I just received a note that Renaissance is starting back up again.

Does anyone have any information about that?

*Timing?
Ships they will be using?
Destinations?
Unique offers or immenities?
Any estimate of risk to consider a reservation?

Jim R.

I have received email also saying Renaissance Cruises is Back. This is being discussed on various boards. From what I have seen and read it seems the person who has the legal right to use the Renaissance cruise name does not appear to know anything about it. AGAIN THIS IS WHAT I HAVE READ ON OTHER BOARDS AND HAS NOT BEEN VARIFIED TO MY KNOWLEDGE.

I had heard that Princess had bought a couple of the newer Renaissance ships for sailing Hawaii and Tahiti routes but that was a month or so back.

So the only thing that is known for sure is nothing is known for sure.

What PEB is referring to is an arrangement Princess is in process of, to use a couple of the Renaissance ships in the South Pacific. I'm not sure if that's been finalized, and I am pretty sure they're not buying them - at least not yet - more like a longterm lease. Anyone else know more about this?
I haven't received any of the emails directly from whoever it is claiming that Renaissance is again planning to up and running, but I am highly skeptical. Have seen some reference to it on this and other cruise boards, but nothing definitive so far.

Karen the email I received just mentions that further information on Renaissance Cruise wil be coming in future months. It gave a web site to look at and I did not try it but know others that did and said the web site is not there.

No surprise there! Thanks, PEB! Just got an email today with a few more details about R3 and R4, being purchased on a lease-purchase agreement by Princess (P&O) Cruises for use in the So. Pacific. They are to be renamed Tahitian Princess and Pacific Princess (so there goes the old original "Love Boat" - no word yet on plans for her!
Karen

An update on previous postings re: the "New Renaissance" cruises. Seems someone has bought the rights to the Renaissance name and logos and is using it on their website to promote (sucker?) people into booking cruises with them. However, these cruises will almost undoubtedly not be on Renaissance ships, as all of them have been sold by the bankruptcy court. If someone is interested in cruising on a former Renaissance ship, look into Princess - they are currently lease/buying two of them in the South Pacific. They will be renamed Tahitian Princess and (apparently) Pacific Princess. This does seem to imply some changes for the current Pacific Princess...
Karen

Hi folks,

anybody interested in the "Renaissance Comeback" should take a look a the current issue of Cruising & Beyond" for the full disillusioning story.

Raoul Fiebig

They are back and named Oceana or Oceania cruise line with the R1 named Regatta. Inaugural cruise July 5th Barcelona to Dover.

One of the owners of the old Renaissance got together with someone else, and started a new company. I personally, would not feel comfortable going with a new company when they couldn't run the previous one successfully. But again, that's just my opinion. There's other well established companies doing the same route as mentioned.

quote:

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Originally posted by Claudiaf:
They are back and named Oceana or Oceania cruise line with the R1 named Regatta. Inaugural cruise July 5th Barcelona to Dover.

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Hi!

It's misleading to say "they're back" as Oceania is a new company and the product is going to be different from what Renaissance offered.

It is correct that former Renaissance CEO Frank Del Rio is one of Oceania's founders, but when Renaissance declared bankruptcy, he was no longer with the company, already. The folks who were responsible for Renaissance's "We don't need TAs" policy and other policies which got the company into trouble are now running the infamous www.renaissancecruises.cc web site mentioned in one of my earlier postings. In addition to Frank Del Rio, former Crystal CEO Joe Watters runs Oceania, and the onboard product is expected to be situated between premium cruise lines such as Celebrity or HAL and luxury cruise lines like Crystal or RSSC.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

Best regards,

Raoul Fiebig
Das Ruderhaus