Princess - 2025-26 Caribbean and Panama Canal Program

[memoak]

6 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Unfortunately, many on this board can't seem to grasp that.  Many post about how they don't want to cruise with kids, etc.

 

Remember why they're called Boomers.  The Boomers' parent's generation had access to jobs and money which created the middle class and the population boom.  Never in history did the population grow at such an exponential rate.

 

The problem now is that the Baby Boomers are disappearing faster than they they are being replaced and the fertility rate is down.  In the U.S. there's the ongoing argument that Social Security will fall off a financial cliff because the Boomers depleted the funds and the contributions by the subsequent generations isn't enough to keep the program going.  (Politics that I shall stay out of.

 

I guess my argument is that there will be less passengers in the future for cruise lines to fight over (because of the decrease in population) and it would be in Princess' best judgment to capture them while they are young.

 

It's as if Princess is starting over again.  These many of these older cruisers were young(er) cruisers with Princess at some point.  Their brand has come full circle.

First of all we paid all that money we get from our years of paychecks. That money is ours. I paid a lot in over 50 years of working. I will still be cruising for another 20 years. I don’t even mind the families my biggest problem is those who seem to feel the need to carry a backpack everywhere on ship even into the MDR. I am really tired of the backpacks slamming into me when they crowd into the elevator 

[SCX22]

23 minutes ago, memoak said:

First of all we paid all that money we get from our years of paychecks. That money is ours. I paid a lot in over 50 years of working.

 

That's politics and won't argue about that.

 

24 minutes ago, memoak said:

I will still be cruising for another 20 years.

 

Easy to say, but health conditions can arise that can hinder this.  Plans don't always work out the way you want them to.

 

25 minutes ago, memoak said:

I don’t even mind the families my biggest problem is those who seem to feel the need to carry a backpack everywhere on ship even into the MDR. I am really tired of the backpacks slamming into me when they crowd into the elevator 

 

Since we're airing out what we don't like about passenger groups.  I don't like the medical evacuations and medical diversions that occur which interrupt my cruise.  Accidents and medical conditions happen, I get it.  But I've experienced them the most on Princess.  99% of the time it's a senior citizen being wheeled/medevaced/stretchered off the ship.

[memoak]

35 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

That's politics and won't argue about that.

 

 

Easy to say, but health conditions can arise that can hinder this.  Plans don't always work out the way you want them to.

 

 

Since we're airing out what we don't like about passenger groups.  I don't like the medical evacuations and medical diversions that occur which interrupt my cruise.  Accidents and medical conditions happen, I get it.  But I've experienced them the most on Princess.  99% of the time it's a senior citizen being wheeled/medevaced/stretchered off the ship.

Social Security is not politics it is a savings plan that we paid into to have when we aged. We have sailed through lung cancer and multiple joint replacements. 

 

[MacMadame]

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

In business, there's the short term, medium term, long term, and lag time.

 

The baby boomers are Princess' customers in the short/medium term.  In the long term, they want to capture the younger crowd.  It will take time for this transition to happen.  

Boomers have between 10 and 30 years of possible cruising left. Remember the youngest Boomers were born in 1964 and aren't even 60 yet.

 

In a business that is traded on the stock market, short term is next quarter. 😄 Or maybe next year at most. Middle term is about 5 years and long term is 10. I've never worked for a publicly traded company that had plans beyond 10 years and most didn't have them past 5 years. Not real plans anyway. Stuff changes too fast for that.

 

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Agree with your post, but truly the above statement applies to almost any business that needs an infusion of new customers as children grow into adults and older adults die off.

Exactly. It's always been true and it's not this dire thing right now where the cruise industry is going to fall off a cliff in a few years. Or even a decade.

 

Right now business is booming and not all from older people. There are tons of lines each with their own flavor and Carnival owns a hefty chunk of them (9 in total last time I checked). Maybe their 5-year plan includes attracting a younger crowd to Princess or maybe they don't and that will be the plan for one of their other lines.

 

Btw, Virgin Voyages caters to a younger crowd and they are an adult-only ship. So it's not all about attracting families with kids to your line. There is more than one way to filet a fish.

 

17 minutes ago, memoak said:

Social Security is not politics it is a savings plan that we paid into to have when we aged. We have sailed through lung cancer and multiple joint replacements. 

It's both. Because gutting it or removing it would be political suicide. 😄 Especially when studies show that just removing the cap on earnings like they did with Medicare would be enough to make it 100% solvent. Even though this impacts me negatively now (I reach the cap each year before the end of the year), I am all for that.

[SCX22]

19 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Btw, Virgin Voyages caters to a younger crowd and they are an adult-only ship. So it's not all about attracting families with kids to your line. There is more than one way to filet a fish.

 

I wish Virgin Voyages all the best.  I actually really enjoy their cruises.  But, I'm kind of afraid of the brand's long term viability.  Richard Branson's only success is Virgin Atlantic (and Virgin Records but that is now defunct).  Many of his ventures have run out of steam before they got big.

 

23 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

In a business that is traded on the stock market, short term is next quarter. 😄 Or maybe next year at most. Middle term is about 5 years and long term is 10. I've never worked for a publicly traded company that had plans beyond 10 years and most didn't have them past 5 years. Not real plans anyway. Stuff changes too fast for that.

 

I'm pretty sure Princess would like a younger crowd on their ships within the next 5 to 10 years.  They are dedicating a chunk of the upper deck of the Sun Princess to Park19, which has proven to be unpopular with the older Princess cruisers on this board.  Padgett thought, and Schwartz drank his Kool Aid, that the Medallion would help to attract a younger crowd vis a vis the Disney Magic Band, but that never panned out.  It will take more than technology to get the younger ones on Princess.  The brand has to slowly morph.

