How often does Princess change the itineraries?

[LMADAMS91]

My husband and I really enjoy sailing on Princess.  We're booked on our 4th Princess Cruise (14th cruise overall) next month and have another booked Feb. '21.  We've done a cruise as our family vacation with the kids for the last several years. We started cruising on Royal Caribbean when the kids were younger, but as they are all adults (old souls in young bodies) they prefer Princess over Royal Caribbean as well. Our problem is we LIKE the ports; we rarely cruise for the ship. Princess seems to do the same itineraries over and over again.  Eastern Caribbean/Western Caribbean with the exact same ports;  Europe with the exact same ports over and over.  I've only been really paying attention to this the last few years and it seems like nothing has changed as far as routes.....for some of the Princess cruisers with more time on Princess......is this how it has always been?  I love the Caribbean but I can only handle Cozumel and Grand Cayman/St. Thomas/St. Maarten so many times! 

Edited December 19, 2019 by LMADAMS91

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, LMADAMS91 said:

My husband and I really enjoy sailing on Princess.  We're booked on our 4th Princess Cruise (14th cruise overall) next month and have another booked Feb. '21.  We've done a cruise as our family vacation with the kids for the last several years. We started cruising on Royal Caribbean when the kids were younger, but as they are all adults (old souls in young bodies) they prefer Princess over Royal Caribbean as well. Our problem is we LIKE the ports; we rarely cruise for the ship. Princess seems to do the same itineraries over and over again.  Eastern Caribbean/Western Caribbean with the exact same ports;  Europe with the exact same ports over and over.  I've only been really paying attention to this the last few years and it seems like nothing has changed as far as routes.....for some of the Princess cruisers with more time on Princess......is this how it has always been?  I love the Caribbean but I can only handle Cozumel and Grand Cayman/St. Thomas/St. Maarten so many times! 

I agree. We get tired of the same places too.......however.

There are only so many places they can visit.

I would be interested to hear where?

What should they change the Caribbean to? Europe?

Seems they hit just about every place on earth that they can.

[Renmar]

I'm with you on this, we also think that (affordable) variety is lacking. Love to see some more Greenland-Iceland and/or different ports in Alaska. However we are well aware that those places are not easy accessible with the larger ships and the smaller ships are unfortunately a "tad" above our budget.😥

 

Theo

[LMADAMS91]

No...not Caribbean to Europe (their European routes are pretty repetitive too!) but maybe some different ports in the Caribbean?  Why the exact same ports on their 7 day Eastern/Western cruises?  It is the exact same ports on every cruise (from what I've seen.) They have a few different ports on the 10 days cruises.....why not visit some of these ports on the 7 days cruises?  Mix it up a little bit!  

Yes, I know I can go to other cruise lines, but I don't see the logic in such repetitive routes. 

[Colo Cruiser]

13 minutes ago, LMADAMS91 said:

No...not Caribbean to Europe (their European routes are pretty repetitive too!) but maybe some different ports in the Caribbean?  Why the exact same ports on their 7 day Eastern/Western cruises?  It is the exact same ports on every cruise (from what I've seen.) They have a few different ports on the 10 days cruises.....why not visit some of these ports on the 7 days cruises?  Mix it up a little bit!  

Yes, I know I can go to other cruise lines, but I don't see the logic in such repetitive routes. 

No not to Europe...what should they change the Caribbean to? What ports? They pretty much go to all of them depending on the cruise. Its all based on schedules, times to get to each port, time in each port etc.

[Renmar]

4 minutes ago, LMADAMS91 said:

No...not Caribbean to Europe (their European routes are pretty repetitive too!) but maybe some different ports in the Caribbean?  Why the exact same ports on their 7 day Eastern/Western cruises?  It is the exact same ports on every cruise (from what I've seen.) They have a few different ports on the 10 days cruises.....why not visit some of these ports on the 7 days cruises?  Mix it up a little bit!  

Yes, I know I can go to other cruise lines, but I don't see the logic in such repetitive routes. 

