Carnival itineraries getting a little tired

[wickedhangover]

 

I especially love Dominica and the only way I'll be able to return on a cruise ship is on a different line. So be it!

 

I loved the champagne reef snorkeling, possibly the coolest snorkeling I ever did.

[christmas]

Am I alone in thinking that the itineraries are getting a little tired for Carnival?

 

We always book back to back and can no longer book 16 days, only 14 and I really dislike that it amounts to one 8 day and then one 6 day, or two 7 days. And even at that we end up at Grand Turk two weeks in a row.

 

We also prefer the eastern/southern Caribbean destinations, but the selection in those areas is the same regardless of the ship chosen.

 

I really don't want to change cruise lines, we're platinum guests and enjoy the few extra things, mostly the VIP check-in and laundry. I really wish they would transfer our status to one of their other lines. I'd easily switch to Princess which has much better itineraries than Carnival.

 

We've been sailing on Carnival since 1998, maybe it is time to change. But I'm wondering if we're the only ones that dislike the past couple years of itineraries. But I just looked at the options for booking our 2015 cruises and there really isn't anything good. I wish they would bring back the Miracle and run the 8 day east/south on alternate weeks, that was the absolute best combination of ship and itineraries.

 

 

I agree being from we can only sail from Galveston or New Orleans as we don't fly. Time for some different itineraries we have sailed all 3 from Both New Orleans and Galveston.

[kteachcruiser52]

The Nov 1 sailing from San Juan to Miami has Somme great new and different ports, including Dominica, Martinique, St. Croix, and Grenada. Grand Turk is also a port. I was so excited by this route, I booked the first day.

[jimbo5544]

I agree being from we can only sail from Galveston or New Orleans as we don't fly. Time for some different itineraries we have sailed all 3 from Both New Orleans and Galveston.

 

You really limit your itin options when you sail from two home ports that hit the same ports.

[jimbo5544]

You can board VALOR at San Juan on Sundays

and at Barbados on Wednesdays.

 

 

The ship operates a split-schedule thing with around forty cabins boarded at Barbados, weekly.

Specific cabins are allocated to this, as are specific 'Barbados-boarded' tables in the MDR.

 

___________________________

 

This may be the only such situation in the whole Carnival fleet?

Anyone know of another Carnival ship/route where passengers can board at two(or more?) ports?

.

 

Good info on how many board in Barbados. I always wondered how many. I don't know of any others of this type currently. They used to do the same thing out of Tampa - New Orleans with other stops in Cozumel/Grand Caman/Ocho Rios. That was long ago in the 90's.

[crusinpsychRN]

They could at least do eastern/western out of Tampa instead of only western.

 

Key West would be a nice addition instead of GC on the 4 or 5 day too.

[kingoftheicedragons]

Choose a different embarkation port.

 

Try finding a Western Caribbean cruise, on any cruise line, that doesn't stop in Cozumel.

 

Carnival visits lots of ports if you relax some of your restrictions.

 

There was the one by Carnival that did Costa Maya, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman that didn't do Cozumel (our first cruise), so they are out there.

 

I agree with the OP that Carnival needs to mix up their itineraries. This is one of the things that Carnival does poorly.

 

On nine cruises with Carnival--including the upcoming one in February, we'll have repeated only Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Nassau (each place twice), but we're now getting to the point where there aren't a lot of places that Carnival goes that we haven't been. There is still the southern itinerary out of FLL that I want to go on (Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Curacao), but after that, there aren't a lot of new places.

 

Yes, there are the one-off cruises, typically those associated with repositioning cruises, but they are just that--one offs, and only during specific times that make it hard to do, both in terms of timing (we already have a cruise planned when they announce these) or time of year.

 

Yes, Carnival offers 15-day cruises to Hawaii--but it's not easy to get that many days off from work. Yes, they do cruises to Canada, but usually only to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We looked at this cruise out of NYC, but we decided to go with NCL for this cruise simply because of a much better itinerary, and RCI offered an even better itinerary in the past (albeit, much longer which again would have made it hard to get that much time off of work).

 

And yes, they did offer some great European itineraries this past year (one of which we did), but it's not easy for some people to get to Europe...even for us, we had to save money for a couple of years to be able to go (in a general travel fund, not specifically for Carnival's itinerary).

 

About us...we are budget travelers, so probably one of Carnival's core group. We look for the best deal that we can find, and stay in interior rooms to save money and to allow us to do more traveling (both cruises and by land). NCL's Canada/New England cruise means that we'll spend at least $300 more a person to accomplish. But itineraries are important, and Carnival seems to be stagnating, and that means that we will pay more to go to ports and on cruises that offer different itineraries.

[NCTribeFan]

The Nov 1 sailing from San Juan to Miami has Somme great new and different ports, including Dominica, Martinique, St. Croix, and Grenada. Grand Turk is also a port. I was so excited by this route, I booked the first day.

 

I booked Friday night. :D

 

Already started doing my research and there is very little info on the St. Croix, Grenada, and Martinique POC boards. These are all new-to-me. Of course, we have a few months before we sail. I really hope I don't need to book ship excursions, though. Hate them!

 

Seriously thinking about booking with Levi in Dominica yet again.

[LSGDRG]

I had been hoping to do a baltic, transatlantic or British Isles cruise in 2015. Thought it would likely be on Carnival, disappointed that Europe is off the table again.

 

I like Carnival. And yes, of course I know I can go to a different cruise line. Since carnival did cruise those routes last year it was just in my plan to consider them for the future.

 

I am also researching Baltic Cruises & a cruise including the ports of Hong Kong & Singapore. I would like the option of a Carnival cruise, but if they won't go to these regions, I will choose another cruise line.

[ibcnusoon]

We booked Celebrity for next Thanksgiving, giving us 3 new ports:

 

St. Croix, Dominica, and Grenada.

 

It also stops in St. Thomas and St. Kitts. We went to St. John/St. Thomas and St. Kitts on the Victory in 2012, loved St. Kitts and St. Thomas is always good for a beach/shopping day. We are excited about this itinerary.

 

For Thanksgiving 2015, we are going to sail with a ship (I think again, Celebrity) that goes to Aruba and Curacao, although I don't think again that it will be Carnival because they have horrible port times. I like being in port all day, not late afternoon into the evening. Carnival had a ship out of MIami going to Aruba and Curacao but the price was about $700 more per person than our 5 island out of San Juan this year.

 

I definitely couldn't justify sailing Carnival over any other line based on that price.

[BubMunkeyBles]

I'd look at other lines. I really want to plan a B2B out of San Juan on RCCL or Celebrity since they alternate routes. :)

[CanWeGoYet?]

 

Yes, they do cruises to Canada, but usually only to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We looked at this cruise out of NYC, but we decided to go with NCL for this cruise simply because of a much better itinerary, and RCI offered an even better itinerary in the past (albeit, much longer which again would have made it hard to get that much time off of work).

 

 

I would love to do a Canada / New England cruise, but I'd never consider one that didn't stop in Quebec City or Montreal, or (better yet) both. I don't recall seeing these port stops listed on Carnival, so when I do get to this on my bucket list I don't think it will be on Carnival.

 

We are budget travelers too, but usually book at least a balcony. But we usually book private excursions & don't spend a lot on board aside from paying tips.

[Sh1035]

I booked Friday night. :D

 

Already started doing my research and there is very little info on the St. Croix, Grenada, and Martinique POC boards. These are all new-to-me. Of course, we have a few months before we sail. I really hope I don't need to book ship excursions, though. Hate them!

 

Seriously thinking about booking with Levi in Dominica yet again.

 

I'm thinking I too need to jump on this one!!!