Royal Caribbean International (RCL) announced at a SeaTrade convention that it will deploy 8 ships to the European market next year.  This comes as pricing in the Caribbean market is expected to soften greatly with the sluggish global economy.  One Freedom class, two Voyager class, two Radiance class, and three vision class ships will sail a reported 70 distinct itineraries, visiting 87 ports in 32 countries.  By name, the Independence of the Seas (Freedom class,) Navigator of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas (Voyager class,) Brilliance of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas (Radiance Class,) Legend of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas, and Vision of the Seas (Vision class.)

Oasis of the Seas will not visit the UK during her delivery cruise to Port Everglades.  Normally, if possible, ships visit various European ports, often New York City, and then proceed to their initial ports of operation.  During these early visits, promotional cruises are offered to select individuals.  I had the opportunity to cruise on Liberty of the Seas this past year on such a cruise.  The reason for the unusual change in early operation is the ship itself.  With the quantity of grass and trees to be installed, and the ship being finished in the winter months, Royal Caribbean will be completing that project once she makes it across the ocean.

Tuesday’s stock numbers:

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No doubt if you have had any connection with the world in recent days, you are aware of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.  The tragic assault on several hotels and a Jewish community center, have the attention of the international community.  I’m not one to side step the unpleasant, which can be rare for sites covering the cruise industry.  My feeling is that it is a better thing to engage topics head-on, understand them rationally, and not jump on popular bandwagons of panic or politics.

For a detailed idea of what occurred, you are best served by monitor a general news service.  I find Google News to be a good start.  Specific services like CNN tend to get caught-up in the hype surrounding the matter.

In terms of how these attacks impact Royal Caribbean, I can say that Lend of the Seas, which was to call on the port of Mumbai (formally Bombay,) but is holding in Dubai for the time being.  With the way the entire industry has been pushing into the Asia and Indian Ocean regions, it goes without saying they watch security very closely.  It remains entirely too soon to know exactly what has gone on in Mumbai.

The lines spend great sums of money keeping their own intelligence operations operating, and they do interact professionally to some extent, with their government contacts.  They do employ security personnel whom are far more  capable than you might think from the friendly faces and red epaulets.  And the likely extent of the unpublished measures they take are enough to leave me feeling the industry is as safe as it can be.  The attack will bring with it heightened security measures and awareness of possible threats.

Meanwhile, if the rest of the world is deeply shaken about what this means for the industry, I leave it to you to decide, here is Friday’s stock numbers.

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Completed to 65% of her final form, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas was floated out to much hype and media attention.  USA Today’s cruise guru reported online of the event.  The photos were nice, but many more have long since leaked out of Turku.  They long ago gave rise to rumors of Royal Caribbean painting part of Oasis’ hull light blue.  The ship is being moved to the finishing dock, where she will remain until sea trials, the next major event.  Meanwhile, the dry dock will be prepped for the keel laying of Allure of the Seas, which is due in slight more than a year beyond her sister.  The STX yard in Turku has been building Voyager, Freedom, and now Oasis class ships non-stop since 1998.

Meanwhile, Travel Weekly has awarded Royal Caribbean International an aware as the best luxury cruise operator in the Asian market.  The aware caps a successful first year of full-time operations in Asia.  The line had a presence there before, but the deployment of Rhapsody of the Seas, to be followed by Legend of the Seas, is first long-term deployment in well over a decade.

Royal Caribbean’s stock performance for today:

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. End-of-Day Stock Quote for November 21, 2008

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Cruising Asia on Legend gets easier.

Royal Caribbean will deploy Legend of the Seas to Asia year round, starting in 2009.  Royal Caribbean has had its return to the Asian market underway for nearly three years now, and with the successful placement of Vision class ships in the market, they are stationing one there permanently.  The move makes a great deal of sense.  Obviously, the Asian market is already large, and well accustom to vacation cruises.  However, it is a market that should prove a fine home for older ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.  With the move of the Sovereign out of the fleet, and shifting Empress as well, the six unit Vision class are the smallest vessels remaining.  Additionally, they are now the most “dissimilar” to the emerging standard of Royal Caribbean, seen with the Voyager family of ships. 

The Vision class are held in very high regard for their design.  They are a significant refinement over the earlier Sovereign class they followed, and have many years of life remaining in the Royal Caribbean fleet.  But the change in feel and experience a passenger coming from one or more cruises on a Voyager class would be dramatic.  Especially if the itinerary is in the same area.  Asia however is an “exotic” region, the culture sharply different, and that aids the transition for people cruising in the region.  The expectations are very different from the start. 

Trust that future years will see all of the Vision class sail to the edges of the Royal Caribbean markets.

Royal Caribbean is holding its own in rough economy.

Royal Caribbean, like the cruise industry at large, has been holding its own during what is either technically or effectively a recession in the U.S.  Despite substantially higher fuel costs, which have risen over 55%, the line managed a modest boost in yield.  Overall costs were up 6.7% but only 2% if you discount fuel from the numbers. 

The end of the Olympic building boom in China, a U.S. recession, and likely slow-down in Europe and Asia, should help stun the oil markets back into submission.  And those who can afford a cruise, are generally not proving the same as those who are being most hurt by the global economy.  This is bad if one is hoping for deeper discounts on fares.  But if you follow the industry at all, you know we are most likely going to see a steady increase in fares over the years to come. 

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