2010 Europe Announced

[flvol77]

[quote name='caribbeanboy']doesn't make sense to send the Star to europe and the Emerald to Alaska/Mexico, so my guess is

1) alternating eastern/western caribbean from FLL (the people have been asking a long time for a Princess ship in the summer from FLL)

2)from NY area to eastern Caribbean (and Bermuda)

3)from San Juan[/quote]

My guess would be the Emerald out of FLL and the CB out of NY

My TA told me Princess was seriously considering coming back to FLL year round, I hope its true, we 45 mins from port and don't want to go back to Carnival or RCL.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[quote name='CocaColaCruiser'][SIZE=3]What about Hawaii.... Maybe one ship will be doing that itinerary. I sure hope so.[/SIZE][/quote]

These are just the ships going to Europe, and just through December, I guess.

If you look at the Star Princess, it heads back to Rio, so probably will still be doing South America.

Myself, I'm breathlessly awaiting the Exotics announcement, which includes Hawaii.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Three of those ships will be returning to FLL: Grand in early October (or late September), Pacific in December, Ruby in October.

[metawnny]

Hi Everyone.... this group really seems to know their stuff....so my question is whether or not the price in the PDF under the agents lead in fares would be what I should expect to pay for the lowest catagory in that group. Specifically I am looking at the Ruby princess on 10/8 the Venetician Passage and the balcony rate under the agent lead in price says $1695. So is that what I should expect to pay for the lowest catagory balcony?

:confused:

[aclay]

[quote=Cruisin' Chick;18754665]I'm breathlessly awaiting the Exotics announcement, which includes Hawaii.[/quote]

Any idea when the exotics are expected? Looking for a transpacific/ Hawaii/ Tahiti sailing (or an Indian Ocean)..

cheers for any info

[Chesneygirl]

[quote name='flvol77']My guess would be the Emerald out of FLL and the CB out of NY

My TA told me Princess was seriously considering coming back to FLL year round, I hope its true, we 45 mins from port and don't want to go back to Carnival or RCL.[/quote]

You could be right.

According to the Mass Port Authority schedule for 2010, The CB is on their schedule for a weekly "port of call " stop beginning Aug 9th, 2010. That's probably when the New England/Canada sailings will begin with a weekly stop in Boston.

I am thinking the CB will remain in the Northeast for the summer/fall 2010.

Here is the link to the Massport schedule.
[COLOR=#008000]www.[B]massport[/B].com/[B]port[/B]s/pdf/[B]Schedule[/B]_10.pdf[/COLOR]
Just copy and paste in google and will come up.

[Infi]

[quote name='caribbeanboy']doesn't make sense to send the Star to europe and the Emerald to Alaska/Mexico, so my guess is

1) alternating eastern/western caribbean from FLL (people have been asking for a long time for a Princess ship in the summer from FLL)

2)from NY area to eastern Caribbean (and Bermuda)

3)from San Juan[/quote]

I agree with this guess, and I'll go a step further and say it'll probably be Emerald out of FLL. It's difficult to sell San Juan these days for any cruise line, and Emerald's a big ship to fill. If Princess wants to have year round Caribbean, good for them - it's a smart move in this economy, too. It's been severely lacking (among the premium lines) in recent years and there's definitely a demand for it.

Also...I don't think Princess has a spot in Bermuda in 2010, but I'm not 100% on that one.

[sidari]

A story regarding Alaska ...some of you may have already seen it.

[URL]http://cnd-cruiseblogger.blogspot.com/[/URL]

[gopherhockey]

[quote name='Cruise Junky']Wow, these prices are a bit high don't you think? Hope there's some good incentives to book.[/quote]

Too high for a Princess cruise thats for sure. We were looking at a few options on Ruby but will stick with Celebrity for now.

[DrivesLikeMario]

That's pretty bad for an article's title to be mispelled! :eek: Notice how it doesn't say what you said - that Princess might pull [B]all[/B] their ships out of Alaska. It only mentions Carnival possibly changing things up and RCI only pulling 1 ship out. I wouldn't say that's a mass exodus.

