New Itineraries or the same boring ports

[seeship]

Looks like the Oasis and Alure will be the destination!!!!!!! I think there will be enough to keep me busy for 7 days.

[negc]

All of our cruises have been in the Caribbean. We have no problem with the ports since the ship is now our destination.

 

You have to remember that maybe you're bored with the same ports but for many it's their first and possibly only cruise.

 

Just wait, Cuba will be on the list shortly.

 

From your lips to God's (or perhaps Congress' and Obama's) ears :) I wouldn't start packing for that cruise too soon, though. "Shortly" may be a bit overly optimistic. :rolleyes:

[Laoghaire]

Hello...I long for the day Royal Caribbean brings back those wonderful islands we visited many years ago. Guadaloupe, St. Barths, Greneda, Trinadad and Tobago!! Of course, the ships were smaller, but why can't they route the Vision Class there. Oh, well, guess those days are long past.

 

Helen

[negc]

Hello...I long for the day Royal Caribbean brings back those wonderful islands we visited many years ago. Guadaloupe, St. Barths, Greneda, Trinadad and Tobago!! Of course, the ships were smaller, but why can't they route the Vision Class there. Oh, well, guess those days are long past.

 

Helen

 

If you did just a little research, you would have found that RCI is already visiting some if not all of those ports. Those days are not long past, but it does require a little effort to determine what ports are being visited. Everything is not San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.:rolleyes:

[lovemylab]

RCCL is now offering some wonderful itineraries on the Southern routes out of San Juan. Grenada, Dominica, Tortola, St. Croix and St. Kitt's are all destinations on those routes.

 

Ships like the Oasis are too big to sail to many of the islands.

 

I would like to see more 10 day sailings however with the economy I doubt there is much demand for these.

[negc]

RCCL is now offering some wonderful itineraries on the Southern routes out of San Juan. Grenada, Dominica, Tortola, St. Croix and St. Kitt's are all destinations on those routes.

 

Ships like the Oasis are too big to sail to many of the islands.

 

I would like to see more 10 day sailings however with the economy I doubt there is much demand for these.

 

You have correctly identified the problem. There is less demand for longer cruises than there is for 3, 4, 5 and 7 night cruises. However, RCI does offer some longer itineraries which include some of those less frequented ports of call. They really do try to offer something for everyone but it just isn't reasonable to expect that they can satisfy everyone and still make a profit.:)

[songster2]

My first few cruises were in the Caribbean, but then I began to broaden my horizons. We just returned from a B2B to Alaska (beautiful nature), and have done the Baltic, Eastern and Western Med. I've had wonderful times seeing the natural beauty and history in several different places. The cost of the Alaska cruise was less than the Caribbean, and the air to Vancouver was less than flying to San Juan. It is good to sometimes think outside the box. :D

[nana nancy]

We're going back to RCL so we can sail out of Bayonne. Four couples, 2 pp have scooters, 1 a wheelchair, so much easier then flying. My DH and I have sailed RCL 3 times, Celebrity 1, Princess 2, QM2 1, NCL 1, NCLA 1 in Hawaii, and it's mainly the ports or the ship that determine our cruises. We usually travel with 2-3 other couples. Two do not like to fly, we are in NJ, so that limits our destinations. We do have lots of options for departures. NYC, Red Hook, and Bayonne. Next for us will be a Freedom class with our DG, out of FL. But think we will go with Princess the next time, as they do Southern Caribbean out of FL, not San Juan like RCL. SOOOOO much easier! Us yearly cruiserer's would love new ports, but we are also over the hill types and like easy departure ports! Cruising is still the BEST vacation, IMO.

[RevSmith]

I could care less where the ship goes...I have cruised so many times...all I want is to be at sea...I don't even get off the ship most of the time...why bother, most of the ports look the same now a days. Years ago you really got a lot of the places culture, but no more...just the same old thing, port after port, after port. I love being on the ship.

[Luv2Cruise525]

I could care less where the ship goes...I have cruised so many times...all I want is to be at sea...I don't even get off the ship most of the time...why bother, most of the ports look the same now a days. Years ago you really got a lot of the places culture, but no more...just the same old thing, port after port, after port. I love being on the ship.

 

 

Couldn't agree more! :D

[bobstheboy]

It must really be hell having to visit the Caribbean Islands over and over again on a cruise ship.

 

Just be glad you have the means to have these wonderful holidays.

[Laoghaire]

If you did just a little research, you would have found that RCI is already visiting some if not all of those ports. Those days are not long past, but it does require a little effort to determine what ports are being visited. Everything is not San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.:rolleyes:

 

Hello, Bill...I just did some research on RCI sailings, and still cannot see where the ports include St. Barths, Trinadad/Tobago and Guadaloupe. I do see Serenade OTS and Adventure OTS do Granada. Can you clarify which ships Of Royal Caribbean (not Celebrity or Azamura) go to the above mentioned islands? I would book in a moment.

