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Royal Caribbean meets with Greek authorities to build port in Rhodes

In:
12 Jun 2012

Members of the government is meeting with officials from Royal Caribbean about interest in building a cruise pier in Rhodes, Greece.  

A meeting at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Athens on Thursday will lay out a plan by Royal Caribbean to spend over 25 million euros to build a pier at Akantia where they can accommodate ships of up to 350 meters and turn the island into a small "cruise center".

Royal Caribbean is looking to invest the money in the port in exchange for assistance with the notorious Greek bureaucracy.  

The meeting is scheduled to include Greek Miniser of Regional Development, Minister of Tourism and Culture and the Secretary General of the Ports along with represenatives from Royal Caribbean.  The purpose of the meeting is to see how quickly Greek officials can work to approve the proposal by Royal Caribbean.

Mariner of the Seas inaugural cruise in Italy scheduled for today

In:
09 Jun 2012

The  inaugural sailing of Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas sets sail today in Civitavecchia, Italy for the Mediterranean.

Royal Caribbean has organized a big party on board with a special gues ice skating world champion Carolina Kostner, who will perform on the ice rink inside the cruise ship.

Just to emphasize the '' Italian 'cruise for 14 weeks will sail the waters of the Mediterranean, Royal Caribbean has adopted a philosophy of "Italian friendly", offering food and hospitality "Italian." On board the ship, there will be European soccer matches projected on a big screen.

Liberty of the Seas arrives in France

In:
08 Jun 2012

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas arrived in France earlier this month and now is based out of southern France.   Since the beginning of June, Liberty of the Seas offers each week more than 3,600 cruise to discover the Mediterranean from Toulon.

"One year after the opening of our office in France, we are very pleased to offer our first departures from French ports", says Frederic Martinez, CEO of Royal Caribbean France.

Liberty of the Seas is not the only ship from France, as the Grandeur of the Seas will sail from Marseille and the Brilliance of the Seas, from Havre. "We worked hard to adapt our offer to French customers, says Frederic Martinez. A significant part of our staff speak French. The menus are in French, the French television channels are available. And we worked our wine. "Interest in the French market is due to its dynamism for several years. Last year, 441,000 passengers were carried by cruise ships, according to the French Association of Cruise Lines (AFCC), an increase of 14%.

Regarding the effect the Costa Concordia disaster has had on Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean has taken steps to hinder the negative effects. "We have reduced our ambitions, however, recognizes Frederick Martinez. We visions French 40,000 passengers this year. They will eventually be only 30,000 to 35,000. "This is still a nice progression: the group table and a market share of 6% this year, against only 4% last year. For 2013, the group is up 10%. The starting number will increase from 27 to 39 this year next year. Despite the loss of the ship from Le Havre. "Next year, the Brilliance will be used in Asia, where we record very strong growth, said Frederic Martinez. Pending the arrival of our ships coming in 2014 and 2015, we must make trade-offs depending on the strength of our markets. "

Royal Caribbean leaving Malaga as home port in 2013

In:
08 Jun 2012

Royal Caribbean will cease home porting its ships in Malaga, Spain in 2013.  Currently Adventure of the Seas is there and will complete its 28 cruises but by 2013, she will move to be ported out of Southampton, England.

The move by Royal Caribbean to leave Malaga isn't permanent.  Royal Caribbean describes the change as "transitional" and anticipates reassessing the possibility of returning to Malaga in 2014, "given the interest of the company for the city".

Royal Caribbean has spent three years operating out of Malaga, near Valencia, as a base port for the western Mediterranean. The Adventure of the Seas, with capacity for 3,840 passengers, currently covers the route Málaga, Valencia, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Pisa and Florence) and Ajaccio (Corsica). 

The change was characterized by a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman as "reprogramming of the ships to meet new demand" and she also indicated that Malaga has received very high results in passenger satisfaction surveys.

Sebastian Camps, the Malaga port manager, insists Royal Caribbean's departure is "temporary" and blames the economic situation in the Mediterranena area.

