Brooklyn Departures Year Round, Why Not?

[pthjudy]

Wouldn’t it be profitable for Princess to follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in having New York area departures year round?  Whether it’s a week cruise to Bahamas or an 11 day to the Caribbean, Anthem of the Seas with its almost 5000 passengers nearly always sells out. Princess has several ships in Florida all winter. There are usually availabilities on each,  and each of these ships holds many fewer passengers. Does anyone know why this port is ignored except for the fall? 

[snowskier]

44 minutes ago, pthjudy said:

Wouldn’t it be profitable for Princess to follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in having New York area departures year round?  Whether it’s a week cruise to Bahamas or an 11 day to the Caribbean, Anthem of the Seas with its almost 5000 passengers nearly always sells out. Princess has several ships in Florida all winter. There are usually availabilities on each,  and each of these ships holds many fewer passengers. Does anyone know why this port is ignored except for the fall? 

 

I would be willing to bet a business case has been done across the Princess brand indicating that going to NY year round just isn't a profitable decision.  Seems there are many more variables in making this business decision than "the other guys sail full from NY and we don't sail full from FL so we should move a ship". If only things were that simple.

[voljeep]

i'd like to see Princess do some East Coast cruises … Charleston , Savannah , Bermuda … why not 5-7 days RT 

[pthjudy]

19 minutes ago, voljeep said:

i'd like to see Princess do some East Coast cruises … Charleston , Savannah , Bermuda … why not 5-7 days RT 

Would love that! 
 

[KevintheIrishDJ]

During the '70's oil crises, there were per day oil surcharges.  Many lines decided to let people fly south.  Also, it takes at least a day to get into warm weather.

[pthjudy]

28 minutes ago, snowskier said:

 

I would be willing to bet a business case has been done across the Princess brand indicating that going to NY year round just isn't a profitable decision.  Seems there are many more variables in making this business decision than "the other guys sail full from NY and we don't sail full from FL so we should move a ship". If only things were that simple.

I agree with all that you said but I’ll throw in that for a long time Princess had no sailings to the Caribbean from Florida in the summer months. Other comparable ships were doing well. Now Princess does have a ship doing the Caribbean during the summer when many families with children travel.  Yes, there are variables but sometimes what success the “other guys” have can lead to changes too. (Wishful thinking, I guess!)

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

More options are always great but since it would likely come at the cost of other routes, I would not be in favor.

I'm sure most could manage going a few weeks ( months ) without doing the same old East/West 7 day Caribbean itineraries 

[polmcs]

Princess has a finite number of ships and they are more likely to deploy them where most money can be made. Here in SoCal, our Princess Cruise season would typically run from late September to late April/early May and would then shut down whilst those ships would redeploy to Alaska. There is usually a premium to be paid for those Alaska cruise, so I’m guessing it’s more profitable for Princess to do so, even though they could probably sell out MR cruises over the summer based on how popular they are when it’s that season.

 

Its telling that a year, or so ago, you might be lucky and get 1, or maybe 2 Alaska round trip cruises out of Los Angeles over the summer, but this year, the Golden is spending practically the entire Summer season plying that route, even though a balcony would set you back around $3K+ each for the 2 week cruise.

[MCC retired]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

I'm sure most could manage going a few weeks ( months ) without doing the same old East/West 7 day Caribbean itineraries 

I absolutely agree 👍

The stale , never changing 7 night East/West Carib can use a break.

 

[pthjudy]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

I'm sure most could manage going a few weeks ( months ) without doing the same old East/West 7 day Caribbean itineraries 

I like the idea of eastern seaboard ports. On our cruise on Royal Caribbean last month the first port was Port Canaveral. We did the space center and I really enjoyed being able to use my phone. We go to the Caribbean because it’s close and warm but there are other ports that offer new places and experiences. 

[Colo Cruiser]

2 hours ago, pthjudy said:

Wouldn’t it be profitable for Princess to follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in having New York area departures year round?  Whether it’s a week cruise to Bahamas or an 11 day to the Caribbean, Anthem of the Seas with its almost 5000 passengers nearly always sells out. Princess has several ships in Florida all winter. There are usually availabilities on each,  and each of these ships holds many fewer passengers. Does anyone know why this port is ignored except for the fall? 

Not ignored, just not a money maker. Especially with other mega ships in the area.

In 2005 the CB was doing 10 day Caribbean cruises from NY with a stop in Bermuda which was missed many times due to wind.

In 2006 when the Crown debuted she took over the route with a stop in Bermuda with many missed stops there as well.

Princess could not maintain seasonal 10 day trips then so doubt they could now.

Probably the reason we have not seen anything like it in more than 12 years.

I am sure they are well aware of what would work and what would not.

[AF-1]

I'm landlocked in Ohio;  I have to airline to all cruise ports;  so it does not make a difference; but I understand people who can drive to the port to want more ships year round.

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

I'm landlocked in Ohio;  I have to airline to all cruise ports;  so it does not make a difference; but I understand people who can drive to the port to want more ships year round.

