Rhapsody of the Seas, el cruise announced by Royal Caribbean with departure from Cartagena (Colombia) from February 2022, It has new advantages, as Alberto Muñoz, vice president of Royal Caribbean Latam, commented.
One of them is that Colombians will not need visa to enter the Costa Ricawhich was one of the existing limitations for the trips per cruise that will take place in this country.
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“It’s a very positive thing because It will really be possible to visit Costa Rica without processing the visa, because we have obtained a permit from the Costa Rican government so that Colombians do not have to have this requirement. to make his trip on the boat”, expressed Muñoz.
The authorization allows that during the cruise seasons (October to June of each year) nationals of Colombia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic do not require a visa to visit Costa Rica, temporarily on cruise ships that are less than 12 hours in port.
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And it is that Royal Caribbean had made a request to the Central American country to analyze the revocation of the requirement since these three countries they needed it to enter Costa Rica.
A first phase of the Rhapsody of the Seas route will be made up of the points: Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Panama with return to Cartagena in Colombia. This itinerary would start in December 2023.
Nevertheless “the last eight departures of the ship will cross the Panama Canal and go to the Pacific towards Puntarenas and the Manuel Antonio area, both in Costa Ricaso that is where the issue of the visa becomes relevant,” he explained.
“So far Colombians are the ones who have bought the most and, in fact, travel agencies, or operators, have blocked sales to travelers from these groups,” the official said.
According to information from Royal Caribbean, a Colombian decides on average five months before the trip to buy a cruise tour, so sales are expected to continue to pick up from next year.
about the boat
Rhapsody of the Seas has a capacity to accommodate 2,416 passengers and lThe crew members will be around 765 people.
The ship belongs to Royal Caribbean’s Vision Class, and has sophisticated facilities and features of the largest ships. They are 279 meters long, 22 knots of speed, 32 meters wide and 7.9 meters deep.
Part of the available supply is 11 passenger decks, 12 total decks, nine elevators and two bow thrusters. The ship will have 1,020 cabins, 233 balconies, 613 outside.
“A great advantage that this boat will have is that we got the deluxe drinks package included in the price. So this is really going to be very interesting,” said the manager.
Although Latinos are expected to be the largest number of passengers on board, it should be mentioned that Royal Caribbean also estimates a large influx of Spaniards and North Americans, “who find it very interesting to cross the Panama Canal.”
Prices were not disclosed, but will be available on the official Royal Caribbean website.