RCCL Sailing Grandeur out of Barbados will Celebrity use Bridgtown as a Port

[emmas gran]

Just received  email re Grandeur sailing out of Barbados on Sundays

 

ISLAND HOP FROM OUR NEWEST HOME PORT http://image.royalcaribbeanmarketing.com/lib/fe9415737666017570/m/1/ROY_spacer.gif Get ready for sun-soaked adventures to captivating southern Caribbean isles onboard Grandeur of the Seas®, sailing from the newest Royal Caribbean® home port — beautiful Bridgetown, Barbados. With its idyllic pink-sand beaches, emerald hills and valleys, and rich Bajan flavor, Barbados is an unforgettable destination in its own right. And for the first time ever, this tropical paradise unlocks spectacular shores in the southern Caribbean, Central America and beyond — including three new ports in Tobago, Trinidad and St. Vincent. http://image.royalcaribbeanmarketing.com/lib/fe9415737666017570/m/1/ROY_spacer.gif

[PTC DAWG]

I have been to Barbados as a port on Equinox Southern Caribbean Cruise...they have beautiful beaches there...

[downsmead]

P&O use Barbados as a home port.

[emmas gran]

It will be interesting to see if/ how Celebrity goes with it

[39august]

Can anyone see the dates? The screen blacks out for me when I want to see the sail dates. Would like to know when these cruises begin. 

[Jeremiah1212]

Wonder if those will actually pan out. 

1 minute ago, 39august said:

Can anyone see the dates? The screen blacks out for me when I want to see the sail dates. Would like to know when these cruises begin. 

 

December through April. All 7 night itineraries with slightly varying routes. I could have sworn I saw one being sold as a 14 nighter this morning that is no longer there? I imagine it was just two 7 nighters being sold as one but I didn't think Royal did that very often. 

[chemmo]

Could be popular for cruisers from the North of the U.K. as Virgin regularly flies direct from Manchester to Barbados ( or at least it used to)....I can see Travel Agents linking a 7 night cruise with a 6/7 night AI as a package...

[Alakegirl]

Will Celebrity use Bridgetown as a port? It already does and has for years.

[PTC DAWG]

21 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Will Celebrity use Bridgetown as a port? It already does and has for years.

I'm thinking at this point they meant, "Home Port".....maybe not, has OP been back?

 

Anyways, here's the email I received re RCL and Barbados

 

 https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-from/bridgetown-barbados

Edited January 13, 2021 by PTC DAWG

[emmas gran]

Yes I meant as a Home Port, have been there on Equinox a couple of times

 

Liz

[Fouremco]

As others have noted, Celebrity has stopped at Bridgetown for years. In March 2016, the Eclipse overnighted and we had two full days in Barbados, which we loved.

[SeaHunt]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Wonder if those will actually pan out. 

 

I could have sworn I saw one being sold as a 14 nighter this morning that is no longer there? I imagine it was just two 7 nighters being sold as one but I didn't think Royal did that very often. 

 

I saw that too, and actually have a picture (saved to show my husband lol) 😁

 

[PTC DAWG]

7 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

 

I saw that too, and actually have a picture (saved to show my husband lol) 😁

 

Nice island itinerary. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've seen crew or passengers from very small ships embarking there. I can't imagine a large cruise ship using it to embark a lot of guests. Just doesn't have the infrastructure.

[emmas gran]

4 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We've seen crew or passengers from very small ships embarking there. I can't imagine a large cruise ship using it to embark a lot of guests. Just doesn't have the infrastructure.

MSC is using it as home port for Seaview next November through to March and she is 154000 gross tonnage and over 5000 passengers. They use it for UK passengers , then Guadeloupe and Martinique for Europeans. 

[Essiesmom]

P&O use it for Azura and Ventura (Princess Grand Class) and Britannia (Princess Royal class); TUI for Mein Schiff 2 (111000 tons or so).  Marella uses it also.  Difference is most cruises are fly-cruise, direct from the UK, and guests are already checked in on the flight and go direct from plane to transportation to ship.  Never even enter the airport terminal.  EM

[Jeremiah1212]

41 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

 

I saw that too, and actually have a picture (saved to show my husband lol) 😁

 

 

Okay I didn't think I was seeing things.

