SOUTHERN Caribbean itineraries & mega ships

[Carolina Girl 99]

Really wanting to book a Southern Caribbean cruise on NCL and while there are a few decent choices available, I'm disappointed that I can't find what I'm really looking for: a 10-12 day (maybe longer) cruise departing from Miami aboard one of the newer Away or Away+ class ships either in early Spring or in the Fall after kids go back to school.

 

-Escape is doing some really nice itineraries out of NY, but not from it's home port in Miami.

 

-Bliss will be doing the same old, boring Eastern route while it's in Miami.

 

-I really, really want to sail on Dawn, but her best sailings are out San Juan which adds airfare to the cost of the trip. There are few select southern sailings out of Tampa that I like, but most of those are holiday sailings when certain family members can not take vacation.

 

Since I know I would never be able to get an answer directly from NCL, any speculation from fellow CC members as to why NCL doesn't offer many Southern trips on the big ships? Or why most of the trips are only offered for a few select weeks?

[PhillyTravelBug]

I have always though NCL's weakness was offering more southern Caribbean itineraries.

[Heather1972]

I don't know why NCL doesn't do more southern Caribbean routes. Maybe you should look in to booking Carnival Vista out of Miami. I am doing their southern Caribbean cruise this August.

[Laszlo]

My wife and I plan to sail the Jade out of Miami January 2018, 10 day round trip

[All-ready2cruise]

We love NCL, however, we just cruised on MSC and really enjoyed it. Our next cruise is with NCL and for Feb. 2018 we're trying another cruise with MSC:

 

11 days, 10 nights

MSC DIVINA

Itinerary

United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Martinique, St. Maarten, Virgin Islands (British), Bahamas

 

For comparison's sake we're paying approximately half (not really half but substantially less) ... MSC less than $3000 for an aft balcony, including taxes and fees (B2 includes 24 alcohol coupons, enough for us) and

NCL Jade aft Balcony $5247 including taxes and fees - no alcohol or perks.

 

Sorry it's $4028 for NCL... I hate that we only see CAD on NCL website NOW!! GRRRRRR ... still a substantial savings.

[Carolina Girl 99]

My wife and I plan to sail the Jade out of Miami January 2018, 10 day round trip

 

Thanks so much for this info- I totally missed seeing the Jade sailings out of Miami as I thought only Dawn & Sun did the Southern trips. I just booked us for the 10 night out of Miami for December 2018.

[Two Wheels Only]

RCCL is building a new terminal at Port of Miami and the expansion is allowing them to bring an Oasis class ship to the POM.

 

MSC has also invested in renovating their terminal for Seaside's arrival.

 

With Miami growing, NCL would be wise to have a stronger presence in the area. In a dream world, Getaway, Escape, and Bliss (or the 4th Breakaway Plus ship) could do a 3 way rotation between western, southern, and eastern Caribbean itineraries (when GSC is complete).

[tmilak]

Thanks so much for this info- I totally missed seeing the Jade sailings out of Miami as I thought only Dawn & Sun did the Southern trips. I just booked us for the 10 night out of Miami for December 2018.

 

Not sure if you would be interested in this one but we are booked on the Jade out of POM on 3/23/18 on a 10 night cruise with some really nice ports of call.

[fame9300]

Thanks so much for this info- I totally missed seeing the Jade sailings out of Miami as I thought only Dawn & Sun did the Southern trips. I just booked us for the 10 night out of Miami for December 2018.

Did you check out November 25, 2018? We are doing that one out of San Juan, looks very interesting

[tmilak]

Did you check out November 25, 2018? We are doing that one out of San Juan, looks very interesting

 

OP said she wants to go out of Miami.

[yummysbakery]

My wife and I plan to sail the Jade out of Miami January 2018, 10 day round trip

Jan 26 2018? ...I just booked that sailing

 

Sent from my 2PQ93 using Tapatalk

[Carolina Girl 99]

Not sure if you would be interested in this one but we are booked on the Jade out of POM on 3/23/18 on a 10 night cruise with some really nice ports of call.

 

Thanks! I had looked at that date initially, then decided it was too soon after our upcoming Escape cruise, so we've booked for December 2018. Looking forward to seeing the Christmas decorations!

[Carolina Girl 99]

Not sure if you would be interested in this one but we are booked on the Jade out of POM on 3/23/18 on a 10 night cruise with some really nice ports of call.

 

Not sure when you booked your cruise, but according to the "fishy" site, there were some price drops on most categories on 2/10/2017. Might be worth a look for your booking :)

[tmilak]

Not sure when you booked your cruise, but according to the "fishy" site, there were some price drops on most categories on 2/10/2017. Might be worth a look for your booking :)

 

I have and my cruise has actually gone up over $2000 since I booked as I got 3rd and 4th passengers free which is now gone. I got the DOS for $9k and it is now over $11k. Thank you for the insight though as I am always looking out for bargains when availlable.

[grouchomarx]

I think that NCL uses its newer away class ships for 7-day sailings because that is most popular with families and the ships are very family friendly. Many families cannot do longer trips because of school, etc. To get to the southern Caribbean you can't do it in 7 days leaving from Florida, you need to start further south and it's less popular to depart from San Juan due to the added travel expenses. So using those ships for 7-days out of Florida will keep them booked up all the time. I have noticed a number of cruise lines including NCL, Princess and RCL using their older ships for the longer more interesting itineraries. I find it frustrating as I prefer newer more exciting ships AND interesting ports of call. How many times do I need to see Nassau. I'd rather go to islands I've never visited and those are all down south. Oh well first world problems!

[oteixeira]

I can tell you a quick search shows me that I can actually fly into SJ PR for less then I can normally fly into Miami on sail days (Sat/Sun). I am in NC, the OP is in SC, so I think it may be similar. I think that a good long search of flights may just align the stars for a nice 7 day out of PR. I for one am now thinking it will be my 2018 cruise. Just as a rough estimate I normally spend 600-1000 for 2 tickets flying round trip to Miami in spring or fall. For SJ-PR in Dec. of this year it would be less then 600 all in for me.

[Carolina Girl 99]

I think that NCL uses its newer away class ships for 7-day sailings because that is most popular with families and the ships are very family friendly. Many families cannot do longer trips because of school, etc. To get to the southern Caribbean you can't do it in 7 days leaving from Florida, you need to start further south and it's less popular to depart from San Juan due to the added travel expenses. So using those ships for 7-days out of Florida will keep them booked up all the time. I have noticed a number of cruise lines including NCL, Princess and RCL using their older ships for the longer more interesting itineraries. I find it frustrating as I prefer newer more exciting ships AND interesting ports of call. How many times do I need to see Nassau. I'd rather go to islands I've never visited and those are all down south. Oh well first world problems!

 

Excellent insight AND it makes perfect sense about the 7 day itineraries and the newer ships!

[Carolina Girl 99]

I can tell you a quick search shows me that I can actually fly into SJ PR for less then I can normally fly into Miami on sail days (Sat/Sun). I am in NC, the OP is in SC, so I think it may be similar. I think that a good long search of flights may just align the stars for a nice 7 day out of PR. I for one am now thinking it will be my 2018 cruise. Just as a rough estimate I normally spend 600-1000 for 2 tickets flying round trip to Miami in spring or fall. For SJ-PR in Dec. of this year it would be less then 600 all in for me.

 

I am in SC -Savannah,GA is my closest airport, but it's also more expensive for most flights. I can get the best prices driving north to Charleston. I can also get decent prices flying from Orlando to San Juan.

 

As for Miami- we can drive there in 8 hours, so we never fly