Mariner of the Seas will add new Holy Land vacations and seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Rome; and Vision the Seas will also sail on Holy Land sailings as well as a roster of Northern Europe itineraries. Liberty of the Seas will ofer new five-night Western Mediterranean itineraries. Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas will sail on a wide-ranging roster of Mediterranean vacations; Voyager of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas will operate on Greek Isles and Turkey cruises; and Jewel of the Seas will focus on Scandinavia and Russia vacations. Itineraries sailing on Adventure of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, are now open for booking.

“Every year Royal Caribbean surpasses its previous Europe offerings to continue to exceed the expectations of vacationers,” said Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean. “In 2012 the line’s ships will add 23 more ports in seven additional countries, giving vacationers the opportunity to tailor-design their cruise experiences on itineraries that are as short as three nights or as long as 16.”

In addition to the 12 homeports from which guests can choose from, Royal Caribbean is also offering eight “interports” — where guests can board itineraries en route — creating 20 options for embarkation and disembarkation, including Toulon, Marseille and LeHavre, France; Genoa, Messina (Sicily), and Bari, Italy; Valencia, Spain; and Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey. Maiden calls will be made at Arhus, Denmark; Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; and Kenes (Lofoten), Norway.

Serenade of the Seas’will make its European debut on 12-night alternating cruises in the spring, summer and fall roundtrip from Barcelona, with one of the itineraries featuring an overnight in Venice and the other offering port calls in Greece and Turkey. Brilliance of the Seas’ new sailings, roundtrip from Amsterdam and Copenhagen, include a mix of Norwegian Fjord and Arctic Circle sailings of 12 nights through mid July. Its other offerings feature seven-night “Scandinavia & Russia” sailings roundtrip from Copenhagen from late July through early September.

Mariner of the Seas will return to Europe for its second season with new 12-night Holy Land itinerary roundtrip from Rome, available in May, September and October, which will offer overnights in Jerusalem and Alexandria, Egypt. Its new seven-night itineraries roundtrip from Rome, are available from June through mid-September. Liberty of the Seas’ Features new five-night spring sailings from Barcelona will call at Cannes (France)/Monte Carlo; Rome; and Palma de Mallorca, Spain The ship will also operate on seven-night itinerary from June through September.

For the third consecutive year, Liberty of the Seas’ sister ship, Independence of the Seas will be positioned year-round in Southampton, primarily operating on an alternating series of 14-night sailings, “Mediterranean Treasures” and “Italian Mediterranean” programs. Three 10- and 11-night Canary Islands itineraries will be available in October and November. The ship will also offer one three-night sailing, overnighting in Paris (LeHavre) in May; and a four-night cruise spending the night in Cork, Ireland.

Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas will be the only vessels in Europe exclusively featuring amenities that have revolutionized the cruise industry, such as the FlowRider surf simulator, the H20 Zone water park, a boxing ring, cantilevered whirlpools, and the four-bedroom, four-bathroom Presidential Family Suite that sleeps up to 14. With eight restaurants and more than 15 bars and lounges, each of the two ships offer guests one-of-kind vacation experiences found on no other ship in Europe.

Vision of the Seas, meanwhile, will add two new six-night Norwegian Fjord cruises from Oslo. The ship will sail Northern European waters from April 29 to September 7, offering 14 different itinerary options. Itineraries, which will range from four to 12 nights, will explore ports in Scandinavia, Russia, the Norwegian Fjords and British Isles. A 12-night Arctic Circle sailing on August 9, roundtrip from Copenhagen, will cruise the Arctic Circle.

From May through September, Adventure of the Seas will continue on its pattern of seven-night Western Mediterranean itineraries roundtrip from Malaga, Spain. At the end of the season the ship will operate on a series of five seven-night Canary Islands sailings, also from Malaga. Sister ship Navigator of the Seas begins its European season with an eight-night itinerary on April 14 from Barcelona to Spain, where, through November 18, it will offer seven-night Mediterranean sailings.

Grandeur of the Seas’cruise schedule will include seven-night Western Mediterranean sailings that will operate from June 2 to October 10, roundtrip from Palma de Mallorca. Voyager of the Seas, meanwhile, will spend the bulk of its Europe season sailing out of Venice, but will shift from seven-night itineraries to 10- and 11-night cruises, with itineraries including overnights in Istanbul and Kusadasi.

