Summit Sailings after October 2021

[garyl62]

Anyone have any insight, rumor or fact, on why all the new Summit sailings that were posted a few days ago have all disappeared?  Nothing shows after 10/2021 now.

 

I did double check I was signed in my Captain's Club account, maybe they will come back when everything is opened to the public postings.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by garyl62

[davekathy]

25 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

Anyone have any insight, rumor or fact, on why all the new Summit sailings that were posted a few days ago have all disappeared?  Nothing shows after 10/2021 now.

 

I did double check I was signed in my Captain's Club account, maybe they will come back when everything is opened to the public postings.

 

 

There is a 12 night Boston, Maine, Canada Summit cruise for 4 October 2021 showing. 

[garyl62]

23 minutes ago, davekathy said:

There is a 12 night Boston, Maine, Canada Summit cruise for 4 October 2021 showing. 

Correct. There is nothing after October of 2021 showing. 

[wrk2cruise]

I was onboard summit last week.   I was able to put a hold on a cabin on the 10/16 repo to San Juan.  When the FC sales person tried to add the 10/23 as a B2B it was showing "Red" for her.  A few minutes later everything 10/23 and later disappeared from her system.  Many future trips to the FC desk yielded no additional information.  The response she got from corporate is the sailings are "closed for now".    Now the repo is also gone.  I tried to deposit the hold I have and it just says it can't be done and to call customer service.

 

If the sailing doesn't reopen before the 11th when the hold expires I'm going to call to see if I can get the hold extended but I'm sure I already know how that's going to go.

 

At this point I suspect they may be planning on redeploying Summit, but other ships are committed to their home ports so it would mean leaving San Juan which although there are some issues there I'm sure those will be worked out.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Isn’t there some potential issue with San Juan? Perhaps the lines that sail from there are hedging their bets and pulling/not booking until decisions are made? I know some have been

out for a while (I have a Feb 2021 Summit booked myself), and I know that the potential is there that it could be changed. Maybe they figured better to take those just released ones offline so there are less sailings to deal with should they pull out?

[ozark74]

Last week we booked a b2b on the Summit for January 2022 with no problem.

[garyl62]

1 minute ago, ozark74 said:

Last week we booked a b2b on the Summit for January 2022 with no problem.

 

I looked at some for that same timeframe last week also, then when I went back to them yesterday everything was gone.  I did a search thinking maybe the dates I wanted were pulled for a possible charter and that's when I realized everything from mid October on was gone.  It will be interesting to hear if you get any notice from X since you booked.

[ipeeinthepool]

40 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Isn’t there some potential issue with San Juan? Perhaps the lines that sail from there are hedging their bets and pulling/not booking until decisions are made? I know some have been

out for a while (I have a Feb 2021 Summit booked myself), and I know that the potential is there that it could be changed. Maybe they figured better to take those just released ones offline so there are less sailings to deal with should they pull out?

 

As I understand the situation, the port facilities need a lot of repairs and upgrades and Puerto Rico can't afford to do the work.  Puerto Rico was planning on selling off the port facilities and privatizing them.  Apparently Royal doesn't like that solution and is proposing some sort of solution where they  (and probably some other cruise lines) fund the work.  I think they are targeting making a decision by the end of December.   Royal may be holding off on new sailings until the issue is resolved.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

28 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

As I understand the situation, the port facilities need a lot of repairs and upgrades and Puerto Rico can't afford to do the work.  Puerto Rico was planning on selling off the port facilities and privatizing them.  Apparently Royal doesn't like that solution and is proposing some sort of solution where they  (and probably some other cruise lines) fund the work.  I think they are targeting making a decision by the end of December.   Royal may be holding off on new sailings until the issue is resolved.

And since Royal is Celebrity’s parent company, it makes sense in a way that they removed the just-released ones before more could book them as there are already a number they potentially have to reroute. I agree releasing them when it was known to be unknown did not really make sense.

[Cruise Gopher]

I checked last night and Millenium sailings are now gone in 2022 as well. They were there and bookable a few days ago. 

[hcat]

We have 2 cruises that have San Juan as a port ( Nov 2020 and Jan 2021).  Is the pier in question the facility where cruises originate/ terminate,  or in Old San Juan where cruise ships stop  to dock?

