For over nine months, Royal Caribbean was able to side step selling any of its cruise ships, but that has come to an end.

On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean announced it has agreed to sell two of its cruise ships, Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas, and while perhaps not terribly surprising, it was nonetheless a sad moment for many cruise fans.

Most cruisers expected this to happen at some time, with Majesty of the Seas having almost been sold once before and both ships losing their primary purpose with Cuba cruises unavailable until further notice.

In a world where cruise ships have gotten bigger and bigger, Majesty and Empress represented a different age of cruising, even if in their heyday, they were big ships for the time.

Empress of the Seas

Empress of the Seas was perhaps the last vestige of Royal Caribbean's roots.  She was actually ordered by Admiral Cruises prior to Royal Caribbean merging with the company. She was originally named Nordic Empress and was the final Royal Caribbean ship whose name did not end with "of the Seas" until a name change in 2004.

Empress had the distinction of being designed specifically for the short cruise market, with 3- and 4-night cruises her primary focus.   

Her inaugural sailings were short cruises to the Bahamas, and later was combined with 3- and 4-night cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After Royal Caribbean sold Song of America, Nordic Empress took over that itinerary and began sailing from Cape Liberty to Bermuda.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Empress of the Seas has departed Royal Caribbean's fleet. In 2008, she left Royal Caribbean to become part of subsidiary Pullmantur Cruises.

In 2016, Empress of the Seas came back to Royal Caribbean for the primary purpose of offering cruises to Cuba. She underwent a a massive refurbishment that totaled $50 million.

Majesty of the Seas

The last of the Sovereign Class cruise ships, Majesty of the Seas began service in 1992 and managed to remain in Royal Caribbean's fleet well after her sister ships were transferred out.

Majesty has sailed a variety of routes in the Caribbean, having sailed from many homeports to different destinations.  Most often, she sailed from somewhere in Florida and offered short cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Just like Empress of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas was able to cruise longer with Royal Caribbean because of Cuba.

Originally, Royal Caribbean announced in 2014 that it would move Majesty to Pullmantur Cruises, but a year later, the cruise line changed those plans and announced Majesty would stay in the fleet.

Like Empress, Majesty underwent a massive refurbishment to add new features and bring the ship up to the standards of the rest of the fleet.

Majesty became the second of Royal Caribbean's ships to visit Cuba.

Saying goodbyes

Almost as soon as Royal Caribbean made the announcement, cruise fans took to social media to offer their goodbyes to two beloved cruise ships.

In fact, Royal Caribbean executives were among the first to bid farewell to both ships.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley was vocal in his admiration and sorrow following the decision to sell both ships, "Saying goodbye to these two beloved ships is a major moment in Royal Caribbean’s history – one that is difficult but necessary."

Hundreds of comments began pouring in from Royal Caribbean cruise fans on the RoyalCaribbeanBlog Facebook page to share their memories and despair that these ships are leaving.

Pamela Caughman loved the smaller size of these cruise ships, "I have sailed multiple times on both ships. the Empress was one of my favorite small ships. I had dinner with the captain once on her. For me she was the perfect size for short sailings."

Chris Fritz thought the crew were among the best he encountered, "Very friendly staff and great community feel to the ship. I looked forward to sailing her again. I guess not now. She'll be missed."

Joe Willis got started with cruising on Majesty of the Seas, "Majesty was the first ship we cruised on 3 years ago. Because of Majesty, we realized our love of cruises."

Royal Caribbean has sold its two oldest cruise ships, Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas.

The cruise line announced both ships have been sold, and will depart the fleet later this month.

It appears the ships have been sold, but not scrapped.  Royal Caribbean says they now belong to an undisclosed party, based in Asia-Pacific, that will release details for future sailings at a later time.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley lamented the loss of these classic ships, and their impact on the company.

"Empress and Majesty of the Seas made indelible marks on the cruise industry with their revolutionary design and size. Touted as the cruise industry’s most groundbreaking ships when they were introduced, they continued to make history throughout their more than three decades of service."

"Saying goodbye to these two beloved ships is a major moment in Royal Caribbean’s history – one that is difficult but necessary. With plans for new, innovative ships to join our fleet in the upcoming years, we look forward to our guests and crew continuing to make new memories with us."

Royal Caribbean said guests who had cruises booked on either vessel will be contacted with their options for rebooking or cancellation.

