Independence of the Seas sets sail for Caribbean ports

10 November, 2011

Royal Caribbean’s European commitment has been welldocumented in this space. More than half its fleet of 22 ships spends the summer sailing out of Europe.

So it came as something of a surprise when Royal announced last month that one of the line’s largest megaships, Independence of the Seas which had been sailing yearround out of Southampton will be returning to this side of the Atlantic for the 201213 winter season.

Independence, one of the three Freedom Class ships was the largest to homeport in England.

The ship first arrived on the European scene in 2010, among much fanfare and a commitment to serve the English market yearround. This season, the Independence is sailing routes that include Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands, with starting prices in January close to $100 a day on 12day cruises.

There is a hint of why this ship is leaving the United Kingdom in Royal Caribbean’s thirdquarter financial report. When discussing the highlights, the cruise line emphasized its success in the Caribbean and Alaska markets. Yield is up 15 per cent in the Caribbean, and that figure is good enough to bring Independence back to Port Everglades next winter.

What’s more, this is not the only Royal Caribbean ship to cancel cruising yearround in Europe. Last April, the line announced that Navigator of the Seas was leaving the Mediterranean to return to the Caribbean for this winter.

When Independence of the Seas returns, it will sail alternating eightnight Eastern Caribbean and sixnight Western Caribbean itineraries out of Fort Lauderdale, starting in December 2012.

The Eastern Caribbean route will stop in San Juan , St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Labadee Royal Caribbean’s private enclave in Haiti. The Western Caribbean will visit ports in Falmouth , Grand Cayman and Labadee.

With the return of Independence, the six largest cruise ships in the world will sail in the Caribbean out of southern Florida. Out of the six, five are owned by Royal Caribbean, with Norwegian laying claim to the thirdlargest with its megaship, the Epic.

If you check my portsandbows.com blog today, you’ll find some of the best pricing in the Caribbean for this winter.

These six ships alone represent over 26,000 beds per week on ships in the Caribbean.

As for those U.K. passengers missing out on winter cruising, I am sure many will find their

way to the Caribbean.

Bermuda is taking a big hit.

Carnival Cruise Lines has decided, more or less, to drop Bermuda next year.

Carnival made 15 voyages to the island last year, and now has plans to make only one trip this year.

Bermuda authorities were not expecting the cuts. In fact, they were expecting Carnival to add cruises this year.

A spokesman for Carnival told the Bermuda Sun that the cruise line had requested docking space for next summer, but changed plans.

“Technically, we had not put the cruises on sale, so, in effect, they were not cancellations,” according to a spokesman for Carnival.

That same spokesman said Bermuda officials should have been notified earlier, and an internal revue is underway to see what went wrong.

Among the larger cruise lines, NCL will be sailing to Bermuda from Boston and New York next year, while Holland America will make the trip from New York, and Royal Caribbean from Cape Liberty, New Jersey , and Baltimore.

Visit portsandbows.com for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behindthescenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Phil can be contacted directly at portsandbows@gmail.com.

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