 

Interesting itineraries for the Caribbean from Royal. I assume there will be a lot of UK folks onboard. For us where airfare costs about $1000/pp, I would rather spend the extra money on a longer cruise from a US port if the option was there. 

[EatonDoolittle]

I just booked the 14 day as a back up for my Constellation B2B next Feb.  

All the gloomy talk here about her possibly being sold convinced me to find a plan B. 

Can be booked refundable or NRD. NRD offers a significantly lower price, but even at the refundable, it's IMO pretty good pricing.  Nice itinerary.

 

I may re-think that if I have to price airfare, but I'll worry about that when the time comes.  😁

[Norwich Cruiser]

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

Could be popular for cruisers from the North of the U.K. as Virgin regularly flies direct from Manchester to Barbados ( or at least it used to)....I can see Travel Agents linking a 7 night cruise with a 6/7 night AI as a package...

Direct flights from London also.

 

The flights however costs more than the cruise itself.

[lifeisrealygood]

Celebrity using Barbados as a Home Port may be something they must do if they still want to cruise the Southern Caribbean.  You can't do a seven night cruise to any of the Southern Caribbean ports out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale.  Eastern or Western Caribbean, yes, but, Southern Caribbean, no.

 

In the past, San Juan has been used to go to the Southern Caribbean for seven nights.  Since the CDC is saying seven nights is the maximum one is allowed to cruise, Celebrity must find a port in the southern Caribbean to use as their home port.  San Juan being a US port may not be possible.  So, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Barbados, St Vincent, Aruba. Bonnaire, Curacao, etc are all possible home ports to use for seven night Southern Caribbean sailings.  

 

So, in my opinion, this is Celebrity and Royal finding a home port that they can utilize to do seven day sailings from.  I believe if the 7 night restrictions were lifted, they would go back to using Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and resume 9, 10, or 12 night cruises as in the past.  

[sandancer]

15 hours ago, emmas gran said:

Just received  email re Grandeur sailing out of Barbados on Sundays

 

ISLAND HOP FROM OUR NEWEST HOME PORT http://image.royalcaribbeanmarketing.com/lib/fe9415737666017570/m/1/ROY_spacer.gif Get ready for sun-soaked adventures to captivating southern Caribbean isles onboard Grandeur of the Seas®, sailing from the newest Royal Caribbean® home port — beautiful Bridgetown, Barbados. With its idyllic pink-sand beaches, emerald hills and valleys, and rich Bajan flavor, Barbados is an unforgettable destination in its own right. And for the first time ever, this tropical paradise unlocks spectacular shores in the southern Caribbean, Central America and beyond — including three new ports in Tobago, Trinidad and St. Vincent. http://image.royalcaribbeanmarketing.com/lib/fe9415737666017570/m/1/ROY_spacer.gif

Didn’t get the email (surprise surprise). Can’t find it anywhere on the Royal UK website. 

[downsmead]

13 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

P&O use it for Azura and Ventura (Princess Grand Class) and Britannia (Princess Royal class); TUI for Mein Schiff 2 (111000 tons or so).  Marella uses it also.  Difference is most cruises are fly-cruise, direct from the UK, and guests are already checked in on the flight and go direct from plane to transportation to ship.  Never even enter the airport terminal.  EM

When we first started cruising, we would check our cases in at the departure airport in the U.K. and we would next see them in our cabin 👍. Our very first one was with Princess and the cruise started in Jamaica.

[emmas gran]

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

Didn’t get the email (surprise surprise). Can’t find it anywhere on the Royal UK website. 

It’s a bit odd to find, seems to be on .com website but I found it easily. Cruises start Dec 2021. If you click on the original link in my post it takes you to the website bit

 

Liz

Edited January 14, 2021 by emmas gran
Addition

[sandancer]

Thanks. I found it through your link. Checked a popular cruise website and as usual they are offering flight inclusive prices but they are pretty high compared to cruise only. Def would want to do 14 nights with those air fares. If our Apex TA B2B in October is cancelled we may well go for this. Love the itinerary on all of them. 

[laslomas]

I do hope Celebrity decide to also use Barbados as a Home Port. IMO it would be so much easier than flying into Miami. I have spent many hours I will not get back standing in queues at Immigration there. It works well for P&O and there are several choices of flights that are not much different to flying into Miami. Fingers crossed.🤞