Are there no Princess ships in the Caribbean in May/June?

Just to update you all.....

We have booked a B2B on Independence of the Seas for May. We would have preferred Oasis as we love her and she is familiar, but prices were just silly as she will now be the only ship of her class in the Caribbean. We hope we will enjoy IOS as much, but feel a little nervous as we hope we like her more than either Explorer or Voyager.

We really wish we could have been on a Princess ship, but unfortunately that was not to be.

Pablo222, the reason these 5 year old ships can command such high prices is that they are still stunning and unique. Central Park is amazing, as is the Boardwalk, the shows are superb - innovative and of a high quality - the aqua show is 'one of a kind. Despite being 'oldies' we love the 'buzz' of being on a large ship, especially one which has so much to offer. Other people obviously feel the same, hence the high prices.

I think your comments are spot-on.

 

I also think it's interesting that these 5-yo royal carribbean ships

command higher prices than princess' new ships....

....and it's those same Royal Caribbean ships that have also commanded higher prices than brand new Norwegian Cruise Line ships, and brand new Carnival Cruise Line ships, and brand new MSC ships sailing out of south Florida.

;)

Just to update you all.....

 

We have booked a B2B on Independence of the Seas for May....

Congratulations on your new bookings! I hope you have a great cruise. :D

Congratulations on your new bookings! I hope you have a great cruise. :D

Thank you for your kind wishes.:) I am sure we will.

I've yet to go on a cruise that I haven't enjoyed, just some more than others, so we are ready to embark on a new experience. There will be things we like more, things we like less, things which are pretty much the same, but whatever its like I shall revel in being at sea, in a huge ship, with no cooking, no shopping, someone to make my bed, and a balcony outside. What's not to like? :D

Bring it on!

And Princess, please,please, PLEASE give us some long (14 night) cruises in the Caribbean, during the summer months, one day soon.....;)

 

And Princess, please,please, PLEASE give us some long (14 night) cruises in the Caribbean, during the summer months, one day soon.....;)

To quote one stock analyst about Carnival Corp. which owns Princess: "The Caribbean market is set to continue negatively affecting yields"

....and it's those same Royal Caribbean ships that have also commanded higher prices than brand new Norwegian Cruise Line ships, and brand new Carnival Cruise Line ships, and brand new MSC ships sailing out of south Florida.

 

;)

Sure ... executives at all those companies must be feeling shame

over their newbuilds.

The airfare getting to SJU just got rediculous for some of us to even consider flying there, and the cruise lines starting filling the ships with rates aimed at the 'locals'. I remember reading all sorts of horror stories of large families traveling with babies being changed in the atrium and MDR's. The cruise lines just weren't making any money, as the 'locals' weren't making up for those lost revenues by spending in the shops or using the casinos. It wasn't long after that we started seeing the number of southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan decrease or being eliminated all together.

 

:D

Yes, and I've been on several of those discounted cruises. Not enjoyable.

It is very disapointing. Even from the West Coast there is nothing but Alaska. I take vacations for Fun and Sun and not ice glaciers. My wife wanted to go there at one time and I almost gave in, but luckly she gave in and we went to Tahiti instead.

You might find that you really enjoy Alaska if you give it a try. However, there are other cruises departing from the West coast. Princess does Hawaii, Tahiti, and the Panama Canal.

I've sailed out of SF to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Vancouver, and am booked from SF to FLL via the Panama Canal. Someday after I finally retire we will likely do the 28 day SF - Tahiti sailing. Saying there is "nothing but Alaska" seems a bit disingenuous.

Just to update you all.....

 

We have booked a B2B on Independence of the Seas for May. We would have preferred Oasis as we love her and she is familiar, but prices were just silly as she will now be the only ship of her class in the Caribbean. We hope we will enjoy IOS as much, but feel a little nervous as we hope we like her more than either Explorer or Voyager.

 

We really wish we could have been on a Princess ship, but unfortunately that was not to be.

 

Pablo222, the reason these 5 year old ships can command such high prices is that they are still stunning and unique. Central Park is amazing, as is the Boardwalk, the shows are superb - innovative and of a high quality - the aqua show is 'one of a kind. Despite being 'oldies' we love the 'buzz' of being on a large ship, especially one which has so much to offer. Other people obviously feel the same, hence the high prices.

The airfare getting to SJU just got rediculous for some of us to even consider flying there, and the cruise lines starting filling the ships with rates aimed at the 'locals'. I remember reading all sorts of horror stories of large families traveling with babies being changed in the atrium and MDR's. The cruise lines just weren't making any money, as the 'locals' weren't making up for those lost revenues by spending in the shops or using the casinos. It wasn't long after that we started seeing the number of southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan decrease or being eliminated all together.

