Carnival just along for the ride in San Juan, Puerto Rico?

[Stinger-pr]

Carnival has had a ship home ported in San Juan for quite some time. They have been leasing one of the two terminals in Old San Juan for embarkation since the times of Christopher Columbus and are currently the ONLY line that starts and finishes cruises at Old San Juan docks since all others do so across the bay at the Pan American pier.

 

A lot of cruisers (me included) screamed foul when they downsized and, quite frankly, downgraded from a Conquest-class ship to the Fascination, a Fantasy-class. Almost no balconies, jacked prices due to an artificial hike in demand (since number of offered rooms went down) and lack of bells and whistles on a 23 year old ship had us all up in arms. And while some vowed to never sail Carnival from San Juan until a better ship was put in place, some others, like me, gave it a try. I enjoyed my time on the Fascination and being off the ship so long in the islands made me feel that the ship really isn't THAT important in this itinerary. And still do. I even booked the Fascination for summer 2018 worth DW and our three kids. Unless..... you sail the same (or similar) route a couple of times. Then you start weighting in on whether you want a little more from the ship.

 

Then comes Royal Caribbean which for years has steadily upped their game in San Juan. They were mostly the reason the Pan am pier was built some years ago so they could have "a terminal of their own" like Carnival. Other lines have steadily increased their presence in San Juan, home porting ships seasonally, sometimes for extended periods (NCL, Celebrity, for example). And while Carnival is still the cheapest option, it's also the smallest, oldest option with an itinerary that hasn't changed in years (although if it makes them money, why change, right?). But the impending announcement that RCI is moving the Adventure OTS out and bringing in the Freedom OTS in, it raises the question: is Carnival missing in on the action?? The Freedom- class ships were the biggest before the arrival of the Oasis twins. So all of a sudden we get a newer, bigger ship and since offer just went up, so did the hope that prices will go down a bit. If that happens, Carnival's price edge becomes smaller and all of a sudden I might find myself trying out the Freedom.

 

What do you guys think??

 

 

 

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[sparks1093]

I think if it changes their San Juan model significantly that CCL will make changes, so they will probably take a wait and see attitude. As long as they can fill Fascination and continue to make money with her then they'll likely maintain the status quo. If I could try RCCL for close to what CCL charges then I'd jump at it, especially on this itinerary.

[deborahjo]

We have booked the Fascination next November. Will see how things are then.

 

 

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[tef43]

I've sailed out of SJU a couple of times, most recently on the Destiny in 2005.

 

But since moving to Florida, I have little interest anymore in flying to a port. I have five home ports within a reasonable driving distance so I am perfectly fine with whatever Carnival does there.

[hotsauce126]

Is demand for San Juan cruises that high? Whenever they post the statistics of where people on the ships are from it seems like 60-70% of the pax are from places that are driving distance from the port

[Katfncy]

I always loved going out of PR and now that Carnival has changed up the ship to be the Fascination i know that if i sail out of PR again it will not be with Carnival. I cruised on the Liberty this year on one of it's last sailings from PR and i think it's a shame that they would put that type of ship there.

[VolzCruiser]

I have sailed out of SJU twice and had a great time on both. If I remember correctly there was a time when Carnival was having difficulty getting the larger ships to filled and so they had to cut the rates to an unbelievable about to get people on the boats. I think the biggest reasons they had filling the ships was do to Airfare. I believe the last time I went the cost of the Airfare was $200 more per person than the cost of the cruise.

[phoneman69]

The cost of Airfare was a major factor in our booking for Sept. Still sailing out of SJ but maybe last time.

[Crusin5252]

The cost of Airfare was a major factor in our booking for Sept. Still sailing out of SJ but maybe last time.

 

We fly from Chicago. Both times we have sailed out of PR, the flights to PR were cheaper than the flights to FL.

[BlondieB]

The cost of Airfare was a major factor in our booking for Sept. Still sailing out of SJ but maybe last time.

 

Agree on the airfare. Flights from Dallas to SJU are running $541 on AA and I'm only paying $608 including port fees and taxes for our November sailing. Hopefully when SWA releases their fares for that time of year, they'll be a little lower and minus the baggage fees.

 

While I'm disappointed about the ship option, on a cruise this port intensive, the ship is merely our transportation to each port. We couldn't see spending the extra $150+ pp for a different line with a nicer ship since time on said ship is limited. Although, I do wish the 1 sea day was at the end to unwind from the port heavy week.

[AdGuyMG]

What do you guys think??

 

Carnival deploys and home ports it's ships as it sees fit for their overall business model. It's not a battle or contest of which line's ship outdoes the other in terms of bells and whistles.

 

Take the port of Galveston. Cruise fares, load factors and profitability are the highest in the US. Carnival home ports 3 ships there and offers 4, 5 and 7 day sailing options on the Valor, Freedom and Breeze. Royal Caribbean offers just the 7 day Liberty Of The Seas. Is Royal just along for the ride?

[HectorAchilleus]

I have sailed out of San Juan five times, the most recent on the Liberty; however, I will not even consider sailing on a Fantasy class ship. They are nice for short, inexpensive cruises, but the high cost of airfare, and the low level of the ship experience absolutely turn me off. It is a great itinerary, and a wonderful home port, but not on that ship or at that price.

