Royal Caribbean selling Legend of the Seas

Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has agreed to sell the 21-year-old Legend of the Seas to
Thomson Cruises for an undisclosed price.

Legend
will exit the Royal Caribbean International fleet in March 2017, subtracting
1,832 lower berths from its capacity.

The ship’s
sailings after Feb. 20, 2017 — including cruises from Brisbane, Australia, and a
summer schedule from Venice — will be canceled.

Itineraries for two other Royal Caribbean ships will be shuffled as a result. 

The
currently scheduled Rhapsody of the Seas sailings from Cape Liberty, N.J., in
2017 will be scrapped. Instead, the ship will sail seven-night roundtrip cruises from Venice
between May 20 and the end of October. It will return to Tampa on Nov. 19, 2017,
for its planned winter season.

Meanwhile,
the Vision of the Seas’ fall schedule of cruises from Venice will be canceled. It
will make a 16-night transatlantic sailing departing Copenhagen on Aug. 22, 2017,
and arrive at Cape Liberty on Sept. 7. It will then sail a series of
Canada/New England cruises.

Passengers
affected by the cancellations can get full refunds of their cruise fare and any
air arranged through Royal Caribbean. For passengers who have independent air
arrangements, Royal Caribbean will pay change fees. Passengers can also rebook on another Royal Caribbean ship and receive an onboard spending credit. Commissions for travel
agents will be protected on cruises that are fully paid.

As
previously reported, another Royal Caribbean ship, Splendour of the Seas, will be
operated by Thomson under a lease from TUI Cruises, beginning in the second
half of 2016.