Eastern or Western? Houston or Fort Lauderdale? Please help me decide!

[yvr49]

We have only done one previous cruise in the Caribbean - a 5-day "free" cruise last January on the Ruby to Princess Cays and Grand Turk. Prices for January 2015 are not free but very good, so we have decided to do it again. We are considering 2 possibilities but I would be interested in input from more experienced cruisers as to which itinerary and ship would be best.

option 1: Western Caribbean round trip from Houston on the Emerald - visits Costa Maya, Belize City, and Cozumel

option 2: Eastern Caribbean round trip from Fort Lauderdale on the Regal - visits Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten

 

Any and all comments are appreciated - thanks in advance.

[Astro Flyer]

For me I'd select option #2 because I prefer the ports, embarkation port & ship.

[Lineaway]

We also noticed the good rates in Jan. and booked. However, I ended up looking at both of those cruises and picked the Emerald out of Houston. My reasons were the Emerald seems rather empty. I got an amazing cabin location for a reasonable price. I also have been to most of the Caribbean ports but have never been to Belize. The deciding factor was using Miles out of Seattle I couldn't get to FLL without depleting one of my accounts but Houston was alot more reasonable. You may be in a similar situation out of Vancouver with airfare.

 

With that said understand you are much better off to go out of Fort Lauderdale on the Regal. The itinerary is better and I really like Ft. Lauderdale for a couple days pre cruise. The ship is new also. St. Thomas and St. Martin in my opinion are the top destinations in the Caribbean. Princess Cays is also a good stop. Being your second ever cruise (I have done multi cruises on 7 cruiselines) your much better off on the Regal with this itinerary. Houston has fog issues and can mess up the start/end of your cruise. FLL doesn't . Houston also seems to have nothing to see besides the Space Center, an old warship, and a giant Mall. TI would say book Regal.

[RickEk]

We have only done one previous cruise in the Caribbean - a 5-day "free" cruise last January on the Ruby to Princess Cays and Grand Turk. Prices for January 2015 are not free but very good, so we have decided to do it again. We are considering 2 possibilities but I would be interested in input from more experienced cruisers as to which itinerary and ship would be best.

option 1: Western Caribbean round trip from Houston on the Emerald - visits Costa Maya, Belize City, and Cozumel

option 2: Eastern Caribbean round trip from Fort Lauderdale on the Regal - visits Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten

 

Any and all comments are appreciated - thanks in advance.

 

btw, you say you took a "free" cruise. If that was one with the cruise fare returned as an FCC, then, I believe you have to use it on a 7 day (or longer) cruise before the end of this year...

[yvr49]

Many thanks folks for your comments.

 

Lineaway: you are correct re: using frequent flier points we can get return to Houston from YVR with no problem - flights to and from FLL are a little more difficult. I think though that we will go for option #2 - I am interested to see St. Thomas especially since it was featured tonight on the Amazing Race - must have been a sign!

 

RickEk: we were already committed to a 12-day Baltic cruise on the Royal Princess in May of this year when we grabbed the deal for the 5-day on the Ruby in January - we had a full suite and the entire cost was applied to the Baltic cruise. What a deal! We also did a 7-day Alaska cruise in August that was a don't-miss opportunity from our home town of Vancouver. So although this will be our second Caribbean cruise it's not our second Princess cruise, in fact we have now reached Platinum. Woo-hoo!

[shepp]

You didn't say anything about what you're interested in. Speaking very broadly, if you like diving and archaeology, Western. Shopping and lying on the beach, Eastern.

[chsalas]

The port of Houston is not bad, and the iten out of there is really nice. Depending on the time of year, the temperature doesn't warm up until you get almost all the way through the gulf of Mexico. Last January we went out of Houston, it was cold almost all the way to Cozumel. The first day at Sea, on deck I had wear a light jacket and sitting by the pool was a little rough.

 

There were a lot of issues with Ships leaving and returning into Houston due to fog and other issues too. Keep that in mind and be flexible.

[barbarapga]

The port of Houston is not bad, and the iten out of there is really nice. Depending on the time of year, the temperature doesn't warm up until you get almost all the way through the gulf of Mexico. Last January we went out of Houston, it was cold almost all the way to Cozumel. The first day at Sea, on deck I had wear a light jacket and sitting by the pool was a little rough.

