Extended drydock forces Liberty of the Seas to cancel five cruises in 2021

Liberty of the Seas

Royal Caribbean International cancelled five 2021 cruises on the Liberty of the Seas to accommodate an extended drydock.

The scheduled drydock is part of the line’s $1 billion Royal Amplification fleet enhancement program that spans 10 ships over four years and includes the Freedom class of ships, of which the Liberty, built-in 2007, is a part of. The line’s Oasis of the Seas recently completed its upgrade under the program. 

The ship’s cancellations begin with a Feb. 14, 2021, sailing. Royal said that all passengers have been informed and that it is offering them alternative cruises. The other affected sailings were to have departed on Feb. 21 and 28 and March 7 and 14.

Cruises Return, Donate to Houston's Recovery

Port of Galveston, Huston.

Houston-based online cruise agency, Vacations to Go is donating one million dollars to six local charities, according to a letter sent to customers from CEO Alan Fox on Friday.

Fox reports that the company's headquarters "suffered only minor water damage and never lost power." Phone service was restored on Wednesday and many employees are returning to work.

Of the 800 Vacations to Go employees in the Houston area, 64 sustained serious flood damage to their homes, but all are safe and accounted for, according to Fox's letter. Not all employees have been able to return to their homes to assess the damage, and others are still stranded in their homes surrounded by flood waters. 

Cruise Lines Are Sailing Again

As water continues to rise in some Houston-area neighborhoods due to cresting of rivers and bayous, cruise operations from the Port of Galveston are expected to return to normal this week. Travel writer Cynthia Drake—who reported from Liberty of the Seas earlier this week as it detoured to Miami—reports now that the ship returned to Galveston on Friday, carrying approximately half of its original passengers.

Nearly 2,000 Liberty of the Seas passengers opted to make other travel arrangements from Miami when the ship docked there briefly on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean’s website shows normal operations for the September 3^rd sailing.

The site does acknowledge that some passengers may still be having difficulty with transportation to the port. Both Houston airports are open but still at a limited capacity. Some roads and highways in the area are still closed.  The company encourages passengers having difficulty reaching the port or guests who “may not feel comfortable joining Liberty” to contact customer service at 1-800-256-6649 for assistance.  

Carnival's website shows normal operations for Carnival Freedom, Breeze and Valor resuming scheduled departures on September 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 

Vacations to Go Supporting Neighborhood Charities

The six charities Vacations To Go is supporting include Houston Food Bank, BakerRipley, Star of Hope Mission, Second Baptist Church, Memorial Assistance Ministries and the Houston SPCA. 

According to Fox, able Vacations to Go employees who are "donating and collecting food, clothes, water, toiletries, disposable diapers, blankets and sheets, toys and games at our Houston office (5851 San Felipe Street, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77057) for delivery to one of the shelters in the city."

He added that customers should, “Feel free to ship anything here that you want delivered to a shelter and we'll make sure it gets there.”

Fox concluded by thanking customers for their words of encouragement both to him personally and to Vacations to Go cruise consultants throughout last week's storm.

Royal to resume New Orleans sailings

Vision of the Seas

Royal Caribbean International said it will put a ship in New Orleans for the 2018-19 winter season, after an absence of three years.

The Vision of the Seas will sail 7-day itineraries to destinations in the Bahamas and the Yucatan Peninsula, Royal said.

In addition, the Enchantment of the Seas will move from Miami to Galveston, joining the Liberty of the Seas there. The Vision will offer two 16-day Panama Canal transits between Miami and Los Angeles before repositioning to New Orleans, the first time in three years that itinerary will be offered.

Photo credit Dawn Jones, Entrance of the first lock.

Royal also said that the Mariner of the Seas will return to Miami from the Asia-Pacific region to sail short cruises, the first time a Voyager-class ship has been assigned to that duty. The 3- and 4-day itineraries to the Bahamas begin on June 21, 2018, after a 32-day revitalization.

Royal's Liberty of the Seas to undergo revamp

Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas is set to undergo a major revamp.

The 3,634-passenger ship, which is sailing from Galveston, Texas, will go into dry dock for a month in February next year. During the transformation the ship will be given new water slides and new dining options.

The collection of water slides will include Tidal Wave, the first boomerang style slide at sea which features a steep drop that propels guests up a near-vertical wall where they’ll feel weightless and be sent into free fall.

The ship also features two new racer slides – Cyclone and Typhoon. The slides will be at the back of the ship, close to the Flowrider surf simulator that was initially introduced on the Freedom class ships.

A Splashaway Bay adult-free water park is also being added to the ship during the stint in dry dock.

New dining options on the ship will include Mexican restaurant Sabor and Italian venue Giovanni’s Table. A new cocktail bar, R Bar, is also being added.

A new cabin option will also be introduced on the ship with 26 panoramic ocean view staterooms, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

Liberty of the Seas will sail on seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries every Sunday from Galveston from November.

