Poll: FLORIDA RESIDENTS FOR 3 and 4 DAY Princess Cruises.

[wildescapade]

I would love a 3 or 4 day on Princess, how about Grand Turk and Key West? I do like Carnival but I prefer Celebrity and Princess so would love it if they had more 3 and 4 day itineraries. Also, this could be more affordable for people in this economy. A short vacation is better than no vacation. I also would love to do a short cruise and combine it with a short stay in southern Florida...like maybe a couple of days on Key Biscayne? Sounds perfect!

[zoncom]

You forgot a NO choice. My opinion is it takes just as much time/ effort to get ready for a shortie as a one week cruise. On short ones its mainly a party crowd, sort of Carnivalsque shall we say. You spend at least 2 days getting to any port except Bahamas, which I detest.

[Hunwolf]

marco polo! marco polo! get the idea? Did a 4 day on NCL to Bahamas and wouldn't recommend it.

 

I've been on several 4 days and never had a big issue to be honest.

 

When you book online...just select the box "exclude the unwashed masses" and you'll get the weeks where they do the background checks and taser any children or old people that try to get on board. I think some lines will even do an IQ test to eliminate "unwanted" folks on the shorter cruises.

 

Trust me...it's a bit of an uncomfortable scene at dockside seeing the kiddies and seniors quivering at the end of a taser but it's worth it when you get on board and you just have a bunch of norma aged...sedate people sailing with you.

[Yurita]

YAY for 4-5 nighters!

I'm a Florida resident, & would love to have shorter princess from Ft. lauderdale.

Seems to me most people who said no are NOT florida residents. But honestly, who would say no to a Friday - Monday vacations just 30 min ride away from your house? I'm all for it!

Sign me up Princess......

[Ldyandrea]

Well, frankly I would LOVE to see some 3 & 4 day itineraries out of Florida on Princess. For those who think it's not their market, I'd point out that they have oodles of those short sailings on the west coast. They have done 3 & 4 day sailings on occasion out of FLL, not because of repositioning, but generally because they had determined they didn't need a previously scheduled wetdock/drydock maintenance and wanted to sell those sailings out quickly.

 

Honestly, considering the size of their fleet I find it hard to believe they couldn't have one of them do some shorter sailings out of FL on a regular basis. I had gone on a 3 night on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas back in April and really didn't see any kind of "hooliganism" going on. There were probably more families with kids, but it wasn't overrun by any stretch. The ship was in fantastic shape, the crew was actually one of the best I've ever seen, and I had a nice little weekend break.

 

I think the shorter cruises tend to attract working adults of a younger demographic who can't easily get off an entire week or more for vacation because they aren't retired. I, for one, would be interested in seeing a poll of just how many of those who were for or against the shorter sailings are retired or otherwise have a great deal more flexibility in terms of taking time off.

 

Princess is my cruiseline of choice, and has been for a number of years now. But since I really can't afford the time to take more than one 7-day cruise in a year, it would make it far more likely for me to cruise more often if they offered regular shorter cruises. As it stands, if I do want to take a quick cruise over a weekend, I'll have to settle for another cruiseline. Not my preference, but it's all that's really available to folks in FL until Princess realizes they're missing a valuable segment of the market here.

[Ldyandrea]

I've been on several 4 days and never had a big issue to be honest.

 

When you book online...just select the box "exclude the unwashed masses" and you'll get the weeks where they do the background checks and taser any children or old people that try to get on board. I think some lines will even do an IQ test to eliminate "unwanted" folks on the shorter cruises.

 

Trust me...it's a bit of an uncomfortable scene at dockside seeing the kiddies and seniors quivering at the end of a taser but it's worth it when you get on board and you just have a bunch of norma aged...sedate people sailing with you.

 

LOL! Nice. :p

[Ldyandrea]

YAY for 4-5 nighters!

 

I'm a Florida resident, & would love to have shorter princess from Ft. lauderdale.