Majesty of the Seas was the last Sovereign Class cruise ship left in Royal Caribbean's fleet, and joined the fleet in 1992. She started off with 7-night Western Caribbean cruises from Miami, and has offered Caribbean cruises of various lengths and destinations ever since.

Empress of the Seas was even older than Majesty, having launched in 1990.  She was literally one-of-a-kind, having been the only ship of her type to be built.  

Empress was designed for 3- and 4-night cruises to the Bahamas from Miami.

Empress also made history as the first cruise ship to sail out of Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey when Royal Caribbean opened the terminal in 2004.

Empress of the Seas left the fleet, and then rejoined it to offer cruises to Cuba in 2017.

Gone but not forgotten

The news that Empress and Majesty are departing the fleet is not completely unexpected.  Both ships had been the subject of rumors almost since the global shutdown began.

Even before this year, the role of both ships was rather ambiguous following Cuba not being available to U.S. cruise lines any longer.

While many other cruise lines were selling off old ships, Royal Caribbean Group had not pulled that lever, although they never ruled out the possibility of selling ships.

Royal Caribbean Group executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty told investors in October, "We're being very opportunistic about the situation." Furthermore, selling a ship would make sense only if a particular cruise ship "does not fit strategically" within the brand.

Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, shared her thoughts on the departure of these vessels on Facebook, "Through the years, Empress and Majesty have created incredible memories for so many of our guests and crew members."

"As our fleet evolves, decisions like these pave the way for the introduction of new and reimagined innovative ships."

Michael Bayley also took to Facebook to say goodbye to both ships, "No doubt, they will be dearly missed – they may be small, but their lasting impact is mighty."

Mr. Bayley also confirmed the crew members that had been assigned to these ships will find work on other ships, "Rest assured, there is no need to worry about our extraordinary crew members. They are still part of the Royal Caribbean family and will be reassigned to other ships once we are back to sailing again."

The United States Senate passed on Friday a $741 billion year-end defense spending bill, and it apparently included new regulations for the cruise industry.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed on Friday, and there is language attached to require cruise ships to have a trained doctor onboard, as well as other safety requirements.

Section 8222 of the bill addresses "medical standards" for passenger vessels and has 3 main parts to amend Chapter 35 of title 46:

• A physician is always present and available to treat  any passengers who may be on board the vessel in the event of an emergency situation
• The vessel is in compliance with the Health Care Guidelines for Cruise Ship Medical Facilities established by the American College of Emergency Physicians
• The initial safety briefing given to the passengers on board the vessel includes
  • the location of the vessel’s medical facilities
  • the appropriate steps passengers should follow during a medical emergency

In effect, the government now requires cruise ships to have a doctor always onboard and the muster drill informs guests where the medical center is located, as well as what to do in the case of an emergency.

Section 3507(b) of title 46 also requires cruise lines to install video cameras in all public places and hold onto surveillance footage for 20 days. 

The purpose of the camera surveillance is "to deter, prevent and record criminal behavior."

These changes are not massive changes, and much of these changes may already exist on cruises.

On Royal Caribbean's first cruise ship back in service, Quantum of the Seas, the ship offers "highly trained and credentialed medical teams, consisting of doctors, nurses, and specialists, on both land and sea."

In addition, Royal Caribbean says it has added more doctors and registered nurses to each ship, as well as an Infection Control Officer who will monitor and coordinate the implementation of the company's infection control plan onboard. And all Royal Caribbean onboard physicians receive mandatory acute respiratory training.

In terms of the safety drill, Royal Caribbean has always conducted a safety drill in compliance with international maritime law on the first day of any sailing, where important steps to follow in the case of an emergency are explained.

Royal Caribbean has also upgraded its safety briefing going forward, providing the important safety information via a guest's smart device or stateroom television instead of a group setting.

Read more: Top 10 questions about Royal Caribbean's new Muster 2.0

The safety drill instructs passengers were to go in case of an emergency, and instructions on how to properly use a life jacket. 

After reviewing the safety information on a mobile device or cabin TV, passengers then will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions.

Credit to the Miami Herald for first spotting this news.

Before the cruise industry shutdown due to the global health crisis, Royal Caribbean had big plans for 2021 and like so many other things in life, their plans had to be changed.

Much of Royal Caribbean's big ticket spending had to be paused in order to conserve cash and be as fiscally responsible as possible.

