Royal Caribbean I truly love you, but COME ON!

[PLEIKU68]

RCL does sail to locations other than the Caribbean... Get out there and see it !! :)

[bigque]

I coul be wrong but I think they will still fill the ships if people from Cruise Critic Boycots as mentioned here. I don't think these ships are sailing with a majority of CC Members. Just look at how many folks are on each roll call. I'm just saying!

[cruzeluver]

Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't the best way to cause a change be to simply not go on cruises to the undesired ports? I mean a petition is nice and everything, but if somebody signs such a petition and continues to go on cruises to these ports, it seems like a contradiction at best.

 

Bingo! By continuing to book cruises on the "same old" itineraries what is Royal supposed to think? They think people must love them. And if they see more and more folks not even getting off the ship when it port, they also would come to the conclusion that itinerary is not very important to a lot of folks.

[dsvd79]

We did the 11 night Vision this past February. We left from FLL, and went to Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Bonaire, Aruba, and back to FLL. We loved it!

 

We are doing Western Caribbean next year. It is the same route as our Voyager cruise out of Miami in 2007. However this time, we leave from Baltimore. No air fare or hotel for us.

[big al]

I don't disagree with what you said, but I'll throw the preverbial monkey wrench in the equation.......

There's mention of Bonaire.....St Kitts.....Antigua. Unless you're going out of SJU, you can't make these ports (easily)....You need to think about how long it takes to sail to these places unless you're starting in SJU.

#2) The ports have to accomodate the ship.....as most people on here know, the "big boys" require special provisions......i.e.....deep water in/out of the port and at dock.....that along with the port itself (length of dock.....provisions for getting people on and off the ship)

#3) As you can imagine, it takes awhile (I'm guessing) to "set up" these ports....like the port facilities......the infrastructure/personnel to get people on/off the ship, along with any "permits" / contracts with that port/country.

So could it be done? no doubt....but the time and expensives required to make this happen would take time.

So I'm game to new ports, but time will tell if/when it'll happen....we can only hope

 

Edited to say.......I'm referring to the most common cruise----> 7 night ones. Of course if you're talking about the 10-11 nighters, these ports mentioned above are possible going roundtrip out of Florida

 

Agree 100%...I have e-mailed Mr. Goldstein about this topic and, along with the complaints about MDR food quality, the same, boring ports of call are the other most popular complaint people have about RCI, and mostly the larger Voyager/Freedom/ Oasis class ships are in question here.

 

SRQfireman makes good points and I agree with all of them...problem is RCI has had at LEAST 14 years ( since the 1st Voyager class ship came out in '99) to START thinking about going to different ports of call, knowing these ships were going to get bigger & bigger, and yet, not doing much about them. They could've ENCOURAGED or even paid for some of these smaller, more exotic islands, like Tortola, St. Kitts, Antigua, Grand Turk ( we all know CCL goes there alot), and St. Croix. These are all within distance of a 7 night cruise. Here's one thing RCI could do: why not have an "exotic Eastern Caribbean" ( like CCL has) that sails maybe 5-7 times a year that does DIFFERENT ports of call ( hence the term "exotic")..so if a ship does 26 weeks Western, and 26 weeks traditional Eastern, why not cruise 6 weeks an exotic Eastern, and the other 20 weeks traditional? Give the passengers ( both veteran & newbies) a CHOICE of what itineraries they have....even the Western can include Roatan & Belize for several cruises instead of the usual Cozumel ( been there TEN times!), Jamaica ( 8 times), even Grand Cayman,which I love, I've been to 5 times....time for a little variety RCI....I know they will say, "you can cruise our Radiance ships to many of those ports"...yes, but what if I would like to cruise a Freedom class ship there or Oasis class? How about sending one of the new Quantum ships to some of these different ports? I'm sure if you ( RCI) AND the port in question ( say, Tortola..) want to bring in an extra 10,000 passengers a week, you could both work on constructing a pier that could accommadate just TWO large ships a day...I bet it could finished in 12-18 months...just a thought....

