Fall 2013 and 2014 Caribbean...4 and 5 night sailings

[Ldyandrea]

Oh, and I also like that their short cruises are not scheduled to go to the Bahamas, because nearly every short cruise out of FL is already going there.

[caribill]

Two things I notice in the new brochure:

 

The itineraries give no hint of how much time will be spent in a port.

 

The Caribbean Princess will be based in Galveston that winter.

[Princesscruisers2]

I too am generally not a fan of shorter cruises - but living 20 miles north of FLL - these 4 or 5 day cruises will make a great get-away in between longer cruises.

 

Thanks for posting this : ) Wasn't able to download excel - PDF worked great!

[tmt218]

I am excited for the shorter cruises. It will allow me to cruise Princess more. My DD is still in school and has her time off spread out more. I don't enjoy cruising Thanksgiving, Christmas or spring break. I like off season cruising. Thses new cruises will allow me to.

 

I don't think Princess will become the party boat that Carnival is.

[caribill]

I am excited for the shorter cruises. It will allow me to cruise Princess more. My DD is still in school and has her time off spread out more. I don't enjoy cruising Thanksgiving, Christmas or spring break. I like off season cruising. Thses new cruises will allow me to.

 

I don't think Princess will become the party boat that Carnival is.

 

For us, the airfare for a cruise only four or five days long is not worth it. It would cost more than the cruise itself.

 

Princess has experimented with short cruises out of Port Everglades a couple of times over the last several years. Reports after these cruises indicated it was a party boat with most passengers on their first Princess voyage.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

For us, the airfare for a cruise only four or five days long is not worth it. It would cost more than the cruise itself.

 

Princess has experimented with short cruises out of Port Everglades a couple of times over the last several years. Reports after these cruises indicated it was a party boat with most passengers on their first Princess voyage.

 

I'm another one who won't be taking any of the 4 or 5 day cruises. They just aren't worth the hassle of flying from the Midwest. I won't do it anymore for anything under 10 days. I also was hoping they would bring back the 14 day Caribbean cruises they had on the Grand a few years ago.

[dmwnc1959]

I guess that answers THIS QUESTION that I asked just last month! :D Nailed that one didn't I? ;)

 

I did a B2B last year combing two 5-night alternating itinerary cruises on Celebrity Millennium and it was GREAT. Some folks even did a B2B2B2B. I can easily see me booking short cruises on Ruby Princess, but then Celebrity Constellation will also be doing the same thing. Decisions, decisions. ;)

[dmwnc1959]

How do you think this is going to impact Elite status? With so many short cruise 2,3,4,5 days there will be many more reaching Elite status quickly if they go by the number of cruises as opposed to days...

 

This is a question/complaint that use to pop up on the RCI Boards, that so many Diamond and Diamond Plus members could/had achieved their status simply by doing very cheap off-season 3- and 4-night cruises instead of 7-night or longer cruises. It may come to the point later on down the road where Princess will 'adjust' it's loyalty program, just like RCI and Carnival have had to do by adding another tier.

[kendon]

5 night Western sailing: FT. LAUDERDALE, Grand Cayman, Island of Cozumel, FT. LAUDERDALE

 

5 night Eastern sailing: FT. LAUDERDALE, Princess Cays, Grand Turk, FT. LAUDERDALE

 

4 night Western sailing: FT. LAUDERDALE, Grand Cayman, FT. LAUDERDALE

 

4 night Eastern sailing: FT. LAUDERDALE, Grand Turk, FT. LAUDERDALE

 

Yuck! Why only 4-5 nighters? I'm still waiting for the 7 day Carib itinerary in the summer out of FLL.

[kendon]

I'm another one who won't be taking any of the 4 or 5 day cruises. They just aren't worth the hassle of flying from the Midwest. I won't do it anymore for anything under 10 days. I also was hoping they would bring back the 14 day Caribbean cruises they had on the Grand a few years ago.

 

I agree. Those cruises cater to those living near the port. Not worth the trouble or expense.

[dmwnc1959]

I agree. Those cruises cater to those living near the port. Not worth the trouble or expense.

 

I guess that depends on the cruiser. During this current winter season there were quite a few cruisers from all up and down the eastern seaboard and as far away as the midwest that flew into Miami to do just a 5-night on Celebrity Millennium. Like I mentioned before there were also quite a few doing B2B's and B2B2B's or longer by combining several alternating itineraries. I myself flew down from northern West Virginia to Miami and did a 10-night B2B on Celebrity Millennium. Not everyone can take 10-14 night cruises and a 5-night fits the bill. Princess had to have taken this all into consideration and saw some benefit in this before putting Ruby Princess into that market and not just expect to fill the ship up every five days with locals.

[Tak8]

Thanks for the hard work to get this out. I was hoping Royal would do a more interesting itinerary in the Caribbean.

