Royal Caribbean is reiterating that it plans to continue to offer cruises out of the port of Baltimore one week after Grandeur of the Seas returned to service.

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Royal Caribbean's executive vice president of operations, commented on the company's commitment, "We're sticking with Baltimore.  We're back, and we're ready."

Royal Caribbean added a flag to Grandeur of the Seas that reads "Don't give up the ship", which is a famous quote from the War of 1812, and the line says it will keep the flag flying on Grandeur of the Seas as long as she's based out of the city.  Royal Caribbean says the flag means Grandeur of the Seas is back and that vacationers shouldn't "give up the ship as a vacation option."

Recently competitor cruise line, Carnival Cruise Line, announced it was pulling its cruise ships out of Baltimore in 2014, so Royal Caribbean's statement is good news for a city worried about the future of the cruise ship business in their port.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas arrived today at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland to replace Enchantment of the Seas.  Grandeur will offer six- to 10-night cruises year-round and will offer passenger cruises to Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Eastern and Western Caribbean, as well as Canada and New England.

This is the second time Grandeur of the Seas has been based out of Baltimore.  She previously was deployed to the port from 2004 through 2009.

To celebrate Grandeur of the Seas' return to Baltimore, Governor Martin O'Malley declared May 3, 2013 as "Royal Caribbean Cruise Day" in Maryland.

Grandeur of the Seas is fresh from a $48 million bow-to-stern revitalization, which incorporated six new specialty dining options, technological upgrades and new entertainment features, as well as a refresh of all furniture, carpet, upholstery and staterooms. Families with toddlers can take advantage of the newly installed Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, which caters to the cruise line’s youngest guests, ages six months to 36 months. Guests can also enjoy a 220-square foot poolside movie screen and take in a new high-flying experience whereby aerialists glide through the ship’s six-story atrium.

 “Royal Caribbean International thanks Governor Martin O’Malley and the Maryland Port Administration for their ongoing support of the cruise vacation industry in the great state of Maryland,” said Adam Goldstein, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “Maryland’s rich history and diverse cultural attractions make it an unmatched destination to pair with a Royal Caribbean cruise vacation. We are delighted to mark the beginning of Grandeur of the Seas’ year-round service from Baltimore on ‘Royal Caribbean Cruise Day’ in Maryland.”

Royal Caribbean is offering a variety of  itineraries to Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Eastern and Western Caribbean. In the summer, the itineraries alternate between seven-night Bermuda sailings, featuring a two-night call at Kings Wharf, and seven-night sailings to the Bahamas, calling at Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island paradise in the Bahamas. In the fall, Grandeur of the Seas will alternate between six-night Bermuda and eight-night Canada and New England sailings. The winter season will consist of rotating 10-night sailings to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, as well as eight-night sailings to the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean cruises out of Baltimore are expected to continue despite a potential labor strike at the port.

The International Longshoreman's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance are working against a December 30th deadline to reach a new labor agreement.  A strike or lockout have been threatened by both sides if a deal is not reached in time.

Cruises would continue under a International Longshoreman’s Association strike. A lockout, however, threatens to shut down all business at the Port of Baltimore.

It is unlikely the International Longshoreman’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance reach a deal before Sunday’s deadline, said Douglas N. Wolfe, general manager of Ceres Marine Terminals Inc. at the Port of Baltimore. Ceres employs about 170 cargo and container handlers at the port through the ILA, Wolfe said. 

Wolfe says that the Port of Baltimore will find a way to get passengers and their bags on those cruise shipss even if there is a lockout.

“I don’t see the cruise business being affected,” Wolfe said. “It think people will go on cruises. I know my company is dedicated to getting people to work.”

Mary Joan Levin, owner of the Baltimore-based travel agency Royal Travel Planners, said cruise lines would likely bring in their own workers or fly passengers to other departure ports in case of a lockout.  Either way, she hopes cruising will continue in the face of a possible strike or lockout.

Royal Caribbean is planning on bringing Grandeur of the Seas back to Baltimore to offer year-round cruises in the spring of 2013 after she receives a $48 million renovation.

Grandeur of the Seas had previously sailed out of Baltimore from 2004 to 2009 before being replaced by Enchantment of the Seas.  Once Grandeur arrives, it will replace Enchantment and offer cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda and New England and Canada..

Baltimore officials are happy with the change since the makeover Grandeur will receive should be an upgrade in terms of ship and it will offer people sailing out of Baltimore similar amenities that can be found in Royal Caribbean's larger ships.

