NYCruiseInfo Blog

  Empress of the Seas is One of the Royal Caribbean Ships At Risk Of Being Sold In a recent earnings call Royal Caribbean Group announced that they are indeed looking at possibly shedding older ships in addition to the Sovereign and Monarch (ex Monarch of the Seas and Sovereign of the Seas) which were recently beached in Alaiga, Turkey. Royal Caribbean has announced that the 3rd ship in the Pullmantur fleet - the Zenith - which sailed for many years from New York to Bermuda for Celebrity Cruises - will most likely be scrapped. The Zenith is laid up in Lavrio Greece.  Just as a side note the Zenith was supposed to be chartered/purchased by Peaceboat,org for world wide peace missions. She was supposed to sail along side the Ocean Dream (originally built as Carnival Cruises' Tropicale). Based on the announcement above it is unclear which ship(s) Peaceboat will operate in 2021. The Zenith's identical sister ship - the Horizon is also at risk. The Horizon was also a popular ship fo...

Manhattan Cruise Terminal Minus the Cruise Ships Due to The Pause In Operations. This past weekend was a great weekend in New York City. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and the temperature was warm. On Saturday, I made my way over to the Hudson River and was saddened to see the cruise ship piers in Manhattan empty. On a normal Saturday a Norwegian Cruise Line ship would have been tied up - loading passengers for a cruise to either Florida and the Bahamas or New England & Canada. In Bayonne, Cape Liberty, a Royal Caribbean ship would have been embarking on as sailing to the same ports - Florida / Bahamas or New England / Canada or Bermuda and the Caribbean. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal may have been playing host to the Queen Mary 2 preparing to sail to Southampton, England on a transatlantic voyage. Unfortunately none of the above was to be found. The river, itself seemed quiet - no ships, limited ferry traffic, no Circle Line, no excursion boats - just t...

Royal Caribbean Announces Reduction Due to the Coroniavirus and Temporary Suspension of Operations. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is reducing its staff by laying off or furloughing approximately 26% of its 5,000+ US-based workers.  The company broke the news to employees on Wednesday after announcing the termination of many crew contracts earlier in the day. In a statement a company representative stated, 'The circumstances of the pandemic made this action unavoidable, and it hurts to part ways with so many good and talented people. Also on the same day, saw the resignation of  Larry Pimental - Azamara Cruises President - a long time cruise executive and cruise industry veteran. Larry will be replaced by Carol Cabezas, who's served as chief operating officer of Azamara for three years, will now lead the brand.  These reductions are happening in wake of the Coroniavirus and an industry that is fighting for survival. Earlier this month, Norwegian Cruise Li...