Celebrity Constellation gets competition in the short-cruise market 2013-2014

With the introduction of the new Royal Princess Princess cruises has announced that RUBY PRINCESS will be doing 4- and 5-night cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale Dec. 2013 through April 2014. Pretty exciting news for short cruise lovers! :D

https://book.princess.com/pdf/onesource/pc/2013%20Product%20Release/PC_Caribbean_Overview_PCA13FP12090.pdf

You've just reminded me how disappointed I am that Constellation has been demoted to 4- and 5-night status - or lack thereof.

Agree with you.

Would have been nice to see the Century doing the short ones. And maybe Connie doing the Century cruises instead. Would be nice to go on a Hawaii Cruise with a refurbished ship and a wider selection of specialty venues for example.

Hi Everyone,

I noticed this news yesterday on the Princess Forum. Interesting, as I do not believe that Princess has offered a short Caribbean product in recent memory, at least not on a regular basis. As they have a new ship on the way, it gives them more flexibility.

I see this as negative news for Celebrity, as they will be going head to head with Princess on the same type of product. For Celebrity cruisers, it will likely translate to better deals to be had.

As for Constellation on the 4 & 5 night itineraries ? Don't get me started :)

Just think of it this way: the Celebrity Constellation doing the short-market cruises will now be a lot of first-timers introduction into the cruise industry and to Celebrity Cruises. They will see this gorgeous mid-size ship and want more, and they will come back for more. Maybe the Celebrity Century is just a little bit too small now to compete in the 'upscale' short cruise market. Maybe Celebrity Cruises had to up their game in Miami. Even RCI is getting rid of their older, smaller tonnage in the short cruise market and replacing them with bigger and better ships.

I'm sure there is nothing wrong these days with the Celebrity Century, but Celebrity Constellation is just a little bit better and may give them a slight edge over the other cruise lines ships.

I am happy that many more cruisers, some of them brand new, will now be given the chance to fall in love with Celebrity Constellation without having to dedicate 14-nights of their vacation.

I myself get to enjoy her for my first time doing another 10-nt B2B in early 2013.

Hi Andy,

As a cruiser not dedicated to just Celebrity Cruises I see Ruby Princess entering the market as another excellent ship to add to my list of choices. I already have a cruise on Celebrity Constellation for early Feb 2013 and will now plan one for Ruby Princess for Jan 2014. I can also stand some better competitive deals on the short cruises with $299 5-nighters!

Sometimes a 14-night cruise is just too long and 7-nights isn't enough. Combining two 5-nights makes a perfect 10-night cruise. And scheduled 10-night cruises can be a lot more expensive than doing a B2B on shorter cruises.

And even though the short cruises really don't go to 'exotic', exciting Caribbean destinations the places they do go are low key and don't demand as much from the new cruiser or even the old salts. You can 'do' the island or just stay on the ship. No loss either way.

I can't ever recall Princess Cruises offering regular (seasonal) short cruises at least in the last 15-20 years. They have had short cruises as part of a re-alignment into a ships next season after coming back from their summer destinations. I actually cruised the first Royal Princess in between her Europe and South America itineraries when she offered a 4-night Cozumel cruise out of Port Everglades.

What is strange is that Connie doing short hops caused a revolt, whereas Millie was accepted doing the short cruises? Why? Is Millennium less of a ship than the Constellation?!

What is strange is that Connie doing short hops caused a revolt, whereas Millie was accepted doing the short cruises? Why? Is Millennium less of a ship than the Constellation?!

Connie has always done longer cruises: that's kinda been her gig. I remember doing the Panama Canal on her: a two week cruise.

Well it looks like Celebrity Constellation will be doing these short cruises for the next two winters, and with the newer, bigger Solstice-class ships taking over the longer Caribbean routes I doubt she will ever return to her old gig. Maybe they'll switch her out with Celebrity Infinity during winter 2014/2015 and she'll go to South America.

With the introduction of the new Royal Princess Princess cruises has announced that RUBY PRINCESS will be doing 4- and 5-night cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale Dec. 2013 through April 2014. Pretty exciting news for short cruise lovers! :D

 

https://book.princess.com/pdf/onesource/pc/2013%20Product%20Release/PC_Caribbean_Overview_PCA13FP12090.pdf

I welcome this...we've wanted to try Princess and were hesitant to do so on a long cruise...this will be perfect opportunity....

I welcome this...we've wanted to try Princess and were hesitant to do so on a long cruise...this will be perfect opportunity....

We have done 2 Princess cruises and are not happy with their product. Just is not as good as Celebrity. Atmosphere is just different. Crew were not as friendly. Hard to pinpoint, just not a good fit for us. We have done many RC cruises, and several other cruise lines, and Princess was our least favorite. Hopefully your experience will be better.

We have done 2 Princess cruises and are not happy with their product. Just is not as good as Celebrity. Atmosphere is just different. Crew were not as friendly. Hard to pinpoint, just not a good fit for us. We have done many RC cruises, and several other cruise lines, and Princess was our least favorite. Hopefully your experience will be better.

Precisely why we've wanted to do a short cruise to see whether it works for us or not.....might not...but for 3-4 days it will be okay I'm sure...

I think you'll find that Princess delivers a very similar product to Celebrity. While Celebrity remains our cruise line of choice, after 3 Princess cruises, if Princess offers something that X doesn't (like CAribbean in late October/early November), we will not hesitate to book!