Splendour of the Seas will return to its schedule of seven-night “Greek Isles and Turkey” and “Greek Isles” sailings for the bulk of its season, sailing roundtrip from Venice from late April through early November. Jewel of the Seas will continue to operate on its 12-night “Scandinavia & Russia” cruises from May 15 to August 19 roundtrip from Harwich, England. It will also feature one new cruise on June 20, a “Fjords & Iceland” itinerary, roundtrip from Harwich.

To add even more depth and breadth to their Europe vacations, Royal Caribbean is offering six cruisetours, which enables guests to couple sailings with escorted land tour options to create packages in conjunction with six of the line’s ships. Options include four nights in Madrid and Barcelona, available on Serenade of the Seas; five nights in Venice, Florence and Rome, available on Mariner of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas; three nights in glamorous Lake Como and Venice, available on Voyager of the Seas; four nights in Paris and London, available on Jewel of the Seas; and four nights in Turkey’s Istanbul and Cappadocia, a region filled with ancient, underground cities, available on Vision of the Seas.

NCL announced its largest European deployment ever for the 2012/2013 season. They will send 4 ships over with 2 remaining year round, hence the 2013 part.

The 2.018 pax Norwegian Spirit and the 2,224 pax. Norwegian Jade will both sail year round out of Barcelona, Spain. The Spirit will do 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages in summer and fall. Then do nine-day Canary Islands in the winter and spring. The Jade will sail her 7-day Greek Isles and Greece and Turkey cruises in from Spring to Fall and then switch to 10-day Eastern Mediterranean and Holy Land cruises for the Winter.

The lines flagship, Norwegian Epic, will return to Barcelona, for a repeat of her 2010 summer season.

Norwegian Sun will also repeat her 2011 season by homeporting out of Copenhagen, Denmark for Baltic cruises from May to September 7.

Quite ambitious to send the Epic back over there. She must be selling well.

Full presser with itineraries and dates after the break.

Norwegian Cruise Line today announced its largest European deployment ever for the 2012/2013 season with four Freestyle Cruising ships, including two year-round.  Norwegian Spirit will join Norwegian Jade sailing year-round in Europe beginning in April 2012.  This is also the first time Norwegian Spirit will sail in Europe offering 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages in the summer and fall, along with nine-day Canary Islands in the winter and spring.  The company’s largest and most innovative ship, Norwegian Epic, and Norwegian Sun will continue cruising seasonally from Barcelona and Copenhagen respectively.

These cruises go on sale to Norwegian’s top travel partners and Latitudes members (past guests) today, December 15, 2010 and to the general public on Thursday, December 16. 

“Europe is one of the world’s fastest growing cruise markets and one where Freestyle Cruising is very well received.  Given this, we felt it was the right time to deploy four ships, including two year-round, in Europe, marking our largest European deployment in the company’s history,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian’s chief executive officer.  “Guests now have the flexibility of embarking from four homeports in Europe sailing to some of the most exciting destinations in the world.”

The 2,018-passenger Norwegian Spirit will make her European debut with two memorable itineraries including a 12-day Grand Mediterranean cruise from Venice, Italy and Barcelona, Spain during the summer, and a nine-day Canary Islands cruise from Barcelona through the fall and winter.  The 12-day Grand Mediterranean sailings run from April 28, 2012 to October 25, 2012 and begin in either Barcelona or Venice and call on Provence (Toulon), France; Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Rome (Civitavecchia) and Naples, Italy; Mykonos and Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Istanbul and Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey.  The nine-day Canary Islands cruises from Barcelona will sail from November 6, 2012 to April 8, 2013 and call on Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz de Tenerife; and Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands; and Granada (Málaga), Spain.  Norwegian Spirit will also sail an 11-day Grand Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venice on July 9, 2012 and a 13-day Grand Mediterranean from Venice to Barcelona on July 20, 2012.

Continuing her year-round sailings in Europe, the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade will sail seven unique itineraries with ports of call in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Croatia, Israel, and Egypt from her homeports of Rome (Civitavecchia) and Venice, Italy.  Norwegian Jade will continue her popular alternating seven-day Greek Isles and Greece and Turkey cruises departing on Saturdays from Venice from April 28, 2012 to October 6, 2012.  The Greek Isles cruises call on Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Olympia (Katakolon), Greece. The Greece and Turkey sailings call on Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey.  Since there is no port repetition between the two itineraries, they can be easily combined on most sailings to create a port-rich 14-day European tour.

