Princess "9 Day" cruises from FLL

[Colo Cruiser]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this topic. I am not new to cruising (platinum on Princess + 2 other cruises) and I have cruised 10 day Caribbean itineraries for 9 years now. I am more annoyed that Princess seems to think this 5+4 combo "equals" any other itinerary. I had the opportunity to cruise on Royal last December and it was a lovely trip/ship, but if I could sail on a smaller Princess ship (like Emerald or Caribbean Princess) on a great 10 day itinerary or a 7-10 day that originated in San Juan I would be a VERY happy camper. These smaller ships are fine for the things I enjoy and they don't command a premium price for the cabins the way the new ships do. It was the smaller ship and lower cost plus the itinerary that drew me to the currently booked cruise from Houston, and I don't think anything about the FLL options will attract me to change plans. Does anyone know why San Juan is no longer an originating port? I sure miss it! Are you listening Princess? Laurie

 

We don't care for the return to Ft Lauderdale either with the b2b's.

 

San Juan was no longer a profitable market, especially with the air situation long flights/high prices etc.

[Putterdude]

Personally I am sorry that the cruise market if heading in this direction. We did three 7day B/B/s in January and the return to FLL was nothing more than a waste of a day. I don't think that we could get excited about a 4 and a 3 day cruise. The repetitive menu was not a deal breaker, we could always find something new to try. However the same entertainment was too much and the scenery didn't change a lot...3 stops in St. Thomas was kind of over the top. I think if this is the way the Caribbean market is going to go in the future we will likely look at other itineraries in the winter or just not cruise...maybe an all inclusive....who knows.

[caribill]

San Juan was no longer a profitable market, especially with the air situation long flights/high prices etc.

 

Princess had a hard time filling the ships with passengers from the mainland. They often had to sell remaining cabins at a deep discount to locals who did not have to fly to meet the ship.

Edited August 21, 2015 by caribill

[ljandiernp]

I see the days of cheap flights to San Juan are gone at least for the upcoming winter. I am very disappointed in South West these days, their schedules are increasingly thin and more expensive. I don't think that one stimulates their business income in an economic slump by making travel cost prohibitive. :rolleyes: Ah well, I am in agreement with the poster who said it's time to pick an all inclusive and stay in one place, or in a place where you can day trip to somewhere else. I can also cruise from NY/NJ without a flight and I LIKE the Breakaway. I am also trying Royal Caribbean for the first time this fall too. Although we love Princess, I am not beyond finding 1-2 other cruise lines that I also like and shopping for the best price to get out of a Rhode Island winter. Laurie

[Grego]

First of all, in our over 20 years and nearly 30 voyages with Princess I don't recall San Juan ever being on originating or destination port - could be wrong but I don't remember this. It is with NCL and possibly other lines.

 

Secondly, the Royal class ships may show some higher cabin prices but they are normally during the "high season" when it's a seller's market. We have found very competitive prices on this class ship which compares to the Grand Class somewhat smaller ships. Usually ship size doesn't matter - it's the venue and time of year.

 

Thirdly, now that we live in FL and only over an hour away from Port Everglades, we still see the 4/5 BTB as a viable option if the price is within the window of cost/day that we feel OK. There are neat things to do while in Fort Lauderdale, some already mentioned such as the airboat Everglades trip, but one other I didn't see mentioned is the Water Taxi ride which is a HOHO traveling on the Intracoastal Waterway and provides great views of some spectacular homes and mansions of very famous people, stops at some great restaurants and shopping areas and wildlife.

 

We don't need the extra perk of building our voyage numbers any more so the BTB isn't important. What always is important is the venues, cost and the escape factor, which having originally been from MI should be very important during the winter months.

