Hours in port cut down 2 months out

[Canadian Cruiser98]

Just got an email from RCCL notifying us that our hours in port for our Odyssey cruise in March will be slashed down by 4 hours. We've been through this stuff before so we know that unfortunately there's not a whole lot we can do in terms of compensation, but it's a real bummer.  Anyone else gotten similar notifications about their itineraries recently?  This far out, they can't exactly claim the change is due to weather or prior delays, so my thought is this is just another corner-cutting measure to save money on fuel.

[not-enough-cruising]

13 minutes ago, Canadian Cruiser98 said:

Just got an email from RCCL notifying us that our hours in port for our Odyssey cruise in March will be slashed down by 4 hours. We've been through this stuff before so we know that unfortunately there's not a whole lot we can do in terms of compensation, but it's a real bummer.  Anyone else gotten similar notifications about their itineraries recently?  This far out, they can't exactly claim the change is due to weather or prior delays, so my thought is this is just another corner-cutting measure to save money on fuel.

What are your dates for Odyssey.

I have an eight day odyssey scheduled for March 2nd and have not received anything about port times changing

[time4u2go]

What port(s)?

 

Interesting theory about cost-cutting.  While it would save them money in "parking" fees and fuel, it would also potentially create losses for them in the form of fewer/shorter/less expensive shore excursions sold.  Not sure which amount would be bigger.

 

Edited January 4 by time4u2go

[Canadian Cruiser98]

59 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

What are your dates for Odyssey.

I have an eight day odyssey scheduled for March 2nd and have not received anything about port times changing

We're on the March 10th 6 night sailing. We'll now be arriving 2 hours later in Grand Cayman, and leaving 2 hours earlier in Falmouth.

[Mum2Mercury]

55 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

What port(s)?

 

Interesting theory about cost-cutting.  While it would save them money in "parking" fees and fuel, it would also potentially create losses for them in the form of fewer/shorter/less expensive shore excursions sold.  Not sure which amount would be bigger.

Thinking along those lines, keeping cruisers onboard would result in more drink sales and more gambling.  

I doubt that's the reasoning though.  

[not-enough-cruising]

5 minutes ago, Canadian Cruiser98 said:

We're on the March 10th 6 night sailing. We'll now be arriving 2 hours later in Grand Cayman, and leaving 2 hours earlier in Falmouth.

Thank you for the reply

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

What port(s)?

 

Interesting theory about cost-cutting.  While it would save them money in "parking" fees and fuel, it would also potentially create losses for them in the form of fewer/shorter/less expensive shore excursions sold.  Not sure which amount would be bigger.

 

27 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Thinking along those lines, keeping cruisers onboard would result in more drink sales and more gambling.  

I doubt that's the reasoning though.  

Carnival (and maybe NCL) has been doing this for quite a while since the restart from COVID. They're cutting port hours to just long enough for the longest excursions to get back.

 

It's almost all upside for the cruise lines... they still sell the same excursions; they save money with lower port fees and by sailing slower; and they make more money with onboard purchases and the casino being open.

 

About the only downside is they're giving out more drinks under the drink packages.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, Canadian Cruiser98 said:

We're on the March 10th 6 night sailing. We'll now be arriving 2 hours later in Grand Cayman, and leaving 2 hours earlier in Falmouth.

Just got that today as well for this sailing.  Now I need to check my private excursions. 

[Canadian Cruiser98]

14 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

 

Carnival (and maybe NCL) has been doing this for quite a while since the restart from COVID. They're cutting port hours to just long enough for the longest excursions to get back.

 

It's almost all upside for the cruise lines... they still sell the same excursions; they save money with lower port fees and by sailing slower; and they make more money with onboard purchases and the casino being open.

 

About the only downside is they're giving out more drinks under the drink packages.

Wow, disappointing to hear this is widespread. I get that we sign contracts consenting to any and all port changes, but it's hard not to feel like they're abusing the policy when they advertise port times as one thing, when they have every intention of changing it to another after final payment. Guess we'll have to take that into account on our next cruise and reconsider going with Royal...

Edited January 4 by Canadian Cruiser98

[Another_Critic]

14 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

About the only downside is they're giving out more drinks under the drink packages.

 

Carnival has that covered with a 15 drink/day limit.  😄

 

Edited January 4 by Another_Critic

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just got that today as well for this sailing.  Now I need to check my private excursions. 

 

Did the email give an explanation (aka excuse)?  Taking engines down for maintenance like they did for Anthem?

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, Another_Critic said:

 

Did the email give an explanation (aka excuse)?  Taking engines down for maintenance like they did for Anthem?

To maintain a safe and comfortable speed was the only thing mentioned. 

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Canadian Cruiser98 said:

We're on the March 10th 6 night sailing. We'll now be arriving 2 hours later in Grand Cayman, and leaving 2 hours earlier in Falmouth.

Sounds like engine issues, have to travel slower.

[Mom*3]

16 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Sounds like engine issues, have to travel slower.

 
We are on this cruise as well. The email mentions “to maintain a safe and comfortable speed”. So, this could be correct. 
 

We have a ship sponsored excursion in Grand Cayman, which I was considering switching to a private one, but I guess I won’t now. We hadn’t decided on anything in Falmouth, so maybe we’ll just stay on board. Maybe give us more time to try North Star and iFly. 

[Ourusualbeach]

I'm on board now and just asked the staff captain and there is scheduled engine maintenance for a couple month time period where one engine at a time is taken off line for mantenance so that will reduce max speed.

 

Similar to what Anthem went through.  

Edited January 5 by Ourusualbeach

[Another_Critic]

17 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Did the email give an explanation (aka excuse)?  Taking engines down for maintenance like they did for Anthem?

 

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I'm on board now and just asked the staff captain and there is scheduled engine maintenance for a couple month time period where one engine at a time is taken off line for mantenance so that will reduce max speed.

 

Similar to what Anthem went through.  

 

Where's my prize?  😄

[GimmeOcean]

Better to lose a couple hours in a port than lose the port stops entirely like what happened with Anthem in November.

 

 

Edited January 5 by GimmeOcean