Cruising News Magazine Cruising News February 2019 | Page 23
Big Apple Debut
Royal Caribbean International is
charting a new course with its 2020-21
deployment plans, touting a fleet of
Royal Amplified ships sailing to exciting
destinations. An amped up Oasis of the
Seas will greet Lady Liberty and deliver
new vacations from the Northeast
with 7-night Caribbean itineraries that
include an unforgettable day at the
cruise line’s highly anticipated private
island destination, Perfect Day at
CocoCay, The Bahamas. Oasis will be
the first ship in her class and the world’s
largest to sail from the Northeast. For the
first time since 2015, Anthem of the Seas
will return to the U.K. to sail alongside
Independence of the Seas, marking
the cruise line’s biggest presence in the
region to-date.
Celebrating its one-year anniversary in
summer 2020, Perfect Day at CocoCay
will welcome 10 ships from more
ports than any previous deployment,
including newly added Galveston,
Texas, as well as Barcelona, Spain
on Allure and Rhapsody of the Seas’
transatlantic sailings in November 2020.
Delivering on its promise of creating
memorable vacations on land and on
board, Royal Caribbean will tout seven
ships in 2020-21 that have emerged
from the global cruise line’s $1 billion
Royal Amplified modernization program
launched in 2018.
Big news for the Big Apple – Oasis of the
Seas, the ship that revolutionized cruise
vacations in 2009 with game-changing
industry firsts, from the unique seven-
neighbourhood concept to the iconic
Aqua Theatre performance venue, will
undergo a bow-to-stern transformation
in 2019 and become the first Royal
Amplified ship to sail from Cape
Liberty in Bayonne, N.J., starting in May
2020. Oasis of the Seas will transport
travellers to the clear blue waters of
The Bahamas all summer with 7-night
itineraries, as well as a select number of
short cruises north to New England and
Canada.
Adventure of the Seas will return to
Cape Liberty, sailing a variety of 5 and
9 night summer and fall itineraries to
Bermuda, New England and Canada,
The Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Travellers can extend leaf peeping
season on Vision of the Seas, which
will offer three 10 to 11 night open-
jaw itineraries between Bayonne and
Quebec City with an overnight in
Quebec’s capital – a UNESCO World
Heritage treasure and North America’s
only fortified city.
Symphony of the Seas and sister ship
Harmony of the Seas, the ultimate
family ships, will return to PortMiami
and Port Canaveral, Fla., respectively,
offering 7 night itineraries to the Eastern
and Western Caribbean. Both ships
will feature visits to Perfect Day at
CocoCay. Brilliance of the Seas will
light up Boston in the fall, sailing 7 to
10 night cruises to Canada starting
in September 2020, while Grandeur
of the Seas continues to offer 9 night
itineraries to Canada and New England
for fall foliage from her year round
homeport in Baltimore, Md. Grandeur
will embark on a combination of 5 and
9 night itineraries to Bermuda and The
Bahamas in the summer months, and
transition to 9 night Southeast Coast
& Bahamas and 12 night Southern
Caribbean cruises for the winter.
In 2020, San Juan, Puerto Rico will
welcome what will be the newly
modernized Freedom of the Seas. The
largest ship to ever homeport in San
Juan will return for the third consecutive
year to sail 7 night itineraries year-round
throughout the Southern Caribbean,
travelling beyond the typical getaway
to exotic destinations like Philipsburg,
St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis;
St. Johns, Antigua; Castries, St. Lucia
and Bridgetown, Barbados. Rounding
out the 7 night Caribbean offerings is
Liberty of the Seas, which will continue
to sail from Galveston to the Western
Caribbean ahead of her own highly
anticipated amplification in early 2021.
No stranger to Perfect Day at
CocoCay, two of Royal Caribbean’s
Amplified ships, Mariner of the Seas and
Navigator of the Seas, will continue to
elevate short Caribbean getaways all
year with 3 night weekend and 4 night
weekday itineraries to The Bahamas.
Navigator will be the third ship to be
reimagined in February 2019, building
on the successes of the brand’s Royal
Amplified fleet modernization program
to incorporate a lineup of firsts and
Royal Caribbean favourites with new
experiences, including an awe-inspiring
Caribbean poolscape, two daring
waterslides – introducing the longest
aqua coaster at sea – the first blow dry
bar in the industry, elevated nightlife
and dining, and thrilling activities. Short
Caribbean itineraries are now open to
book.
Sharing the Texas-sized spotlight,
Enchantment of the Seas will, for the first
time from Galveston, offer a lineup of
sailings to Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The Old World will get a new spin
with Royal Caribbean’s summer 2020
deployment. Longtime New York
resident, Anthem of the Seas, will make
the journey across the Atlantic to
Southampton returning for the first time
in five years. Anthem is set to embark
on her biggest adventure yet as the
Quantum Class ship visits coastal towns
along the Mediterranean, Northern
Europe and the Canary Islands, on
8 to 14 night itineraries. Modernized
in 2018, Independence of the Seas
will return to Southampton for the
season and sail 7 to 14 night cruises
around the Norwegian Fjords, Canary
Islands and North Africa, Scandinavia
& Russia, and Italian Mediterranean,
including new destinations Agadir,
Morocco and Ponta Delgada in
Portugal’s Azores archipelago in the
mid-Atlantic. Vacationers can also
revel in the beauty of the Baltic with a
14 night itinerary, a first for a Freedom
Class ship, featuring an overnight in
Copenhagen, Denmark and two nights
in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Royal Amplified will reach the far
corners of Europe as Allure of the
Seas and Explorer of the Seas debut
multimillion-dollar modernizations as
they journey across Europe for the 2020
summer and fall seasons to rediscover
legendary landmarks, charming
coastlines and the diverse cultures.
Allure of the Seas will be the first Royal
Amplified Oasis Class ship in Europe,
offering 7 night Western Mediterranean
itineraries that depart from Barcelona.
From Rome, the reimagined Explorer will
offer a mix of 7 to 12 night sailings along
the Greek Isles, uncovering storied
temples, amphitheatres and villages.
Vision of the Seas will join Allure in
Barcelona for the summer and fall
seasons to offer travellers 12 night
cruises across the Mediterranean,
as Rhapsody of the Seas returns to
Venice for the summer to offer shorter
itineraries, alternating between
Greece & Croatia and the Greek Isles.
Copenhagen will welcome Jewel of
the Seas for the season, as the ship sails
a mix of 7 night itineraries through the
Norwegian Fjords and Scandinavia &
Russia. Brilliance of the Seas will return to
Amsterdam for a third summer, sailing
12 night Baltic itineraries and a special
12 night sailing around the British Isles.
For a once-in-a-lifetime experience,
adventurers can board Brilliance for
a 15-night Artic crossing as the ship
repositions from Amsterdam to Boston.
www.worldwidecruisecentres.com.au
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