Duplicate post, sorry

 

Theo

 

 

[tere247]

5 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

No...what should they change the Caribbean to? What ports? They pretty much go to all of them depending on the cruise.

Full day in Tortola, and in Old San Juan, early call in Grand Turk,(before a Carnival ship) St Barts, Bermuda, Amber Cove, Aruba, Bonaire,  Curacao, Costa Maya, Key West.

[LMADAMS91]

1 minute ago, tere247 said:

Full day in Tortola, and in Old San Juan, early call in Grand Turk,(before a Carnival ship) St Barts, Bermuda, Amber Cove, Aruba, Bonaire,  Curacao, Costa Maya, Key West.

I should have been more precise with my question. I'm looking at summer months. I see there is a little variety coming up in 2021...    Since we've been cruising with Princess the only routes they offer during the summer months (granted, only one ship sailing) does the exact same ports every time.  Eastern-St. Thomas/St. Maarten/Princess Cay.  (They have substituted St. Kitts for St. Maarten in 2021) Western:  Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize City and Roatan.    

They have an 8 day Eastern that hits Turks & Caicos, San Juan,  and Tortola....(offered only US winter) is there a reason one of those couldn't be substituted for the usual fare during the summer?   Or maybe Antigua?  

Western route throws in Jamaica and Princess Cay during the winter but not during the summer. 

The southern route isn't offered at all during the summer months.  It's round trip from Fort Lauderdale during the winter... Is there a reason they couldn't do that during the summer? 

[snoozecrooze]

2 minutes ago, LMADAMS91 said:

Is there a reason they couldn't do that during the summer?

Partially I would like to think that their limited summer operations has to do with placing much more emphasis on their international deployments (especially considering where the rest of their fleet end up in the summers) and avoiding the hurricane season uncertainty, but I'm not the most aware of their history cruising the Caribbean in the summer.  Certainly, Celebrity and the mass market lines operate year round but I feel like it's just a part of the market that Carnival Corp is essentially not prioritizing for Princess right now (the summer Caribbean market). 

[LMADAMS91]

Even during the winter, the choices are limited. I assume that increases demand for those cruises with different ports. 

 

We like to cruise Princess but also like variety.  Maybe with the new ships coming out......

Edited December 19, 2019 by LMADAMS91

[tere247]

3 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

Partially I would like to think that their limited summer operations has to do with placing much more emphasis on their international deployments (especially considering where the rest of their fleet end up in the summers) and avoiding the hurricane season uncertainty, but I'm not the most aware of their history cruising the Caribbean in the summer.  Certainly, Celebrity and the mass market lines operate year round but I feel like it's just a part of the market that Carnival Corp is essentially not prioritizing for Princess right now (the summer Caribbean market). 

2006-2009, Princess cruised during the summer months from Brooklyn, NY.  They were 9 day cruises that went to Tortola, Old San Juan, and Bermuda. I'll have go look at old pics to see where else we went.  I wish they offered these islands again. 

[Ombud]

I hate to state the obvious but there's a lot to the world besides the Caribbean and Europe. There's Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Antarctica, and around South America. If you feel that you're doing the same ports over and over again I think it's because you are staying in the same area over and over again. There's a whole world out tgere!

[LMADAMS91]

Just now, Ombud said:

I hate to state the obvious but there's a lot to the world besides the Caribbean and Europe. There's Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Antarctica, and around South America. If you feel that you're doing the same ports over and over again I think it's because you are staying in the same area over and over again. There's a whole world out tgere!

Totally agree.......there are many places to visit. Time constraints/schedules limit those at this point.  The Caribbean is a quick, easy trip and we love to cruise so it works well at this point in our lives. 

[leck57]

5 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I hate to state the obvious but there's a lot to the world besides the Caribbean and Europe. There's Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Antarctica, and around South America. If you feel that you're doing the same ports over and over again I think it's because you are staying in the same area over and over again. There's a whole world out tgere!