[leavingocalaagain]

I too am generally not a fan of shorter cruises - but living 20 miles north of FLL - these 4 or 5 day cruises will make a great get-away in between longer cruises.

 

Thanks for posting this : ) Wasn't able to download excel - PDF worked great!

 

Agree. Living in central Florida I can take advantage of the shorter cruises.

[Liz54]

We won't travel from Canada for these short runs. As others have noted its not cost effective. Being retired we do have time for longer cruises and 10 days would be the minimum. I'm very sorry they gave up the 14 day itinerary. This year we did a B2B on the Crown and even it was a real party boat compared to a ten day run.

 

Very sadly starting to look away from Princess..

[Tweedy]

I must say I'm a little disappointed with the Caribbean sailings. Too bad they are doing so many 4 or 5 day sailings. Also what is with the Royal doing the same itinerary every single week? I was hoping to be able to do a B2B of Eastern and Western or Southern but I guess that won't be happening. Too bad. Maybe they'll change it up the next year.

[dmwnc1959]

We won't travel from Canada for these short runs. As others have noted its not cost effective. Being retired we do have time for longer cruises and 10 days would be the minimum. I'm very sorry they gave up the 14 day itinerary. This year we did a B2B on the Crown and even it was a real party boat compared to a ten day run.

 

Very sadly starting to look away from Princess..

 

But others from Canada will. Just read a review over on the Celebrity Boards from a Canadian who recently came off the 5-night Celebrity Millennium.

 

I am guessing that ONE ship entering the short cruise market out of a fleet of 17 ships won't run Princess cruisers away. Really. :cool:

[KruzPrincess]

There's actually 2 ships doing short cruises. The Golden will be doing short cruises on the west coast. For me, it's not that there aren't other options, so much as this is a pretty boring choice. Royal has a pretty boring itinerary. Emerald is doing the same 10 day route. Caribbean Princess out of Galveston. Crown doing 7 day cruise. Everyone was hoping for something more interesting and it's not here. Yep, there are choices, but many were hoping for something more interesting, I think. JMO.

[dmwnc1959]

There's actually 2 ships doing short cruises. The Golden will be doing short cruises on the west coast. For me, it's not that there aren't other options, so much as this is a pretty boring choice. Royal has a pretty boring itinerary. Emerald is doing the same 10 day route. Caribbean Princess out of Galveston. Crown doing 7 day cruise. Everyone was hoping for something more interesting and it's not here. Yep, there are choices, but many were hoping for something more interesting, I think. JMO.

 

From what I have been reading on the RCI Boards, Carnival Boards, and the Celebrity Boards no one is really thrilled with the winter 2013/2014 offerings. A lot of the Same-old same-old.

[Cruise Junky]

I like an option of a shorter cruise on Princess. We would never fly down just for the cruise, but could combine a shorter one with some time in Orlando or the Keys and not have to take a full 2 weeks off.

[loge23]

We like this change very much, although we do live in FL which makes this shorter itinerary more attractive to us. Hard to see why anyone would bother with flying in and out unless they were combining a land vacation.

This itinerary reminds us of the late, great Majesty Cruise Line which operated out of Miami in the 90's. They ran two ships with 7, 4, and 3 night cruises. We frequently took advantage of a quick getaway on Majesty, which btw was a terrific cruise experience. I suspect we will do likewise for these new routes and we welcome the shorter trip to Ft. Laud. Majesty sold off their beautiful small ships to Royal Caribbean and they were cut and extended. Sad, but understandable in the business. Good to see, Princess, we'll be booking!

[Infi]

Thanks to all those who shared the links and itineraries in this thread, they're greatly appreciated.

 

Will be interesting to see how the shorter cruises on Princess pan out. Agree that they will be bigger moneymakers than the longer cruises. That said, I'm still disappointed that a true 14 day Caribbean is still gone from the itinerary repertoire.

[jfgdbg]

I may have missed it, but what Amenity Points?

[caribill]

I may have missed it, but what Amenity Points?

 

Cruise agents who book a number of cabins as a group get "amenity points" which the agents can use to provide goodies for the booked passengers.

 

Included in what the amenity points can be used for are On Board Credit (OBC), a bottle of wine, $$ towards a Spa treatment, a photograph, Casino $$$, etc.

 

The travel agent decides which of the available amenities to offer to the passengers.

[jfgdbg]

Cruise agents who book a number of cabins as a group get "amenity points" which the agents can use to provide goodies for the booked passengers.

 

Included in what the amenity points can be used for are On Board Credit (OBC), a bottle of wine, $$ towards a Spa treatment, a photograph, Casino $$$, etc.

 

The travel agent decides which of the available amenities to offer to the passengers.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I had never heard that term before.

[dmwnc1959]

I don't remember seeing anywhere whee these new 4- and 5-night cruises will be open for sale. Anyone know?