Can we please put the "Caribbean" back in Royal Caribbean

[Kokomo91165]

My fingers are soar and my eyes exhausted after trying to find a decent Caribbean Cruise. My conlusion - they don't exist.

 

Remember in 2006 when the Brilliance OTS did that nice 11 night Southern Caribbean Itinerary from Miami?

 

Or right now with the Liberty OTS doing 8 night Eastern Caribbean out of Miami?

 

They seem to be all gone for fall of 2011 and spring of 2012. I don't want to be on a ship for 5 nights and go to Mexico - I want to go down to the Eastern Caribbean! New ports! Different sizes of ships!

 

It seems that RCL is letting the Allure & Oasis handle the 7 Night Caribbean markets out of S. Florida. Frankly, that is not the experience I am looking for.

 

I am hoping, praying, that RCL will put the "Caribbean" back in their name with the new deployment schedule coming out in March & April.

 

Am I the only one feeling that I am now sailing on Royal International?

[cruiseguy1016]

Sorry, I don't agree with you. I think there are plenty of itineraries to choose from. Depending on the time of year, there are 6 or 8 different itineraries for the Southern Caribbean. There are just not enough ports of call in the "Eastern" Caribbean to offer more variety than what they do.

[tntornadox]

But some people can't cruise just anytime of the year...

 

The side effect of pulling all your ships to Europe? Alienate American families who mainly cruise in the Summer.

[Ocean Boy]

I do agree with you. Have you given any thought to cruising Serenade or Adventure out of San Juan? The ships and itineraries are awesome. Unfortunately, I think RCI is trying to force folks who are looking to cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami onto Oasis and Allure.

[tntornadox]

Unfortunately, I think RCI is trying to force folks who are looking to cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami onto Oasis and Allure.

 

...or to Carnival. Oasis class still has quite the price premium going on.

Edited February 16, 2011 by tntornadox

[kyriecat]

If you want to stay with Royal Caribbean, you proably should consider taking a cruise leaving from San Juan instead of Florida. I beleive Serenade will still do the southern Caribbean route for a while. If you do a back to back, you can get a 14-night sailing and try several ports.

 

Another option if you want to stick with leaving from Florida and sailing in spring/fall is Princess or Holland America. I tried HAL because RC cancelled my Caribbean cruise in 2009. We did a 14-day cruise with 11 ports so we didn't spend much time onboard. I admit, the activities were lacking compared to RC but we were so busy in the ports that we just wanted to relax on the sea days anyway.

 

I booked another HAL cruise for April because I wanted a Panama Canal partial cruise where the ship went into the canal. RC's Jewel cruise only docks in Panama. This cruise has 4 sea days out of 10. Hopefully I won't get bored.

[ValerieJo]

We actually had that 11 night Southern Caribbean route booked in 2006 and had to cancel. Figured we'll do it another time. Boy, was I wrong on that one. :(

 

I love the routes out of San Juan, it's just the Flights are so darn expensive.

[Ocean Boy]

...or to Carnival. Oasis class still has quite the price premium going on.

 

Sometimes I suspect that no one in RCI's management ever considers that there are people out there who, instead of choosing Oasis or Allure, will choose a different cruise line. But until demand starts to drop off for the two ships I guess that they don't have to consider that scenario.

[39august]

I feel your pain! There is only one ship in the early fall/late summer besides the big TWO on a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean and Freedom is it. I would also like to see some more Caribbean in Royal Caribbean! Next summer I believe both AOS and SOS will be in Europe leaving nothing out of SJ. I too think RCI is trying to force people to cruise OOS and Allure. I'm frankly not interested in those shiips.

[blueblock]

Does that mean that Norwegian Cruise Line can only sail in Norway? ;-)

 

Personally, I'd rather sail the European itineraries - my interest in the Caribbean is minimal. But it's always interesting to hear other cruisers' perspectives.

[tntornadox]

Considering NCL's original name was Norwegian Caribbean Line, kinda ironic.

 

But NCL isn't pulling all of their ships out of the Caribbean either.

[MrZoey]

I feel your pain! There is only one ship in the early fall/late summer besides the big TWO on a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean and Freedom is it. I would also like to see some more Caribbean in Royal Caribbean! Next summer I believe both AOS and SOS will be in Europe leaving nothing out of SJ. I too think RCI is trying to force people to cruise OOS and Allure. I'm frankly not interested in those shiips.

Very frustrating! I am trying to plan our next cruise and have no other choice but Freedom (with a colder first and last day on board). To take a cruise out of SJ (which we love), the airfare is $600 more per person! I have done the western caribbean many times and my last cruise thru the eastern caribbean (last week, 8 night) reminded me why I Like that route so much more. I really don't want to have to pre-plan my every move before I even go, so the "big girls" our not a choice.:rolleyes:

[kruzerci]

I feel your pain. We can only cruise in the late spring or summer (which is obviously not Royal Caribbean's fault) but that really limits what we can do. Our only options this year were Freedom, Oasis, and Allure and preferring the Freedom itinerary and price, we chose it, even though we have sailed on her before. Not that I'm not bursting with excitement still, beacuse I am :D, but theres hardly anything left in the Caribbean. We stay with Royal Caribbean beacuse we feel it offers the most well rounded product which fits us perfectly, but the lack of variety makes it hard to be loyal!

[absolutsixthree]

I have to agree.

