Goodbye to best Southern Caribbean 14,day Itinerary!

[bigbenboys]

I have been an annual booker of the best 14 day Southern Caribbean itinerary on the Eclipse for the pat several years. I am booked in Nov, 2017, and March, 2018. Unfortunately when I booked March, 2018 while on board the Eclipse last year I forgot to check the date of Easter. Eager to reschedule I started looking at 2019.

Much to my shock and dismay, not only has the Eclipse been reassigned, but the best and only true 14 day Caribbean itinerary has been eliminated. Of the cruise lines I regularly book, Princess, HAL, and RCCL Celebrity had the only true 14 day that wasn't essentially a B2B.

This itinerary has been very popular. I can't understand why they have eliminated it . At the least I would have thought the itinerary would have been assigned to another ship.

Bring back the true 14 day Southern Caribbean itinerary, please!

 

14 nights departing January 4, 2019 on

Celebrity's Celebrity Reflection

[pandj24]

PLEASE BRING IT BACK! :loudcry:

 

We absolutely loved the length and itinerary :cool:

[taylortime05]

We were on 10 Night Eclipse in Dec 2016 and loved it. We have the 14 night on Reflection booked for Dec 7 2018. Is Reflection much different than the Eclipse. Most of the posts I have seen for the 14 night always talk about the Eclipse.

[Tedw]

Here is a little different perspective. We have cruised with good friends 4 times now. None of us have ever done anything other than a 7 night cruise. As we finished up our last 7 night cruise on one of the RC Oasis class ships we discussed, as we have before, that 7 nights seemed like it just wasn't enough. As the discussion went to 14 nights we discussed the idea of a B2B. None of the others were interested because it would be the same shows, activities and menus even if the ports were different. What the others did want to consider was basically a B2B on two different ships. Maybe a Oasis class ship where we have a very active week followed by a week on a solstice class ship where we take the second week relaxing.

 

But we all agreed we wanted something longer. The advantage of 9 and 12 night itineraries is that is that it creates a couple of more itineraries between the 7 and 14 night possibilities. We will be doing the 12 night itinerary on Silhouette in Feb of 2019. It leaves on a Sunday so it allows us to fly from the west coast on Saturday and be back with a day to spare. It fits nicely for a standard two week vacation and the additional length allows us to visit some ports further south that we have not visited before.

 

So now there are options for 7, 9, 12 and 14 (b2b) cruise options. I know that leaves some people out who enjoy the 14 day itinerary but I suspect they have determined that the 9 & 12 itineraries opens up another market of customers like us. Based on how prices are soaring for our cruise (currently $900 more per person for balcony than we paid in Nov.) they must be selling out the rooms quickly.

[phoenix_dream]

A thread from long ago but the pain of it all is still relevant. Boarding our 14 night Eclipse cruise this Sunday and can't wait. Our very favorite Caribbean itinerary.

 

Call me cynical if you will, but here is my thought as to why they are cancelling the 14 night cruises. I have sailed several in the past few years. On each and every one of these cruises in my mid-60's I have felt like a youngster, or at least one of the younger ones onboard. We are NOT Celebrity's desired demographic. End of story.

 

And why would that be? There are exceptions surely (and if you respond that you are one of them I will believe you), but IMHO it relates to money. On these cruises the casinos are usually fairly empty, there are not throngs of people spending money in the gift shops, there are not bunches of people buying lots of photos, you can easily get 30-50% discounts in specialty restaurants because no one is booking them. I can't prove it but I suspect shore excursion bookings are down as well. Some of it is just a matter of age and fixed income. Some of it is because many of us older folks have been there; done that and don't want to spend extra money on stuff we no longer need or want, and our days of paying $100 to spend a couple hours snorkeling are behind us. We've taken multiple tours of the islands over the years - if we want to go again we are now smart enough to grab taxis at the pier. My opinion.

[Silkroad]

Tedw, I see your point. If I were still flying from the west coast, I too would prefer the 9 and 12 night itineraries. In fact, we did a 12 night for our first cruise (Mediterranean) because I refuse to cross the pond for less than two weeks and we prefer to fly to distant ports two days early. Should I hear that the 9 and 12 night Caribbean Cruises aren’t “booze cruises” I’ll give them a look. Mind you, we’re not teetotalers, but we’re not at all interested in being around a bunch of drunken party animals. Only a bit tipsy, happy party animals are great though:D. I hope you and your friends have a great cruise!