 

Seems to me most people who said no are NOT florida residents. But honestly, who would say no to a Friday - Monday vacations just 30 min ride away from your house? I'm all for it!

 

Sign me up Princess......

 

Preach it! :)

[Ldyandrea]

Yeah, it's a goal for some people. You'd be surprised. Technically, if Princess had a lot of 3- and 4-day cruises, you'd see far more Platinum and Elite as technically, someone could qualify with just 15 or 45 days, i.e., 5 or 15 3-day cruises. This would really cheapen the perks for the people who have truly earned Platinum and Elite. :( I didn't reach Elite until about 175 days and that was only after Princess changed the criteria from just the number of cruises to include the # of days sailed. If they hadn't, I probably wouldn't have reached Elite until well over 200 days as I had only 12 completed cruises when they changed the rules.

 

I find this argument to be kind of invalid since Princess already has TONS of 1-5 night cruises out on the west coast the entire year around. I highly doubt adding one more ship with short itineraries, but sailing out of FL, would dramatically change things all that much. At all.

[Ldyandrea]

 

 

 

Princess competing with Carnival....OMG..I can foresee it now.

Florescent-lighted twin water slides snaking around the MUTS

screen and delivering its youthful screaming riders to the kids pool (every 30 seconds). Jeeez...Fireworks and Bathrobe Conga lines everywhere. Oh no ..... no carry-on wine!:eek:

 

 

Actually, the lack of these kinds of amenities (i.e. waterslides, etc.) is probably what would keep most of the craziness at bay. Even on short cruises, Princess has never marketed itself as a "party ship", so I don't think it would really change much other than having more working age folks who can't easily take off an entire week (certainly primarily from FL) able to try Princess cruises when they otherwise wouldn't have that opportunity.

 

I think the party people and those with the aforementioned screaming spawnlets will still steer themselves towards Carnival and other cruiselines that market themselves to folks who want that kind of stuff.

[Pam in CA]

I find this argument to be kind of invalid since Princess already has TONS of 1-5 night cruises out on the west coast the entire year around. I highly doubt adding one more ship with short itineraries, but sailing out of FL, would dramatically change things all that much. At all.

You are right in that when you do a search on the Princess website for all cruises 5 days or less, there are 29 results over the next two years. Ten in 2010, 13 in 2011, and 6 in 2012. BUT, they are on a lot of different ships and are repositioning cruises. They are not one or two ships dedicated to short cruises. There's a big difference.

[RickEk]

I find this argument to be kind of invalid since Princess already has TONS of 1-5 night cruises out on the west coast the entire year around. I highly doubt adding one more ship with short itineraries, but sailing out of FL, would dramatically change things all that much. At all.

 

You are right in that when you do a search on the Princess website for all cruises 5 days or less, there are 29 results over the next two years. Ten in 2010, 13 in 2011, and 6 in 2012. BUT, they are on a lot of different ships and are repositioning cruises. They are not one or two ships dedicated to short cruises. There's a big difference.

 

Pam is quite correct. Repositioning cruises on various ships are far different than one ship doing alternating 3 and 4 day cruises year-round.

[KP Miami]

Christa and I are always ready on a 24 hour notice... We love cruising, especially Princess. The ships, restaurants and services are exceptional...

[Hunwolf]

Celebrity is on par (slightly above :eek:) Princess in terms of quality and pricing. Somehow they manage to keep the "unwashed masses" away from their shorter cruises. I've heard they do a face to face interview with each person before accepting their deposit but I can't confirm. Kind of a screening session or pre-interview as it were.

[m steve]

Maybe he can get those deadheads in Congress to allow cruising to Cuba? Maybe if he promises to have all his ships sell only Bacardi Rum they might back off the embargo?

[chasetf]

Actually, the lack of these kinds of amenities (i.e. waterslides, etc.) is probably what would keep most of the craziness at bay. Even on short cruises, Princess has never marketed itself as a "party ship", so I don't think it would really change much other than having more working age folks who can't easily take off an entire week (certainly primarily from FL) able to try Princess cruises when they otherwise wouldn't have that opportunity.