 

We usually do not get off the ship there as  the port times are late afternoon arrivals,  and we have been there many times.  Maybe we'll get a different port instead???

Edited December 10, 2019 by hcat

[davekathy]

Per RC...

"In a statement to travel agents, Royal Caribbean issued the following statement:

Royal Caribbean reviews and adjusts itineraries and deployments every year.

The rumors regarding cancellations of sailings departing between April 2020 – March 2021 from San Juan are incorrect. We have not cancelled any of our ships visiting or homeporting in San Juan.

Though we have not yet announced our full 2021-2022 deployments, we do expect fewer calls from San Juan for the 2021-2022 season and we will be able to provide more details once we have announced our itineraries. 

No decisions regarding deployment beyond those dates have yet been made.

On Tuesday, some news outlets in Puerto Rico began reporting Royal Caribbean was planning to cancel 90 calls to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the 2020 and 2021 season".

 

[CoconutOne]

On 12/8/2019 at 6:18 PM, ipeeinthepool said:

 

As I understand the situation, the port facilities need a lot of repairs and upgrades and Puerto Rico can't afford to do the work.  Puerto Rico was planning on selling off the port facilities and privatizing them.  Apparently Royal doesn't like that solution and is proposing some sort of solution where they  (and probably some other cruise lines) fund the work.  I think they are targeting making a decision by the end of December.   Royal may be holding off on new sailings until the issue is resolved.

 

Maybe the work is needed on the backend? While the terminal sure isn't glamorous, it is what it is. I'd rather sail out of Puerto Rico and be closer to the southern Caribbean islands. I'm not there to sit in the terminal.

[BlueSkiesTX]

Thanks for the updates on this thread. We, too, have a cruise booked on one of these "missing" Summit sailings in Dec. 2021. We were in the process of booking a B2B when the system closed the bookings for Summit. We only have one leg completed. I keep watching nervously, thinking that maybe we need a back-up cruise just in case.

Edited December 11, 2019 by BlueSkiesTX

[ipeeinthepool]

8 hours ago, CoconutOne said:

 

Maybe the work is needed on the backend? While the terminal sure isn't glamorous, it is what it is. I'd rather sail out of Puerto Rico and be closer to the southern Caribbean islands. I'm not there to sit in the terminal.

 

That sounds good, but unless you live in one of the few cities with direct flights to San Juan, air travel to San Juan is much more difficult than flying to Florida.  Flying to and from Florida turns into an all day adventure because there are fewer flight options which often leads to long layovers.  For my money, I'd rather fly direct to Florida and spend a couple of sea days getting to the Southern Caribbean.  Cruises from San Juan often appear to be less expensive but when the real cost of travel to the port is included it doesn't make sense for most of us.  If time is more important, San Juan is still not attractive.  It's almost impossible to fly in the day of the cruise because of the longer flights so you need to take an extra day of vacation for travel, instead of flying to Florida the evening before departure.

 

When all of this is considered, the cruise lines need to keep their costs down in San Juan to stay competitive with departure ports in Florida.  The cruise lines have figured out the best way to contain costs is to develop the port facilities as a partnership with local governments and not be subject to the decisions of another private company.

[hndapwr]

Edit - sorry. Saw there was an earlier thread on this. Was going to delete the post but can't figure out how. 

 

The Summit fall/winter 2021/2022 deployment was to be announced today along with the other ships. All except the Summit were released. Anyone know what the hold up is? 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Host Kat
Post merged into existing thread.

[CoconutOne]

12 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

That sounds good, but unless you live in one of the few cities with direct flights to San Juan, air travel to San Juan is much more difficult than flying to Florida.  Flying to and from Florida turns into an all day adventure because there are fewer flight options which often leads to long layovers.  For my money, I'd rather fly direct to Florida and spend a couple of sea days getting to the Southern Caribbean.  Cruises from San Juan often appear to be less expensive but when the real cost of travel to the port is included it doesn't make sense for most of us.  If time is more important, San Juan is still not attractive.  It's almost impossible to fly in the day of the cruise because of the longer flights so you need to take an extra day of vacation for travel, instead of flying to Florida the evening before departure.

 

When all of this is considered, the cruise lines need to keep their costs down in San Juan to stay competitive with departure ports in Florida.  The cruise lines have figured out the best way to contain costs is to develop the port facilities as a partnership with local governments and not be subject to the decisions of another private company.

