Royal Caribbean recently announced that they will be transferring Sovereign of the Seas to their Pullmantur Cruise Line. Sovereign is one of the oldest ships in the RCI fleet and it is the ship that really started off the whole competition for the largest most technologically advanced ship in the world. Her maiden voyage was on January 16, 1988 and at 880 feet in length and displacing 73,192 tons she was one of the largest cruise ships ever built. Those stats by today's standards are average if not a bit small but back then she was huge. She also introduced many design innovations still in use on today's big ships. Sovereign of the Seas was the first of the mega-ships. Hopefully she has a long second life with Pullmantur.
Here is the RCI press release:
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Transfers Royal Caribbean International Ship To Pullmantur; Replaces Ship Serving Port Canaveral
MIAMI - October 12, 2007 - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced today that Royal Caribbean International's Sovereign of the Seas will be reassigned to the company's Pullmantur fleet, and the Los Angeles-based Monarch of the Seas will assume Sovereign of the Seas' sailings out of Port Canaveral. These changes will take place in October and November 2008.
"We are fortunate that our mix of brands allows us the flexibility and opportunity to expand in key strategic markets and to diversify in existing ones," said Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Adam Goldstein. "We thank our partners at the ports of Los Angeles, Ensenada, Catalina and San Diego for our outstanding and ongoing relationship. We look forward to providing our Monarch of the Seas guests with exceptional vacations as we visit those locations through next fall.
"Sovereign of the Seas' last scheduled sailing for Royal Caribbean International will be on October 31, 2008. Two subsequent cruises, scheduled for November 3 and 7, will be canceled, and guests booked on those cruises will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking an earlier Sovereign of the Seas sailing during 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007. All guests currently booked on Sovereign of the Seas on or after November 10, 2008, will be re-accommodated onboard Monarch of the Seas.
Monarch of the Seas will make its last regularly scheduled sailing out of Los Angeles on October 13, 2008. All guests currently booked on a subsequent sailing will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking a three, four or five-night Caribbean sailing, or a seven-night Mexican Riviera sailing, onboard Royal Caribbean International in 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007.
On October 17, 2008, Monarch of the Seas will reposition to the East Coast when it departs Los Angeles on a 16-night Panama Canal cruise to Miami. The ship will then undergo a scheduled, weeklong dry-dock before welcoming its first Port Canaveral guests for three and four-night Bahamas sailings starting November 10, 2008.
Royal Caribbean International has established a special help desk to assist its guests and travel agents impacted by these changes. The toll free phone number is 1-888-281-9344.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France. The company has a combined total of 35 ships in service and seven under construction. It also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin and South America and New Zealand.
1 comment:
The Sovereign of the Seas was indeed a magnificent vessel. Having sailed on her when she was almost new and the largest afloat was a wonderful experience. I saw her in Port Canaveral from the deck of the Norwegian Gem perhaps about the same time she was being transferred. She still looked as beautiful as ever and I will treasure my photos taken while aboard her.
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