Who is responsible for picking a cruise ship itinerary?

I am interested to know who with the cruise lines makes a cruise ship itinerary? What is the name of the position or how many people are involved in deciding which ships goes to which ports?

I am betting darts are invoked.

I imagine not a person but a department. Contract negotiations with port authorities has to be a continuing and complicated process.

They choose by time to sail to each place, port fees, and what sells.

It is often a combination of Marketing (since the have to sell the cruises) and Vessel Operations (since it has to be technically achievable).

Keith

There would be a number of people planning the itineraries. Often the ships go all over the world.

The relevant term is "deployment." The more ships on a particular line, the more complex the planning schedule of how ships will be deployed around the world. I would wager that Royal Caribbean has a larger deployment staff than Crystal. Titles can vary, but someone is in charge of Deployment.

Consider if your favorite line has announced itineraries through the end of 2019. Management has already worked on how to deploy the ships from their last port in 2019 to the next ports of 2020 and have tentative itineraries scheduled for 2021.

I guess I vaguely knew it would be complex but ... WOW!!

Doing the same old, same old itineraries every year starts to make more sense.

Thank CHPurser! That list gives all of us some insight into the decision.

I wonder if Nassau will eventually be less popular if a suitable substitute can be found. Experienced cruisers tend to not be thrilled by it, it is relatively expensive, it has a negative reputation, and the large number of ships can make the day unpleasant.

As mentioned -- it is complicated -- not done on a moments notice.

A few years ago we talked to a hotel director about this subject and he explained everything just about the way that CHPURSER discribed it. They start 2 - 4 years to plan new itineraries.

Thank CHPurser! That list gives all of us some insight into the decision.

 

I wonder if Nassau will eventually be less popular if a suitable substitute can be found. Experienced cruisers tend to not be thrilled by it, it is relatively expensive, it has a negative reputation, and the large number of ships can make the day unpleasant.

I believe there are many suitable (not to mention superior) substitutes for Nassau, but the fact that it is a convenient, low-fuel-consuming overnight sail to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, makes it very attractive to the lines - who are, after all, more concerned with their best interests than those of their passengers.

I pick which itinerary on which ship we want to cruise after someone (or whoever) else has done all the hard work of setting it up.

I believe there are many suitable (not to mention superior) substitutes for Nassau, but the fact that it is a convenient, low-fuel-consuming overnight sail to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, makes it very attractive to the lines - who are, after all, more concerned with their best interests than those of their passengers.

The office of the CFO likely gets to play a BIG role is deciding if an itinerary is eventually approved. I can just picture every Caribbean itinerary that comes across a CFO's desk automatically gets sent back with the message:

"Can we make more money with Nassau instead of X. BTW that was not a question!"

;):)

I realised it was a very complicated arrangement, but there were so many points mentioned which I'd never thought of...

We were once on a winter cruise which had a poor day in Casablanca, where we were placed in a cargo dock, which had had a terrible spillage of black molasses, ruining everyone's shoes. The captain, at the sailaway, informed us how angry he was, and that he'd reported it to the home port.

The next day was a sea day, going to Malaga in southern Spain, not very far from Morocco. The captain reported that the staff at the home port had worked hard, and had arranged it for us to arrive in Malaga that evening, so that we would have 24 hours in the port. We could imagine that plenty of work had to be done just for that extra time, with dock side staff, customs etc... and can see why it's difficult to change a port when you're prevented from docking. People do moan about why can't we go to X instead, but it isn't easy to make a change.

Who ever or what ever department it is...hopefully they'll start looking at some new options for RCI ;)

Who ever or what ever department it is...hopefully they'll start looking at some new options for RCI ;)

That's exactly what I asked Santa for this year!:D

Alas, a lump of coal might be waiting for me instead. :(

Mrs Gut usually picks our itinerary.

Mrs Gut usually picks our itinerary.

Tasmania would be my guess.