Europe's Royal Mediterranean

Mediterranean Deployment

Eight ships are set to sail in Europe next year

By Marilyn Green

Liberty of the Seas will head to the Mediterranean in 2014. // © 2013 Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean International recently announced that Liberty of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, and Splendour of the Seas will sail the Mediterranean in 2014, in addition to the Northern Europe deployment of Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas and Legend of the Seas. The move means that the cruise line will have a total of eight vessels in Europe next year. Bookings opened for these sailings are currently open.

Most of the 2014 Europe fleet will have undergone Royal’s revitalization program, delivering an expanded array of dining options from the casual dining Park Cafe, Boardwalk Dog House and Rita’s Cantina to the Samba Grill Brazilian steakhouse, the new Viking Crown Lounge with a menu of appetizers in a reconceptualized modern club atmosphere, Izumi Asian Cuisine and the Chef’s Table.

The recently revitalized ships also feature Wi-Fi throughout the vessels, digital signage, flat-panel televisions in newly refreshed staterooms and a poolside, oversized LED movie screen. Independence of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas each have a FlowRider and cantilevered whirlpools, as well as Europe’s only ice-skating rinks at sea, which are also onboard Navigator of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas.

Cruisers six to 36 months old can enjoy the new Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, while three to 11-year olds are led by college-accredited counselors in educational and entertaining programs developed with Fisher Price in the complimentary Adventure Ocean program. Teens have their own dedicated lounge and activities such as learning to mix music in Scratch DJ sessions or the teen-only rock-climbing wall and FlowRider surf simulator sessions.

On Splendour of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas, guests can enjoy the new retro-hip R Bar as performers perform the new aerial-acrobatic Centrum Experience performed throughout more than four decks of the ships’ atriums. Guests aboard Liberty of the Seas can take in the Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever by night.

Liberty of the Seas will sail roundtrip from Barcelona on a seven-night, Western Mediterranean itinerary, calling at Provence (Marseilles) and Nice (Villefranche), France; and Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Rome (Civitavecchia), and Naples/Capri, Italy; the Aug. 10 sailing calls at Cannes instead of Nice. A four-night, roundtrip itinerary departing May 14 will offer vacationers a taste of the Freedom-class experience, with a call at Nice and Florence/Pisa. An eastbound trans-Atlantic sailing on May 1 and westbound on Oct. 26, both 13-night itineraries, will bookend the Europe season.

Navigator of the Seas will homeport in Rome (Civitavecchia) to sail a seven-night Eastern Mediterranean itinerary, which calls at Sicily (Messina), Italy; Athens (Piraeus) and Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece; and Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey. The seven-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise, sailing roundtrip from Sicily (Messina). A May 4, 15-night Galveston to Rome cruise or Nov. 9, 14-night Barcelona to Galveston sailing take guests trans-Atlantic. 

Nine to 12-night Italy, Greek Isles and Turkey cruises sail from Barcelona from May through August, and Venice from late August through October. From Barcelona, Serenade of the Seas will alternate 12-night Mediterranean Greek Isles and Mediterranean Venice itineraries, the latter featuring an overnight in Venice. From September, Serenade will homeport in Venice and alternate 10-night Greek Isles and 11-night Greece and Turkey itineraries. A 16-night trans-Atlantic cruise from New Orleans to Barcelona sails on Apr. 26.  Vacationers also can choose a nine-night eastbound sailing from Barcelona to Venice on Aug. 27 and a 10-night westbound return on Oct. 27.

Splendour of the Seas will homeport in Venice for its entire Europe season and alternate seven-night Greek Isles and Greek Isles & Turkey itineraries. The ship will reposition from Sao Paolo, Brazil, to Barcelona for a 14-night trans-Atlantic voyage on Apr. 25, and then start its Europe season with an eight-night Italian Mediterranean and Adriatic itinerary from Barcelona to Venice. Splendour concludes its Europe season with a seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Barcelona on Nov. 15, before returning to Sao Paolo on Nov. 22 on a 15-night westbound trans-Atlantic itinerary.

Royal Caribbean Int'l reducing Europe deployments

By Johanna Jainchill

Royal Caribbean International will reduce its ships deployed in Europe next year to eight, down from 12 in 2012.

This year, the cruise line will operate nine of its 22 vessels on the Continent; 2014's one ship reduction will be the Vision of the Seas, which will operate in Northern Europe this year but not next. Royal Caribbean has not yet announced the vessel's 2014 deployment.

In Europe next year will be the Liberty of the Seas, the Navigator of the Seas, the Serenade of the Seas and the Splendour of the Seas in the Mediterranean, and the Independence of the Seas, the Adventure of the Seas, the Brilliance of the Seas and the Legend of the Seas in Northern Europe.

Next year's Northern Europe cruises opened for booking this week; the line's Mediterranean cruises go on sale March 28.