 

Big Al

[Debde]

Here's my thought and I could very well be in the minority.

I agree-some ports are waaaay overdone and Royal could care less if we stay on board. We're spending more money with them.

but:

Labadee keeps addng more and more active things to do-I'd easily like to see Cozumel or Cayman gone and two days at Labadee. A day to relax on the beach and a day to zip, jetski, slide, ride, all the attactions offered on an island that is not over run by huge amounts of cruise ships that have descended upon it.

just kind of thinking out loud.......:o

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Here's my thought and I could very well be in the minority.

I agree-some ports are waaaay overdone and Royal could care less if we stay on board. We're spending more money with them.

but:

Labadee keeps addng more and more active things to do-I'd easily like to see Cozumel or Cayman gone and two days at Labadee. A day to relax on the beach and a day to zip, jetski, slide, ride, all the attactions offered on an island that is not over run by huge amounts of cruise ships that have descended upon it.

just kind of thinking out loud.......:o

 

Grand Cayman is one of the most beautiful spots on the Caribbean, please don't take that away, it's my favorite!

[Wildcatfish]

Here's my thought and I could very well be in the minority.

I agree-some ports are waaaay overdone and Royal could care less if we stay on board. We're spending more money with them.

but:

Labadee keeps addng more and more active things to do-I'd easily like to see Cozumel or Cayman gone and two days at Labadee. A day to relax on the beach and a day to zip, jetski, slide, ride, all the attactions offered on an island that is not over run by huge amounts of cruise ships that have descended upon it.

just kind of thinking out loud.......:o

 

Interesting thought! Disney offers two days at Castaway Cay on selected sailings, which very quickly sell out.

 

Two days at a nice beach resort isn't for everyone, but with Labadee it definitely has a marketable appeal.

[dasi11]

Here's my thought and I could very well be in the minority.

I agree-some ports are waaaay overdone and Royal could care less if we stay on board. We're spending more money with them.

but:

Labadee keeps addng more and more active things to do-I'd easily like to see Cozumel or Cayman gone and two days at Labadee. A day to relax on the beach and a day to zip, jetski, slide, ride, all the attactions offered on an island that is not over run by huge amounts of cruise ships that have descended upon it.

just kind of thinking out loud.......:o

 

 

I can not count the number of times I have done western Caribbean. I don't get off the ship anymore. But I do enjoy Labadee. 2 days would be great!!!

 

We like RCCL and always cruise with lots of extended family out of florida for convenience. It is a great way for the whole family to have an easy vacation. But Boring!!! same old islands over and over.... It works for us since we are a LARGE group but we would love to actually get off the ship and have new experiences and not the same excursions to do over and over in the same place...

Bob sled, zip lines, kayaking have been done over and over... we want new options or at least locations...... to do the fun stuff...

[gw2fll]

We totally agree also.

 

This is the reason we decided to sail Celebrity in 2014 due to the better itineraries - both Eastern and Western.

 

It is doable, must be if Holland America and Princess can sail out of Southern Florida and handle deep Caribbean itineraries on a 10 night sailing.

 

Hopefully, RCCL will try to expand their itineraries at some point in the future.

[Cushing985]

I agree totally !!!!!!

 

What can us mere mortals do about it ?

 

Here's a clue...forget about "loyalty" and spread your wings by trying other lines who visit other countries.

[39august]

Vision's itineraries are great. But, I am not thrilled with sailing on that smaller, older ship. If RCI would do these with a Radiance class ship, I'd be on it in a flash!

[temple1]

Generally agree with you guys, but IMO, all the ports are about the same anyway. So they can change up the itineraries, but your options once ashore are still going to be beach days, snorkeling, parasailing, etc. Same thing, different venue.

 

No, there are rain forests, historic sights and local culture and customs. We learned quite a bit about the history of Cozumel on our last cruise by doing a walking tour of town; we learned about the history and area of Costa Maya also. On our last visit to Key West we rode bicycles and toured many of the historic buildings, in Belize we did a jungle bike tour and learned about the natural history of the area.