In 2021, there are still some plans that will go ahead and others that have been delayed.  Here is a look at what we can and cannot expect from Royal Caribbean next year.

Still happening

New cruise ship: Odyssey of the Seas

Photo by Jeroen Houtman

Delayed from launching in 2020, Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship will instead be delivered in 2021.

Odyssey of the Seas is under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and will be the cruise line's second Quantum Ultra Class ship.

Originally Odyssey of the Seas was going to start cruises in November 2020, but a combination of Royal Caribbean's financial turmoil and issues at the shipyard contributed to a delay.

Instead, she is scheduled to be delivered in Spring 2021, with her first sailings in April 2021.

Galveston terminal construction beginning

Just like Odyssey of the Seas, the new cruise terminal in Galveston was scheduled to begin construction in 2020, but is now scheduled to begin on April 1, 2021.

The new Terminal 3 in Galveston will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, and will be used exclusively by Royal Caribbean.

The new cruise terminal is the linchpin in Royal Caribbean's plans to bring an Oasis Class cruise ship to the Galveston cruise market.

According to the Port of Galveston Trustees, Royal Caribbean asked to delay the start of construction by a year, and is "very much insistent" that they will begin work in 2021.

Likely not happening

Antigua Beach Club

In late 2019, Royal Caribbean announced a new kind of development that would be a sort of small scale private enclave for cruise guests.

The Royal Beach Club was described as the ultimate beach experience, which would offer guests unique features and flavors of each destination.

The first Royal Beach Club was to be built in Antigua, which will open along a half-mile of beachfront near Fort James and was scheduled to open sometime in 2021.

Since everything shutdown in 2020, there has been absolutely no mention by the cruise line of the Antigua Beach Club, or any Royal Beach Club. Moreover, Royal Caribbean Group informed investors it would conserve cash by reducing capital spending through 2021.

"We have reduced our planned capital spending through 2021, which may negatively impact our execution of planned growth strategies, particularly as it relates to investments in our ships, technology, and our expansion of land-based developments."

So while Royal Caribbean has not provided any kind of official update on the fate of the Royal Beach Club, the likelihood of the Royal Beach Club project moving ahead for 2021 seems unlikely.

Ship upgrades

Just like the Beach Clubs, spending on ship upgrades also Royal Caribbean hit the pause button.

Once it became clear the shutdown was going to last a while, Royal Caribbean postponed its upcoming amplifications until further notice.

Two Royal Caribbean ships were scheduled to be upgraded in 2021 as part of the Royal Amplification process: Adventure of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas.

Planned upgrades for Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas that were scheduled to take place in 2020 also never happened and are also on hold.

New cruise ship: Wonder of the Seas

Similar to Odyssey of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's next Oasis Class ship delivery was delayed.

Wonder of the Seas was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2021, but will instead be delivered sometime in 2022.

Under construction in France, Wonder of the Seas had to be delayed in order to spread out spending. She is still scheduled to sail exclusively in China.

While I have shared many other recipes for Royal Caribbean foods and drinks, the Spaghetti Bolognese from the main dining room is one I have been trying to find for a long time.

Spaghetti Bolognese is a staple of the main dining room menu, and is available every night.

When I regale cruisers with the tales of enjoying one of my favorite Royal Caribbean foods, they often give me a curious look as to why I am so fond of spaghetti and meat sauce, but there is just something so darn good about how Royal Caribbean makes it.

Perhaps the medley of seasonings used makes the world seem to shine, or the perfectly cooked sauce makes it feel like you walkin' in a dream, but you know you're not dreaming signore. Scuasmi, but you see, back on Indy, that's a great dish.

I had been unable to find the recipe for this dish until RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader and fellow New York bagel lover Mark Pizzo sent me a copy he had received from a cruise back in 2018.

Like myself, Mark and his son were enjoying a fabulous meal in the main dining room when the waiter noticed that Mark had eaten every bit of his spaghetti Bolognese. The waiter made it a point to have a copy of the recipe sent to his stateroom.

The original recipe from Royal Caribbean is to make 100 servings, so you probably should pare it down to something that will feed less than a small army.

