Same Old Same Old Caribbean Itineraries ??!

[WishIwerethere]

Is it just me, or maybe the way RCL's new web site puts up results, or are there really no new, different or exciting itineraries for late Summer and Fall ? :confused: Carnival is starting to look better. :eek:

[Jimnbigd]

I cruise for the ship, not the itinerary. Falmouth, Jamaica, will be new for me in a couple of weeks. What ports do you have in mind that RCCL should add?

 

Personally, I think it is time the USA stops boycotting Cuba. We made friends with "Red" China almost 40 years ago under Nixon. Cuba would open up new ports for both Eastern and Western Caribbean routes (and Cuban cigars in the USA).

[WishIwerethere]

Would love to see Cuba someday. Jamaica doesn't do much for me. Spent 2 weeks there doing hurricane relief a few years ago. Been there on cruises. Falmouth will be more of the same. Don't care a lot for Bahamas. Maybe a few more stops in Southern route.

 

Maybe places like St. Kitts, Aruba, Dominica, anything a little out of the ordinary. We do enjoy Cozumel, Gr. Cayman is fairly nice but you can only do the same islands on the same cruises. There's the Eastern with St. Maarten, St Thomas etc. and the Western with Jamaica, etc.

 

Just seems it's getting stale. Even the cruises with Labadee as a stop seem to be fewer.

 

What do people do who want more of a variety ?

[time4u2go]

How about Grand Turk, Progreso, Calica, Roatan, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize, Tortola?

[CruiserChloe]

If Carnival has a more attractive itinerary, what's the big deal? Book them.

 

I don't know how you feel about Celebrity, but the Summit has a great southern Caribbean itinerary late this summer.

[TexCruise371]

Is it just me, or maybe the way RCL's new web site puts up results, or are there really no new, different or exciting itineraries for late Summer and Fall ? :confused: Carnival is starting to look better. :eek:

 

 

 

I agree about Cuba....I would love to go there instead of just seeing it in the distance as we cruise everywhere else.

[negc]

Each year RCI has made changes in the itinerary of its Jewel repositioning cruise and this year it will be 14 nights instead of the 13 sailed last year with at least two ports that were not on last year's itinerary. If you take the time to look carefully you won't find many Caribbean islands that aren't available on one ship or another. In February, we sailed to Cartagena, Panama, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman, ports which, aside from Grand Cayman, were new to us despite the many Caribbean cruises we have taken since 1980.

If Carnival is looking better, perhaps you should try a cruise on one of its ships. You may become a Carnival fan, or you may decide that itinerary is not the only criteria that makes one cruise better than another.:)

[I'm on holiday]

I agree! St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Grand Cayman, Nassau, and Cozumel are STALE. Offer more choices, especially on the southern route.

[Aquahound]

There's another thread saying RCI might be adding southern Puerto Rican stops like Ponce. That would be great.

[melbur]

How about Grand Turk, Progreso, Calica, Roatan, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize, Tortola?

 

Honduras, Tortola, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize are all offered on RCI, along with Grenada, Dominica, Aruba, Curacao, St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados, etc on the southern caribbean route. I think they do a good job of covering many of the islands. Perhaps Turks & Caicos, or Nevis, or a return to Martinique?

[time4u2go]

Honduras, Tortola, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize are all offered on RCI, along with Grenada, Dominica, Aruba, Curacao, St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados, etc on the southern caribbean route. I think they do a good job of covering many of the islands. Perhaps Turks & Caicos, or Nevis, or a return to Martinique?

 

Not in late Summer or Fall (except for Colon), which is what the OP asked about.

[frednsb]

Is it just me, or maybe the way RCL's new web site puts up results, or are there really no new, different or exciting itineraries for late Summer and Fall ? :confused: Carnival is starting to look better. :eek:

Great itineraries out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL in the summer

[Debde]

Is it just me, or maybe the way RCL's new web site puts up results, or are there really no new, different or exciting itineraries for late Summer and Fall ? :confused: Carnival is starting to look better. :eek:

 

I want to see as many places as I can in this one life I have. Way too many cruise line options with different itinerarys to keep seeing the same places. If I were you I would not hesitate giving Carnival a try if it is different places you would see.

[mtsnd1900]

NCL has some nice options on the EPIC, to include Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel. When we shop for a ship, and scope out the itineraries, I will try to steer clear of Jamaica, but it seems as though RCI is really pushing it - unfortunately. The southern cruises are wonderful, but the airfare to Puerto Rico is terrible and cuts into the spending money. Does anyone know of a web site you can go to and put in island destinations and show all cruises going to that island? For example, i want to see all the cruise options for October 2011 going to Bonaire. Outside of going cruise line to cruise line, is there a simple way to cross reference? Even better is if it would allow you to put in multiple destinations.

[houlacruiser]

I know it's not a "new port" but I was thrilled that the Explorer is doing a 7 day itinerary to Bermuda in late summer/fall 2012. :)

[DonnaK]

I agree, OP. We can only cruise during the summer, and there aren't many choices for the Caribbean at all, not just through RCI, but most of the other cruiselines run a limited Caribbean itinerary during the summer. We cannot afford Alaska or Mediterranean, so our only choice is to take the same ships to the same places. We tried Carnival once, and quite frankly, once was enough for us. It was not a good experience at all. We cruise for a balance between ship and itinerary, and their ships and the level of service are not up to par for us.

