Bye to Independence!

Royal Caribbean are who everyone is talking about at the moment.  A few days ago Royal Caribbean announced they have decided to pull Independence of the Seas from sailing the UK 2020 season.  The sailings for Independence had been on sale since before Christmas so they would have had lots of people booked on their selections of sailings.  They have decided to make this decision as they have a high demand for passenger to visit the brand new Royal Caribbean private island in CocoCay in the Bahamas.  The island does look amazing but I really don’t know why they have made this decision.  I feel so sorry for passengers who now don’t have their holiday to look forward to.  People book for all kinds of occasions so it is such a shame they have pulled the Independence.  Royal Caribbean have offered passengers already booked on the affected sailings a 25% future cruise deposit based on the cruise fare they had booked which can be used on another sailing.  That is fine if passengers can then find another cruise that suits them.  School holiday sailings book up very fast and so families may struggle to get availability if they only want Uk sailings with Royal Caribbean but other passengers should be able to find something to suite.  This now only leaves the Anthem of the Seas due to sail the UK 2020 season.  Royal Caribbean obviously know what they are doing but I think the Independence of the Seas is such a lovely ship it is now a shame it won’t be sailing from Southampton next year.  I had even looked at one of their sailings for myself a while back.  Anthem of the Seas is also a lovely ship it is just a shame the UK market now only have 1 ship to book on to if you want Royal Caribbean and from Southampton.