 

So true but I would like to see Princess mix it up a bit, particularly the western Med. We recently had friends do the TA on the Sky and it called in to a heap of ports in Spain, Portugal, before the crossing. Unless I missed other itineraries, Princess don't seem to call to these ports very often. There is more to the Western Med than Gibraltar and Barcelona.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Princess has never, and most likely never will be, the biggest player in the Caribbean. Even in peak season for the Caribbean and Panama Canal they only base 5 or 6 of 18 ships there. Only recently have they returned to keeping a single ship in the region for part of the summer season. Their client base preferences and market strengths ovwerwhelmingly dictate a much more global distribution of assets (ships). 

 

Princess typically allot 2 ships to the alternating 7 day Eastern/Western rotations. They structure those routes to appeal mostly to "new to cruise" clients hitting the most well known and easily reachable "Tried and true" ports that offer a broad spectrum of activities and experiences as well as high guest satisfaction responses.  By the very nature of distances and ship speeds there are only so many options they can do in 7 days. They also try not to cannibalize too much from their 10-14 day offerings by keeping more of the "unique" ports for those longer cruises.

Edited December 19, 2019 by AtlantaCruiser72

[AtlantaCruiser72]

42 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

So true but I would like to see Princess mix it up a bit, particularly the western Med. We recently had friends do the TA on the Sky and it called in to a heap of ports in Spain, Portugal, before the crossing. Unless I missed other itineraries, Princess don't seem to call to these ports very often. There is more to the Western Med than Gibraltar and Barcelona.

 

In the last few years Princess' European deployment has been particularly focused on Northern Europe over the Mediterranean. 

 

The Mediterranean has become increasingly crowded with ships and there has been a lack of port space to handle the ships, especially those over 100,000 tonnes which are the backbone of the Princess fleet. Couple that with the fact that the Mediterranean has seen a surge in demand for shorter (7-10 day) cruise options which changes deployment strategy.  Princess has focused heavily on the (in my opinion brilliant) strategy of 3 unique 7 day Mediterranean cruises that can be booked as a 7, 14 or 21 day cruise with little repeat in ports. On each of these 7 day segments they try to hit some of the marquee ports that first time cruisers to Europe are looking for. Also to avoid guests having to pay EU VAT on onboard purchases they include one non-EU port on each segment (usually Gibralter or Kotor).

 

No cruise line can be everything to everyone. Princess is trying to strike a balance of product offerings to have the broadest appeal, return the highest yields and still have unique enough offerings to bring you to their brand again in future. 

[MCC retired]

The 7 night East and West Caribbean unchanging itineraries are down right boring to constantly repeat , but we do .

We are ship people who enjoy 7 nighter's  from drive to FL ports.

Edited December 19, 2019 by MCC retired

[lstone19]

For the seven-night itineraries, keeping the same schedule from week to week probably makes port scheduling a lot easier (as, for example, they can book a port on a "every Tuesday" basis). Once you get into longer cruises, port scheduling becomes more a matter of what ports have room on the day (the day of the week changes from cruise to cruise) the ship will be in the area.

 

Other frequent ports can be a result of geography. For a Western Caribbean cruise circling around Cuba, Grand Cayman's location, despite tendering and weather cancellations, means you go there that day or you have an additional sea day. A ship going to a Jamaican port and later Cozumel needs a full day in between - the distance is too great to do them on consecutive days. That full day must be Grand Cayman or a sea day - there are no other options.

[K.T.B.]

If you're only sticking to the Caribbean, then you'll end up visiting the same islands over and over again.  However, Princess (much like Celebrity) offers cruises across the globe.  Heck, they even have world cruises that last up 111 days!  The cruises that intrigue me the most, after Panama, are the ones that do South America & Antarctica.

 

There is variety out there, it just depends on whether you want to go to other places or not.  

[capriccio]

11 hours ago, tere247 said:

2006-2009, Princess cruised during the summer months from Brooklyn, NY.  They were 9 day cruises that went to Tortola, Old San Juan, and Bermuda. I'll have go look at old pics to see where else we went.  I wish they offered these islands again. 