[NancyIL]

[quote name='sidari']A story regarding Alaska ...some of you may have already seen it.

[URL]http://cnd-cruiseblogger.blogspot.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Many Alaska cruisers were pretty outraged about the $50/pp tax that was added to their cruise price in 2007, but barely a peep was heard about that in 2008 and 2009. Alaska cruises in 2009 have dropped to the lowest prices I've seen since I started looking at them in 2005, yet cruise lines are still having trouble filling their ships. I think "it's the economy, stupid" is the problem - as well as high airfare, especially for one-way cruises.

[lovespositano]

[quote name='janchor']I would go back to Turkey in a pinch--found it very different but fascinating, beautiful and clean!! Our two stops there last summer were the highlight for us on the Grand Mediterranean cruise. Give it a try![/QUOTE]
Well, Istanbul is our FAVORITE port and we have done the Med 9 times. There is nothing else like it for sheer exotic appeal. Get up early on the day you are sailing in and watch it unfold - talk about a magic carpet ride!!

[cherylakers]

We are looking at the Greek Isles and I just noticed they have cut back these cruises. In 2009 they are sailing 6 times between the Crown, Ruby and Grand. Next year 2010 they are only sailing 4 times. 5/27 on the Crown, 6/10 Ruby, 7/28 Ruby and 9/23 Star. We were on the Star in 06, but wanted a different ship this time. 6/10 would work time frame for us, but am not sure about the weather.

Do you think mid to end of June would be too hot on this cruise????

I am tempted to postpone for another year and maybe look at Asia.

Anyone sail in June to the med?? What was weather like??

Thanks
Cheryl

[mii]

[B]Found out something interesting over on the Princess site. The last cruise that the Royal is scheduled now is April 30,2010 from Ft. lauderdale to Seattle. Well now that makes it going into May and I bet just as others said that the Royal will do the 14 day r/t out Seattle doing Alaska. Interesting but probable. [/B]

[B]Marilyn[/B]

[cruisemom42]

[quote name='cherylakers']We are looking at the Greek Isles and I just noticed they have cut back these cruises. In 2009 they are sailing 6 times between the Crown, Ruby and Grand. Next year 2010 they are only sailing 4 times. 5/27 on the Crown, 6/10 Ruby, 7/28 Ruby and 9/23 Star. We were on the Star in 06, but wanted a different ship this time. 6/10 would work time frame for us, but am not sure about the weather.

Do you think mid to end of June would be too hot on this cruise????

I am tempted to postpone for another year and maybe look at Asia.

Anyone sail in June to the med?? What was weather like??

Thanks
Cheryl[/quote]

June in the Med is hot, but manageably hot -- not as bad as July and August.

I'm looking at the 5/29 Ruby Princess. It will all hinge on when DS's graduation is.... Otherwise we will probably be on the 6/10 sailing too.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='Live4Vacay']Also, it seems like so many cruises stop in Turkey, which doesn't interest me; A bit judgemental on my part since I have never been personally, but I've heard many bad comments from others about cleanliness & such. Oh well, here's to 2011 or maybe RCL or Holland.[/quote]I've been to several ports in Turkey, not just Istanbul, and would go again in a heartbeat. Not sure who you might have talked to but Istanbul and Turkey are no more dirty than any city in the U.S., island in the Caribbean or other cities in Europe. It's a fascinating combination of East and West with a very long history. Antalya, for instance, was a major stop on the route established by Marco Polo and has some wonderful Roman ruins. There are something like 250 5-star hotels along the beaches and believe me, they definitely rate as 5-star; luxurious doesn't begin to cover it. One thing I noticed in Turkey outside of Istanbul is that every single house, store, gas station, etc. has solar-heat. Don't knock Turkey unless you can form your own opinion. :)

[hubofhockey]

[quote name='NancyIL']The prices are high compared to the 2009 Europe cruise prices now. However, I don't expect cruise lines to start out with rock-bottom prices when itineraries are first released. If the economy doesn't improve down the road, prices will drop.[/quote]

We are planning on Med for next July 4 and Celebrity Solstice prices look better than Ruby Princess and starts and ends at same port. Will be a tough decision.