 

There were a lot of issues with Ships leaving and returning into Houston due to fog and other issues too. Keep that in mind and be flexible.

 

We did the Christmas cruise out of Houston. Scary drive through Houston to port (truck in adjacent lane started breaking apart). Couldn't leave until next day due to fog. It was COLD..jeans & sweats. Passengers were all bundled up. We skipped formal night as we didn't want to get out of our sweats. Lots of entertainment, as there were 700+ children. Kids were happy in pool & eating pizza & ice cream.

[Blindhog]

Personally I would avoid Houston. There were lots of delays last winter due to fog and other issues. It's a long ride through a very busy, narrow channel to get from the port to the gulf. Any fog whatsoever shuts down the port. We were on a December cruise that was delayed and cost me lots of FF points to change flights at the last minute.

 

 

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[dplusd]

Since you have to fly to port anyway, definitely sail out of Fort Lauderdale. Houston airports are far from port and transfers are expensive. Sailing in January out of Houston or Galveston has a high risk of fog related delays. This time of year sailing from Houston will have chilly weather on your first and last days at sea. Anytime spent pre-cruise would be better spent in Florida.

[Coral]

I would do option 2. There seems to be a lot of problems out of Houston (fog, weather, delays, etc..)

[ggprincess2004]

We have sailed out of Houston and it is far from my favorite port, the wine and liquor selection is quite limited until outside of TX waters, the port is "fragile" when it comes to weather, and there is nothing close to the port. I much prefer sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale, and would generally choose FLL to embark a Caribbean cruise, however, if the ship I preferred was sailing from Houston, well, I would sail out of Houston. Then there is itinerary....depends on what we want to do on that particular cruise.

[kruisey]

I had the choice of FLL or Houston on my trip .I live in Vancouver and until they get a direct flight from FLL I would fly from Houston.A direct flight just under 4 hours.It takes me all day with changing flights to FLL from and to Vancouver BC

I avoid trips starting and end in FLL.Until the day we get that direct flight I will not be tempted one bit by all the offers Princess sends me.

I did do this trip to FLL several years ago started off just after 7.00AM reached the hotel in FLL next to airport just after 7.00 PM:eek:My friend who arrived from UK had already arrived on a 5 hour flight.

[OCruisers]

If you haven't already been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten, Regal would be a good choice for you. :)

LuLu

[Coral]

I had the choice of FLL or Houston on my trip .I live in Vancouver and until they get a direct flight from FLL I would fly from Houston.A direct flight just under 4 hours.It takes me all day with changing flights to FLL from and to Vancouver BC

I avoid trips starting and end in FLL.Until the day we get that direct flight I will not be tempted one bit by all the offers Princess sends me.

 

If I limited myself to where I could get a direct flight, I would have missed out on some of the best experiences in my life. Remember, the trip is the destination, not how you get there.

[arizonaperson]

I cruised Princess last November(2013) on the western caribbean itinerary,and we loved the itinerary,but unless Princess and the port of Houston have figured things out there I would avoid it. Yes,we had fog coming back into port and we were delayed,but weather you can not control. I have a very detailed report under the member review forum under the Caribbean Princess.

Edited September 27, 2014 by arizonaperson

[yvr49]

Thanks everyone for your input. We will do the Eastern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale. It is a long flight for sure but we have the time.

[Seafoam Green]

Thanks everyone for your input. We will do the Eastern Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale. It is a long flight for sure but we have the time.

 

That sounds best - the Houston fog is a big variable.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

:D

[Stevesan]

The itinerary depends on your druthers.

For shopping: Option 1

 

For snorkeling or diving: Option 2 is world class

[AZPam]

Have sailed out of both and I will never go out of Houston again. Fort Lauderdale is a much nicer area, more to do and it's pretty. Houston was just too industrial and sparse. You can usually get some of the western trips out of Ft Lauderdale, so I will always choose to leave out of there in the future even though it's a longer flight for me.

[Coral]

The itinerary depends on your druthers.

For shopping: Option 1

 

For snorkeling or diving: Option 2 is world class

 

I think shopping is still good on Option 2.

