RCI-Royal Caribbean fleetwide crew repatriation plan

   May 4, 2020 ,   Cruise Industry

In early-May 2020, RCI-Royal Caribbean developed a plan to repatriate the fleet's all non-essential crew by using 12x RCI liners - Adventure OTS, Anthem OTS, Empress OTS, Enchantment OTS, Explorer OTS, Freedom OTS, Harmony OTS, Liberty OTS, Majesty OTS, Navigator OTS, Rhapsody OTS, Vision OTS.

These vessels are planned to visit ~60 different countries in the regions of the Caribbean, Central-South America and Europe. The plan also includes international charter flights leaving from Barbados (Bridgetown), the USA (Miami) and the UK (Southampton).

Adventure OTS (May 9-23) departs from CocoCay (Bahamas) to repatriate fleet's Caribbean staff-crew by visiting the ports Labadee (Haiti), Puerto Plata (Dominicana) and Ocho Rios (Jamaica).

Rhapsody OTS (May 13-23) departs from Miami FL to repatriate fleet's Central American staff-crew by visiting the ports Cartagena (Colombia), Colon (Panama), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Roatan (Honduras), Santo Tomas de Castilla (Guatemala) and Belize City.

Vision OTS (May 15 - June 7) departs from Miami to repatriate fleet's Caribbean staff-crew by visiting the ports Basseterre (St Kitts), La Romana (Dominica), Castries (St Lucia), St George's (Grenada), Port-of-Spain (Trinidad) and Kingstown (St Vincent).

Harmony OTS (today at sea, off Daytona Beach, Florida) relocates to Bridgetown (Barbados) carrying Filipino crew. Liberty OTS (today leaving Port Galveston Texas) relocates to Miami carrying Filipino crew. Charter flights to Manila (The Philippines) are planned to start on May 11 (from Bridgetown) and on May 18 (from Miami).

RCI's staff-crew from India will be repatriated via Anthem OTS (today off CocoCay). Anthem OTS departs from The Bahamas (May 9) and is scheduled to arrive in Port Mormugao (Goa) on June 3.

RCI's Indonesian staff-crew will be repatriated via charter flights to Jakarta (Java Indonesia) leaving from Bridgetown (Explorer OTS, May 9-12) and from Miami (Enchantment OTS, May 15).

Navigator OTS (currently docked in PortMiami) will collect the fleet's Eastern European staff-crew (Romanians and Ukrainians) and transport them back to Miami for their charter flights (May 16).

Three ships (Empress OTS, Freedom OTS, Majesty OTS) are scheduled for Transatlantic crossings from Miami to Southampton (England UK), from where via charter flights will be repatriated employees from Canada, Europe and other countries. The three ships depart from Miami on May 15. The arrivals in Southampton are planned for May 24 (Freedom OTS) and May 28 (Empress OTS, Majesty OTS).

RCI's crew from the USA will be repatriated via charter flights and private bus transportation (starting May 6). By May 20, all the American crews from Europe-deployed ships will be charter-flown to the USA.

Due to the pandemic, RCI's parent company RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd) suspended fleetwide (all brands) and globally its passenger shipping operations for the period between March 15 and June 11, 2020.