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Eastern Caribbean Itineraries from Houston to be Announced

trabeler

By trabeler,
in Princess Cruises

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trabeler

trabeler

Posted
Posted

Just back from the 11/23 Emerald sailing from Houston. The future cruise consultant announced that Princess will be modifying several 2016 itineraries from Houston to finally do something different than the same old 7 day Roatan/Belize/Cozumel that they have been doing since they returned to Texas.

 

She gave me printouts of four modified sailings that she says will be loaded on the website by mid December.

 

Changes for the Caribbean Princess from Houston will be:

 

21 Feb 2016 - 7 days - Key West / Freeport / Princess Cays

 

6 Mar 2016 - 7 days - Key West / Freeport / Princess Cays

 

20 Mar 2016 - 10 days - Montego Bay / Grand Cayman / Roatan / Belize / Costa Maya / Cozumel

 

30 Mar 2016 - 11 days - Cartagena / Colon / Limon / Grand Cayman / Cozumel

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Textemale

Textemale

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the heads up!

I agree! Thank you very much! As a fellow Texan, this is great news because this will save us from having to fly to FLL for any of the Eastern islands/ports. Instant savings! I'm doing the happy dance!!

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dplusd

dplusd

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I am thrilled to see the expansion of ports and the addition of longer cruises. Key West is great...Princess Cays, not so much. But, unfortunately, I don't really consider these new ports to be Eastern Caribbean ports. For our favorite Islands of St Thomas and Saint Marten, I guess we still have to fly to FL.

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Paula_MacFan "Live from...." Rare

Paula_MacFan

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thank you for the info! I am excited about having some different ports from a Gulf departure. For those of us in the midwest, it is nice to drive to Texas for departure, but I welcome some new scenery!

 

edit: I just looked on Princess' website for the 2/21/16 sailing, and it looks like a BUNCH of cabins are sold already, which surprised me being so far in the future. Will Princess give passengers already booked on the Costa Maya/Belize/Roatan itinerary the option of cancelling?

Edited by Paula_MacFan
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RickEk

RickEk

Posted
Posted
Thank you for the info! I am excited about having some different ports from a Gulf departure. For those of us in the midwest, it is nice to drive to Texas for departure, but I welcome some new scenery!

 

edit: I just looked on Princess' website for the 2/21/16 sailing, and it looks like a BUNCH of cabins are sold already, which surprised me being so far in the future. Will Princess give passengers already booked on the Costa Maya/Belize/Roatan itinerary the option of cancelling?

 

Yes, since it's so far away, there's no penalty... And, I would think that if someone booked under a non-refundable deposit deal, Princess will take care of them...

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RickEk

RickEk

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The March 30, 2016 looks to be a partial transit of the Panama Canal, right? If so, I would be interested in doing that out of Houston vs. FLL as I can drive to Houston vs. flying to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Ships based out of Houston (so far) are too large to do the partial transit. Maybe after the new locks open...

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satxdiver

satxdiver

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Thanks for the good news. I had heard about part of the changes (Key West etc) but not the longer cruises. It means we sail out of a local port instead of the long drive to port everglades. I do believe a sailing out of Houston is in our future in 2016.

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Paula_MacFan "Live from...." Rare

Paula_MacFan

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Ships based out of Houston (so far) are too large to do the partial transit. Maybe after the new locks open...

 

So would there just be a port stop in Colon? I was thinking 'partial transit' as well, but hadn't thought it through regarding the ship size. I haven't been there before and when I looked on Princess' website, it said there were no sample excursions available to browse for that port.

 

I am definitely excited about having some new port options though!!

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fishywood

fishywood

Posted
Posted (edited)
The March 30, 2016 looks to be a partial transit of the Panama Canal, right? If so, I would be interested in doing that out of Houston vs. FLL as I can drive to Houston vs. flying to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Ships based out of Houston (so far) are too large to do the partial transit. Maybe after the new locks open...

 

Around 10 or so years ago Grand Princess did a one-off in-name-only partial Panama Canal cruise from either Galveston or New Orleans. Ship docked in Colon and offered a pricey excursion through the canal on smaller local boats. Surprised they waited so long to try this again since making their long-term commitment to Houston.

Edited by fishywood
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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

Posted
Posted (edited)
So would there just be a port stop in Colon? I was thinking 'partial transit' as well, but hadn't thought it through regarding the ship size. I haven't been there before and when I looked on Princess' website, it said there were no sample excursions available to browse for that port.

 

I am definitely excited about having some new port options though!!

 

The usual deal on partial transits is they go through Gatun Locks into Gatun Lake Excursion passengers are disembarked by tender, and you have to be on a Princess excursion to go ashore then. In the afternoon, the ship goes back through the Gatun Locks and docks in Colon and picks up the passengers. There is usually a three hour stop and the passengers who weren't on excursions can go ashore. You would be strongly advised to stay within the secured port area, where there are big duty free shops. Colon is very unsafe indeed.

 

The only four Princess ships that can go through the Canal (even through Gatun Locks) are the Pacific, Ocean, Coral, and Island. That will change when the new locks open.

 

I've done Key West on Norwegian. We were there with three ships in port. You could not walk on the sidewalks, it was so mobbed.

Edited by Wehwalt
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AZbeachboy

AZbeachboy

Posted
Posted
I am thrilled to see the expansion of ports and the addition of longer cruises. Key West is great...Princess Cays, not so much. But, unfortunately, I don't really consider these new ports to be Eastern Caribbean ports. For our favorite Islands of St Thomas and Saint Marten, I guess we still have to fly to FL.

 

 

I am with you. I love to go to Houston to cruise; one I get past West Texas that is. I was hoping to see St Marten on the list. The longer cruises are still more like a Western Carribean. Although I like most of those ports, it would be good to forget Grand Cayman and have another day at sea.

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

Posted
Posted (edited)
I am with you. I love to go to Houston to cruise; one I get past West Texas that is. I was hoping to see St Marten on the list. The longer cruises are still more like a Western Carribean. Although I like most of those ports, it would be good to forget Grand Cayman and have another day at sea.

 

Avoid the tender embarkation area. Wish granted. I did that once in Grand Cayman, I think on Royal Caribbean. I had been to GC before enough so I did not care to go ashore. At the milkshake bar they told me that there were less than 200 passengers on board.

Edited by Wehwalt
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