 

Perhaps the Princess fleet has gotten too big for some of the Caribbean ports?  I know we visited St. Barts in January 2010 on the prior version of the Royal Princess (a sister ship to the current 680 passenger Pacific Princess). 

[Vexorg]

My first Caribbean cruise on Princess was a 7 night Eastern Caribbean itinerary which had Princess Cays, San Juan (short evening stop), St. Thomas, Tortola and Grand Turk.  I don't think I've seen Tortola on a Princess itinerary since then (I do think I've seen shore excursions from St. Thomas that go there though)  and San Juan seems to be much less common now than it used to be.  

 

That said, if you're looking for some different ports I'd recommend trying out one of the 10 night cruises, since those go to a number of ports you don't see on the 7 night itineraries.

[paul929207]

3 hours ago, capriccio said:

 

Perhaps the Princess fleet has gotten too big for some of the Caribbean ports?  I know we visited St. Barts in January 2010 on the prior version of the Royal Princess (a sister ship to the current 680 passenger Pacific Princess). 

I believe St. Barts has a limit of 800 passengers per cruise ship visiting.

[Ombud]

19 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

So true but I would like to see Princess mix it up a bit, particularly the western Med. We recently had friends do the TA on the Sky and it called in to a heap of ports in Spain, Portugal, before the crossing. Unless I missed other itineraries, Princess don't seem to call to these ports very often. There is more to the Western Med than Gibraltar and Barcelona.

My Enchanted Princess cruise only goes to 1 Portugal city & several Spanish ones. Yes it ends in Barcelona (somehow skips Gibraltar). From there I'll hit up Lisbon before returning to SF. So it does go to Western Med. (Understand that the France / Spain itinerary does not meet the parameters as they do that from Southampton not the Mediterranean)

 

Meanwhile Princess adds European ports: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22101-princess-cruises-adds-sixth-ship-to-europe-in-2021.html

Edited December 19, 2019 by Ombud

[Hlitner]

Itineraries are dictated by many factors including prior evaluations by both passengers and senior staff.  But it sounds like the OP is mainly referring to shorter cruises (under 10 days) which really limits the options.   In many cases the itineraries are limited because of time-distance.  Cruise lines also try to minimize their use of fuel.  A cruise from NYC to the Caribbean uses a lot more fuel then a cruise from a Florida port.  And there are many cruisers that do not want all those days at sea.  

 

As to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao), those ports are more distant then the other ports used on Caribbean cruises.  Often called a "Southern Caribbean" itinerary those cruises are often 10+ days to allow for the extra sea days.  As another poster said, Princess actually does do some fascinating itineraries in other parts of the world.  Consider next October's 56 day Regal Princess cruise from Southampton to Sydney which goes through the Suez Canal and stops at ports such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, etc.  That particular cruise can be booked in shorter segments.   There are also some interesting trans pacific repositioning cruises.

 

I do agree with the OP that sometimes Princess (and other cruise lines) stick with the same itineraries year after year.  But there are more then 50 other cruise lines and hundreds of ships with all kinds of itineraries to the 7 Continents and over 100 islands around the world.  When you limit yourself to a single cruise line you really are just limiting your options.  

 

Hank

[villauk]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

I do agree with the OP that sometimes Princess (and other cruise lines) stick with the same itineraries year after year.  But there are more then 50 other cruise lines and hundreds of ships with all kinds of itineraries to the 7 Continents and over 100 islands around the world.  When you limit yourself to a single cruise line you really are just limiting your options.  

 

 

Agree, Hank, you have to branch out to other lines and other areas instead of staying with just the Caribbean and Europe.

 

OP,

When you mention Europe, have you sailed Norway, Iceland, Russia, Scandinavia and the Baltic? All of those are completely different from the Med. What about the Canary Islands, Morocco, British Isles - that’s without touching on Asia or the Antipodes? We also sail for the itineraries and try at least to have a couple of new ports on every cruise we take (see my signature).