ROYAL Caribbean International announced the deployment of Serenade of the Seas to Dubai for its winter 2012-13 seasons. Serenade of the Seas which replaces the Brilliance of the Seas, will offer vacationers 17 sailings, departing every Monday on seven-night UAE and Oman itineraries from December 2012 through April 2013.
Helen Beck, regional director Royal Caribbean Cruises says, “We have 22 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet and four Radiance Class ships. Periodically we move them around and that has will bring the Serenade of the Seas to the region. “The good news is that the Serenade of the Seas would have gone through a major revitalisation programme before she arrives for her winter 2012-13 seasons so we are actually getting a refreshed ship with new speciality offerings for diners, outdoor cinemas, wi-fi throughout the ship and other such new initiatives.”
The refurbishment of the Serenade of the Seas is part of Royal Caribbean’s Royal Advantage, a revitalization program across the older ships. “The itineraries will remain the same. With the success of the seven-night itinerary, we have decided to keep only those next year and will no longer continue the 12-night sailings to India,” added Beck.
The UAE and Oman have become increasingly popular cruise destinations over the last years. In the 2010/2011 cruise season, 135 ships brought a total of around 375,000 passengers to Dubai. Abu Dhabi received 78 calls by cruise liners with around 140,000 passengers disembarking and 109 cruise ships called at Muscat Port carrying 340,000 passengers in 2010.
 |
|
The Brilliance of the Seas readies for its longest winter-season in the region |
Due to the high demand, Royal Caribbean International is extending its third consecutive season 2011-2012, in the Gulf region to six months –from November 2011 through to April 2012. The longest season to date will comprise of 18 roundtrip seven-night sailings and two Dubai and India 12-nights sailings. Brilliance of the Sea will start her seven-night itineraries in Dubai, sail to Fujairah and dock in Muscat where guests can enjoy an overnight stay. She then continues, spending the day at sea, via Abu Dhabi and then back to Dubai. Royal Caribbean International is the only cruise line in the region offering two new 12-night itineraries which includes ports in India. Sailing from Dubai to Mumbai spending three days at sea, Brilliance of the Seas then calls into Goa, New Mangalore and Cochin before docking in Muscat and then sailing back to Dubai.
“Outbound, the Mediterranean itineraries continues to remain the most popular choice for our Middle Eastern guests with about 70 per cent of our guests choosing these itineraries. But we are seeing an increase in appetite to explore the Northern Europe seven-night itinerary offering dramatic scenery through the Norwegian fjords. The Scandinavia-Russia itinerary is also gaining popularity going through Oslo and St. Petersburg,” says Beck.
This summer has been very successful for Royal Caribbean too, with a recorded 30 per cent increase in bookings from the Middle East market, this in spite of Ramadan falling during the summer months. Beck is confident that the trend will continue next summer, when Ramadan once again falls during the summer months.
Cruising is the fastest growing leisure vacation choice today and it also enjoys the highest rate of repeat satisfied customers of any type of vacation. The cruise industry continues to innovate and deliver, with the result that more and more vacationers are intending to take a cruise in the near future – in 2010 nearly 15 million guests worldwide went on a cruise and stayed an average length of 7.2 days. By year end 2011 the cruise market will reach 19.2 million annual passengers worldwide. Looking forward to 2014 that number is projected to reach 21.6 million, according to Cruise Market Watch.