Royal Caribbean Fans

A Ship Schedule site has listed that Quantum of the Seas will make a transatlantic crossing on the 2nd November 2014, before arriving at her home port of Bayonne. 

The site listing, spotted by Stacey Katz better known as CruiseDivaNJ on social media and forums, shows Quantum of the Seas as cruising from Southampton.

The transatlantic will consist of 8-nights arriving in Bayonne on 10th November. However, her first cruise from Bayonne is scheduled for 18th November, a 3-night cruise listed as sailing to the Bahamas. However, the Bahamas is not accessible from Port Liberty in 3 days. Perhaps it is a cruise to nowhere?

The 8 days between the next sailing raises many questions. These dates are likely to change, or is Royal Caribbean planning something special for these 8 days?

Royal Caribbean have now issued prices and itineraries ahead of the 9th April, when they are set to go on sale exclusively to Crown and Anchor members 48 hours before general sale.

Oasis of the Seas will cruise Europe for 5 sailings only and they WILL SELL OUT FAST!

The first cruise will depart on a 12-night reposistioning cruise on 1st September 2014 from Fort Laurderdale to Barcelona, with 9 days at sea to explore this incredible ship and a port of call in Malaga. The cruise only price for this will be £739pp in an Inside Stateroom.

This reposistioning cruise, will then see Oasis set sail from Barcelona on 13th and 18th September 2014 for a 5-night sailing calling at Rome and Naples. These will be on sale for £599pp for an Inside Stateroom.

Oasis will depart Barcelona for the last time on 23rd September 14, where she will embark on a 7-night cruise to Rotterdam calling at Malaga and Vigo. This cruise is priced at £699pp for an Inside Stateroom.

After Oasis has completed her dry dock period, she will then sail empty or possibly host a special Travel Agent cruise from Rotterdam to Southampton, where she will depart on her final European schedule departing Southampton to Fort Lauderdale on 15th October 2014. She will call at Vigo and then arriving in Fort Lauderdale. This cruise will be on sale at £729pp for an Inside Stateroom.

After 5 years since its brief time in European waters, Oasis of the Seas will be making a return to the region in October 2014. 

The largest cruise ship, will sail to the Keppel Verolme shipyard in Rotterdam, one of the largest dockyards in Europe. There, Oasis will receive some cosmetic repairs and tests.

The visit to the shipyard will give the opportunity for Oasis of the Seas to operate several cruises in Europe. A transatlantic sailing from the Caribbean to Europe is expected and in addition several voyages around Europe. Eventually the ship is expected to return to the States.

The Allure of the Seas is also likely to come to Europe in the next 2-3 years time if a drydock has still not been built in the Caribbean that can hold the largest ships in the world.

There is also speculation that the Oasis of the Seas will be briefly touring the Western Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has now officially announced that Oasis will call in Europe, after releasing the 2014 cruise schedules. Bookings will go live on 11th April 2013. A transatlantic from Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona. A 7 night round trip from Barcelona around Spain before a cruise to Rotterdam ready for her drydock. After dry dock is complete, she will set sail on a transatlantic cruise from Rotterdam to Fort Lauderdale via Southampton.

Royal Caribbean's 2014 UK cruise season is now available to book exclusively to their Crown and Anchor members.

Crown and Anchor members can book 48 hours in advance of general release. Plus if you book your cruise during the period, you will receive a reduced deposit of just £150 per person. 

There are also some great savings to be had, such as £379pp for a 4-night Belgium and France cruise in a Balcony stateroom. As well as £899 for an 8-night cruise in a Balcony cruising to the Norwegian Fjords.

Royal Caribbean has changed Independence of the Seas' itinerary due to a scheduled strike in Greece, Portugal and Spain starting November 14th.

Independence of the Seas was scheduled to call at Lisbon on November 14th, however the ship will now dock at Lanzarote instead.

"We were aware of the upcoming strikes and proactively made changes to some itineraries," Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications for RCCL, told Cruise Critic.

Celebrity Constellation, has also had to change its scheduled call at Vigo, Spain, on November 14 and instead spend the day at sea. The ship will then visit Portugal on November 15 and stop in Vigo on November 16.

The general strikes are expected to last three days and disrupt air travel as well as public transportation.

There has been recent specualtion that Independence of the Seas, may no longer cruise out of Southampton for the 2014 cruise season.

Adventure of the Seas is planned to stay in the UK, however Independence could possibly cruise the Caribbean year round instead. 

If rumours are correct, then the 154,000 GT Independence of the Seas, which has cruised out of the port since its maiden voyage in 2008, may possibly be replaced by one of the Oasis class vessels or even one of the closely guarded Project Sunshine ships, which are due for completion in the fall of 2014 and spring of 2015. 

There has been no official comment on the matter by Royal Caribbean as of yet, so we will have to wait to see if these speculations are indeed true.