 

Thanks,

 

Helen

[karen116]

i could care less where the ship goes...i have cruised so many times...all i want is to be at sea...i don't even get off the ship most of the time...why bother, most of the ports look the same now a days. Years ago you really got a lot of the places culture, but no more...just the same old thing, port after port, after port. I love being on the ship.

 

amen

[cruzincurt]

We couldn't care less either. More sea days the better as long as we drop anchor in warm, clear blue water when we do stop.:)

[turquoisesea]

Back in the day when the Norway was the biggest ship to sail in the Caribbean it did something great. At 6:00 a.m. it anchored off St. John and anyone who wanted to get off there - with an excursion, or on their own - would be tendored to the harbor. She then sailed on to St, Thomas. We happily got off to spend the day in St. John and then took the ferry over to St. Thomas to join the ship.

Come to think of it, there are no ships with tendors on board that held as many pax as the Norway. Maybe this wouldn't work. :eek:

But, I do agree with the OP.. different islands would be great. We just did Bonaire, Granada, Aruba, and St. Kitts on the Crown Princess and it was great to see 4 new islands in one cruise!!!:D

[DC2OC]

Most who complain about the ports simply have not done their homework. Yes, it is true that RCI tends to stick to the same boring itineraries...especially in the Caribbean and Europe. But that is simply a reflection of a cruise line that has decided to emphasize mega-ships which by the nature of their size limit the number of ports. Another issue is that RCI has slowed down their ships to save fuel (other lines have done the same) which also limits ports on most itineraries. For those that want to try something different, you need to expand your horizons to other cruise lines and smaller vessels. Take a look at Azamara, Oceania, Holland America and even Princess and you will find some very interesting itineraries. We have cruised to 6 continents over the years, and have found many new ports.....but it has meant using 11 different cruise lines.

 

Hank

 

Good Advice.We are looking at different cruise lines.Between my wife and myself we have sailed 5 lines but have sailed Only RCCL and Celebrity because of their loyalty benefits but now their new bennie restrictions opens the door to try new lines especially when their sale promotion meets what we can get from RCI Corp.I guess all along it was silly of us not to try different lines over a couple hundred bucks or less.There are mjor six cruise lines that sail within a 4 hour drive of here ................ Frank:)

[PaulMCO]

Try Oceania - (if your pocket can stand it) but the cruise below has some interesting ports

[camofwilliamsburg]

Jeff: We met people that we became good friends with that live in The Villages , what a lovely place that is!...We met them on an MSC cruise in the Caribbean, and will be sailing MSC POESIA again for a very nice itinerary, being Southern Caribbean and leaving from Ft Lauderdale. It is a great itinerary on a beautiful ship. If interested in learning more let me know.

We also got a bit tired of the same old eastern/western...same type of shows...same menus.... WE needed a nice change and it was great change.

[Laoghaire]

If you did just a little research, you would have found that RCI is already visiting some if not all of those ports. Those days are not long past, but it does require a little effort to determine what ports are being visited. Everything is not San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.:rolleyes:

 

Don't find many of those ports on Royal Caribbean

 

Ed Olson

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ports/group/home.do;jsessionid=0000mxA_nyg6gEZOioNmV-ooc2C:13hldio7n?dest=CARIB

[OCruisers]

We actually look forward to going back to the "same old ports". Rather like going back to the same land vacation house each year. :cool:

[coordinator23]

As we do most of our cruising during the winter, to get away from our Wisconsin cold, we don't worry about the ports too much. I agree about the southern itinearies. Much too hard and expensive to fly into San Jaun. As we have done most of the other ports already, we mostly stay on board when in port. It's rather nice having the ship to one's self.

 

Rollie

We too would like to do a souther caribbean route, but it is too difficult and expensive to go to San Juan from Chicago. We are beginning to look at HAL because we can go to Aruba from Florida with them on a cruise. More sea days, but at least it would be warmer than Chicago. Too bad RCL can't offer a cruise from Florida to somewhere in the southern caribbean. I would like to do that. We have done the other ports also.

[Laoghaire]

Don't find many of those ports on Royal Caribbean

 

Ed Olson

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ports/group/home.do;jsessionid=0000mxA_nyg6gEZOioNmV-ooc2C:13hldio7n?dest=CARIB

[camofwilliamsburg]

You can contact me for more info on MSC since I kept a lot of the stuff from the cruise I took. We booked a 10 night from Nov 30- Dec 10 On MSC Poesia which leaves and returns from Ft Lauderdale. We are going to be doing San juan, St Kitts, Barbados, Martinique, St Maarten and Nassau. I think it is a great itinerary and we are very excited to do more southern islands on this cruise. ( And the price was fantastic!!!, an added bonus).