Princess pulling out of Lauderdale?

[seamwoman]

I just saw this on a thread. Can anyone elaborate????

[mtaylor04]

I was wondering the same thing, as I read that on a thread tonight as well.:confused:

[rdsqrl]

I think the person was referring to there not being any summertime Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale next year? I recall reading that but haven't read any other thread/post that said anything about pulling out of FLL. Is that what y'all are thinking of?

[Colo Cruiser]

Too much invested in FLL for them to leave.

[Treven]

Well, they do that every year; they move their ships from Florida, the Caribbean traffic, to the North-West, for the Alaska traffic. Or do you have something else in mind?

[weberman]

Princess does not sail from Fort Lauderdale in the summer. They move one ship to New York to sail the Caribbean. :eek:

[WannaCruise365]

Princess does not sail from Fort Lauderdale in the summer. They move one ship to New York to sail the Caribbean. :eek:

 

The Emerald is in the Caribbean all summer 2010 sailing out of FLL..not sure about 2011.

[Putterdude]

I think the person was referring to there not being any summertime Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale next year? I recall reading that but haven't read any other thread/post that said anything about pulling out of FLL. Is that what y'all are thinking of?

 

I agree, I saw the post where the deployment of ships was detailed.

[RickEk]

Princess typically has either no ships sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale in the summer or just one. It's been like that forever...

[lehb]

Next summer the Emerald is being sent to Europe, so no Princess ships in the Caribbean out of FLL for the 2011 summer.

[Woobstr112G]

Too much invested in FLL for them to leave.

 

Totally agree. I can't see them totally pulling out. Maybe reduced sailings, but not a total pull out.

 

Bob

[paul929207]

No Princess ships in Fort Lauderdale for summer 2011. With the Royal going to P&O, there had to be a cut somewhere. The Caribbean Princess will do some 9 night cruises from NY to the Caribbean

[Hunwolf]

The future cruise consultant told us (on the Emerald a few weeks ago) that Princess did not plan on sailing out of Fort Lauderdale during the summer months in the near future. This was due to them losing their oldest ship.

 

She alluded to this being a multi-year decision. I heard a lot of folks were upset about this decision but I understand you do what you have to do. For families in the southeast though that travel during the summer months (and look for a "drivable port")...this kind of marks Princess off their list.

[Coral]

I am not exactly sure why losing the Royal Princess has any affect on FLL during the summer. The Royal has been in Alaska over the summer and they are abandoning that 14 night route (so they are losing a route over there).

 

On the other side, Princess has not consistently been in the Caribbean over the summer since I started cruising. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Once they brought a ship back from Europe as Europe wasn't selling well and that is why FLL got a ship in the summer.

[Katie333]

We noticed we couldn't book our usual 7 day Caribbean cruise in September either. They are 10 day versions until November. And while I love the 10 day, time and money only allow for 7 day in the latter half of the year. So I had to suck it up and book in November. :)

[Hunwolf]

On the other side, Princess has not consistently been in the Caribbean over the summer since I started cruising. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Once they brought a ship back from Europe as Europe wasn't selling well and that is why FLL got a ship in the summer.

 

Yeah...that's what the Future Cruise Person told/explained to me on the Emerald. To be fair...I only started looking at Princess (for family cruises) last year and was excited to see an offering late May/June out of FLL. We did the Eastern Caribbean and my wife would like to give the Western one a shot next time around. We've done that one before...but on Carnival several years ago before our daughter was born. Anyway...we were a bit dismayed to hear that Princess isn't going to be sailing out of Florida next summer or in 2012 most likely. That's really our only time to take a week vacation (that's $$$ and time feasible), and we heard some others say the same.

 

Who knows...maybe I can talk her into an Alaska one...;)

[geoherb]

Alaska would be great. I know a lot of people may want to go to the Caribbean during the hot summer months, but I'm not one of them. It's only been the past couple of years that Princess has sailed from Fort Lauderdale in the summer months.

[Hunwolf]

Alaska would be great. I know a lot of people may want to go to the Caribbean during the hot summer months, but I'm not one of them. It's only been the past couple of years that Princess has sailed from Fort Lauderdale in the summer months.

 

If we can afford Alaska, we'll definitely give it a try. We went to Hawaii a few years ago and it was great. Best family vacation to date.