[stellasue]

What's the difference between "Launch Fares - Lead In Fares" (2nd column) and "Travel Agent's Group Lead In Fares" (4th column)? What are "Amenity Points" (5th column)?

[Cruisin' Chick]

[quote name='aclay']Any idea when the exotics are expected? Looking for a transpacific/ Hawaii/ Tahiti sailing (or an Indian Ocean)..

cheers for any info[/quote]

Don't know. But I keep checking here and on the Princess website.

[caribill]

[quote name='stellasue']What's the difference between "Launch Fares - Lead In Fares" (2nd column) and "Travel Agent's Group Lead In Fares" (4th column)? What are "Amenity Points" (5th column)?[/quote]


4th column are prices that a travel agent can book groups at.

5th column are points towards amenities that travel agents can give to groups. The more points a group has accumulated, the better the amenities available that can be redeemed by the travel agent for his customers on that cruise.

[sidari]

Princess cruise prices for the Med are more expensive it appears than the other lines, one reason we chose RCL for our 12 night June Med cruise on Brilliance over the Ruby.... although we will return to the Ruby in November for our southern Caribbean cruise..........:D

Cruise fares in General will be Higher next year due to the economy and the drop in numbers of passengers sailing... i believe one of the main men from RCL said that in an interview recently....he also said that RCL will not Drop prices closer to a sailing and instead the ship would leave port with Empty cabins!!

for those of you worried about Alaska you could always try Hurtigruten....:)

[sidari]

LadyJag ......found this about Alaska! and yes it is mainly about Carnival but could also affect other cruise lines......they are clearly looking to find markets that will bring in more money though i guess there will always be passengers wanting to cruise Alaska.

[B]Tourist tax in Alaska causes waves
[/B]

THE world's biggest cruise company, Carnival, is threatening to pull ships out of Alaska in protest at the state's $50-a-head tourist tax.
Carnival Corporation chairman Micky Arison blasted the tax as ill-conceived and warned that reducing the number of ships would hit thousands of shoreside jobs.
He told shareholders: "I want to make it clear - we will very soon announce a reduction in our capacity in 2010." And he warned there could be a further reduction in 2011.
Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to react to the tax, pulling one of its three Alaska ships out.
Carnival has 15 in the area - seven Holland America, seven Princess and one Carnival Cruise Line.
Both companies have extensive land operations, using buses, trains and hotels.
Mr Arison said: "It should now be very evident to everyone that the initiative that passed a couple of years ago (in 2006) is having a very significant impact on tourism to Alaska.
"The growth stopped immediately after the initiative passed. And today the $50 tax is a significant price to pay in a very sensitive consumer environment.
"I would venture to guess that the economic losses, including job losses in Alaska, will be greater than the revenue generated from the taxes imposed.
"We have a lot of significant infrastructure. Those will suffer. We will try to mitigate that but no question, the downstream impact will be felt.
"The saddest thing is that we've been unable to find anybody willing to deal with the unintended consequences of this ill-conceived initiative and the impact on the Alaska economy."
Only $4 of each passenger's $50 tax helps the environment, by paying for rangers and Coast Guard monitors. The rest is straight profit for the Alaska state government.
The tax was brought in after the public voted for it - 52 per cent in favour - but traders in Alaska ports like Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan as well as in the Canadian ports of Victoria and Vancouver fear it will affect their businesses.

[NancyIL]

[quote name='sidari']LadyJag ......found this about Alaska! and yes it is mainly about Carnival but could also affect other cruise lines......they are clearly looking to find markets that will bring in more money though i guess there will always be passengers wanting to cruise Alaska.