[Iamcruzin]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this topic. I am not new to cruising (platinum on Princess + 2 other cruises) and I have cruised 10 day Caribbean itineraries for 9 years now. I am more annoyed that Princess seems to think this 5+4 combo "equals" any other itinerary. I had the opportunity to cruise on Royal last December and it was a lovely trip/ship, but if I could sail on a smaller Princess ship (like Emerald or Caribbean Princess) on a great 10 day itinerary or a 7-10 day that originated in San Juan I would be a VERY happy camper. These smaller ships are fine for the things I enjoy and they don't command a premium price for the cabins the way the new ships do. It was the smaller ship and lower cost plus the itinerary that drew me to the currently booked cruise from Houston, and I don't think anything about the FLL options will attract me to change plans. Does anyone know why San Juan is no longer an originating port? I sure miss it! Are you listening Princess? Laurie

 

It seems like Princess has abandoned the Caribbean. Celebrity who has a smaller fleet of ships manages to make a profit on cruises departing from San Juan and now I look to them and Royal Caribbean before Princess when it comes to the Caribbean. I also wish that Princess would bring back the 9 day Caribbean cruises out of N.Y. On any other itinerary Princess would be my first choice but their three port of call to same old same old Caribbean Islands on the new ships just doesn't cut it for me. I can get to those islands on the other lines without a flight to Ft Lauderdale. This savings allows me to sail a longer itinerary in a higher room category.

 

While a day on a cruise is better than a day at work, we work hard and don't want to waste what little disposable income we have just for the sake of it.

[OCruisers]

First of all, in our over 20 years and nearly 30 voyages with Princess I don't recall San Juan ever being on originating or destination port - could be wrong but I don't remember this.

 

Dawn Princess did 7 night sailings out of San Juan in 1999. We flew both into and out of San Juan for the cruise. :)

 

LuLu

[Iamcruzin]

First of all, in our over 20 years and nearly 30 voyages with Princess I don't recall San Juan ever being on originating or destination port - could be wrong but I don't remember this. It is with NCL and possibly other lines.

 

My first Princess sailing in 1991 on the Crown Princess called on San Juan.

We sailed a 7 day Southern itinerary in 2008 from San Juan that called on 5 Islands. They alternated between two Southern itineraries at the time. One was a southeast route which included ports like Barbados, St Lucia, and the other was more of a southwest itinerary which included ports like Aruba and Curacao. We also sailed two reposition cruises from San Juan to NY which called on Bermuda in 2009 and 2010. Celebrity now runs similar routes.

 

As for Ft Lauderdale I haven't spent any extended time there since the 1980's when I was on Spring Break. If we spend time in Florida it's with the in-laws at Del Boca Vista Phase III. We have a trip planed at the end of Sept and if Princess was in port I would be looking for a cheap 4 day cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

It seems like Princess has abandoned the Caribbean. Celebrity who has a smaller fleet of ships manages to make a profit on cruises departing from San Juan and now I look to them and Royal Caribbean before Princess when it comes to the Caribbean. I also wish that Princess would bring back the 9 day Caribbean cruises out of N.Y. On any other itinerary Princess would be my first choice but their three port of call to same old same old Caribbean Islands on the new ships just doesn't cut it for me. I can get to those islands on the other lines without a flight to Ft Lauderdale. This savings allows me to sail a longer itinerary in a higher room category.

 

While a day on a cruise is better than a day at work, we work hard and don't want to waste what little disposable income we have just for the sake of it.

 

Like any business they go where the $$$ are. :(

[Iamcruzin]

Like any business they go where the $$$ are. :(

 

Can't fault them for that.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I also wish that Princess would bring back the 9 day Caribbean cruises out of N.Y.

In the winter? Surely you don't mean in the winter?

[Iamcruzin]

In the winter? Surely you don't mean in the winter?

 

Oh.... Hell no. They ran a Caribbean route from May through August with a stop at Bermuda and then ran the Canada/New England route from Sept through Oct before they repositioned back to Ft Lauderdale. I never got a chance to sail the 9 day Caribbean route. It was going to be my next cruise but they ended the itinerary so I switched to Celebrity for their San Juan to NY reposition cruise. I'm booked with them for Bermuda this May. I can't get enough of Bermuda and a cruise is the only way I can afford it. Bermuda is one of the most expensive islands to stay on for a land trip.