[Palmetto Pilot]

Part of the problem is the new mega ships are limited to which ports they can visit.

[scorpluvsdolphins]

I want to see a southern carribean itinerary from a FL port. I was on the NCL Dawn to Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts and Tortola and Samana. Samana I could do without, but the others were great. I am not flying to San Juan as another OP said, the cost of the flight really cuts into the budget.

[nana nancy]

We love RCL but are tired of the Explorer, nice ship, but been there done that. Bermuda, St Thomas, St Maarten, San Juan, been there lots, done plenty. It's time for the next class, Freedom! Liberty of the Seas(don't you think that belongs in Cape Liberty sailing past the Statue of Liberty,) would fit, Bayonne is a huge port. New ports? How about Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Antigua, maybe RCL could get Carneval Corp. to let them onto Grand Turk? We would love to sail out of Bayonne again, 3 or our couples have handicapped people, so flying is a pain, but not till they change things up a bit. :(

[Palmetto Pilot]

I want to see a southern carribean itinerary from a FL port. I was on the NCL Dawn to Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts and Tortola and Samana. Samana I could do without, but the others were great. I am not flying to San Juan as another OP said, the cost of the flight really cuts into the budget.

A Southern Caribbean itinerary from a florida or a continental US port would be ideal and a perfect 8-9 night cruise!

[negc]

A Southern Caribbean itinerary from a florida or a continental US port would be ideal and a perfect 8-9 night cruise!

 

I'd like to see such an itinerary as well but when you realize that it would have to be coupled with a six or five night itinerary, it is easy to see that the shorter cruises might not be satisfactory for a majority of cruisers. Explorer of the Seas has been mixing its longer Caribbean cruises with 5 night cruises to Bermuda and a constant complaint is that a 5 night cruise to Bermuda is insufficient to really enjoy the island. Apparently, as a result of those complaints, Explorer will be offering 7 night cruises to Bermuda in the Fall of 2012. What this will mean to their longer cruises is not yet clear but something will have to change.

[houlacruiser]

We love RCL but are tired of the Explorer, nice ship, but been there done that. Bermuda, St Thomas, St Maarten, San Juan, been there lots, done plenty. It's time for the next class, Freedom! Liberty of the Seas(don't you think that belongs in Cape Liberty sailing past the Statue of Liberty,) would fit, Bayonne is a huge port. New ports? How about Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Antigua, maybe RCL could get Carneval Corp. to let them onto Grand Turk? We would love to sail out of Bayonne again, 3 or our couples have handicapped people, so flying is a pain, but not till they change things up a bit. :(

 

We just got off Explorer and had a great itinerary including Antigua, Dominican Republic, and St. Kitts. Last year Explorer did Antigua, Dominica and Barbados. Actually I like the ports that Bayonne offers more than the ships that leave out of Florida. I would like a new ship, but the itineraries up here are great, especially for the longer cruises.

[WishIwerethere]

Great responses. We have done Carnival twice now, but I prefer RCL and we have just begun to build up our membership level.

 

The Explorer out of Bayonne is great :D :) and they could use a ship like Freedom or Liberty to change things up. We all cant take the longer cruises, although the 9 day then 5 day that they run out of Bayonne was great. Why can't they do something like that in the Summer from Fla.

 

The prices for Oasis/Allure are still kind of steep, and I don't really want to be on a mega ship. Even RCL staff complain about the size of ship.

 

I love Bermuda but you aren't going there from Florida ports. And yes the Southern routes are just not there. The 12 or 14 night cruises are just not feasible for a lot of folks.

 

And Ponce in PR ould be a great pace to go. Its a great little city with charm and there ar a lot of things to do from that area. Getting tired of San Juan.

 

Carnival has some great prices but their itineraries are starting to suffer also, and I just prefer RCL. It's a shame but they are less and less Royal lately and not a lot of Caribbean.

 

Hope they hear what people are saying.

[tere247]

If ports are more important than the ship/cruise line...From October on, HAL has amazing ports with 7, 10, 11 & 14 night cruises. They go from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Barts, Martinque, Grenada, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Tortola, St Croix, St Vincent, Barbados, St Kitts. Princess has 7 days that go to Princess Cays, Aruba & Curacao starting in November.

 

Summer of 2011, your only choice out of Ft Lauderdale is Carnival or the 2 MEGA RCL ships.

 

And yeah, the Explorer from Bayonne has the greatest choice of cruises.

 

I have a repositioning booked on Princess from Brooklyn to Ft Lauderdale which we may not take. I am looking for another cruise later from Ft. Lauderdale, in case we don't take that one. HAL is the only one we're interested in.

 

I was hoping for the Panama Canal, I think it was on the Jewel OTS...that was offered earlier this winter. No Panama Canal at all for 2012.

[bjohio]

Honduras, Tortola, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize are all offered on RCI, along with Grenada, Dominica, Aruba, Curacao, St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados, etc on the southern caribbean route. I think they do a good job of covering many of the islands. Perhaps Turks & Caicos, or Nevis, or a return to Martinique?

Turks and Caicos is offered from Baltimore along with Nassau and Freeport.