 

My airport is podunk, we don't have a direct flight to San Juan, but to each his own. The cruises depart far later at night in San Juan, which gives people more time to get there if traveling the day of.

[ipeeinthepool]

There is speculation that they are negotiating terms for using San Juan as a departure port

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Host Kat
Post merged into existing thread.

[lovemylab]

 

13 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

That sounds good, but unless you live in one of the few cities with direct flights to San Juan, air travel to San Juan is much more difficult than flying to Florida.  Flying to and from Florida turns into an all day adventure because there are fewer flight options which often leads to long layovers.  For my money, I'd rather fly direct to Florida and spend a couple of sea days getting to the Southern Caribbean.  Cruises from San Juan often appear to be less expensive but when the real cost of travel to the port is included it doesn't make sense for most of us.  If time is more important, San Juan is still not attractive.  It's almost impossible to fly in the day of the cruise because of the longer flights so you need to take an extra day of vacation for travel, instead of flying to Florida the evening before departure.

 

I usually choose a cruise based on itinerary.  Southern Caribbean cruises out of Florida are usually longer than 7 nights which makes them considerably more expensive.  It's cheaper for me (and takes less vacation time) to fly to San Juan, spend 1 or 2 days pre-cruise and board a 7 night cruise vs. flying to Florida, spending 1 night precruise (I will never fly in the same day) and then board a 9+ night Southern Caribbean cruise.     

 

My last few flight to San Juan were only $100 more per person compared to Florida.  I have layovers even when flying to FLL or Miami so either way I'm losing the better part of a day for travel.  

 

[MightyMike]

I very much enjoyed our last cruise which was out of San Juan rather than Florida.

 

It is tough to get direct flights to Florida from here. Whether we fly to Miami/Fort Lauderdale or San Juan, we always have one connection. Prices seem to end up about the same.

 

Hotels are expensive in San Juan, but Florida isn't that cheap either. A pre-cruise hotel stay feels more exotic in San Juan. Miami and Fort Lauderdale feel similar to here. It's warmer, but the stores and entertainment feel too similar.

 

San Juan gives your ship about a 1000 mile head start to the southern Caribbean islands. 

[Russ Lomas]

4 hours ago, lovemylab said:

 

 

I usually choose a cruise based on itinerary.  Southern Caribbean cruises out of Florida are usually longer than 7 nights which makes them considerably more expensive.  It's cheaper for me (and takes less vacation time) to fly to San Juan, spend 1 or 2 days pre-cruise and board a 7 night cruise vs. flying to Florida, spending 1 night precruise (I will never fly in the same day) and then board a 9+ night Southern Caribbean cruise.     

 

My last few flight to San Juan were only $100 more per person compared to Florida.  I have layovers even when flying to FLL or Miami so either way I'm losing the better part of a day for travel.  

 

We flew to San Juan from Toronto last year for $200 less than it is costing us this year to fly Detroit to Florida the same week.  Here's hoping they bring back some San Juan departures to the southern islands.

[wrk2cruise]

Has anyone heard anything about Summit past 10/4/2021 sailing?  It's been well over a week since the rest of 2021/2022 Caribbean season was released.

[BlueSkiesTX]

42 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Has anyone heard anything about Summit past 10/4/2021 sailing?  It's been well over a week since the rest of 2021/2022 Caribbean season was released.

I haven't heard anything from Celebrity yet. One of my Summit cruises is "missing" on the site, yet still shows in my planner. I monitor the Summit sailings multiple times a day and they still have not been added online after the Oct. 4th sailing. 🙁

[gotcha3]

I received this reply to my question on the issue from my Celebrity cruise planner on the 11th of Dec.......

"I hope all is well.  Regarding the Summit, it looks like we are reevaluating those itineraries.  No decisions have been made though.  We hope to have an update soon."

They haven’t provided a firm date for any announcement yet.

Nobody knows.

Edited December 13, 2019 by gotcha3

[Dawg74]

We have the summit booked for Dec 12, 2020 and I have been watching it online for a deal so I could add our zone to the room and bring him with us.  This week I get an error if I try to price it.  First I thought it was a website issue but I can book any cruise that isn’t the summit.... we will wait and see what they change I guess.