[pghsteelerfan]

We have done the southern itinerary on Carnival three times, now. First in 1992 on Festivale (smaller than Fascination) and twice fairly recently (Valor 2013; Liberty 2015). This is, hands down, our favorite itinerary and there will be a next time for us. With this itinerary, the itinerary itself is the main attraction. I have seen some pretty decent reviews of Fascination recently and the things that are important to us (friendly staff, cleanliness of ship, and not feeling overcrowded) are all there. But, as Stinger-pr mentioned, Carnival has been sticking to the same itinerary for quite some time now (St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten) and there are so many other islands I'd love to see. I know RC alternates itineraries with their ships, but I don't know about the others.

 

I'd love to see Carnival either have another ship, in addition to Fascination, based out of San Juan but doing a different itinerary OR at least add some new ports and have Fascination do an alternating itinerary each week. That would be an EXCELLENT B2B for people to book. There are so many other islands in this area that Carnival just doesn't go to: St. Croix; Tortola; Antigua; Dominica; Martinique; Grenada; St. Vincent/Grenadines (just south of St. Lucia), etc. A friend of mine just got off an MSC cruise that had a port stop in Guadeloupe. I didn't realize cruise ships stopped there, but obviously they do.

 

We like Carnival, and I love that current itinerary (we could book again and still find new things to do, along with some favorites), but we'd also love to see more of the islands in that area. We have been thinking about "jumping ship" from Carnival to RCI or even another, just to get to some of these less visited islands. The friend who just cruised on MSC loved Martinique and Guadelope. The pictures posted on a certain social network site spoke for themselves...I'm sold!!!

 

I did notice that someone posted on John Heald's social media site bringing up the possibility of at least an alternating itinerary out of San Juan to some of the other islands. Others also threw in their opinions stating they'd love to see that. Of course, I also commented for it. I'm thinking of posting the same question to John's social media page next week and encouraging some other friends who cruise with Carnival to do the same.

Edited March 21, 2017 by pghsteelerfan

[Clemson Cruiser]

That is a great question. I love the Freedom of the Seas. I personally think it's the perfect size and wonderful amenities. I think with a port intensive cruise like San Juan though, you won't be able to enjoy all that the Freedom has to offer. Royal dinner shuts down around 9:30 pm and the only food options are pizza and the café. Oh yes, and room service that is now $7.95. When Fascination goes into dry dock and receives the 2.0 upgrades, it will make it more appealing. I think it would just come down to price, and Carnival will probably be the least expensive. Not to mention, Carnival drinks and extras are more reasonably priced. I also like the ability to preorder a bottle of liquor for the cabin.

[cruzeluver]

We have been considering a San Juan departure for awhile now and frankly RCI sending Freedom of The Seas there has us ready to pull the trigger. We did a back-to-back on that ship a few years ago and it was one of our best trips. No way is a Fantasy-class ship any competition. I would be willing quite a bit more for Freedom over Fascination.

[CLS/KAS]

just got off the Fascination in Feb.

easily over a third of the cruisers were from P.R...

half could not speak English..(tried to speak small talk on the elevators/food lines)

All announcements were repeated in Spanish..

the 11:30 comedy show.. Spanish

I got the feeling Carnival had to push tickets hard for this cruise, to fill it up...

did this same cruise two yrs earlier on the Liberty...

completely different

Ship was "ok"... but will not be doing this run again, till they switch ships...sorry

For what I must pay...I want NICE

[jennas_mum]

We just returned from The Fascination yesterday!! Had a GREAT time! Yes, it is a smaller ship but we never felt bored. We are the type of people that can sit outside on the serenity and read for a few hours though. Loved all the ports! Ship was showing a little wear but was very clean with wonderful staff. Would love to do it again but with the cost of airfare not sure when we will. Definitely will not be in March again. Got a great deal though. It was $1272.98 for 2 people with an inside room including taxes, port fees, and gratuities.

 

Donna

[bakersdozen12]

Sailed on the Fascination in November and loved not only the itinerary, but also the ship. She's just fine for a ship. I honestly don't understand the negativity towards her. We also got what I consider a good deal. Just over $1,000 for a port hole room. I would hardly consider that a jacked up price. And as far as sailing out of Old San Juan is concerned, I think the location is an advantage for Carnival. It's the ideal location for pre-cruise exploring. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat.

 

 

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[nol4am]

We were booking that itenery until I asked what ship. I was disappointed and I will not put out the expense to fly there only to board a small old ship. People sail for different reasons n I look at both itenery and ship. Smaller ships should be for 5 days not 7. We decided not to book

[gtaylor]

We fly from Chicago. Both times we have sailed out of PR, the flights to PR were cheaper than the flights to FL.

Same here, from California!

 

gary

[amydresh]

We fly from Chicago. Both times we have sailed out of PR, the flights to PR were cheaper than the flights to FL.

 

I hope we can find excellent deals on flights for our PR cruise next Feb! We very well may be flying out of Chicago.

[joeyancho]

JMHO, Fantasy class ships should only be used for short cruises out of ports that have no other cruise line. They are just too old. I can't imagine going all the way to Puerto Rico to get on a Fantasy class ship for a week. Especially when there is a Voyager class ship to board.