[Dudleydog73]

Have sailed out of both and I will never go out of Houston again. Fort Lauderdale is a much nicer area, more to do and it's pretty. Houston was just too industrial and sparse. You can usually get some of the western trips out of Ft Lauderdale, so I will always choose to leave out of there in the future even though it's a longer flight for me.

 

Completely agree with this assessment. Our Houston cruise was nothing but problematic and will avoid that port at all costs now. There are much better options with respect to Princess ports IMHO.

[susiesan]

Completely agree with this assessment. Our Houston cruise was nothing but problematic and will avoid that port at all costs now. There are much better options with respect to Princess ports IMHO.

 

Please expand on what was problematic about your cruise from Houston. I have booked my family of 5 on the Emerald on Jan. 18. All 5 people are flying in from different cities, 2 from Europe, and Houston was far easier and cheaper to get to than MIA or FLL. I had been looking at a Celebrity western Caribbean cruise from Miami as a comparison but got a much better deal on Princess for a suite for 3 plus an outside cabin for 2. Came in over $1000 less for both cabins on Princess versus Celebrity.

[AZPam]

Please expand on what was problematic about your cruise from Houston. I have booked my family of 5 on the Emerald on Jan. 18. All 5 people are flying in from different cities, 2 from Europe, and Houston was far easier and cheaper to get to than MIA or FLL. I had been looking at a Celebrity western Caribbean cruise from Miami as a comparison but got a much better deal on Princess for a suite for 3 plus an outside cabin for 2. Came in over $1000 less for both cabins on Princess versus Celebrity.

 

Weather was really the biggest problem and there is no way to plan for that. I would guess more than 50% of the cruises last year were affected by fog either coming or going or both. It's also expensive to get yourself to port from either airport, so try to get the ships transfers if you can. There was also a big issue with Noro virus almost the entire season too. Not all dates were affected, but most were either using precautions or just coming off precautions. Add in that there is NOTHING around the actual port, it just wasn't the usual cruise experience that I enjoy

[Dudleydog73]

Please expand on what was problematic about your cruise from Houston. I have booked my family of 5 on the Emerald on Jan. 18. All 5 people are flying in from different cities, 2 from Europe, and Houston was far easier and cheaper to get to than MIA or FLL. I had been looking at a Celebrity western Caribbean cruise from Miami as a comparison but got a much better deal on Princess for a suite for 3 plus an outside cabin for 2. Came in over $1000 less for both cabins on Princess versus Celebrity.

 

Where to begin? For one, the Houston terminal is about 20 miles up a narrow shipping channel and there are very narrow margins for safety for moving a big cruise ship in and out. The Houston area has been plagued with fog and wind issues which make travel in and out impossible.

 

On our particular cruise over Thanksgiving last year we arrived at the port and checked in and boarded. Right after muster drill the captain came on and said that we would be several hour late leaving as we were waiting on tugs to come to help us out as the winds were a bit too breezy. Two hour delay turned into 4 hours and still we waited. Dinner did not allow bottle service for wine and all of the bars could only use bottom shelf alcohol that they bought in Texas due to local laws. We finally went to bed still tied up to the pier.

 

Morning came and we were still tied to the pier looking at our car in the parking lot. Winds were still too high to travel in the shipping channel. No shops open, no casino, still bottom shelf liquor at the bars all day. We finally pulled out over 24 hours from our scheduled departure and the captain said that Roatan was immediately scrubbed due to not being able to get that far south. They came up with an alternate port of Costa Maya, Mexico but with less than a day to scope out the excursions, we did not book anything and walked through the port area which was nothing to write home about and got back on the ship. Our next stop was supposed to be Belize City but the captain scrubbed it after stating they were not able to get into the harbor after hours of trying with the pilot. We then headed to Cozymel which was the only scheduled port we got to and all of the excursions related to the beach or were in close proximity to the beach were cancelled due to winds and water quality.

 

As I stated, there are better ports with less chance of problems in my opinion. I'm sure some had great cruises after us, but there were quite a few that had an issue leaving or getting back into the port due to its geography. I for one would not chance it again if there was an itinerary I liked better leaving from an alternate port.