 

All this, and we've not had the opportunity yet to visit the Maya ruins.

 

There are a tremendous number of things to see and do once you leave the port.

 

Here's my thought and I could very well be in the minority.

I agree-some ports are waaaay overdone and Royal could care less if we stay on board. We're spending more money with them.

but:

Labadee keeps addng more and more active things to do-I'd easily like to see Cozumel or Cayman gone and two days at Labadee. A day to relax on the beach and a day to zip, jetski, slide, ride, all the attactions offered on an island that is not over run by huge amounts of cruise ships that have descended upon it.

just kind of thinking out loud.......:o

 

That works for some folks, but I don't cruise for the beaches. I hope there are more people like me who are interested in seeing the other Americas.

 

I was seriously disappointed to see Costa Maya has been dropped from RCI port stops and hope they do add some better stops.

[Debde]

Grand Cayman is one of the most beautiful spots on the Caribbean, please don't take that away, it's my favorite!

 

OK-then Cozumel!!! ;)

[clott]

I would love to see Jamaica gone. I do like the idea of 2 days in labadee. They could have a big beach party at night. It would be a great opportunity for royal to make all the money because you are on their island as well as the Haitians make more money and they need it so much. I see this as an awesome idea

[raidz]

Me too. I was also tired of the same restaurants (Chops and Portofino) throughout the fleet. I'm glad that's changing a bit but yeah I would like to see a wider variety of ports and cruise lengths. maybe some 10 cruises from Florida to the Southern Caribbean on an Freedom class ship would be a good start.

[monn_a]

I agree...there are only so many beach trips one can do :) That's why they're building ships that the destination now...spend your money on the ship. This is why my last few cruises have been Med/Europe (plenty to do even with repeat ports). So many more options across the pond (can become cost prohibitive)...:)

[ticktoneer]

Here's a clue...forget about "loyalty" and spread your wings by trying other lines who visit other countries.

Eeerrrr...............NO !

[stones902]

I'm sure this is a minority opinion but we used to enjoy the old Martinique stops.

 

One thing to keep in mind...all islands do not have deep water ports or the infrastructure to handle a volume of cruise ship passengers.

[time4u2go]

Here's a clue...forget about "loyalty" and spread your wings by trying other lines who visit other countries.

 

Exactly. What better way to protest something than to take your business elsewhere?

[Debde]

Here's a clue...forget about "loyalty" and spread your wings by trying other lines who visit other countries.

 

Once Royal stops taking me places that I want to see-you've got that right.

Never will I sail to stay on the ship!!

[swim13]

Hi all,

 

Haven't posted in months but I lurk often! Couldn't pass this thread down though, RCI is in desperate need of some new itineraries for the big girls.

 

I would imagine that some of the smaller ports many wish to go to would have had the time to deepen, expand their ports to accommodate the ships. Oasis/Allure have been sailing for years now, don't they think its time to change up the itineraries?! FINALLY Oasis is going to Europe in 2014, although for a very short period of time.

 

Labadee in 2 nights would be awesome, love the beach party at night idea that someone said.

 

I know you can get more "extravagant" itineraries with the smaller ships or with another company but I love Royal and love the big ships. :cool:

[AmandaKaye79]

I totally agree! We LOVE Royal Caribbean but the lack of port choices is unreal. We have recently been using Carnival for variety. We did an 8 night last summer that visited La Romana, Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk. We also did a 7 night that visited Belize, Cozumel, Roatan, Grand Caymen. So it is very doable from one of the Florida ports if Royal Caribbean would attempt it! I will probably go back with Carnival in Summer 2014 just for a different port choices.

[mtebor]

I am another one not really thrilled with the Eastern Itinerary....especially with Bahamas instead Labadee

[cruzeluver]

We have found enough options that going back to ports we have previously visited is not boring. Believe it or not, with a little effort, there is a lot more to do than shop and lay on beaches in the Caribbean. Each is very unique. Get away from the boring port areas with their American-based shops, party-till-you-puke American-based bars and actually see the places you are visiting!