[Grego]

Dawn Princess did 7 night sailings out of San Juan in 1999. We flew both into and out of San Juan for the cruise. :)

 

LuLu

 

Thanks for refreshing my memory. We never did one of those sailings because of the offerings from FLL. Seems that the San Juan itineraries didn't last very long. The only one we did out of San Juan was on NCL and that was a last minute voyage and was nice because it did the British Virgin Islands.

[geoherb]

Personally I am sorry that the cruise market if heading in this direction. We did three 7day B/B/s in January and the return to FLL was nothing more than a waste of a day. I don't think that we could get excited about a 4 and a 3 day cruise. The repetitive menu was not a deal breaker, we could always find something new to try. However the same entertainment was too much. ...

For our 3- and 4-day b2b cruises over New Year's, the production shows were different. They had Piano Man, Caribbean Caliente, and Born to Be Wild. The guest entertainers were the same--a comedian and a magician. One of them just happened to be on our two cruises. He was leaving the ship at the end of our second cruise. The other was scheduled to be there through the following month.

 

Since we originally had anytime dining assigned to us for our second cruise, we decided to use the opportunity to try the specialty dining options. We almost always have traditional seating and don't like to miss more than one dinner since I don't think it's fair to our tablemates. So on our 4-day cruise, we ate at Sabatini's, the Crown Grill and the Crab Shack and had the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. (It helped that we had a ton of onboard credit to spend.)

[Sayra]

We did a 4/5 day last year in October on the Caribbean Princess. I really enjoyed the fact that some of the menus/events were repeated. There was much less pressure to try and "do it all" (and/or "eat it all") because we could do it (eat it) the second cruise. Also, by the second cruise, many of the staff member recognized us and were extra friendly.

 

Also, we had a lot of fun practicing abandoning ship in the pool during the muster drill...

 

The only issue was that the first cruise had a lot of large groups. Including one of church ladies who did everything at the same time. I've never seen such long lines on the Horizon Court at breakfast. They went all the way out to the pool deck. We would usually just wait until 11 and eat pizza by the pool for breakfast.

[shepp]

I see the days of cheap flights to San Juan are gone at least for the upcoming winter. I am very disappointed in South West these days, their schedules are increasingly thin and more expensive. I don't think that one stimulates their business income in an economic slump by making travel cost prohibitive. :rolleyes:

 

Beg to differ…depending on dates and flexibility.

 

My hubby and I are booked on our first Carnival cruise in January, specifically because we wanted to spend a week in Puerto Rico before sailing back to the mainland and this one sails to New Orleans, for considerably less per day than Princess charges for Caribbean routes, not that they even sail a similar itinerary. (OK, it is Carnival, but we booked an inside spa cabin with full spa privileges for not a whole more than just the Sanctuary would cost on Princess.)

 

We're flying from SFO to Fort Lauderdale, since SW doesn't fly directly from here to Puerto Rico. Every date after January 9th, and a couple before that, SW offers FLL-SJU flights starting at $104-114, which, with 4 free pieces of checked luggage, seems eminently non-prohibitive to me. Granted, you'd have to get to FLL, but still….

Edited August 21, 2015 by shepp

[ljandiernp]

It seems like Princess has abandoned the Caribbean. Celebrity who has a smaller fleet of ships manages to make a profit on cruises departing from San Juan and now I look to them and Royal Caribbean before Princess when it comes to the Caribbean. I also wish that Princess would bring back the 9 day Caribbean cruises out of N.Y. On any other itinerary Princess would be my first choice but their three port of call to same old same old Caribbean Islands on the new ships just doesn't cut it for me. I can get to those islands on the other lines without a flight to Ft Lauderdale. This savings allows me to sail a longer itinerary in a higher room category.

 

While a day on a cruise is better than a day at work, we work hard and don't want to waste what little disposable income we have just for the sake of it.