 

I think the party people and those with the aforementioned screaming spawnlets will still steer themselves towards Carnival and other cruiselines that market themselves to folks who want that kind of stuff.

I agree. Princess is not a party barge like Carnival, so without the heavy bar revenue it would not be economical.

 

The turnaround day is a high expense / low revenue day. There are longshoremen to pay for, the crew is busy turning over the ship, the shops and casino are closed almost all day, and it is the slowest bar day.

 

So why schedule two of those days a week (for 3/4 day cruise) when you have only one on a seven day, if you cannot make it up on the other five at the bar. :confused:

[maxxedout2]

Well folks, some of us Florida residents like to jump on a shorter getaway once in a while.

 

It's not a financial problem for me going on a long cruise, it's more getting

the time off from work and my busy schedule. My job might have a real hard time giving me 10 days off;

but won't be as hard getting 3-5 days off once in a while.

 

So, being a FL resident it makes a lot of sense for me to add 3-5 nighters;

why not? other cruise lines offer it!

 

I went on the 3 nighter Ruby, and I'm already booked on the 5 nighter

Crown.

 

I've had to jump cruiselines once in a while because Princess doesn't offer short getaways from FL.

 

YES, WE WOULD LOVE SHORTER CRUISES PRINCESS!!! ANY FL RESIDENT WOULD!

 

JUST DRIVE TO PORT AND BE GONE FOR THE WEEKEND.... WHO WOULDN'T???

 

AGREE. We booked the 5day also. Still leaves holidays with our kids

and relatives that come down to FL to get out of the snow.

 

Seems to me:

The non-Florida-negative (not interested) posters make some good

points about the not good for profit$ side of short trips and/or the

dilution of their personal hard earned Perk$.

 

Also seems to me, as I originally thought:

There are quite a few working Floridians (and other states as well) that

will jump on shorter Ft. Lauderdale Princess cruises (their first choice) when

available.... just to get away from the grind. Or jump cruise lines.

 

Since Carnival Cruise Line has many, cheap, 3 or 4 day party ships

drinkin' and Karaokin' their way through the islands as I write this.

We will try to grab some last-minute-discounted short trips this year.

 

Bottom line. In this scenario the Carnival Corporation wins either way.

 

:cool::)

[awfw]

Two years ago Caribbean Princess had a cancelled dry dock (if memory serves) and added a few 3 & 4 night cruises from FLL. Being a Florida resident, we decided to book a B2B to get a seven night cruise. We booked an Inside for the 3-day and Balcony for the 4-day segment. As we had previously sailed the CB several times and loved the ship we figured it would be great. Sadly, we would never do it again. Without a doubt, Princess cut corners everywhere and you definitely get a different goup on a short cruise-lots of noisy kids! The crew was definitely effected and seemed quite disoriented and the food quality was negatively impacted. They were not prepared for B2B room changes although that is not an issue for this topic. We love Princess (Platinum) but they did not do well with the short cruise concept. I think most seasoned Princess cruisers would be very dissapointed with a short cruise. Princess should stick with what they do best 7+ nights!

 

Our only other short cruise was 5 nights on the NCL Pearl and that was fine but just not long enough!!

 

awfw

[FLACRUISER99]

I would love to see Princess offer Some 3 and 4 day Cruises. Royal Caribbean seems to make money with Majesty oF the Seas, I just love her 4 day trip (CoCo Cay, Nassau, Key West).

[Ldyandrea]

There are quite a few working Floridians (and other states as well) that will jump on shorter Ft. Lauderdale Princess cruises (their first choice) when available.... just to get away from the grind. Or jump cruise lines.

 

That's certainly the case for me! Assuming that the nay-sayers are correct, and Princess doesn't schedule regular short cruises out of FL, I'm left to grab the occasional ones they do have.....or jump to an alternate cruise line.

