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Guest Post - Royal Caribbean to Open “Historic Falmouth Jamaica” Port in 2011

Craig Milan - Senior VP, Land Operations and President of Royal Celebrity Tours

There was a time, not so long ago, when cruise lines had little or no role to play in the development of ports other than their own private destinations.  Things sure are different now, and the change is best exemplified by a huge project Royal Caribbean has spearheaded in the Caribbean as described by Craig Milan, our Senior VP, Land Operations and President of Royal Celebrity Tours:

For the past 3 years, Royal Caribbean has been leading an initiative in collaboration with the Port Authority of Jamaica to create a brand new cruise port of call: “Historic Falmouth Jamaica”. The port is located on the North coast of Jamaica midway between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. It is currently under construction and is designed to accommodate two large ships simultaneously. It meets the operating requirements of the Oasis of the Seas and will become a marquee destination of the Oasis’ Western itinerary beginning in March 2011.   The new port will start to accept cruise ships in January 2011 (January 7 with Navigator of the Seas) and Oasis and Allure will start to make biweekly calls in March 2011. Originally we had planned to open this port at the same time as Oasis arrived into Port Everglades but as is often the case with really big projects, it has taken somewhat longer than we originally anticipated.  But we are no less excited by the prospect for the development.

Historic Falmouth Jamaica Port

The project was designed by renowned thematic designer Idea Group of Orlando to reflect the historic character of Falmouth, Jamaica.  Falmouth was founded in 1769 and maintains much of its historical patrimony. It was the original port of Jamaica and the site where many slaves were brought to the New World. For a time it was also the world’s leading export port for sugar and rum.  Time passed, shipping activity moved to Port Royale in Kingston and Falmouth harbor gradually silted in. Historic Falmouth Port will begin the revitalization of this town, now located in the booming touristic zone of the North Coast of Jamaica between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay.  The buildings and attractions of Historic Falmouth Port are being designed in classic Georgian style.  As the phases of the port are implemented the new state-of-the-art port will blend into the old town.  It is anticipated that the remaining designated historic buildings in the community will gradually be restored.
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BY:Adam|19th May, 2010 COMMENTS (17)

Royal Caribbean - Changes to Deployment

Today Royal Caribbean International announced significant changes to the deployment of Mariner of the Seas beginning in early 2011. This is an important announcement and it deserves comment.

First, we will not be offering 15 seven night Mexican Riviera cruises from January 16, 2011 to April 24, 2011 that until now have been open for bookings. I apologize to our customers who had booked on these sailings. We felt obligated to make this change in order to align the ship’s new itineraries with the seasonality of traveling around the southern end of South America as well as the timing of the Brazilian and European cruise seasons. For customers who are affected by this change, we are offering compensation as explained on our website under itinerary updates or you can contact your travel partner for further details.

Second, just to be clear about what Mariner of the Seas will be doing as well as the implications for two of our other ships, here is a summary of the new information:

Mariner of the Seas

On January 16, 2011 Mariner will begin her odyssey to Europe. She will depart from Los Angeles on a special 16-night voyage to Valparaiso, Chile and then continue on as part of an exotic 14-night voyage through the Chilean Fjords, the straits of Magellan and around Cape Horn of Chile and on to Sao Paulo (Santos), Brazil.

Once in Sao Paulo (Santos), Mariner of the Seas will offer a short season of 6-night Brazilian sailings in addition to a special 8-night voyage which will be offered over the Carnaval holiday. On March 13, 2011, Mariner of the Seas will offer a transatlantic sailing from Sao Paulo (Santos) to Rome (Civitavechia). In Rome, Mariner of the Seas will offer a unique 9-night Eastern Mediterranean sailing followed by a series of alternating 12-night Holy Land and Egypt itineraries. This program will be offered from March 27, 2011 to July 10, 2011 and again from September 8, 2011 to October 14, 2011.

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BY:Adam|22nd April, 2010 COMMENTS (102)

Our Visit to Labadee with President Clinton

Our day in Labadee is over and we are headed back to Miami. It was a great day and we had a remarkable amount of interaction with President Clinton. He and his entourage stayed onsite much longer than we had expected. The President appeared to genuinely enjoy his time on our property and his shopping expedition in the new artisans’ market was a tour de force. He clearly loves Haiti and really wants to drive progress there. It was an honor for all of us to show him the level of investment we have made in Labadee and how a complex operation can be highly successful in Haiti. The joy that was evident in all of the people onsite to meet him, shake his hand and have their picture taken with him was really something to behold.

President Clinton with myself and Richard Fain

President Clinton with myself and Richard Fain

On behalf of Richard Fain and Craig Milan, I want to express my appreciation to John Weis, our Associate VP, Private Destinations, Maryse Kedar, President of Solano, our Haitian subsidiary, and Dave Scott and David Southby, our two site managers, and their teams, for creating a fabulous and memorable day. Well done!

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BY:Adam|5th October, 2009 COMMENTS (6)