 

I'm certain, though, that Princess and Carnival Corp management is building a recession into their short term business plans.

[MacMadame]

6 hours ago, SCX22 said:

I wish Virgin Voyages all the best.  I actually really enjoy their cruises.  But, I'm kind of afraid of the brand's long term viability. 

It's just one example. There are also those luxury cruises that are out of reach for a lot of younger people, especially ones with families. Different strokes and all.

[memoak]

11 hours ago, MacMadame said:

It's just one example. There are also those luxury cruises that are out of reach for a lot of younger people, especially ones with families. Different strokes and all.

I don’t think they are in the wheelhouse for us boomers either

[MacMadame]

8 hours ago, memoak said:

I don’t think they are in the wheelhouse for us boomers either

Haha. Someone is going on them. Millionaires? 😄 

[memoak]

1 minute ago, MacMadame said:

Haha. Someone is going on them. Millionaires? 😄 

I have 8 cruises booked in 2024 and 2025 I will stick with those 

[azbirdmom]

Thanks for sharing!  I had read the announcement and got excited that the Star would be sailing from Port Canaveral but read it wrong.  At least the Sky is better than the Caribbean Princess.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:59 AM, azbirdmom said:

Thanks for sharing!  I had read the announcement and got excited that the Star would be sailing from Port Canaveral but read it wrong.  At least the Sky is better than the Caribbean Princess.

What's the big deal, you have the option to either fly into FLL or MIA when you need to embark out of Port Everglades on either the Star (Sat departures) or the Sun (Sun departures).  You're in Arizona, so you're flying either way, right?

[CruizinSusan70]

Typical website glitch today.  Bookings opened up at 1100 am for Elites and general bookings are not until 300 am tomorrow.  For about 20 minutes around noon time I was able to start getting pricing and cabin availability and then of course it shut down.  Currently not Elite so I guess it'll hopefully be done tomorrow morning.

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

What's the big deal, you have the option to either fly into FLL or MIA when you need to embark out of Port Everglades on either the Star (Sat departures) or the Sun (Sun departures).  You're in Arizona, so you're flying either way, right?

 

What's the big deal?  The Star would likely dock where Mardi Gras does in Port Canaveral.  And that means that we could walk home to our friend's condo in Cape Canaveral.  Kind of hard to do from Fort Lauderdale....

Edited December 19, 2023 by azbirdmom

[EatonDoolittle]

I was able to book a B2B out of Port Canaveral on the Sky for Feb, 2026. 

Very dull itineraries, but the short drive to PC and decent pricing convinced me. 

 

 

[DHP1]

1 hour ago, EatonDoolittle said:

I was able to book a B2B out of Port Canaveral on the Sky for Feb, 2026. 

Very dull itineraries, but the short drive to PC and decent pricing convinced me. 

 

 

I was disappointed with this years itineraries.  Same old locations again. Oh well, we will make the best of it.  

[Paula_MacFan]

5 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Typical website glitch today.  Bookings opened up at 1100 am for Elites and general bookings are not until 300 am tomorrow.  For about 20 minutes around noon time I was able to start getting pricing and cabin availability and then of course it shut down.  Currently not Elite so I guess it'll hopefully be done tomorrow morning.

Ha!  Glad I wasn't the only one.  I thought I was losing my mind there momentarily 🙂 

 

I had a cruise picked and was in the middle of selecting the cabin when it suddenly said 'pricing not available for this cruise'.  I didn't realize it was Elite day until later -- we're Platinum -- and I just had randomly been looking at some Panama Canal cruises.  

Edited December 20, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[CruizinSusan70]

10 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

What's the big deal?  The Star would likely dock where Mardi Gras does in Port Canaveral.  And that means that we could walk home to our friend's condo in Cape Canaveral.  Kind of hard to do from Fort Lauderdale....

If you have to embark from Cape Canaveral, then I guess it won't be on Princess.

[azbirdmom]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

If you have to embark from Cape Canaveral, then I guess it won't be on Princess.

 

You would guess wrong.  This topic includes itineraries from there on the Sky that start in 2025 and the Caribbean Princess has some starting in 2024.  And I didn't say that we had to embark from Cape Canaveral.  It's just a very nice change from FLL for a variety of reasons.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

 

You would guess wrong.  This topic includes itineraries from there on the Sky that start in 2025 and the Caribbean Princess has some starting in 2024.  And I didn't say that we had to embark from Cape Canaveral.  It's just a very nice change from FLL for a variety of reasons.

Enjoy.  Those older ships would never be on our horizon.  Just booked 4 today on the Star to go with our previously booked 4 on the Sun.  Happy cruising.

[DHP1]

I booked the Sun Princess today for Fall 2025.  I too will never sail again on the older ships at least that my intention for now, which could change. 

[CruizinSusan70]

10 hours ago, DHP1 said:

I booked the Sun Princess today for Fall 2025.  I too will never sail again on the older ships at least that my intention for now, which could change. 

We currently have 28 days each booked on the Sun, Star & Enchanted in the Caribbean as well as 7 on the Discovery in Alaska.

[Bgwest]

On 12/14/2023 at 5:01 PM, memoak said:

Social Security is not politics it is a savings plan that we paid into to have when we aged. We have sailed through lung cancer and multiple joint replacements. 

 

Can't argue successfully with a 30 year old "expert". The ignore function captures another one!!