The cruise line famous for introducing many of the world's largest cruise ships, and the one that will deliver 10,800 berths in just one year with the Oasis and Allure of the Seas, will have no new ships on order once the Allure is delivered October 28.

Speaking during a tour of the 95% complete Allure in Finland last week, company executives said it was simply taking a pause.

"We expect our pace of growth to be more moderate," said Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein. "I don't expect the 22 ships we have to be the end of our fleet development, but we don't have anything to announce at the moment."

He said that right now the company was fully focused on the delivery of the Allure and the continued success of the Oasis.

"The Allure of the Seas is a big deal to bring into service," he said. "It's a monumental project. Even though we are very confident that the ship is amazingly ready and we have successful operating experience with the Oasis of the Seas, we can't take anything for granted. ... We will look at all opportunities that make sense for the company. Today we are looking at Allure of the Seas."

Goldstein recalled that besides a very brief moment in 2003, "you'd have to go back a ways" to find a time that the line did not have a new vessel on order.

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Originally posted by eroller:
[...]They may also decide, when the time is right, to build another Freedom Class which is hugely successful.

Ernie

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Originally posted by rd77:
RCI's comments about taking a break from ordering probably mean that the fate of the STX yard in Turku is sealed, unless Viking Line orders a pair of (hugely subsidised) cruise ferries at that yard.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Can't wait to see what their next design may be, and rest assured something is in the works. It won't be anything to the scale of OASIS I'm sure.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

I like the 'Radiance' class. I think there is room for more medium-sized ships in the RCI fleet. I guess they will be losing some of the older tonnage in the nearer-future?

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Many cruisers who are pensioners or called senior citizens that have mobility issues are not happy with the megaships and prefer a ship that is not a 10 minute walk everywhere and long lines. It is not talked about but a more silent but large block of cruisers prefer the size of the Spirit/Vista-Mille-and Radiance class and smaller.

RCL has been doing a very good job on updating its ships from the Sovereign and the Enchantment of the Seas. Hmmm, the Voyager may be in for an update soon now approaching age 10.

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Originally posted by desirod7:

Many cruisers who are pensioners or called senior citizens that have mobility issues are not happy with the megaships and prefer a ship that is not a 10 minute walk everywhere and long lines. It is not talked about but a more silent but large block of cruisers prefer the size of the Spirit/Vista-Mille-and Radiance class and smaller.

RCL has been doing a very good job on updating its ships from the Sovereign and the Enchantment of the Seas. Hmmm, the Voyager may be in for an update soon now approaching age 10.

My understanding is the RCL is highly leveraged and has to finance new ship construction: Carnival Corp writes a check.

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Someone on the Cruise Critic Carnival board made the same comment about Carnival writing a check for their newbuilds. Not the case. Someone went back and posted both RCI and Carnival's debt load. While Carnival is not as bad as RCCL, they are not writing checks by any means.

Any water venue-pools/whirlpools etc.

Casinos-don't gamble

Bars-don't drink or smoke

$$$$ restrauants.

The singer and dancer shows--boring.

I guess I'm no fun.

I do like ports of call=main reason for cruising

Shopping

Enrichment lectures

Trivia games etc.

Frosty 4

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Originally posted by Atlcruiser:
Don't think that we will ever see RCCL turn out ships like they have in the past decade.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
I recently did a little thinking about things on ships that do NOT appeal to me now.(Senior Citizen):

Any water venue-pools/whirlpools etc.
Casinos-don't gamble
Bars-don't drink or smoke
$$$$ restrauants.
The singer and dancer shows--boring.
I guess I'm no fun.
I do like ports of call=main reason for cruising
Shopping
Enrichment lectures
Trivia games etc.

