Voyager of the Seas

Heavy fog in Galveston, Texas harbor delayed the launch of Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas after the port closed for the second straight weekend.

Because of the fog, Royal Caribbean had to delay the arrival of Voyager of the Seas and subsequently, the departure of the next cruise itinerary.

Photo by DJ Lee Rockstarr

Heavy fog on Sunday at the ports of Houston and Galveston, Texas delayed the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.  Officials said the fog caused hours of delays before she could dock.

Due to the fog, Voyager of the Seas was not able to dock on Sunday on time.  This resulted in a day shortened cruise for the cruise that was supposed to depart on Sunday afternoon.  Passengers were able to board on Sunday evening but the ship wasn't ready to leave until Monday according to a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman.  While the ship will now be a day shorter in duration, it will still make all 3 stops that were originally scheduled in Roatan, Belize and Cozumel.

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas became the first ship to dock at the brand new port of Falmouth in Jamaica, located between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, which opened unofficially on Thursday after several months delays .

The construction of the port results from a joint effort between Royal Caribbean and the government of Jamaica, whose opening was scheduled for last May, but construction delays pushed consecutive opening and forced to change routes of Allure of the Seas & Oasis of the Seas to visit Costa Maya in Mexico.

The official opening of the port is scheduled for March 22 when the Oasis of the Seas will make its first stop there, says a statement from Royal Caribbean. The new port will still receive the scales of the Freedom of the Seas on February 23, Navigator of the Seas on the 24th of this month and the Allure of the Seas on March 30.

In a statement Royal Caribbean says Historic Falmouth is the first port theme and a gateway to more than 60 experiments land on the north coast of Jamaica, including the Good Hope Great House, Dolphin Cove and Dunn's River Falls, Appleton Estate or Rafting on Martha Rae.

Thanks to SoloPolo Kidrealtype Anderson for the photos!

The port of Falmouth in Jamaica is set to welcome its first cruise ship today after years of construction and some recent delays.  Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas will dock at 8:00am and be the first ship to dock here since Royal Caribbean and the town of Falmouth planned to build a brand new cruise port in this historic port.  

It's been 50 years since the last cruse ship visited Falmouth but today's arrival will bring 3,000 tourists to the town that used to be a center for sugar production in the hemisphere.  

Construction isn't 100% complete yet and wont be until sometime in June 2011, but enough is done so that ships can stop here.

Jes Olsen, manager of the development project at Falmouth is excited for the new first stop, "The project is at a stage where it can accommodate cruise ships, even the world's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, which is expected to call at the Falmouth port in the month of March".

Thursday will mark the first cruise ship stop at Falmouth, Jamaica, the new port project that Royal Caribbean has spearheaded to build. Falmouth's opening has been delayed due to construction falling behind schedule but on February 17, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas will be the first ship to stop at Falmouth and local businesses can't wait.

Joy Laesch, president of the newly formed Trelawny Art and Craft and Entertainment Association, which comprises some 300 of the parish's craft vendors, says locals are ready, "We are prepared spiritually, mentally, and physically. Persons from all walks of life are now seeing the benefits of the trade. There is going to be big demand for local craft items."

The members of the association have been making their own preparations, which includes formal training, with lessons in business and entrepreneurship covering how to manage a business, balance the books, marketing, and customer care.  In addition, the vendors are prepared to operate their businesses in an orderly manner and rotate vendors so that the first 100 craft vendors will sell their goods to guests on Voyage of the Seas on Thursday and another 100 or so will do business when Oasis of the Seas arrives in March.

Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, the sister ship of the third and final Freedom class ship, is calling the port of Livorno, Italy home for the second time during the 2011 cruise season.  Independence will alternate eastern and western Mediterranean cruises, sailing from Southampton in the UK.

In the 2011 season, there are 12 ships calling at Livorno. After Independence of the Seas, will support in the Tuscan port the other ships of the fleet, the first stop will be to Liberty of the Seas April 27, will then be the turn of Brilliance of the Seas May 9, Voyager of the Seas 17 May, Adventure of the Seas May 18, Grandeur of the Seas July 27, and Navigator of the Seas November 7 and Navigator of the Seas November 7. 

"Always the port of Livorno, the company has for a role of primary importance - says Lina Mazzucco, general manager of Royal Caribbean Italy. "We were able to significantly increase the scale of the fleet which become 91 against 79 last year. Similarly, increases the flow of passengers, who went from 227,000 in 2010 to over 323,000 in 2011. "

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Commercial Development John Tercek is encouraging Jamaicans to work harder in the development of the new cruise port at Falmouth in Jamaica.

Falmouth is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and the Port Authority of Jamaica, but the project has been delayed quite a bit from it's initial plans.  Tercek's call to action is a response to Royal Caribbean's desire to complete the project.

Speaking at the Stocks and Securities Limited investors forum on Tuesday, Tercek was giving a speech on the topic: 'Falmouth and the cruise-ship pier'.  When asked why Jamaica was not realizing its potential in the sector, Tercek responded , "Jamaicans are very good at talking and they are not so good at action. We try to take the initiative. We try to show up, not as talkers but as doers. We are putting a lot of money into the town. We made a lot of commitments to the town and to Jamaica."

"We have been trying to be a catalyst. We can't do it all - we can't restore, rehabilitate ... all of the town (Falmouth). We can do our project. We can bring our guests. We can make further investments into the town, and we are doing all of that ... but it is going to take a lot of initiative, not only from the Government," Tercek said, pointing out that all parties involved will have to take part.

Delays at Falmouth have caused cruise ships to cancel calls to the port.  Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas had been scheduled to make its maiden call at the port back on January 7 burt was forced to cancel. 

The updated schedule has Voyager of the Seas arriving on February 17, followed by Oasis of the Seas in March.

Agilysys, Inc has announced that Royal Caribbean will use its InfoGenesis Point of Sales (POS) system on seven of its cruise ships.

Allure of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Azamara Journey, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit will all utilize the system.

Royal Caribbean Vice President Michael Bayley visited the new Royal Caribbean headquarters in Italy, the second largest in the world, that had opened in 2010 to announce that Royal Caribbean will handle 60% more passengers in 2011.  Next year will see 2.5 million passengers, airports will grow by 35% to a total of 671 calls at 17 ports.

With Royal Caribbean's addition of 3 Voyager class ships to Italy, about 3,300 passengers will now sail in and out of Italy. Navigator of the Seas docks at Civitavecchia, Voyager of the Seas for the first time in Venice and Mariner of the Seas for the first time will dock in Genoa.

Royal Caribbean is planning on its ships visiting a number of Italian ports, including Civitavecchia, Venice, Livorno, Naples, Messina, Ravenna, Bari, Cagliari, Palermo, La Spezia, Sorrento Salerno, Portofino, Genoa, Portoferraio, Santa Margherita and Trieste.