New Orleans?

[atlanta_living]

I am anxious to book my 1st RCI cruise and thought I would like to sail out of New Orleans during the summer of 2014. As a newbie, maybe I am missing something on the RCI cruise search feature, but I am unable to find any summer cruises out of New Orleans.

 

Is this correct?

 

Thanks for any feedback,

~Helen~

[reney313]

That's correct. RCI deploys ships to Europe during summer months and NOLA is one of the ports where the ship is pulled to go over seas. I haven't looked for the exact port schedule, but typically the transatlantic back from Europe is Oct-Nov timeframe for the winter season and then back sometime between April-May.

 

Galveston will be having a year round ship starting next year, I think? I can't remember if that starts in summer 2014 or 2015.

[cruisePAC]

I did a quick search on the RC website. You're right - no cruises out of New Orleans during summer 2014. Serenade Of the Seas will be leaving New Orleans at the end of April and go to Barcelona for the summer. It will then return to New Orleans in November. No ship will be docked in New Orleans while Serenade is away. Like a previous poster said, you may want to consider leaving from Galveston, which will have a ship in port all year. Living in Atlanta, you may also consider departing from a port in Florida - Tampa, Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdal, or Miami. I hope something works out for you and you have a great cruising experience on RC!

[atlanta_living]

Thanks for the info. New Orleans was my 1st choice since I wanted something easily drive-able from Atlanta, and Port Canaveral was my 2nd choice. I guess that's where I will go look now.

 

After my upcoming cruise in October, I will have sailed out of Jax 3 times to the Bahamas on Carnival so I am ready for a change. Wanted to try another cruise line and different itinerary.

 

Any RCI tips, suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated as I begin my research.

 

~Helen~

[Clarea]

That's correct. RCI deploys ships to Europe during summer months and NOLA is one of the ports where the ship is pulled to go over seas. I haven't looked for the exact port schedule, but typically the transatlantic back from Europe is Oct-Nov timeframe for the winter season and then back sometime between April-May.

 

Galveston will be having a year round ship starting next year, I think? I can't remember if that starts in summer 2014 or 2015.

Navigator starts year round cruising in Galveston when she returns from the Med this coming Novemeber, so first summer will be 2014.