Frosty 4  

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I'm no Senior Citizen, but most of the things on your 'list' never really appealed to me either. I had a 20$ per cruise limit on the casino slots, don't think I've ever used the pools or jacuzzi's (although I did use the T-pool on Galaxy), really don't care for the shows at all, don't 'shop', smoke, and rarely drink alcohol. Most of the 'innovations' held no attraction to me either including the ice skating, rock climbing, surf riders, etc. So I guess I really am boring! I might splurge once or twice on a low-cost surcharge restaurant but can't see eating in one every night of a cruise and spending hundreds of dollars extra on just food.

Me, I love the entertainment, all the shows, the variety of speciality restaurants, enjoying cocktails and live music, staying up late dancing, all the pools, the spa, slides, ice skating, the flowrider (it's really a lot of fun), and even the casino now and then. Oh, sometimes I even like the ports! LOL! I also enjoy just watching the sea as well. I guess ships like OASIS and EPIC were designed for me? OASIS overall is much more appealing to me because I feel the overall quality and attention to detail are to a much higher level. I also prefer the entertainment on OASIS because I guess I'm more "Broadway" than "Vegas", but I'm sure I would enjoy some of EPIC's entertainment as well. I just wouldn't pay to see Blue Man Group, Legends, or Cirque on shore. Just not really my cup of tea.

Yes, another OASIS class would just be another "clone", but what an amazing clone. If you are able to get excited about a ship like QUEEN ELIZABETH, which is also just another clone, surely there is room for another Oasis Class. As has been mentioned many, many times here on CT, clones are economically viable. They make good business sense. Building a one-off like EPIC does not. Even Royal Caribbean cannot be expected to produce a new ship design for every ship they build. It just doesn't make good business sense.

I don't think we will see any 60,000 gt ships from Royal Caribbean. That doesn't fit their business model, nor an adult only ship. That is not what Royal Caribbean is all about. There are other lines for that. What we will probably see is another large ship, perhaps larger than the Freedom Class but smaller than Oasis. Whatever it is I'm sure it will be interesting.

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Originally posted by eroller:
WOW it sounds like in both of your cases you might as well book the lowest price ship with no amenities. Nothing wrong with that, but why spend the $$ for a ship like OASIS or EPIC if you have no interest in the extra amenities?[...]

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Originally posted by Ernst:

I very much doubt that. What Frosty 4 describes is actually what more upscale cruise lines offer and most of them are hardly cheaper than Oasis of the Seas or Norwegian Epic.

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Originally posted by eroller:
WOW it sounds like in both of your cases you might as well book the lowest price ship with no amenities. Ernie

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Ships offer features, that to some, have great benefits. Most of those features however dont really benefit me personally or my lifestyle. I am basically a pretty simple person. I prefer a good book in a deck chair, an ocean breeze and quiet solitude, and dining well without having to dress the part. I prefer the casualness of the Lido to the formality of the MDR, a 6am walk and breakfast at sunrise to sleeping in late, and soft jazz in a quiet lounge to an adult-themed comedy act or Broadway-style production. I have cruised on most of the mass market lines several times and always found things to keep me occupied without the fluff and 'innovations', 'wow' factor, and parades that seem a requirment to some. My favorite ships are the Sun-class from Princess, the Century-class of Celebrity, and HALs Rotterdam/Volendam and Statendam-class.

I am sure all that other stuff is great for most of you, but I really dont need it, and dont really want it. If it's there that's fine, I dont have to use it, and its not a requirment for me when I consider a ship for a cruise. As a matter of fact more often than not, the less, the better.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
I do like ports of call=main reason for cruising
Shopping
Enrichment lectures
Trivia games etc.

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There are plenty of cruise lines & ships which cater more to your preferences. It may well cost a bit more, but not much, to take destination orientated cruises rather than those which are the destinations in themselves and sail around the same circuits.

Start with Oceania, have you looked at their itineraries?

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:

I am sure all that other stuff is great for most of you, but I really dont need it, and dont really want it. If it's there that's fine, I dont have to use it, and its not a requirment for me when I consider a ship for a cruise. As a matter of fact more often than not, the less, the better.

