Grandeur joins Med cruise fleet

It’s going to be pretty crowded in the Mediterranean next year. Hot on the heels of announcements that Norwegian Epic and Carnival Magic will be based there next summer comes the news that Royal Caribbean will be basing the 2,446-passenger Grandeur of the Seas in Palma de Mallorca from next May.
Details of the itineraries will not be revealed until next month, but they are expected to be alternating seven-night voyages departing each Sunday to ports in Italy, France and Spain, giving passengers the option of taking a back-to-back two-week cruise.
A delighted Jo Rzymowska, associate vice president and general manager for RCI UK and Ireland, said “”Our research has found that Royal Caribbean is now the brand of choice for families choosing to cruise.
“The introduction of Grandeur of the Seas in Palma de Mallorca and dedicated to the UK and Irish market will offer guests access to smaller ports along the French Riviera, Italian coastline and Balearic Islands which we know are particularly favourable to this market.”
RCI already has the 4,300-passenger Independence of he Seas sailing to the Med from Southampton during the summer, and from this year she will be joined by the 3,145-passenger Celebrity Eclipse within a few months – another demonstration of the company’s faith in the ever-growing British cruise market.
Grandeur, built in 1996, is currently sailing four- and five-night cruises from Tampa, Florida. It will be based in Port Everglades from the spring then redeploy to Colón, Panama, in November for seven-night cruises before coming to the Med.
It will be interesting to see which smaller ports RCI has in mind, because many of the popular destinations – even Barcelona and Naples – can get crowded when there are three or four cruise ships in port together.