Oasis visit causes flurry of bookings
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The news that the 6,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas will be calling into Europe in 2014 has led to a surge in bookings according to its owner, Royal Caribbean.
The announcement, which was made on 27 March, confirmed that Oasis of the Seas would be conducting cruises in Europe while in the continent to undergo routine maintenance in Rotterdam.
So far the line has only allowed preregisters for cruises on the vessel, with actual cruises going on general sale today (11 April). The European sailings will all be in autumn 2014. The firm has also confirmed that numbers are the highest ever experienced for pre-booking registrations.
“The thousands and thousands of pre-registrations to be one of the first to book Oasis of the Seas’ European cruises are simply mind-blowing and the ship really is living up to its incredible reputation as being a game changer for the industry,” said Jo Rzymowska, associate vice president and general manager, Royal Caribbean International, UK and Ireland.
Oasis of the Seas will be sailing on two five-night cruises in the Western Mediterranean and a seven-night voyage from Barcelona to Rotterdam where it will undergo work. From Rotterdam it will call at Southampton, picking up passengers for a transatlantic crossing back to Port Everglades.
“We are delighted with the huge reaction from guests and the ship’s first ever transatlantic sailing from the UK is, without a doubt, a really hot holiday ticket. We traditionally always open sales to our loyalty club members first, and the call volume into our call centre has been beyond all expectations. We have increased the size of the team and have contingency team members ready across the whole business to handle the peak in calls we are expecting when the ship opens for general sale on Thursday at midday.”