 

I have to admit, I did find Royal Carib to be pretty decent, and I might consider Celebrity as an acceptable alternative. I still plan to avoid Carnival like the plague though. I did my first big ship cruise on the Paradise back in 2001, and I really didn't care for the atmosphere, the decor, or the constant ship-wide PA announcements much at all.

[Ldyandrea]

I would love to see Princess offer Some 3 and 4 day Cruises. Royal Caribbean seems to make money with Majesty oF the Seas, I just love her 4 day trip (CoCo Cay, Nassau, Key West).

 

I was thinking that as well. Royal Caribbean doesn't market itself as a "party ship", but yet they have lots of 3 & 4 day sailings out of Florida and seem to do just fine. Considering they are pretty comparable to Princess in terms of quality, I have a hard time believing that it wouldn't be feasible.

[Ldyandrea]

Two years ago Caribbean Princess had a cancelled dry dock (if memory serves) and added a few 3 & 4 night cruises from FLL. Being a Florida resident, we decided to book a B2B to get a seven night cruise. We booked an Inside for the 3-day and Balcony for the 4-day segment. As we had previously sailed the CB several times and loved the ship we figured it would be great. Sadly, we would never do it again. Without a doubt, Princess cut corners everywhere and you definitely get a different goup on a short cruise-lots of noisy kids! The crew was definitely effected and seemed quite disoriented and the food quality was negatively impacted. They were not prepared for B2B room changes although that is not an issue for this topic. We love Princess (Platinum) but they did not do well with the short cruise concept. I think most seasoned Princess cruisers would be very dissapointed with a short cruise. Princess should stick with what they do best 7+ nights!

 

Our only other short cruise was 5 nights on the NCL Pearl and that was fine but just not long enough!!

 

awfw

 

I was actually on one of those 4 night sailings of the CB back in 2008 (I had previously sailed on the CB for a 7-night cruise as well). I had a very different experience than you did, however as I did not feel the quality had suffered. I took my best friend with me (it was her first cruising experience), and we both had a great time.

 

Yes, there were lots of kids, but I just remedied that by avoiding most of the areas that would be frequented by kids (i.e. the main pools) during the day. :p

[Pam in CA]

That's certainly the case for me! Assuming that the nay-sayers are correct, and Princess doesn't schedule regular short cruises out of FL, I'm left to grab the occasional ones they do have.....or jump to an alternate cruise line.

Unfortunately, it's not going to happen. :( Heck, the LA area has far more cruise passenger potential than FL yet they don't do 3- or 4-day cruises out of there either. It's nothing against FL and it's not about whether it would be profitable. It would be. The bottom line is that it's more profitable to deploy ships elsewhere with fewer port and more sea days, and higher prices.

[RickEk]

I was thinking that as well. Royal Caribbean doesn't market itself as a "party ship", but yet they have lots of 3 & 4 day sailings out of Florida and seem to do just fine. Considering they are pretty comparable to Princess in terms of quality, I have a hard time believing that it wouldn't be feasible.

 

Oh, I'm sure it's absolutely feasible for Princess to schedule shorter cruises. But they have obviously chosen to cede that market to other lines.

[Posaune]

I would love to see it. We take a 10 to 14 day every year & I would like to take an additional cruise during the year, but can't get away for a week or more.

[Pythian]

Poll: FLORIDA RESIDENTS FOR 3 and 4 DAY Princess Cruises.

 

OK. So some of us aren't retired in Florida.

 

I am guessing that Florida based working couples/singles might find

it easier to arrange for a 3 or 4 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale

than the 7, 10, 14 day (or longer) Princess offers now.

 

Anyone else like to see Princess have 1 ship sailing 3 day (Princess Cays/Nassau), 4 day (Key West/Cozumel) trips out of Ft Lauderdale

(similar to Carnival Imagination itinerary)?

 

Are you listening Princess?

 

Regards,

Maxx out.

 

Maxx -- not retired (completely) but semi (27.5 years in the military). Yes... we agree. but we like the 4 day minimum.... and the locations are fine.... We would do a couple a year just for fun between the regular cruises..... for something fun to do.....