[jagoffee]

I suspect you are correct. Money spent on board is probably less on the longer cruises. By converting to 9 and 12day cruises, Celebrity is probably trying to increase the spend to day. Also some people might book a back to back for a 21 day cruise instead of a 14 day.

My wife and I are really going to miss our annually 14 day Southern Caribbean January cruise. I currently have a B2B booked, but I am probably going to cancel the 9 day one and I am looking at options on other cruise lines. There are not a lot of 14 day options at the same general cost.

[gerelmx]

With the arrival of the Edge, Eclipse was positioned in another market. I had time looking for a round trip to Hawaii. At last my dream will come true in 558 days I will board she in Vancouver.

[Silkroad]

A thread from long ago but the pain of it all is still relevant. Boarding our 14 night Eclipse cruise this Sunday and can't wait. Our very favorite Caribbean itinerary.

 

Call me cynical if you will, but here is my thought as to why they are cancelling the 14 night cruises. I have sailed several in the past few years. On each and every one of these cruises in my mid-60's I have felt like a youngster, or at least one of the younger ones onboard. We are NOT Celebrity's desired demographic. End of story

 

I suspect you’re at least partially right about the motivation for the itinerary changes. We’re a little younger (not yet retired) than you, but perhaps we’re not the demographic X wants either. If so, it’s a pity because we have enjoyed X and planned to book some longer, more costly itineraries once retired (such as Australia & New Zealand, Norwegian Fjords b2b Iceland, South America b2b to San Diego, Mediterranean b2b WB TA). I suppose we may find we must look elsewhere, but most alternatives are unappealing or cost significantly more (and we’re not sure their “included” features meet our needs or desires).

 

We do still purchase or upgrade beverage packages, book a 3 night dining package or book Murano for one night, and have lunch in Sushi on 5 on occasion. We rarely book X shorex because we’d rather join small CC groups, explore on our own, or just relax on the ship. We’ve not set foot in the casinos, rarely enter the shops, and only once tried overpriced chair massages. I wonder how many people truly spend much more than we do, regardless of age.

 

We’ve one of the last 14 night Southern Caribbean cruises booked on Reflection, 7 December 2018. This will be our first Caribbean cruise. I hope we enjoy it as much as so many of you have enjoyed Eclipse. I also wonder if we’ll feel like youngsters lol. I hope you have a wonderful cruise this month:)

[taylortime05]

I suspect you’re at least partially right about the motivation for the itinerary changes. We’re a little younger (not yet retired) than you, but perhaps we’re not the demographic X wants either. If so, it’s a pity because we have enjoyed X and planned to book some longer, more costly itineraries once retired (such as Australia & New Zealand, Norwegian Fjords b2b Iceland, South America b2b to San Diego, Mediterranean b2b WB TA). I suppose we may find we must look elsewhere, but most alternatives are unappealing or cost significantly more (and we’re not sure their “included” features meet our needs or desires).

 

We do still purchase or upgrade beverage packages, book a 3 night dining package or book Murano for one night, and have lunch in Sushi on 5 on occasion. We rarely book X shorex because we’d rather join small CC groups, explore on our own, or just relax on the ship. We’ve not set foot in the casinos, rarely enter the shops, and only once tried overpriced chair massages. I wonder how many people truly spend much more than we do, regardless of age.

 

We’ve one of the last 14 night Southern Caribbean cruises booked on Reflection, 7 December 2018. This will be our first Caribbean cruise. I hope we enjoy it as much as so many of you have enjoyed Eclipse. I also wonder if we’ll feel like youngsters lol. I hope you have a wonderful cruise this month:)

 

We are on the same cruise. We are not retired either. I will be 55 and hubby 60. We are hoping to retire in about 3-5 years. We are Sue and Rick.

[phoenix_dream]

I think the spend issue really came to light for me when I recently did a B2B on two 7 night Caribbean cruises. It has been awhile since I have done 7 day cruises other than Alaska last May. I was truly surprised by a number of things on each cruise (more so on the western Caribbean half of the B2B). The casinos were packed every night. The last couple of days the stores were so crowded at times you could barely move in them. The specialty restaurants looked pretty full every night (although our maitre d' in Blu was able to get us a couple of discounts - but nowhere near the 50% we got on our 14 night cruises). Large numbers of people gathering onshore for X shore excursions. The crowds were also significantly younger, and there were a lot more kids than I remember (albeit nowhere near the number on RCI cruises we have sailed). And when I say younger in addition to school children, I mean lots of tattoos, hairdos that you might see on Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber, hair of colors my hairdresser never heard of, necklines down to there and skirts up to here. Don't get me wrong - there was not a lot of the latter but more than I have ever seen on Celebrity in a long time, and never on 14 night cruises. For me it really confirmed my speculation that it's all about the bucks and the bucks are much bigger on shorter cruises.

