Why is the 7-day Galveston to Western Caribbean & Mexico cruise so much cheaper than all the other 7-day cruises?

[rj59]

The ports are also much less interesting than Eastern Caribbean ones. When I was in Cozumel on Ruby last year, there were up to 12k passengers in the city at once, and in Cozumel and tiny Roatan we were docked next to the massive Mardi Gras, so the lone beach was swamped by Carnival passengers. Weather was also cold and windy, with freezing rain in Galveston. In Fort Lauderdale you get to the pier in 10 minutes, whereas Galveston is a very long way from IAH and a long way from Hobby, although not bad with Sunday traffic. Further competition now is from the NCL Prima, a really nice ship, new and innovative. Price is based on demand, so the same thing happens in Alaska--the ones from Seattle are sky-high, but the north-south routes are half the price, much cheaper than even Galveston, since they have 3 ships going there and for some reason people must be afraid to fly to Vancouver or Anchorage, since the itinerary is far superior to r/t Seattle, with no useless evening Victoria stop, much longer days in ports, and combining Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. Price is also relative--two years ago I sailed three times to Mexico on Majestic for around $400, with 30% occupancy, whereas now Mexico is in huge demand. Even last month I sailed for 14 nights on Island for $600 for a solo, but Princess has promised not to do deep discounts, even for non-popular cruises or end-of-season ones, but we'll see how things play out if the current crazy cruise demand ever lessens. 

[Roberto256]

On 12/19/2023 at 11:26 AM, t18c97 said:

MCO to Port Canaveral is about 50 miles. IAH, the furthest from Galveston, is about 65 miles. So IMHO the distance from an airport can't be that much of a factor since Port Canaveral at times is the busiest cruise port in the US. 

I don't want to malign houston + galvaston...

But orlando get more than 74 million visitors per year...

So, only a tiny percentage have to go to port Canaveral. 

I don't think houston gets quite as many visitors...