A member of crew was injured on board Jewel of the Seas today as the vessel struck a power cable when it was entering the port of Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands.

After receiving immediate medical treatment on board, the crewman was transferred to a local hospital, accompanied by a member of the ship's care team.

It is understood that the overhead cable, stretching betwen the islands of Bordoy and Eysturoy, remained intact but damage was caused to equipment on a mast and to the mast itself. The crewman was hit by falling debris.

Jewel of the Seas was given a ceremonial farewell when it left the Harwich for the last time on Friday after being based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons. The ship had called at Le Havre, Portland in Dorset, Cork and Dublin en route to the Faroes.

Royal Caribbean has yet to explain how the ship could have come to hit the cable.

A statement said the incident had not affected the ship's seaworthiness, stating that "Local officials responded to Jewel of the Seas, and after inspecting the damage to the ship concluded that the ship can safely sail."

Its next port of call is scheduled to be Reykjavik in Iceland on Saturday.

If you live in the United Kingdom, I'm sure you'll agree that cruises that sail from the UK are far less stressful than the 'Fly/Cruise'. You can forget about going through security at the airport, waiting hours to catch your plane and the strict baggage allowance of around 23kg, which when you go on a 14 night voyage, can be hard to comply with. It means you can drive or hop on a train or coach and take as much luggage as you can possibly carry.

Southampton is certainly the main hub for cruise voyages in the UK. On average 3 ships dock at the port everyday. Each filled with around 2,500 passengers. So what makes Southampton so popular with the cruise ships?

Let's start with its transport links. South West Trains run services from London to Southampton roughly every 25 minutes and the journey time is around 1 hour and 20 minutes. South West Trains also operate services from the South coast. Cross Country Trains from the Midlands and the North run hourly. Southampton is also connected by Southern which runs trains from the South East. First Great Western also operate services from the West. 

CruiseSaver (part of the Bath Travel Group), operate dedicated cruise trains from Glasgow and Edinburgh with pickups at Newcastle, Leeds, Preston, Stockport and Solihull. The 'Boat Train' offers first class travel and silver service meals, a perfect start or end to your cruise. The train delivers passengers direct to the QEII Passenger Terminal in the Port’s Eastern Docks and the Mayflower Cruise Terminal in the Western Docks.

The M3 and M27 allows motorists to get to Southampton from London and the South coast. National Express coaches as well as Eavesway have regular services from all over the UK.

You could also regionally fly from your local airport to Southampton Airport. However you will then have to face the baggage restrictions and waiting around.

It's not just Southampton's convenient travel links that makes it so popular. It's location makes it possible for ships to travel almost anywhere. Wether it be Northern Europe, Mediterranean, Canaries or America. If you compare the Port of Edinburgh or Harwich for example, you are much more limited to where you can cruise to. For instance the Norwegian Fjords, British Isles or Northern Europe.

So what do you think about cruising from Southampton?

Janet Bailey says 'I love travelling from Southampton because it means I can pack as much luggage as I want'

Debi Martin believes 'cruising from Southampton is convenient and stress-free'

Adventure of the Seas rescued 19 people early this morning. The immigrants were trying to get to Spain from Morocco.

The small boat was spotted at around 10pm when many passengers were dining. The boat was sighted in the waters bordering Almeria and Murcia, Spain. The rescue took about 45 minutes around the area of Costa del Sol.

Of the 19 immigrants, mostly from Morocco, eight were children. All are currently in good health, except for the one woman traveling with them. At 31 weeks pregnant, she was taken to hospital for further examination.

Upon arrival at the port of Malaga, all immigrants were assisted by the Red Cross and then turned over to the state security forces.

The pilot strikes in Norway which closed Oslo Fjord Port earlier this week has spread to ports along the west coast of the country including Tromsø and Alesund.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has already been forced to alter the itinerary for Balmoral's Norwegian Fjords voyage, which departed Southampton yesterday (30 May).

Brilliance of the Seas, P&O's Adonia, MSC Magnifica and Holland America Line's ms Eurodam and ms Rotterdam are all due to dock in Tromsø or Alesund in the next week.

All the cruise lines have confirmed they are putting contingency plans in place should the strikes continue.

Balmoral's revised itinerary is as follows: Kiel Canal (May 31), Warnemunde (June 1), Copenhagen (June 2), Gothenburg (June 3), at sea (June 4), Zeebrugge (June 5) and Southampton (June 6).

A statement from Royal Caribbean said: "Today, Vision of the Seas is in Bergen, Norway, and Brilliance of the Seas is Flam, Norway. Both ships are expected to depart their ports of call today as scheduled. However, we are currently preparing contingency plans in the event the strike continues and either ship is unable to make their next scheduled port of calls in Norway."

Other ports affected by the strike are; Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Geiranger and a few others.