 

During the summer months only the two biggest ships are leaving out of Florida and the Serenade out of Puerto Rico . .. not much choice . .

[Scoobydobe7]

I agree with the OP - Royal is trying to force the Oasis and Allure on us. I too, have no desire to do the Eastern route (4 times) again - I am going on the Freedom in May and doing the Western Car -- after that it might be princess for us. Time will tell. We are interested in seeing what ships are going to be leaving from Cape Liberty and Baltimore come March 2012 -- What I would like is a 10 and/or 11 day southern carrib out of Florida, - we have done the Southern out of San Juan, but air fare is HUGE so that is not an option.

[CodyC815]

I seem to recall the CEO saying something about putting the International back in Royal Caribbean International. That was why they built the Oasis and Allure, to free up other ships to go overseas. I don't agree with it, that's just what I remember. I'd love to have more ships closer to home. I'd love to go on more vision classes but they're all over the place.

Edited February 16, 2011 by CodyC815

[bus man]

I do agree with the sentiments expressed here. But just in case anyone isn't aware of it, I should point out that the Enchantment does 9-night cruises to the Eastern Caribbean out of Baltimore in the summer.

 

That said, I think that RCI ought to pick one of their smaller ships, maybe the Grandeur, and run 5-nighters out of some Florida port during the summer. That way, people whose schedules are such that they can only cruise during the summer would have smaller ship/shorter cruise options, and wouldn't be restricted only to a full week on the Leviathan of the Seas.

[Gilgo Surfer]

I have been having trouble finding a cruise out of Florida for next January. I was looking for at least a ten night but might have to settle for seven nights. I saw much better itineraries on another line but have already left a deposit for Royal Caribbean on the Jewel of the Seas a few weeks ago.

[Cupcrazy]

I agree. I wish Royal Caribbean had longer itineraries from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Or really anywhere in Florida. I just finished a great 14 day southern carib itinerary from Princess. As good as the itineraries are from San Juan I'd rather spend the extra money of flying to San Juan on a longer cruise from Florida.

[skrapngal]

I hate to rain on everyone's parade, especiallly since I just recently booked my first cruise for March 2012, but airfare is a given for those of us living in Eastern Canada. So add anywhere between $500-1000 return to the price of ANY cruise, regardless of company and you'll get a ballpark of what it costs us to cruise.

 

So for us, or anyone from anywhere other than the southeastern US, departure port is not really a huge issue. We'll need to fork out that money regardless!

[Cruise_Kitten]

To be honest i am with some of the other posters on here, if Royal Caribbean didn't do the itinerary i wanted i would quite happily change cruise companies just so i could do it. We have recently had this conversation in our household. My father-in-law wants to do a Norwegian cruise but RC only offer one and it's really short and not to the ports he wants to go to, so he is going on Grand Princess to do so. He said he wished that RC would do the cruise as he loves all the ships but the ports of call are of more interest to him then the ship.

And besides it's nice for a change. Me and my partner have discussed at some point trying an MSC ship just to have a change but that wont come for a while because we are due to be booked up on Royal Caribbean for the next 3 years.

 

CK x

[maxxedout2]

Sometimes I suspect that no one in RCI's management ever considers that there are people out there who, instead of choosing Oasis or Allure, will choose a different cruise line. But until demand starts to drop off for the two ships I guess that they don't have to consider that scenario.

 

Yup, I can see the Carnival Freedom and maybe Princess out of San Juan

in my not-to-distant future.

 

IMHO Oasis/Allure don't go where I want to go and are not in my

fun budget.

 

Enjoyed the Navigator.

 

:cool:

[TxStacey]

I agree with the OP..just had this conversation with a friend..we are sailing on the Serenade out of San Juan in June. I love the itenerary so I am happy about that..what I am not happy about is the price of airfare to San Juan...not RCI's fault..but when I booked my cruise the airfare was about the same as it would be to Ft. Lauderdale or Orlando. The cruise itself was so much less that we decided to go with it. Recently, when the airfare skyrocketed, we looked at changing to something out of Florida..not a chance..the prices of the Allure and Oasis are $2000.00 more for my family..without airfare..The Freedom is booked..so we will be forced to suck it up and pay the airfare. I REALLY hope the Serenade is worth it!

[Ocean Boy]

I agree with the OP..just had this conversation with a friend..we are sailing on the Serenade out of San Juan in June. I love the itinerary so I am happy about that..what I am not happy about is the price of airfare to San Juan...not RCI's fault..but when I booked my cruise the airfare was about the same as it would be to Ft. Lauderdale or Orlando. The cruise itself was so much less that we decided to go with it. Recently, when the airfare skyrocketed, we looked at changing to something out of Florida..not a chance..the prices of the Allure and Oasis are $2000.00 more for my family..without airfare..The Freedom is booked..so we will be forced to suck it up and pay the airfare. I REALLY hope the Serenade is worth it!

 

Though I prefer the Voyager and Freedom class ships, Serenade is a beautiful ship and the itineraries are awesome. With such a port intensive itinerary I don't think Serenade is going to disappoint you. I am very happy to have experienced the ship.

[TxStacey]

Thanks Oceanboy..The main thing I am worried about is that my last cruise was on the Freedom and the one before that was the Mariner which both have the Royal Promenade. I loved it. We will also have some older teens with us (18 &19) that I am hoping will be entertained. I am thinking with the port heavy itenerary, it will be ok.