Press Release: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Transfers Royal Caribbean International Ship to Pullmantur; Replaces Ship Serving Port Canaveral
October 12, 2007 by admin ·
MIAMI, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — 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.
Island Cruises Press Release 29 September 2007
October 1, 2007 by admin ·
Island Cruises regrets to announce the cancellation of its Island Star cruise from Palma, Majorca, on Saturday, September 29. This is due to essential repairs which have to be carried out on the vessel’s engines. 1489 passengers are affected.
Island Star was forced to cut short its September 22 cruise because of related mechanical failure and the company does not wish to risk inconveniencing and disappointing passengers on the September 29 cruise. It is now being taken to a nearby port for further repairs.
Patrick Ryan, managing director of Island Cruises, said: “we deeply regret needing to take this decision but the safety and comfort of our passengers must always come first. We will be offering our passengers a 100 per cent cash refund and a 25 per cent future cruise discount certificate to try and make up for this disappointment”.
Some Island Cruise holidaymakers are booked on a one-week resort holiday in Palma followed by the seven-day cruise on Island Star. These will be offered a second week at the resort or a 50 percent refund on the cost of their holiday together with a 25 per cent future cruise discount certificate for a 7 night Mediterranean cruise which can be taken by October 2009.
All passengers are in the process of being contacted but an information helpline is available for them: 0844 800 3131.
The Island Star cruise leaving from Palma on Saturday 6 October is unaffected and will take place as scheduled.
Island Cruises Press Release 27 September 2007
October 1, 2007 by admin ·
Island Cruises confirms that one of its ships, the Island Star, suffered a power outage on Tuesday evening, September 25, while on a week’s Mediterranean cruise.
The cruiseliner, with 1,476 passengers on board, docked at Villefranche, near Nice on the French Riviera, where every effort was made to resolve the problem. Unfortunately, this proved not to be possible and the decision was taken to fly cruise passengers home on Thursday 27 September.
Island Cruises’ managing director, Patrick Ryan, flew to Nice to meet with passengers personally. He said: “Island Cruises apologises for the disappointment this has caused passengers and offers its assurance that everything possible was done to get Island Star’s voyage underway again before this difficult but unavoidable decision was taken”.
“Due to the disruption of their cruise passengers will receive a 100 percent cash refund. We would like to thank passengers for their support and patience at this time”.
Island Cruises are arranging for customers to be flown back to their original airport of departure where possible. If this is not achievable, customers will be flown back to an alternative UK airport where onward transportation will be arranged. Company representatives will be on hand to assist with this process in most cases.