[Host Jazzbeau]

When I looked for 14-day cruises on HAL, all I could find were 7-day B2Bs -- and they aren't going after the millennial target yet [they'd be happy getting the average age down to 60, from what I hear ;)]. But what I think is prompting this on both lines is that you can sell a 7-day B2b three ways: as a 14-day, and as each separate 7-day. And those 7-days are probably much easier to move when they are trying to dump cabins after final payment.

[Silkroad]

We are on the same cruise. We are not retired either. I will be 55 and hubby 60. We are hoping to retire in about 3-5 years. We are Sue and Rick.

I’ve seen you on the roll call. We’re Michelle and Alan. Looking forward to meeting you at sailaway:cool::cool:

[Silkroad]

With the arrival of the Edge, Eclipse was positioned in another market. I had time looking for a round trip to Hawaii. At last my dream will come true in 558 days I will board she in Vancouver.

That sounds wonderful! I hope you have a fabulous time:)

[awhfy]

We’ll miss this itinerary (we’ve done it 6 times & never gets old). We have done b2bs but always preferred the Eclipse (& formerly Constitution) 14 night exotic southern Caribbean cruise. Sigh, we are also no longer the demographic Celebrity thinks they need

 

 

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[Host Jazzbeau]

We’ll miss this itinerary (we’ve done it 6 times & never gets old). We have done b2bs but always preferred the Eclipse (& formerly Constitution) 14 night exotic southern Caribbean cruise. Sigh, we are also no longer the demographic Celebrity thinks they need

 

I was thinking of you when I saw this thread, because I know you love this particular itinerary. Having sailed it once [with you], I can see why. But it's part of the 'thousand cuts' that are driving people away from Celebrity. We are trying Edge in January – maybe the new ship will be so great that it becomes the destination in itself, so a B2B is just as good as a 14-day. [And maybe Edge prices will come down to what you are used to paying on Eclipse. And maybe pigs will fly... ;p]

[taylortime05]

I was thinking of you when I saw this thread, because I know you love this particular itinerary. Having sailed it once [with you], I can see why. But it's part of the 'thousand cuts' that are driving people away from Celebrity. We are trying Edge in January – maybe the new ship will be so great that it becomes the destination in itself, so a B2B is just as good as a 14-day. [And maybe Edge prices will come down to what you are used to paying on Eclipse. And maybe pigs will fly... ;p]

 

Why is there so much discussion about Eclipse 14 night cruise being wonderful but little discussion about Reflection 14 night? Would they be comparable?

[jagoffee]

Why is there so much discussion about Eclipse 14 night cruise being wonderful but little discussion about Reflection 14 night? Would they be comparable?

 

Because the Reflection was only doing a few 14 day cruises. The Eclipse was doing almost exclusively 14 day cruises in season.

[Shadow9612]

Why is there so much discussion about Eclipse 14 night cruise being wonderful but little discussion about Reflection 14 night? Would they be comparable?

 

My personal experience was superior on the 14day Eclipse compared to an 11day Reflection cruise.

 

(disclaimer - not the same itinerary so not really identical comparison).

 

Reflection felt much more crowded, compared to Eclipse.

[mahdnc]

Why is there so much discussion about Eclipse 14 night cruise being wonderful but little discussion about Reflection 14 night? Would they be comparable?

 

This cherished itinerary has been assigned to Eclipse for many years including this season. However for the next Carib season, the 14 night itinerary is being done by Reflection and it will be for only two sailings. And then they are gone, until further notice. Eclipse will be doing South America for the first time instead to replace Infinity.

 

I think the 14 night Carib itinerary has had this approximate history:

 

2009: Constellation (14 nights over Christmas and New Years)

2010: Constellation

2011: Constellation

2012: Constellation

2013: Eclipse

2014: Eclipse

2015: Eclipse

2016: Eclipse

2017: Eclipse

2018: Eclipse

2019: Reflection

 

We took our first 14 nighter on Eclipse in Dec 2013 and we liked it so much we booked it again for Jan 2015 which was the only time we have sailed twice on the same itinerary. We will be doing the final one aboard Reflection in Jan 2019. Again, its final for now.