 

Interesting opinion! You have articulated well the things that I've been thinking but couldn't quite find the words to express. Why do you think that Princess has abandoned the Caribbean? Are they making their money in Europe? Alaska? I am not a big fan of the Royal Princess, it is lovely and there are lots of things to do, but I still love the Emerald and Caribbean Princess, and the relationships I made with the staff; those experiences were more personal for me and I have very special memories of these trips, including departures from San Juan within the last 10 years. In a somewhat desperate effort to sail Princess with a new itinerary we booked the Houston trip for March 2016, but I probably would only do this once due to the added flight expense and the apparent hassle of this port departure, but it won't be an option after April anyway because Princess is leaving the port.

 

I don't recall Princess departures from NYC (haven't cruised long enough perhaps?), but I agree they would be great. We could get to NY without a flight as well, and in fact I enjoyed a cruise from Manhattan to Bermuda on the NCL Breakaway last year. That ship and crew, the food and shows blew me away, and that's a "big ship." NCL's shows were in some cases from "off Broadway," and the specialty restaurants were really great. I plan to sail her again next spring and hope my husband enjoys the ship much as I did, because I really am looking for options to branch out from Princess for just the reasons you've outlined.

 

Thanks for adding to this discussion, Laurie

[ljandiernp]

Beg to differ…depending on dates and flexibility.

 

My hubby and I are booked on our first Carnival cruise in January, specifically because we wanted to spend a week in Puerto Rico before sailing back to the mainland and this one sails to New Orleans, for considerably less per day than Princess charges for Caribbean routes, not that they even sail a similar itinerary. (OK, it is Carnival, but we booked an inside spa cabin with full spa privileges for not a whole more than just the Sanctuary would cost on Princess.)

 

We're flying from SFO to Fort Lauderdale, since SW doesn't fly directly from here to Puerto Rico. Every date after January 9th, and a couple before that, SW offers FLL-SJU flights starting at $104-114, which, with 4 free pieces of checked luggage, seems eminently non-prohibitive to me. Granted, you'd have to get to FLL, but still….

 

That is very reasonable; perhaps I should have said that from my location their flight schedule has gotten thin and pricy compared to previous years. Even flights to FLL, previously 250-300.00 round trip PP from Providence are nearly double that this winter. Since we always travel in the January to March range for our winter get away, I am comparing 2015 prices paid to 2016 potential expenses. Laurie

Edited August 22, 2015 by ljandiernp

[Colo Cruiser]

Why do you think that Princess has abandoned the Caribbean? Are they making their money in Europe? Alaska? I am not a big fan of the Royal Princess, it is lovely and there are lots of things to do, but I still love the Emerald and Caribbean Princess, and the relationships I made with the staff; those experiences were more personal for me and I have very special memories of these trips, including departures from San Juan within the last 10 years. In a somewhat desperate effort to sail Princess with a new itinerary we booked the Houston trip for March 2016, but I probably would only do this once due to the added flight expense and the apparent hassle of this port departure, but it won't be an option after April anyway because Princess is leaving the port.

 

 

The main reason to change markets is $$$.

As I said they follow the money.

I am sure also the reason why they are leaving the Texas market again.

Edited August 22, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[BRANDEE]

Hi Laurie,

 

Princess was sailing out of Red Hook , Brooklyn for a few years. They included 9/10 day cruises to the Caribbean. I think about 5 years ago they stopped everything except November sails to New England ( too cold) or one sail to the Carib in the late fall( Hurricane season). I was told they couldn't fill the ships, so they tried every other year first and then just stopped.

 

Of course I retired 5 years ago.....there went my plan of just "jumping" on a last minute Princess deal. (takes me 20 minutes to get to the cruise port)

 

I too, didn't care for the newer Royal ship...like them smaller and more pools.

Did a Breakaway sail this July..nice to drive to port, but the ship was too crowded. Two small pools for 4000 people!!

 

Wish we weren't forced to fly south to catch a Caribbean cruise. RCL out of NJ has even larger ships. This will be our first 4/5 day b2b. Just planning to sit, relax and enjoy. Getting off the ship..optional.

 

Chris

 

Chris

Edited August 22, 2015 by BRANDEE

[Skai]

I find the description "Grand Caribbean Sampler" to be a joke. 3 ports of call and technically 3 days in Fort Lauderdale on a 9 day cruise is more of a "Glimpse". I have made 5 ports of call on a 7 day in the past when they had those great southern itineraries out of San Juan. I wish they would bring those back.

