The future of Oasis-class itineraries?

[LMaxwell]

I was just wondering what are the chances or possibilities of new Oasis / Allure / Oasis III itineraries in the next 3 - 5 years? I know the ships can only go where they fit and RCI won't do tendering off the ships, so they are limited to ports of call, but are there any ports now working on solutions to accommodate these ships?

 

What are some itineraries you'd like to see? If there was a 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida on an Oasis-class ship I'd be the first to sign up. (Or, any RCI 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida. Or...anyone really).

 

Maybe reach further into the South Caribbean?

 

What's on the horizon; can't run the same itinerary over and over and over forever...or can they?

[Merion_Mom]

I was just wondering what are the chances or possibilities of new Oasis / Allure / Oasis III itineraries in the next 3 - 5 years? I know the ships can only go where they fit and RCI won't do tendering off the ships, so they are limited to ports of call, but are there any ports now working on solutions to accommodate these ships?

 

What are some itineraries you'd like to see? If there was a 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida on an Oasis-class ship I'd be the first to sign up. (Or, any RCI 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida. Or...anyone really).

 

Maybe reach further into the South Caribbean?

 

What's on the horizon; can't run the same itinerary over and over and over forever...or can they?

 

Bermuda's port isn't even large enough for the Quantum.

[Pumbaamd]

Vision is doing three cruises to Bermuda from Fort Lauderdale this summer.

Rick and Deirdra

[kruzerci]

What's on the horizon; can't run the same itinerary over and over and over forever...or can they?

 

Unfortunately, I think they can.

 

They have been running the same boring 7 day Western Caribbean route (Labadee, Jamaica, GC, and Cozumel) since for twenty years. Now it's Falmouth instead of Ocho Rios but 90% of the tours go to Ocho Rios anyways. And of course, they dropped GC for Oasis and Allure.

 

Freedom, Oasis, Allure are doing it... Voyager, Explorer, Navigator, Mariner, Radiance, and more have all done it through the years. It's worn out. But people keep coming back!

[springaussie]

I was just wondering what are the chances or possibilities of new Oasis / Allure / Oasis III itineraries in the next 3 - 5 years? I know the ships can only go where they fit and RCI won't do tendering off the ships, so they are limited to ports of call, but are there any ports now working on solutions to accommodate these ships?

 

Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/leisure-cruises/marina-bay-cruise-centre-singapore.html

[riclop]

They keep runnung them and people keep booking them.

[GTMoose]

Unfortunately, I think they can.

 

They have been running the same boring 7 day Western Caribbean route (Labadee, Jamaica, GC, and Cozumel) since for twenty years. Now it's Falmouth instead of Ocho Rios but 90% of the tours go to Ocho Rios anyways. And of course, they dropped GC for Oasis and Allure.

 

Freedom, Oasis, Allure are doing it... Voyager, Explorer, Navigator, Mariner, Radiance, and more have all done it through the years. It's worn out. But people keep coming back!

 

 

We've hit several of these ports multiple times. At this point, we're not going because of the ports; the Caribbean is basically a big warm weather playground. These cruises are just getaways to relax. We're doing two Caribbean cruises this year, and we're just looking forward to a whole lot of lazy! :D

[Kokomo91165]

We just got back from Barbados where they are building a dock for two 6000+

Pax vessels. Dock should be completed by 2016 according to the tour guide we had.

[Keasel]

I was just wondering what are the chances or possibilities of new Oasis / Allure / Oasis III itineraries in the next 3 - 5 years? I know the ships can only go where they fit and RCI won't do tendering off the ships, so they are limited to ports of call, but are there any ports now working on solutions to accommodate these ships?

 

What are some itineraries you'd like to see? If there was a 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida on an Oasis-class ship I'd be the first to sign up. (Or, any RCI 7 or 8 day to Bermuda from Florida. Or...anyone really).

 

Maybe reach further into the South Caribbean?

 

What's on the horizon; can't run the same itinerary over and over and over forever...or can they?

 

I think they can do the same itineraries (7-night cruises alternating eastern and western caribbean with two ships (one saturday and one sunday)) for at least another 5 to 10 years.

 

The big change will be Oasis III taking Oasis spot. Perhaps they'll drop Nassau and have both runs go to Labadee first, then go either east or west. But otherwise, pretty much the same.

 

The question is where does Oasis go. My speculation is that it will do European runs in the summer (Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Naples, Malaga), then come back to Fort Lauderdale for the winter. The winter schedule will be 2 10-nights followed by an 8-night from terminal 18 (you can avoid saturday and sunday with a 10-10-8 schedule). The ports will be the some of the same, but it will also go further south in the caribbean.

