Royal Caribbean Pulls Out of Boston Hub

Royal Caribbean International has canceled its 2007 cruises out of Boston so its Jewel of the Seas ship can undergo routine maintenance, but the Miami company vows to resume the schedule in 2008.

“We´re very happy doing business with Massport, and it wasn´t a case of wanting to pull out of Boston,” spokeswoman Tracy Quan said. “Our Jewel of the Seas had a dry dock planned and, because of the dry docks schedule, we had to shuffle some of our itineraries.”

The 2,112-person-capacity Jewel of the Seas has been cruising from Boston since her 2004 launch, but other Royal Caribbean ships have been leaving or stopping here since 1997.

Royal Caribbean already had started accepting 2007 reservations for six New England/Canada cruises and one Bermuda/Caribbean cruise leaving Boston.

The revenue loss from the Jewel of the Seas´ absence will be made up by the increased number of ships –from 82 to 96- that will call on Boston next year, according to Massport.

Ships including the Norwegian Spirit and Royal Caribbean´s Grandeur of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas will bring an additional 51,000 passengers to Boston who´ll spend money sightseeing and at local restaurants and retail shops, spokeswoman Lisa Langone said.