 

One of those (RT)s out of SJ was what hooked us on cruising.

 

I can't state for certainty, however, that had we taken a 9-day (with its 'glimpse' of ports)...that we would have been as enamored after our first sailing.

[caribill]

The main reason to change markets is $$$.

As I said they follow the money.

I am sure also the reason why they are leaving the Texas market again.

 

By relocating a number of the ships to Asia and Australia, there are not many Princess ships left for the Caribbean market.

[shepp]

By relocating a number of the ships to Asia and Australia, there are not many Princess ships left for the Caribbean market.

 

Indeed, when I was on my very-sold-out Japan cruise last month, I heard a rumor that Princess would be adding another ship to its Japan schedule. With a lot of first-timers spending big bucks onboard, and everything from shore excursions to the casino doing great business, not a surprise.

 

As tempting as it is to think of Princess as our "consummate host," it's just another business. We might be loyal to it, but it's foolishness to think they'd be loyal to us in return.

[ljandiernp]

Keith, of course you're right, but I was looking for the more specific info that is eluded to by "Caribill's" comments and Shep's description of his Japan trip; these explain a little more about the "where" Princess is going. I find it surprising that they aren't still making a buck in the Caribbean. Leaving Houston makes sense when you read all the info here on CC about the port: it seems challenging for all but people who drive there to get a reasonable flight and hotel combo, it takes more than an hour to get to open ocean, and thus open bars and casinos (think of the $$ lost there!), and there are apparently service problems at the port. It doesn't make sense to me to decrease East coast departures and limit the ship choices from there., but obviously I can't see their finances. If I were to agree that the Royal's prices are competitive, I should still have an option or two to sail smaller ships. Although I agree that Princess has to adjust to a competitive market, I also understand that they have tried to make me a Princess client by incentivizing my loyalty with the frequency perks. If those lures to loyalty are becoming a kick in the face, well then it's a bit if a disappointment to me, the naïve cruiser. I guess I DID expect a little loyalty in return. :rolleyes:

 

Chris, I hope you enjoy your BTB; I'm sure that you'll have a wonderful time. As for me, I'll be branching out. I have my Princess out if Houston cruise in March, but I also have an NCL to Bermuda in June 2016 and a RC to the Caribbean in October (15); I'm going to start looking for alternatives to my Princess "loyalty." :) Thanks everyone! Laurie

[fishywood]

The summer Caribbean sailings of the previous decade--which Princess alternately ran from Ft Lauderdale, New York, and/or San Juan--came about strictly due to the public's aversion to flying in the early years of the newly created TSA post 9/11. Once demand for Alaska and (especially) Europe returned there wasn't spare capacity every summer.

 

[but there is a detectable pattern: the final year of consecutive summer sailings from Ft Lauderdale was 2005. But those cruises returned for one season in 2009. And again in 2013. So we will eventually see what 2017 brings: with the new build deployed to Asia then, possibly a ship will be freed up from that market. BUT both Alaska and Europe will be operating at lower capacity in 2016 than 2015, so will the freed-up ship simply move to either of those regions for 2017?]

 

And further re the former San Juan departures: Princess has not "abandoned" the Caribbean, simply decided that a seven night cruise with only one sea day no longer fits its business model. Saving fuel and getting those shops and casino open all day is the new name of the game. Along with pushing the beverage packages which wouldn't sell well on port intensive itineraries.

 

I am an inveterate number-cruncher myself--but the why of Princess ending such sailings while other cruise lines choose to continue is pointless to worry about: its a vacation, not a post-graduate financial seminar. If you want a six-islands-in-seven-nights cruise or the 48-hour-plus call in Bermuda you will have to look elsewhere. Just as those loyal to other lines have to come over to Princess if looking for the most Alaska choices that include Glacier Bay, or a full season slate of Panama Canal transits, or regular winter sailings from San Francisco. Just be happy the market gives you choices and bon voyage.

Edited August 23, 2015 by fishywood