Royal Caribbean to scale back European cruises in 2013

In:
21 May 2012

Royal Caribbean announced it will send just nine ships to Europe in 2013, down from 12 ships this year.  Weak bookings in Europe have contributed to Royal Caribbean's decision to reduce its presence there.

The nine ships will offer 276 cruises over 58 itineraries in 2013.  

A third of the ships going to Europe in 2013 will sail out of the United Kingdom, including Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas.  The ships will offer cruises to the Baltics, Mediterranean and Canary Islands.  A report from the Passenger Shipping Association shows that more than 40% of British passengers choose to being their cruise from a UK port.

In addition, Legend of the Seas will offer seven-night western Mediterranean itineraries out of Genoa, Italy and visiting Provence (Marseilles), France; and Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and Valencia, Spain.

Vision of the Seas will alternate seven-night Norwegian cruise to the North Sea and offer cruises to visit the Norwegian Fjords, Russia and other northern European destinations.

Navigator of the Seas will offer seven-night eastern Mediterranean and Greek isle cruises.  Serenade of the Seas will offer 12-night Mediterranean and Greek isle cruises.  Splendour of the Seas will serve the Adriatic sea and Greek isles.  And finally, Liberty of the Seas will offer a selection of five- and seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona.

Royal Caribbean looking to increase presence in Sicily

In:
08 May 2012

Royal Caribbean general manager of Royal Caribbean Italy,  John Rotondo, spoke about the future of Royal Caribbean and Sicily as Royal Caribbean debuted in port their today.

"We will increase our presence in the region.  By adding Catania programming we want to intensify our presence in Sicily and we are confident that its strategic position will allow cruise passengers to visit a territory rich in priceless beauty."

"The whole region has great potential and we are sure will play an increasingly significant role in strategic planning and Royal Caribbean in the Mediterranean".

Splendour of the Seas to call Bari, Italy its new summer home port

In:
02 May 2012

Royal Caribbean's Vision Class ship, Splendour of the Seas, will call Bari, Italy home for the summer months and it has the locals excited for the change.  Royal Caribbean director general of Italy, Gianni Rotondo, commented on the news, "We are proud to count among our home port ships in Bari Royal Caribbean and the achievement of an important strategic and especially considering the location and the possibility' of finally have an outlet to the south."

Splendour of the Seas will offer summer cruises of 6, 7 and 8-nights and will visit ports in Greece and Turkey from its new home port in Puglia.  In total, Splendour will transport 73,000 passengers.

Royal Caribbean will send Brilliance of the Seas to UK in 2013

In:
30 Apr 2012

After Royal Caribbean refurbishes Brilliance of the Seas in the spring of 2013, it plans on sending her to the United Kingdom later that year.

Brilliance of the Seas will offer eight 12-night cruises to Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea out of Harwich, England starting May 15, 2013. These voyages will include stops at Copenhagen; Stockholm; Helsinki; Talinn, Estonia; Gothenburg, Sweden; and an overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Brilliance of the Seas also will operate a single 11-night Norwegian Fjords and Iceland itinerary departing July 27, 2013 that will call at Bergen and Geiranger, Norway; Lerwick/Shetland, Scotland; Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; and Reykjavik, Iceland (for an overnight stop). The ship will be based in Harwich through Aug. 31, 2013, when it will depart for Boston on a 15-night itinerary that will include calls at Le Havre, France; Portland, Dorset, U.K.; Cork (Cobh) and Dublin, Ireland; Klaksvik; and Reykjavik.

Brilliance of the Seas is scheduled to spend the summer 2012 sailing to Northern Europe out of Copenhagen and Amsterdam. 

Vision of the Seas to open cruise season in Gijón

In:
30 Apr 2012

The Port of Gijón, Spain will host the docking of Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas tomorrow.  This will be the first cruise of the season and will bring the city 2,435 passengers and 765 crew.

The Royal Caribbean ship will dock at North Pier Extension area, from Vigo bound for Portland (United States).

This is the same ship that opened last year the springs in the area of enlargement, reports the Port Authority of Gijón.

This is the first of nine cruise ships expected this year will host the Port of Gijón, reinforcing the role that has been gaining in recent years in passenger traffic.

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