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Unique Cruise Solutions The news you need to know |
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Cruise News for the Corporate Travel Professional |
January 2010 Edition |
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Royal Caribbean postpones calls to Falmouth, Jamaica |
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Once again,
Royal Caribbean International pushed back the date of
the first cruise ship call to its new Jamaica cruise port in
Falmouth, to allow
for more construction time. After discussions last night with the Jamaica Port Authority, Royal Caribbean International delayed once again the arrival of ships to Falmouth, only days after telling the press that guests on the 3,400-passenger Navigator of the Seas would have a "good experience" there this week. "We concluded, even though we can deliver, there's no gun to our head," John Tercek, vice president of new business development for Royal Caribbean, said today from Jamaica. "We decided, why don't we spend a few more weeks finishing this out. We'll have more in place and the place will be functioning better by the time we bring in these ships." The Navigator was scheduled to call in Falmouth on Friday, and was to be followed by two ships per week. The ship will now go to Montego Bay. It is the first of 11 cruise calls that will be rerouted from Falmouth to either Montego Bay or Ocho Rios between now and late February. The first call into Falmouth is now slated to be the Voyager of the Seas on Feb. 17. The Oasis of the Seas will debut there on March 22, Tercek said, one week before the Allure of the Seas, which was originally scheduled to call there on March 16. Tercek said last week that the port was ready to safely accept ships, even as the new retail areas were under construction, and that Royal Caribbean would "be able to deliver a good experience for guests." Today, Tercek said the decision was made to push the date back again when port realized that every cruise ship between now and the official Grand Opening in March would cost the port two days of construction. By delaying the calls until Feb. 17, Tercek said, the contractors will gain a month of work time. One of the drivers of the postponement was a visit last week from Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd, who toured the site with his family. Fain told Tercek that there was "no pressure" to open the port to ships this week. "Fain said to us, 'do the project correctly'," Tercek said. "We'll deliver a fine experience for our guests going [to Jamaica] right now, and when we finally pull up [to Falmouth], it is going to be so much better." Falmouth was supposed to open for the Oasis' inaugural Western Caribbean itineraries last spring, but construction fell behind schedule and the ship has instead been calling in Costa Maya, Mexico. Royal Caribbean thought the Oasis would make its first call in Falmouth this month, but that date was also moved back. |
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