For sure

West coasters complain about the same thing.

So did Texans when Princess left Galveston.

[BigGuy25]

I think most people traveling to the Caribbean in the winter are trying to escape the cold and want to enjoy as much warm weather as possible on their vacation.  While I love sailing out of (or into) NYC, a winter departure or arrival could possibly mean sailing in snow (or at least cold temperatures) for a day or two.

[rdemn]

On 1/28/2020 at 4:13 PM, pthjudy said:

Would love that! 
 

 

[rdemn]

If the government would get rid of the Jones Act maybe there would be more east coast cruise. 
 

[Potstech]

Instead of Brooklyn why not Baltimore?

[polmcs]

15 minutes ago, rdemn said:

If the government would get rid of the Jones Act maybe there would be more east coast cruise. 
 

They would need to repeal the PVSA legislation for that to happen. The Jones act pertains to the shipment of cargo.

 

That said, the cruise lines have shown no inclination that they would like to see the PVSA rules loosened in any way. 

[pthjudy]

47 minutes ago, rdemn said:

If the government would get rid of the Jones Act maybe there would be more east coast cruise. 
 

We were actually on a cruise that violated the Jones Act. It was during Hurricane Sandy. It was the second part of our back to back and was supposed to go to Bermuda. With the storm coming up the coast, Princess chose to go up to Boston instead which was a violation.  Perhaps emergency situations may get a pass or perhaps a fine was levied. Either way it happened and it was wise that they did. 

[Iamcruzin]

On 1/28/2020 at 3:54 PM, pthjudy said:

Wouldn’t it be profitable for Princess to follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in having New York area departures year round?  Whether it’s a week cruise to Bahamas or an 11 day to the Caribbean, Anthem of the Seas with its almost 5000 passengers nearly always sells out. Princess has several ships in Florida all winter. There are usually availabilities on each,  and each of these ships holds many fewer passengers. Does anyone know why this port is ignored except for the fall? 

The Anthem is designed for cold climates. It has an in door adult solarium as well as an indoor pool.  Also Princess draws and older crowd with the majority of their passenger living in Florida. Don't get me wrong I would love a 9 day itinerary on a Princess ship over the summer but Princess sends all of the ships to Alaska and Europe during the summer.  There is also a lot of competition with NCL, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean who have larger ships and can better entertain younger families than any Princess ship can. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Iamcruzin

[Iamcruzin]

On 1/28/2020 at 6:45 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

Not ignored, just not a money maker. Especially with other mega ships in the area.

In 2005 the CB was doing 10 day Caribbean cruises from NY with a stop in Bermuda which was missed many times due to wind.

In 2006 when the Crown debuted she took over the route with a stop in Bermuda with many missed stops there as well.

Princess could not maintain seasonal 10 day trips then so doubt they could now.

Probably the reason we have not seen anything like it in more than 12 years.

I am sure they are well aware of what would work and what would not.

I did two repositioning cruises on Caribbean Princess once in 2009 and one in 2010. We didn't miss Bermuda either time. However I do remember reading threads where Bermuda was missed multiple times.  What I don't understand is  how NCL, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean can make trips to Bermuda with no problems and Princess can't. I also did a repositioning cruise on Celebrity that called on Bermuda for 2 days and a Royal Caribbean 9 day itinerary that also called on Bermuda.  NCL, Royal and Celebrity do a Bermuda run all summer. I never read anything about missing the port. Why did Princess have such problems?

[pthjudy]

10 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I did two repositioning cruises on Caribbean Princess once in 2009 and one in 2010. We didn't miss Bermuda either time. However I do remember reading threads where Bermuda was missed multiple times.  What I don't understand is  how NCL, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean can make trips to Bermuda with no problems and Princess can't. I also did a repositioning cruise on Celebrity that called on Bermuda for 2 days and a Royal Caribbean 9 day itinerary that also called on Bermuda.  NCL, Royal and Celebrity do a Bermuda run all summer. I never read anything about missing the port. Why did Princess have such problems?

Princess only missed Bermuda that time because of a hurricane which actually caused all cars parked in Brooklyn to be destroyed by flooding. It would have been foolhardy to even attempt the trip to Bermuda. As it turned out that cruise was extended by 2 days and we finally docked in NYC.  

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, pthjudy said:

Princess only missed Bermuda that time because of a hurricane which actually caused all cars parked in Brooklyn to be destroyed by flooding. It would have been foolhardy to even attempt the trip to Bermuda. As it turned out that cruise was extended by 2 days and we finally docked in NYC.  

It was missed several times during the Summer sailings for a few years. I think it had to do with the Caribbean Princess and mechanical issues. All the cruise lines had issues during Sandy which would be expected.

[Essiesmom]

3 hours ago, Potstech said:

Instead of Brooklyn why not Baltimore?

Because Princess only has one ship that could fit under the bridge:  Pacific Princess.  Maybe Coral or Island, not sure.  EM

[AF-1]

So NCL and RCL are the only ones doing year round from NY\NJ; is that correct