I wonder if some of you hit a crescendo-like expectation in your cruise experiences having been on all the largest, fanciest, and most recent new builds, that anything less, anything without all the wow factor, innovations, and fluff, would be a dissapoinment?

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This was really my point. If you don't want all those amenities, why pay for it? I also don't think you need to go to the luxury market to find a more traditional cruise experience. Holland America for instance is fairly "bells and whistle" free, and they are actually selling 7-day Caribbean cruises right now for $399 per person. Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and even Carnival all have ships in their fleet that are fairly traditional but won't break the bank. Also, if you don't drink wine, liquor, beer, etc. why pay for it on a luxury cruise? Having all that included in the fare is one of the reasons the luxury lines are substantially more expensive.

Your second point is an interesting one. I don't think any of the regulars on CT would only be happy sailing on ships like EPIC and OASIS. I know that doesn't apply to me (I'm sailing on HAL for my next cruise). Most regulars on CT appreciate a variety of ships too much to limit themselves in that way. Now moving to the general public it's a different story. OASIS and EPIC were essentially built to attract that first time cruiser that typically would never be interested in taking a cruise. For this person a cruise represents everything they are not ... but, OASIS and EPIC are not typical cruise ships so this person finds themselves willing to give a cruise a shot. They want all those entertainment options, and the amenities, and the attractions and bells and whistles, and that non-stop action. They like the idea the ship also stops in different ports, and the ocean itself is really not a draw. Imagine they sail on OASIS or EPIC and it meets all their expectations, then for their next cruise they book something like NORWEGIAN SKY, MONARCH OF THE SEAS, ROYAL PRINCESS, or CARNIVAL FANTASY. My guess is they will be very disappointed. In their case I would absolutely say they have reached a certain plateau where the ship has to offer almost everything a major resort does.

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Originally posted by Ernst:

I very much doubt that. What Frosty 4 describes is actually what more upscale cruise lines offer and most of them are hardly cheaper than Oasis of the Seas or Norwegian Epic.

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Originally posted by Atlcruiser:

Depends on what accommodations one books on those ships. There are suites on Oasis that go as high as ten grand per person for a seven night cruise. So in the end, yes you could cruise for less on some of the more upscale lines.

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Well, this is comparing apples with oranges. The situation is very different if you compare the suites aboard Oasis with the suites aboard more upscale vessels.

However, this was actually not my point at all.

Frosty 4 said that ports of call are more important for him and that he prefers a more tranquil onboard experience with good enrichment lectures etc..

There is a wide variety of cruise lines which offer that, and yes, I would also include HAL in that roster (on the lower end). Of course there are even some 'cheaper' cruise lines offering that - but in most cases it's precisely what so-called more upscale cruise lines offer.

Of course, right now you can get a cruise to the Caribbean aboard HAL for less money than a cruise aboard the brand new Oasis of the Seas.

However, let's be honest: Would you recommend an itinerary like Oasis of the Seas is offering to someone who is interested in ports of calls? No doubt that you can get that cheaper with other lines, but if you book a cruise to destinations like the fjords in Chile it's usually not on the cheap side.

Don't forget that not everyone is into these amusement park like floating resorts. Some people actually care where they are going to so just booking the cheapest cruise available independent of where it's going to won't do the trick.

So if you want a more tranquil atmosphere, good enrichment lectures and an interesting itinerary - and such cruises are also usually longer than seven days - you will very likely end up with a higher cruise fare than aboard one of these large floating resorts with more amenities repeating the same seven day itinerary again and again.

To summarize it: The statement that ships with more amenities are more expensive is not generally true. Actually, the more expensive ships usually put much (!) less emphasis on amenities.

[ 09-11-2010: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by eroller:
This was really my point. If you don't want all those amenities, why pay for it? I also don't think you need to go to the luxury market to find a more traditional cruise experience. Holland America for instance is fairly "bells and whistle" free, and they are actually selling 7-day Caribbean cruises right now for $399 per person. Ernie

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