

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Jimbo

Jimbo

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, gallagher123123 said:

Something very interesting, Grandeur is no longer coming to Boston in 2024., Jewel is coming from Europe instead. Grandeur is staying in Tampa. With the reveal that Grandeur won't be doing the 2025 Alaska sailings, and now the change for Boston, can't help wondering if something is happening with the ship. Maybe both of these things are just a coincidence, but I think it's kind of odd. A bit disappointed that Grandeur won't be coming, would have been an easy way for me to try Royal's oldest and smallest ship. 

Not a great ship, they did you a favor. I never did believe they were going to take that ship for Alaska runs anyway.

Edited by Jimbo
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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
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25 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Why do you say that?

Because it was asked. Only ships that use cleaner fuel like LNG or have shore power connection will be allowed into the Unesco World Heritage Fjords from 2025 (latest 2026 so some exceptions for 2025 might be possible). I just noticed Virtuosa is booked in Flam as well, she also has Shore Power connection. None of the Royal ships scheduled and sizewise possible for the Fjords is suitable.

Edited by Saab4444
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Jimbo

Jimbo

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I think it is because or the rules on diesel ships, only LNG can go to the fjords or certain parts of it. So a coyple of P&O ships, Euribia and some others. But no royal ships

 

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Because it was asked. Only ships that use cleaner fuel like LNG or have shore power connection will be allowed into the Unesco World Heritage Fjords from 2025 (latest 2026 so some exceptions for 2025 might be possible). I just noticed Virtuosa is booked in Flam as well, she also has Shore Power connection. None of the Royal ships scheduled and sizewise possible for the Fjords is suitable.

Didn't think that was a done deal just yet. Don't believe that is going to be the case for the 2025 sailings.

I believe they are still debating that and it still needs to be voted on before it actually happens.

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Nettee

Nettee

Posted
Posted (edited)

I quite like the option of a shorter cruise - they haven’t been available for years from the UK - or at least very few.  I did one with the kids in 2016 (also on Independence) but haven’t seen the option much since. With all our annual leave we can squeeze in a long weekend here are there as well as our longer holidays - maybe a girls trip.  Much more likely to do this from Southampton than fly somewhere for it.  I am tempted - although haven’t been on Anthem before so would be more tempted by that.


I look at the Anthem options each year but it seems to be two weeks or nothing, especially in the summer holidays, so I don’t book it.

 

But for those people who want their usual two week summer holiday on Royal Caribbean from Southampton this will be a bit of a shock to the system.

Edited by Nettee
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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

 

Didn't think that was a done deal just yet. Don't believe that is going to be the case for the 2025 sailings.

I believe they are still debating that and it still needs to be voted on before it actually happens.

The Norwegian government has decided that from 2026, only emission-free ferries and tourist ships will be allowed to sail in the five fjords Nærøyfjorden, Aurlandsfjorden, Geirangerfjorden, Sunnylvsfjorden and Tafjorden. These fjords are World Heritage Sites.

The Norwegian Maritime Directorate is now working on an interim solution on how to implement the zero emissions requirement. A set of regulations has been submitted for consultation. An interim regulation is intended to continue to allow calls by cruise ships (e.g. allow newer ships who could temporarely go on Bio fuels and are shore power enabled but never older Diesel only vessels like Royal has).

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Jimbo

Jimbo

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

The Norwegian government has decided that from 2026, only emission-free ferries and tourist ships will be allowed to sail in the five fjords Nærøyfjorden, Aurlandsfjorden, Geirangerfjorden, Sunnylvsfjorden and Tafjorden. These fjords are World Heritage Sites.

The Norwegian Maritime Directorate is now working on an interim solution on how to implement the zero emissions requirement. A set of regulations has been submitted for consultation. An interim regulation is intended to continue to allow calls by cruise ships (e.g. allow newer ships who could temporarely go on Bio fuels and are shore power enabled but never older Diesel only vessels like Royal has).

So  no change for 2025 sailings correct?

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

So  no change for 2025 sailings correct?

2026 latest by Governenment rules, as you can see in the schedules port authorities and cruise lines adapt already. Indy does not go according to published itineraries and I am pretty sure same will happen with Brilliance. But we will see next week! 

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SummmerInKefalonia

SummmerInKefalonia

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Posted (edited)

According to info we have the European 2025 Summer Deployment will be like this:

 

Allure of the seas: 7 Nights from Barcelona to Western Med. (April to October)

 

Independence of the seas: Various Cruises from Southampton to Northern Europe. (May to October)

 

Odyssey of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia to Greek Islands. (May to October)

Explorer of the seas: 7 Nights from Ravenna to Croatia and Greece. (May to September)

Voyager of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia, Ravenna, Piraeus & Barcelona to Med. (May to October)

Brilliance of the seas: 7 Nights from Piraeus to Eastern Med. (June to August)

 

 

Edited by SummmerInKefalonia
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gavvy

gavvy

Posted
Posted

After sailing Anthem this year in the Fjords, you really can see the pollution the ship makes, the plume of blue-grey smoke just sits in the Fjord.

 

Double-edged sword, I wanted to visit these places but was fully aware of the impact that my tourism is causing.

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shipfriend_max

shipfriend_max

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

According to info we have the European 2025 Summer Deployment will be like this:

 

Allure of the seas: 7 Nights from Barcelona to Western Med. (April to October)

 

Independence of the seas: Various Cruises from Southampton to Northern Europe. (May to October)

 

Odyssey of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia to Greek Islands. (May to October)

Explorer of the seas: 7 Nights from Ravenna to Croatia and Greece. (May to September)

Voyager of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia, Ravenna, Piraeus & Barcelona to Med. (May to October)

Brilliance of the seas: 7 Nights from Piraeus to Eastern Med. (June to August)

 

 

Nothing from Amsterdam? 😞 

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danv3

danv3

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

According to info we have the European 2025 Summer Deployment will be like this:

 

Allure of the seas: 7 Nights from Barcelona to Western Med. (April to October)

 

Independence of the seas: Various Cruises from Southampton to Northern Europe. (May to October)

 

Odyssey of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia to Greek Islands. (May to October)

Explorer of the seas: 7 Nights from Ravenna to Croatia and Greece. (May to September)

Voyager of the seas: 7 Nights from Civitavecchia, Ravenna, Piraeus & Barcelona to Med. (May to October)

Brilliance of the seas: 7 Nights from Piraeus to Eastern Med. (June to August)

 

 

 

Disappointing if true re: Brilliance.  Was really hoping it would have some northern sailings out of Amsterdam.

 

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shipfriend_max

shipfriend_max

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Rackham said:

 

Could you provide your source? The only RCCL ships I'm seeing listed in their port schedule are Voyager, Explorer, and Odyssey.

 

https://www.olp.gr/en/services/cruise-terminal

Yes but that's from the last update in JULY 2025, obviously @SummmerInKefaloniahas the most recent programs which feature Brilliance from Piraeus, see his latest post #897  .

Edited by shipfriend_max
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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted
On 11/2/2023 at 7:59 AM, island lady said:

 

It was the Next Cruise team (two of them told me the same thing) that told me the 2025 Alaska bookings were open to outside TAs first.  I thought that was pretty bad that the company TAs were last to have ability to book.  They are really frustrated by that.  Can't blame them. 

We had access at the same time.  Possible a few hours early but definitely only a few hours and not days as they told you

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