[Tedw]

Tedw, I see your point. If I were still flying from the west coast, I too would prefer the 9 and 12 night itineraries. In fact, we did a 12 night for our first cruise (Mediterranean) because I refuse to cross the pond for less than two weeks and we prefer to fly to distant ports two days early. Should I hear that the 9 and 12 night Caribbean Cruises aren’t “booze cruises” I’ll give them a look. Mind you, we’re not teetotalers, but we’re not at all interested in being around a bunch of drunken party animals. Only a bit tipsy, happy party animals are great though:D. I hope you and your friends have a great cruise!

 

Thanks. My understanding is the shorter the cruise, they more crazy behavior. We are not party animals either but we do like having a fun time and exploring ports. The 9 and 12 day itineraries provide the opportunity to visit ports that are normally outside the 7 day itineraries so we are looking forward to that as well.

[Tedw]

A thread from long ago but the pain of it all is still relevant. Boarding our 14 night Eclipse cruise this Sunday and can't wait. Our very favorite Caribbean itinerary.

 

Call me cynical if you will, but here is my thought as to why they are cancelling the 14 night cruises. I have sailed several in the past few years. On each and every one of these cruises in my mid-60's I have felt like a youngster, or at least one of the younger ones onboard. We are NOT Celebrity's desired demographic. End of story.

 

And why would that be? There are exceptions surely (and if you respond that you are one of them I will believe you), but IMHO it relates to money. On these cruises the casinos are usually fairly empty, there are not throngs of people spending money in the gift shops, there are not bunches of people buying lots of photos, you can easily get 30-50% discounts in specialty restaurants because no one is booking them. I can't prove it but I suspect shore excursion bookings are down as well. Some of it is just a matter of age and fixed income. Some of it is because many of us older folks have been there; done that and don't want to spend extra money on stuff we no longer need or want, and our days of paying $100 to spend a couple hours snorkeling are behind us. We've taken multiple tours of the islands over the years - if we want to go again we are now smart enough to grab taxis at the pier. My opinion.

 

This is some really good insight. I'm a numbers guy and have been curious in the past as to why the longer cruises are generally more expensive when you break it down the $/day for the cruise fare. And I was always curious because operation costs should be less on these longer cruises.

 

But you make a great point. From a business perspective you have to look at the total ship revenue per day (prepaid fare, store spending, restaurant spending, casinos, excursions etc. And if you have a ship full off people who are not spending as much on board per guest as on the shorter cruises you have to make that up somewhere and I guess that the higher fare ($/day) was covering some of that. But, you still have to fill up the ship and there is a point at which the price of the cruise becomes to high (supply/demand). So this may be why they are moving more to the 9 and 12 day itineraries as it opens up the number of potential customers. And if what you describe is accurate, and I'm pretty sure it is, it is likely the cruise line sees an opportunity to attain a higher daily revenue with these shorter cruises. And whether you are an airline or cruise line with really expensive fixed assets it is all about offering itineraries that produce the highest revenue per day.

[yorky]

7 days just isn't worth the airfare.

 

We combines our 11 days cruise with a stay in Miami before and after the cruise and I have to say we really enjoyed it. I would not go on a 7 day cruise with nothing else but would consider it as part of a holiday.

Still can’t get over how little annual leave people get in the states. I work for a local authority and I get 33 days plus 5 public holidays. Someone mentioned sick days coming off holiday leave, that’s just wrong.

[bigbeergut]

Thanks. My understanding is the shorter the cruise, they more crazy behavior. We are not party animals either but we do like having a fun time and exploring ports. The 9 and 12 day itineraries provide the opportunity to visit ports that are normally outside the 7 day itineraries so we are looking forward to that as well.

 

I don't think the concept of shorter cruises being party cruises refers to 7 vs 9 or 12 day cruises. The short party cruises usually refers to 3 and 4 day cruises.

[the2cruisingwebers]

We combines our 11 days cruise with a stay in Miami before and after the cruise and I have to say we really enjoyed it. I would not go on a 7 day cruise with nothing else but would consider it as part of a holiday.

Still can’t get over how little annual leave people get in the states. I work for a local authority and I get 33 days plus 5 public holidays. Someone mentioned sick days coming off holiday leave, that’s just wrong.

 

I don't think the concept of shorter cruises being party cruises refers to 7 vs 9 or 12 day cruises. The short party cruises usually refers to 3 and 4 day cruises.

 

 

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