[B]Tourist tax in Alaska causes waves
[/B]

THE world's biggest cruise company, Carnival, is threatening to pull ships out of Alaska in protest at the state's $50-a-head tourist tax.
Carnival Corporation chairman Micky Arison blasted the tax as ill-conceived and warned that reducing the number of ships would hit thousands of shoreside jobs.
He told shareholders: "I want to make it clear - we will very soon announce a reduction in our capacity in 2010." And he warned there could be a further reduction in 2011.
Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to react to the tax, pulling one of its three Alaska ships out.
Carnival has 15 in the area - seven Holland America, seven Princess and one Carnival Cruise Line.
Both companies have extensive land operations, using buses, trains and hotels.
Mr Arison said: "It should now be very evident to everyone that the initiative that passed a couple of years ago (in 2006) is having a very significant impact on tourism to Alaska.
"The growth stopped immediately after the initiative passed. And today the $50 tax is a significant price to pay in a very sensitive consumer environment.
"I would venture to guess that the economic losses, including job losses in Alaska, will be greater than the revenue generated from the taxes imposed.
"We have a lot of significant infrastructure. Those will suffer. We will try to mitigate that but no question, the downstream impact will be felt.
"The saddest thing is that we've been unable to find anybody willing to deal with the unintended consequences of this ill-conceived initiative and the impact on the Alaska economy."
Only $4 of each passenger's $50 tax helps the environment, by paying for rangers and Coast Guard monitors. The rest is straight profit for the Alaska state government.
The tax was brought in after the public voted for it - 52 per cent in favour - but traders in Alaska ports like Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan as well as in the Canadian ports of Victoria and Vancouver fear it will affect their businesses.[/QUOTE]

Interesting article. HAL and Princess have 8 ships each in Alaska - unless the reference is to 2010 - and those Alaska schedules haven't been released yet.

[hubofhockey]

[quote name='sidari']Princess cruise prices for the Med are more expensive it appears than the other lines, one reason we chose RCL for our 12 night June Med cruise on Brilliance over the Ruby.... although we will return to the Ruby in November for our southern Caribbean cruise..........:D

Cruise fares in General will be Higher next year due to the economy and the drop in numbers of passengers sailing... i believe one of the main men from RCL said that in an interview recently....he also said that RCL will not Drop prices closer to a sailing and instead the ship would leave port with Empty cabins!!

for those of you worried about Alaska you could always try Hurtigruten....:)[/quote]

RCL can say all they want right now. It's just talk. Supply and demand and bottom line will drive prices in the market.

I had been leaning to Celebrity Solstice for my Med Cruise in 2010 because of Princess' Ruby Med prices. I don't understand why Princess can compete on price in the Caribbean but not in Europe. I guess their pricing strategy works for them. The Solstice may be problematic without anytime dining on a Med cruise. Maybe I should consider that Brilliance itinerary as well. That's a good suggestion.

edit - just checked prices on that brilliance cruise in 2010 and it is much more than Ruby for balcony cabin for a near identical cruise. Looks like Ruby makes more sense for me.

[NancyIL]

[quote name='Ljberkow']RCL can say all they want right now. It's just talk. Supply and demand and bottom line will drive prices in the market.

I had been leaning to Celebrity Solstice for my Med Cruise in 2010 because of Princess' Ruby Med prices. I don't understand why Princess can compete on price in the Caribbean but not in Europe. I guess their pricing strategy works for them. The Solstice may be problematic without anytime dining on a Med cruise. Maybe I should consider that Brilliance itinerary as well. That's a good suggestion.

edit - just checked prices on that brilliance cruise in 2010 and it is much more than Ruby for balcony cabin for a near identical cruise. Looks like Ruby makes more sense for me.[/QUOTE]

I've been looking at Baltic prices for 2010, and RCI is quite expensive. The 14-night Celebrity Eclipse Baltic cruises are considerably less expensive for a balcony cabin than the 12-night Jewel of the Seas. From what I can tell by the prices listed for the Star Princess's 10-night Baltic cruises, they are at least comparable to RCI for inside cabins - and that's what I usually book.