Royal Caribbean International plans a major improvement in
its short-cruise product, starting with a massive makeover of the 14-year-old
Mariner of the Seas.
Speaking to a conference of Cruise One/Dream Vacations and
Cruises Inc. agents aboard the Harmony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean president
Michael Bayley said the line will spend over $100 million on the ship.
Plans call for a six-week drydock in Cadiz, Spain, in March
and April. Bayley said it is the most money Royal Caribbean has ever spent
renovating a ship.
"I'm calling it a modernization, not a refurbishment,"
Bayley said. "We're going to be adding concepts and redoing concepts,"
he said.
When the work is finished, the 3,114-passenger Mariner will sail
three- and four-day cruises from Miami. The ship is currently sailing in Asia.
The move will coincide with the June 2018 opening of the
newly constructed dock at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the
Bahamas, which will play a major role in the Mariner's itineraries.
Bayley said details would be released at a later time.
When the work is finished, the 3,114-passenger Mariner will sail three- and four-day cruises from Miami. The ship is currently sailing in Asia.
The move will coincide with the June opening of the newly constructed dock at Coco Cay, Royal's private island in the Bahamas, which will play a major role in the Mariner's itineraries.
At 138,000 gross tons and 1,021 feet in length, the Mariner would be unlikely to include an itinerary to Havana, where the longest cruise berth is 661 feet.
Cheryl Scavron, a Dream Vacations agent in Pompano Beach, Fla., noted that unlike Royal's current short-cruise ship, the Majesty of the Seas, the Mariner has conference rooms that could make it attractive for the meetings market.
"There's a demand for shorter meetings that don't take a whole week," Scavron said.
Ships now sailing in the short-cruise market from Miami include Norwegian Cruise Line's 2,004-passenger Norwegian Sky and Carnival Cruise Line's 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory.
Bayley hinted that more reinvestment was still to come.
"It is attached to the Mariner, and it is attached to the idea of boosting up the shore experience," he said.
The only other cruise line to spend more than $100 million on a refurbishment of a single ship is Carnival Cruise Line, which refitted the Carnival Destiny and renamed it the Carnival Sunshine in 2013 at a cost of $155 million.