[EatonDoolittle]

Isn't the whole point meant to be that the ship is the destination?

 

I have never sailed one of these ships (30 plus cruises) - have no desire to be among that many people - but based on chatter and RCCL's ad campaign, I always assumed that it did not matter where they went. They want you spending money and doing stuff on the ship, not exploring foreign lands.

 

Flame away, just sayin'....

[LMaxwell]

Isn't the whole point meant to be that the ship is the destination?

 

I have never sailed one of these ships (30 plus cruises) - have no desire to be among that many people - but based on chatter and RCCL's ad campaign, I always assumed that it did not matter where they went. They want you spending money and doing stuff on the ship, not exploring foreign lands.

 

Flame away, just sayin'....

 

No flames. I never understood why they take these ships to Nassau (and for a relatively short stay; half day). Seems like a very wasteful stop and detrimental to the onboard revenue machine, but I have no access to their data and information so I could be completely wrong. I guess it's hard to sell a 7 day itinerary with "just" 2 port stops??

 

I would like to see some changes. Some island nation must see some value in the amount of PAX that could be delivered if they could fit the ship in. Maybe they lack the resources to develop adequate ports or RCI is playing hardball or??

[mplusj]

Isn't the whole point meant to be that the ship is the destination?

 

 

 

I have never sailed one of these ships (30 plus cruises) - have no desire to be among that many people - but based on chatter and RCCL's ad campaign, I always assumed that it did not matter where they went. They want you spending money and doing stuff on the ship, not exploring foreign lands.

 

 

 

Flame away, just sayin'....

 

 

You're right. Crushing is becoming more about the ship and less about the destinations. I'm going on the Oasis in August to experience the ship. The ports don't really interest me.

I always have fun cruising but I generally prefer land vacations as you get more time to experience a location.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Lionesss]

We love and have done the Carribean on all of our cruises.

 

We are still into that hot fun stuff.

 

And yet we always find and experience something new and exciting.

 

Right now it is the Allure.

 

Last summer we did not even come close to exploring her.

 

To much to do -- too little time:eek:

 

Hope to make a dent this summer.

 

Sea Ya

[BettyPC]

I haven't been on the Oasis or Allure yet and in 2015 I will sail on one of them. Not really caring where it goes - as long as its sunny & sandy!

[jenninlaca]

I agree with Lioness' point. Regarding the ships, there is so much to do and explore that we felt we needed at least another week on an Oasis class. I rebooked the same Western itinerary for this summer (doing Oasis instead of Allure so we can experience the different shows). As for there ports, it did not bother me that the ports are the same. Labadee is a beautiful and relaxing beach day that I would gladly visit every year for a day. Falmouth has so many options for active excursions that I feel we could visit there a number if times and have very different experiences. And same with Cozumel. I've been there twice on cruises but there is a lot to see and do so you don't have to repeat the exact sane experience.

 

With that said, some close friends who also like cruising commented unfavorably about our plans because they never like to do the same ship or travel destination twice.

 

I think there are enough people cruising Oasis class either just for the ship or who like the basic Caribbean itineraries and don't mind going back to the sane islands a few times, that RCI will continue to fill these ships.

[The Big Booper]

On Oasis class on any sailing, between 40 - 50% of the passengers are from overseas such as Europe, Eurasia, Asia, South America and Africa. So the Caribbean is still somewhat of a novelty to them. Plus they spend like crazy onboard as usually if a family can afford to fly to Florida and book a cruise with higher daily rates they have money.

 

This is the extremely lucrative business model for these two (soon to be three) ships.

 

And to the poster upthread who complained about crowds, anybody who has actually sailed these two big ships will tell you that they are among the least crowded ships afloat because of the way that the people are dispersed throughout the ship by the design, which does not include a common central atrium or Piazza or Centrum or whatever the cruise line calls it.

[houstoncruisers2001]

Isn't the whole point meant to be that the ship is the destination?

 

.

 

I'd agree with this. I won't even look to book a cruise unless there are 3 or more sea days on a 7 day cruise. Too many ports it's like my pet peeve. I agree, a new variety of ports would be nice, but I can handle the same old ports because I enjoy being on the ship.

[springaussie]

On Oasis class on any sailing, between 40 - 50% of the passengers are from overseas such as Europe, Eurasia, Asia, South America and Africa. So the Caribbean is still somewhat of a novelty to them. Plus they spend like crazy onboard as usually if a family can afford to fly to Florida and book a cruise with higher daily rates they have money.

.

 

Do not forget us in Australia!

[jahannah]

Do not forget us in Australia!