Hurricane Frances Update - Royal Caribbean

Jason · September 3, 2004

Miami - September 2, 2004 - 6:30 p.m. - Royal Caribbean International is closely monitoring the path and progress of Hurricane Frances to ensure our guests enjoy safe and comfortable cruises and to make certain our ships steer clear of the storm.

The safety and comfort of our guests are always the foremost concern of Royal Caribbean International.

We will update our Hurricane Frances information three times daily as the storm approaches - at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Given Hurricane Frances' current and projected path, we are currently altering the itineraries of six Royal Caribbean International ships:

Majesty of the Seas will not make its normal port call at Key West, Florida, on Thursday. Instead, the ship will end its current cruise one day earlier than normal, returning to the Port of Miami on Thursday morning at approximately 7 a.m.

Majesty of the Seas will not make its three-night cruise schedule to depart Miami on Friday, September 3. That sailing is cancelled. Guests booked on that sailing will receive a full refund.

Sovereign of the Seas will end its current cruise one day earlier than normal, returning to Port Canaveral on Thursday at approximately noon.

Sovereign of the Seas will not make its three-night cruise schedule to depart Port Canaveral on Friday, September 3. That sailing is cancelled. Guests booked on that sailing will receive a full refund.

Grandeur of the Seas will not make its normal port call at Port Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday. Instead, it will make a port call in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday.

Navigator of the Seas will not make its normal port calls at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Tuesday; San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday; and Labadee, Hispaniola, on Thursday. Instead, the ship will make port calls at St. John, Antigua, on Tuesday; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Wednesday; and remain at sea on Thursday.

Navigator of the Seas, normally scheduled to depart the Port of Miami Saturday, on a seven-night sailing, will delay its departure until Monday, September 6, at 5 p.m. local time. The ship will sail a modified itinerary that will end as originally scheduled. Guests who sail on this cruise will receive an onboard credit of $500 per stateroom and a certificate for a 50 percent discount on a future Royal Caribbean sailing of seven nights or less, which departs on or before December 15, 2005, excluding holidays. Guests booked on this sailing who cancel their cruise will receive a letter of credit for the amount paid for the cruise portion of their sailing.

Enchantment of the Seas, normally scheduled to depart Port Everglades Saturday, on a five-night sailing, will delay its departure until Monday, September 6, at 5 p.m. local time. The ship will sail a modified itinerary that will end on September 9. Guests who sail on this cruise will receive an onboard credit of $500 per stateroom and a certificate for a 50 percent discount on a future Royal Caribbean sailing of seven nights or less, which departs on or before December 15, 2005, excluding holidays. Guests booked on this sailing who cancel their cruise will receive a letter of credit for the amount paid for the cruise portion of their sailing.

Adventure of the Seas will not make its normal port call at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, on Tuesday. Instead, the ship will spend Tuesday at sea and make a port call at Philipsburg, St Maarten, on Saturday.

Voyager of the Seas will not make its normal port call at Freeport, Bahamas, on Friday. Instead, the ship will make a port call at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Thursday, and spend the day at sea on Friday.

At this time, all other Royal Caribbean International ships are sailing their normal itineraries, and all other Royal Caribbean International ships are expected to maintain their regularly scheduled itineraries this weekend. We will continue to closely monitor the storm and update this information at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

INFORMATION FROM WWW.RCCL.COM

Dan · September 3, 2004

Good for RCI for coming up the that credit and alternate plan for the Navigator and Enchantment. What they don't say is what is happenning with the people on board now? Do they get to stay on until Monday, or is the ship popping into port and dumping the people off quickly, then leaving?

I noticed yesterday that Carnival was leaving one of their ships out until after the storm. I don't understand why RCI didn't do the same for the Majesty and Sovereign. I mean, if they are cancelling the following cruises, why add a few thousand more people to the mess down there, when they could just as easily have kept the ships out until the storm had passed. At the very least, the cruise line would have a ship full of people spending money, instead of them giving out all these credits, and then sailing a ship full of crew sailing around in circles waiting the storm out.

It would be a hardship on some people to have to stay onboard a few days longer than planned, when they might need to be home, but considering how little options there are to get out of southern Florida right now, where would most of these people go once they get off the ship anyway.