Grandeur of the Seas is set to receive as part of her makeover new dining options, lounges, nursery for children, Wi-Fi service and an outdoor video screen overlooking the pool deck.

Royal Caribbean plans to have the first cruise out of Baltimore on May 3, 2013 to Bermuda.  After, Grandeur will offer six-, seven-, eight- and 10-night cruises.

Photo by Baltimore Sun

Royal Caribbean announced new itineraries for 2012 that will sail from Baltimore, Maryland to Bermuda aboard Enchantment of the Seas.

The announcement adds a new set of six-night cruises to Bermuda as well as eight-night Bermuda and Northeast United States cruises that will sail out of Baltimore in the spring and summer of 2012.  Enchantment's new six-night itinerary will make 3-day calls to Kings Wharf, Bermuda

In addition, Royal Caribbean is also planning to send Explorer of the Seas, which is based out of Bayonne, NJ, on a new seven-night round trip cruise in September and October of 2012 that will feature three days in Bermuda.  The new itineraries will include five and nine-night Bermuda & Caribbean itineraries through the spring and summer of 2012.

Adding to the news, Jewel of the Seas will continue its ninth season of sailings out of Boston, MA of roundtrip seven-night Canadian cruises.

The port of Balitmore, Maryland set a new record for number of cruise passengers in 2010.  Thanks in part to Royal Caribbean offering year-round cruises from the port, 210,549 people sailed on 91 cruises from the Cruise Maryland Terminal. The 2010 cruise record beat the previous record set a year earlier in 2009 of 167,235 passengers on 81 cruises.

According to the Maryland Port Administration, the cruises in 2010 generated about $90 million for the state's economy in 2010, an increase of about $10 million from the previous year.

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas will return in 2011 and offer cruises to Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

The Maryland Port Administration has awarded a contract to TEAM to design and build a Passenger Boarding Bridge for the South Locust Point Cruise Terminal in the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The new bridge should be ready in 2011.

This passenger bridge, which connects the cruise terminal with a cruise ship, will be the first of it's kind and will consist of an enclosed mobile walkway that is fully air-conditioned.  The tunnel will have four fixed tunnel sections leading from quay level up to 7 meters in height.  At its heighest point, there will be an integrated rotunda that connects the walkway module with a 3-tunnel telescopic boarding bridge known as KRONUS.

 The KRONUS is also air-conditioned and features next to anelectro-mechanical driving system an electro-mechanical lifting system to reach the required highest and lowest elevations and match up with ship shell doors on various cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean has recently moved some of its ships around to new ports, serving Baltimore, Maryland and Maine and the result has been those ports have seen a surge in demand from customers ("If you build it, they will come" anyone?).  Enchantment of the Seas moved from Norfolk, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland and officials say there were 81 cruises with 329,000 passengers in 2009. Ten more cruises are scheduled this year and the total number is expected to grow to 113 next year. This leads to a potential problem because the 113 cruises in 2011 will max out the capacity of Baltimore's cruise terminal.

To counter the problem, the Baltimore Board of Public Works approved a $2.9 million gangway for passenger ships to make embarking and debarking more pleasant for passengers in all types of weather.  Even so, others are calling on Baltimore to do more and expand the potential amount of cruises the city can handle.

Meanwhile, Maine is also reporting a surge in demand and local businesses are feeling it.

The Holiday Inn by the Bay says it's booked 200 additional rooms because of the new ships. Enterprise Rent-a-Car says their bookings are up too. A recent University of Maine study found cruise ship passengers spend between $80 and $110 when they're in port, pumping as much as $8 million into the local economy.

Could this news help sway the trend of Royal Caribbean ships going to Europe to seek more money and keep them serving ports in the United States?

Today marks the debut of Enchantment of the Seas from it's new home port of Balitmore, Maryland.  You may recall that Enchantment of the Seas previously called Norfolk, Virginia home until Royal Caribbean decided to move the ship to Baltimore because of higher demand.  Baltimore is situated on the busy I-95 corridor between Boston - New York - Washington and is also close to many major airports.  Enchantment of the Seas will sail a series of five-night Bermuda and nine-night Eastern Caribbean round trip itineraries from Baltimore.

Starting in the fall, Enchantment will sail a series of nine-night cruises to Canada and New England (Enchantment also is sailing a special eight-night roundtrip itinerary to Canada and New England today that will boast extended port time in Halifax and Bar Harbor). The ship also will sail nine-night Bahamas and 12-night Southern Caribbean itineraries starting this coming winter.