MARINER OF THE SEAS RETURNS TO BAHAMAS FOR SUMMER 2018

After several years spent sailing as Royal Caribbean's point ship in the Far East, the company has announced that the Mariner of the Seas will make a return to North America effective as of June, 2018. The ship will leave Singapore on a long redeployment voyage that will take her to the UAE, through the Mediterranean, and ultimately on a transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to her new home port of Miami.

Once there, the Mariner- one of five nearly identical Voyager class siblings- will operate a series of four night cruises to Nassau, and the company's private island at Coco Cay. Royal Caribbean is actively pursuing the construction of a first ever pier at Coco Cay which would allow ships to dock at the island for the first time, rather than tendering to shore as they do at present.

This should help to make these short, four night cruises an altogether more appealing option for the 3,114 passengers that will be expected to fill the 138,000 ton Mariner's cabins every five days. As well as calling at Nassau and Coco Cay, the new cruises will also allow for a full day at sea to enjoy all of the extensive leisure facilities for which Royal Caribbean is rightly famous.

These include a rock climbing wall and a flow rider, several pools and hot tubs, and an amazing, five story high indoor 'Royal Promenade' that is used to stage parades and grandstand headline events on board the ship. With a plethora of open sitting dining venues and a huge range of family friendly accommodations- ranging from comfortable inside cabins to lavish, balconied suites- the Mariner of the Seas offers a vast array of options for people of all tastes and ages.

At present, the vast ship is sailing out in the Far East, offering a series of three to seven night sailings to the banner ports of Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. But, as part of Royal Caribbean's 2018-19 vast global redeployment, it was decided to bring the popular mega ship back to the homeporting American market.

The redeployment of Mariner of the Seas to offer so many short, port intensive Bahamas cruises represents the first time that such a vast, amenity laden ship has been used on such a scale. And, as Royal Caribbean continues to expand and rationalise its world wide offerings, expect more such deployments. All of the short cruises cited above are now on sale.