 

Honestly, we go the Caribbean route in the summer because of our location (living in north Alabama) we can drive to a southern port and save some money. And with the school calendar it works for us. We do try the early summer though (late May). :)

[juggles]

I always assumed there were no Caribbean summer cruises because of the hurricane season

[Pam in CA]

I always assumed there were no Caribbean summer cruises because of the hurricane season

There are cruiselines that do have cruises during the summer. If you've been on one, you'd know that it's hot, sticky and the weather pretty uncomfortable unless you're submerged in water most of the time. Besides, most of the U.S. has pretty nice weather in the summer so the need to go somewhere it's warm isn't the priority it is during the winter months.

 

Princess, and other cruiselines, deploy their ships where they'll make the most money. Yes, demand is a factor but summer Caribbean cruises are not in high demand and cruiselines can't charge much for them. Princess ends their Mexican Riviera cruises out of LA for the same reason. They make a heck of a lot more money in Europe, which is where most of the ships are deployed. They make less money in Alaska which is why there are fewer ships in Alaska this year and next compared to previous years. It's not just Princess but several of the other cruiselines as well.

[Hunwolf]

Princess, and other cruiselines, deploy their ships where they'll make the most money. Yes, demand is a factor but summer Caribbean cruises are not in high demand and cruiselines can't charge much for them.

 

Then why does the rate for Caribbean cruises (out of Florida ports) go up across the board in June? I just did a quick search of both Disney and RCI rates out Port Canaveral and Carnival out of Miami next summer and they all increase from May to June.

 

Do a quick scan and compare rates between April-May-June-July from cruises leave FLL or Miami? They all increase their per person rate.

 

And...as a meteorologist...I can tell you that the average high in the tropics doesn't increase that much due to seasonal changes alone. At that low of a latitude...nothing much changes other than your chance of seeing convection due to upper level wind flow patterns and easterly wave development. I've been to Cozumel in January and it's been brutal and been back in June and had great weather. It all depends on where the upper level ridge sets up.

 

I do think you have a very good point about some people wanting to go to a cooler spot in the summer (obviously)...but other cruise lines (Carnival/Disney/RCI) don't have a problem packing their summer cruises. People that like the sun...well...like the sun. Just sayin'...

[Colo Cruiser]

Then why does the rate for Caribbean cruises (out of Florida ports) go up across the board in June? I just did a quick search of both Disney and RCI rates out Port Canaveral and Carnival out of Miami next summer and they all increase from May to June.

 

 

Less Princess ships in the market=higher rates.

[Pam in CA]

Then why does the rate for Caribbean cruises (out of Florida ports) go up across the board in June?

 

Do a quick scan and compare rates between April-May-June-July from cruises leave FLL or Miami? The all increase their per person rate.

 

And...as a meteorologist...I can tell you that the average high in the tropics doesn't increase that much in the summer. At the latitude...nothing much changes other than your chance of seeing convection due to easterly waves.

 

I do think you have a very good point about some people wanting to go to a cooler spot in the summer (obviously)...but other cruise lines (Carnival/Disney/RCI) don't have a problem packing their summer cruises. People that like the sun...well...like the sun. Just sayin'...

I understand what you're saying but Carnival/Disney/RCI don't have the number of ships and the variety of itineraries that Princess does. Nor do they have the same marketing impact or demand for cruises in Europe. I've been on Princess cruises where only 12% of the passengers were from the U.S.; same thing on HAL.

 

The bottom line is money and profitability. Doesn't matter which cruiseline; if they can make more money elsewhere, they will.

[Hunwolf]

Less Princess ships in the market=higher rates.

 

But it's always been that way. We've cruised the last 3 years in late May and the rates have always edged up from May into June. If you take a cruise of out of FLL departing on like May 30th it's several hundred dollars cheaper than one leaving in early June.

 

 

Now...certainly moving a Princess ship away from south Florida and elsewhere decreases the options (along with Celebrity I think). However...the argument that ships out of Florida don't fill up in the summer and they can't make money is not true. I suspect they do like to move them to Europe though where they can taken advantage of certain other market "things" to increase their profit margin. Filling the ship with people doesn't ensure the cruise lines make money. I think we all know that. Kids don't drink or gamble...and they don't spend a ton of money on ship sponsored shore excursions.

[Pam in CA]

However...the argument that ships out of Florida don't fill up in the summer and they can't make money is not true. I suspect they do like to move them to Europe though where they can taken advantage of certain other things to increase their profit margin.

It's not a question of making money... it's a question of how much money they can make. :) Just because a ship is full doesn't mean it's making money or even breaking even. There was a TV show last year about an RCI ship and how their profit margin is very, very slim.