Spaghetti Bolognese ingredients

• 25 lbs beef ground chuck
• 250 mL Olive Oil Extra Virgin
• 1 lbs Garlic whole peeled (fine diced)
• 2 lbs Shallot cloves peeled (fine diced)
• 6 lbs Yellow onion medium (fine diced)
• 3 lbs carrot jumbo (fine diced)
• 3 lbs celery (fine diced)
• 10 oz thyme (chopped)
• 10 oz oregano (chopped)
• 6 liters wine cooking red burgundy
• 4 cans sauce
• 4 cans tomato whole (chopped, blended)
• 10 oz kosher salt
• 10 oz White pepper ground
• 37.5 lbs spaghetti pasta
• Grated Parmesan
• Italian parsley

Mark took the liberty of plugging the recipe into a recipe converter so that it would only feed a battalion. I am no cullinary expert, so good luck with the kitchen math.

Suggested music while preparing spaghetti Bolognese

• Dean Martin - That's amore

Spaghetti Bolognese Instructions

Making the Bolognese sauce

1. Sautee beef in olive oil and cook until all meat is cooked well and all liquid has evaporated.
2. Add garlic, shallots and onions. Continue cooking
3. Add carrots, celery. Continue cooking
4. Add red wine
5. Add San Marzano tomatoes from can, ensure to chop or blend as pieces are too large
6. Add fresh herbs, season well. Bolognese should be cooked very well and have a nice, meaty, garlicky and tomato flavor and aroma

Assembly

1. Cook spaghetti.
2. Toss spaghetti with Bolognese sauce, mix well
3. Place pasta in bowl
4. Garnish with chopped parsley and add grated parmesan cheese

Don't forget to start your meal with Royal Caribbean's caesar salad as well, for a classic Italian dinner at home.

Buon appetito!

Royal Caribbean's first cruise ship to restart operations is back in service and offering cruises again after almost a week of being idle.

Quantum of the Seas departed the Marina Bay Cruise Centre to restart operations following a false positive test that temporarily shut her back down.

Last week, a passenger on Quantum of the Seas took a covid test onboard after not feeling well, and in an abundance of caution, the ship returned to port immediately and cancelled its next scheduled sailing.

After three tests in Singapore, it turned out the original positive test onboard was incorrect and the virus was never a threat on that sailing.

The 83-year-old man's original sample was retested and came back negative on Wednesday. A second fresh sample was tested and also found to be negative.

Quantum of the Seas has resumed her short "cruises to nowhere" from Singapore, offering 3- and 4- night cruises to residents of Singapore only.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain celebrated the rapid response from both the ship crew and the Singaporean government during the false alarm.

"The protocols and collaboration with the Singaporean authorities resulted in swift containment of any potential covid threat, some guest inconvenience, and a recognition that working together our cruises can operate and deliver great experiences."

Safe cruise strategy

In order to offer cruises in a safe manner, Royal Caribbean came up with sweeping changes to its ship that would facilitate all the necessary new protocols.

These multilayered health and safety measures were created based on science, data driven and developed with expert guidance from the Healthy Sail Panel, Royal Caribbean Group’s Head of Public Health and Chief Medical Officer and the Singapore Ministry of Health. 

Quantum of the Seas has a reduced capacity onboard, and has implemented mandatory universal testing during embarkation and debarkation, and enforced mask wearing, physical distancing and enhanced cleaning practices across the ship, among other required practices.

New to the cruise experience is Royal Caribbean’s Tracelet, a custom wearable required for all guests and crew on board Quantum of the Seas. The technology helps monitor physical distancing and the cruise line’s contract tracing procedures.  

For a healthier and safer adventure for all, guests and crew must wear masks on board and during signature experiences.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain has a new outlook on cruises restarting, and it is a significant departure from his outlook in the past.

Mr. Fain shared a video update with travel partners on Monday that acclaimed the approval and imminent distribution of new vaccines that he believes will be the primary way to get cruise ships sailing again.

His tone was still upbeat, but he now thinks the key to cruises resuming will be the arrival of a vaccine, and not only new health protocols.

"Previously, we expected cruising to resume based on creating a virtual bubble of safety on a ship, even if the rest of the country was experiencing significant spread," he admitted to viewers.

"Today we envision that the key, but not the exclusive factor, will be the vaccines rather than purely the protocols."

The nearly year-long cessation of operations has resulted in an enormous amount of waiting, and much more than anyone predicted, "We've waited a long time for this," Mr. Fain admitted. "We never imagined that it would take this long and we never imagined that we could survive with such a lengthy shutdown."