Also from Venice, Norwegian Jade will sail a six-day Croatia and Greece cruise on July 14, 2012; and an eight-day Greek Isles and Turkey cruise on July 20, 2012, as well as a seven-day Adriatic and Italy cruise on October 13, 2012 with disembarkation in Rome (Civitavecchia).

From Rome, Norwegian Jade will sail alternating 11-day Mediterranean & the Holy Land cruises departing on Saturdays and 10-day Eastern Mediterranean cruises departing on Wednesdays from October 20, 2012 to April 17, 2013.  The Mediterranean and the Holy Land cruises call on Alanya, Turkey; Limassol, Cyprus; Haifa and Ashdod, Israel; and Port Said and Alexandria, Egypt.  The Eastern Mediterranean cruises call on Olympia (Katakolon) and Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; and an overnight stay in Alexandria, Egypt. 

Norwegian’s newest and most innovative ship, Norwegian Epic, will return to Barcelona sailing a series of 25 seven-day Western Mediterranean cruises from April 29 to October 14, 2012.  The ship will call on Naples, Rome (Civitavecchia), and Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy; and Nice (Villefranche) and Provence (Marseille), France.  In addition, Norwegian Epic will sail one four-day Western Mediterranean cruise on April 25, 2012.

Norwegian Sun will continue sailing her nine-day Baltic Capital cruises from Copenhagen, Denmark from May 4 to September 7, 2012 calling on Berlin (Warnemünde), Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.  Norwegian Sun will also sail one 14-day Norway, Iceland & Faroe Islands cruise on September 16, 2012 calling on Bergen, and Alesund, Norway; Lerwick, Shetland Islands; Thorshavn, Faroe Islands; Reykjavik, Iceland; Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland and Dublin, Ireland.

In addition, there are five opportunities for guests to have an experience of a lifetime crossing the Atlantic with Norwegian’s Transatlantic cruises.  Norwegian Epic offers two options: an 11-day Transatlantic from Miami to Barcelona on April 14, 2012 and a 13-day Transatlantic from Barcelona to Miami on October 21, 2012.  Norwegian Spirit offers a 13-day Transatlantic from New Orleans to Barcelona on April 15, 2012.  Norwegian Sun crosses the Atlantic on April 21, 2012 from Orlando (Port Canaveral) to Copenhagen and back to Miami from Copenhagen on September 30, 2012.

File this under mega-rumor-that-probably-has-little-truth-but-is-interesting-nonetheless. According to CIN who hears “through the industry grapevine,” RCI execs are considering possibly sailing the Oasis to Europe. The Mediterranean is probably the best bet. Oasis has been very profitable for the port of calls in the Caribbean, and ports in Europe would love the bragging rights to say that they have Oasis calling there. The ports in the Med are extremely interested in attracting her also for the amount of visitors she can carry.

The big problem is: infrastructure. Oasis is huge in both a physical sense and a passenger sense. Port Everglades required a massive expansion of a terminal, Labadee required a dock be built, and Falmouth, Jamaica warranted that a port be constructed. RCI execs are reminding the European port authorities of the investment that is required for her to sail there. RCI claims that current infrastructure needs to be upgraded.

Europe is becoming extremely lucrative and very profitable for lines. In 2011, Barcelona will be THE hot spot for cruising in Europe. All lines are sending their best products there. Carnival will have the brand new Carnival Magic; NCL’s will have among others, the hotly anticipated Norwegian Epic; and RCI will send the Liberty of the Seas, and others, to the Med; Other lines will also have a strong presence in the Med then as well.

IF Oasis were to sail there, it would be in 2012 I would guess.

Some things to keep in mind: RCI are under contract to bring a certain amount of passengers to Port Everglades. This is only economically feasible through the use of Oasis and Allure as they process 10-12,000 pax every turn-around day. RCI may have contracts with other ports in the Caribbean that Oasis and Allure play important roles. Also, why would European ports invest that much money in infrastructure to attract ONE ship, when lines are already sending ships to Europe based on current infrastructure and facilities.

So I pose a question to you: Do you feel that RCI should send Oasis to the med or keep her stateside. Sound off in the comments below.

source CruiseIndustryNews