However, Mr. Fain believes cruises will be able to come back faster than previously thought due to the impact vaccines will have.

"Although the first cruises will be later than we expected, the resumption of cruising will ramp up faster and be more robust."

Mr. Fain was quick to point out that the new health protocols are still important, and touted the role they played in the recent false positive scare on Quantum of the Seas.

It is the first time Royal Caribbean has openly spoke about what happened last week, and it appears the situation that played out on Quantum of the Seas proved the importance of new protocols.

"The protocols and collaboration with the Singaporean authorities resulted in swift containment of any potential covid threat, some guest inconvenience, and a recognition that working together our cruises can operate and deliver great experiences."

The experience on Quantum of the Seas allowed Royal Caribbean to run through a real-world situation that luckily had no repercussions.

"The false positive gave us a real world chance to test our procedures, and they performed well."

"Such experiences really allow us to test our processes and prepare better for a full operation."

Mr. Fain also believes that once the public health threat is reduced because of the arrival of a vaccine, demand for travel will surge.

Many travel experts believe there is a lot of pent up demand by the public to get back to the fun things that so many people gave up on in 2020.

Mr. Fain said "demand will grow quickly" once cases begin to fall and cruises begin to open back up.

"People are tired and frustrated, and they want to get away from this Groundhog Day experience. The demand for new experiences will blossom."

The holiday spirit is spreading around the world, including on Royal Caribbean's cruise ships.

Over the weekend, Santa took a minute to hang ten and try his luck out surfing on Quantum of the Seas.

Video from onboard the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to restart operations has Santa showing off his surfing skills on the back of Quantum of the Seas, with his elves cheering him on.

Nick Weir is the Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean and shared the video to give a sneek peak of the rehearsals happening onboard.

Santa was onboard #QuantumoftheSeas for rehearsals yesterday. He brought four of his Elves, and his #Flowrider Sleigh... (way to go Sports Team!) pic.twitter.com/g3Au4UqJdT

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) December 13, 2020

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley shared the video saying, "Santa and his elves have boarded Quantum and we are ready to sail!"

The FlowRider surf simulator is one of the signature activities on Quantum of the Seas, and it is available on many cruise ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Quantum of the Seas recently restarted cruises in Singapore with "cruises to nowhere" that are limited to residents of Singapore and are just 3- and 4-night sailings.

Good news, we are all one week closer to our next Royal Caribbean cruise!  In case you missed any of the Royal Caribbean fun from this week, here is our weekly round up!

Many cruise fans were happy to hear that Royal Caribbean has extended the opportunity to earn double loyalty program points on 2021 cruises.

The Loyalty 2X Points benefit has been extended as a result of some of the recently cancelled cruises in early 2021.

There is no change to existing 2021 cruises booked, as they already qualify for the benefit as well.

Royal Caribbean News

• Grandfather of toddler who fell from a Royal Caribbean ship has sentencing delayed
• Royal Caribbean says its app is required when cruises restart
• Here’s what ‘The Key’ is (and why some cruisers like it)
• New cruise planner sale on drink packages, excursions and more
• U.S. Congressmen demand answers from CDC about decisions to allow cruise ships to sail
• 10 mistakes travel agents see people make going on a cruise ship
• Where are Royal Caribbean's ships right now?
• Why cruise lines aren't relying only on COVID-19 testing
• Where Royal Caribbean cruising is right now
• Quantum of the Seas had a COVID-19 scare that turned out to be a false positive
• 7 things you should know about your cruise ship cabin
• Royal Caribbean says so many volunteers for test cruise is 'incredibly motivating'
• Royal Caribbean passes on virus-zapping air purifier

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 384th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, Matt and Billy make wishes for cruising in 2021.

Each year, Billy and Matt look back on the wishes they made for the year and make new wishes for the coming year.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: 5 biggest changes on first Royal Caribbean cruise ship back!

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — 5 biggest changes on first Royal Caribbean cruise ship back — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Top 5 odd annoyances on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Every cruise ship has its quirks, including a few on Royal Caribbean that leave some guests baffled why it was designed that way.

In general, ship design is quite good across the fleet and the teams that sketched these vessels anticipated a lot of needs, but occasionally there is a peculiarity that we all seem to notice.

Here is a look at the top five odd annoyances on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that you may have encountered yourself.