 

 

 

:D

I understand about the airfare if you are not flying out of a major city. However living in NY I have paid less to fly to SJU than to Ft Lauderdale. I have have sailed out of San Juan 3 times with Princess and Once with Celebrity. I have not experienced a

ship overloaded with locals on any of my trips.

I understand about the airfare if you are not flying out of a major city. However living in NY I have paid less to fly to SJU than to Ft Lauderdale. I have have sailed out of San Juan 3 times with Princess and Once with Celebrity. I have not experienced a

ship overloaded with locals on any of my trips.

I'm not talking about the cruise lines filling ships with last minute deals for 'locals' happening anytime in the recent past; this was roughly 15 years ago when all of the cruise lines had ships based out of San Juan. I was a Travel Agent back then and distinctly remember it happening.

And not everyone flies non-stop from a major city to SJU. For the most part I've always had to connect through Atlanta, Newark, or O'Hare, depending on which carrier I am/was using.

:D

Sure ... executives at all those companies must be feeling shame

over their newbuilds.

I don't think 'shame' is the right word. Sure, they'd love to be taking in 2x what they're charging to fill their ships, but for the most part, cruising Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas is a 'one shot deal' for most of us. We can spend heaping gobs of money to sail in the 'big girls', or cruise twice for the same amount of money on another ship, even on a new build offering modern amenities and upscale dining venues. As a single-occupancy I'd much rather sail Regal Princess or Norwegian Getaway for $900 than on Allure of the Seas for $1700+. And the big production shows on the Oasis-class are nice, but I had a LOT more fun listening to the Beatlemaniacs than I did watching 'Chicago'.

These brand new ships that have been rolling out of the shipyards in the last five years are not built to compete with the Oasis-class, but with ships of their own size.

So, I'm guessing the executives over at all of the other companies are pretty darned proud of their new builds.

:D

A more 'apples to apples' comparison would be between the Celebrity Summit and the Caribbean Princess, as they were the ships competing for the San Juan departures to the Southern Caribbean.

 

:D

If I had a choice I would pick CB over the Summit. The food on Princess is so much better. However I do like rooms on the Summit better.

If I had a choice I would pick CB over the Summit. The food on Princess is so much better. However I do like rooms on the Summit better.

My cruise line of choice, prior to sailing aboard Royal Princess, was Celebrity Cruises, specifically the Millennium-class. That is, before they dropped in the Deck 11 balconies on half of the walking track, chopped up the Cosmos Lounge, and plugged the doughnut-hole of the Rendezvous Lounge, among other things. They Solsticized them, and in my opinion, ruined them.

So I started looking elsewhere, and ended up on Princess Cruises. But after a somewhat disastrous and unpleasant cruise on Ruby Princess, I had all but given up on them too, almost cancelling my B2B on Royal Princess. I'm glad I didn't.

I still won't sail on a Grand-class, preferring only the Royal-class, otherwise it'll be on Holland-America's Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam, NCL's Norwegian Getaway or Norwegian Breakaway, or the Carnival Breeze (maybe not so much the latter).

:D

I don't think 'shame' is the right word. Sure, they'd love to be taking in 2x what they're charging to fill their ships, but for the most part, cruising Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas is a 'one shot deal' for most of us.

 

[...]

 

So, I'm guessing the executives over at all of the other companies are pretty darned proud of their new builds.

I don't think it matters is the ship is one-shot, or people return.

All that matters is that enough people show up to keep demand

and prices high.

I don't know -- the executives at Royal Carribbean must be pretty

proud to have two ships that are a few years old and still command

top price in the carribbean.

I guess the executives at other companies are shooting for

'good enough'.

 

I don't know -- the executives at Royal Carribbean must be pretty

proud to have two ships that are a few years old and still command

top price in the carribbean.

 

Princess is not the only cruise line that has profitability problems with Caribbean cruises.

From a recent Carnival Corp. (which owns Princess) analysis by a stock analyst:

o Caribbean market will continue negatively affect yields in 2015

o Pricing for 2015 in the Caribbean is expected to remain stable, but at increased occupancy.

From a recent RCCL presentation to stock analysts:

o Closing bookings in the fourth quarter were more sluggish than expected. The culprit continues to be a stubbornly challenging Caribbean.

o There has been a slowdown in closing Caribbean demand and subsequent pricing reductions on non-holiday sailings.

o Quantum has been booking exceptionally well, but the short and seven-night Caribbean have been challenging.

Since we don't care to take Caribbean cruises that time of year, Princess not having cruises in that time frame is no problem for us. :)

LuLu

Lets look at it from a different perspective:

Carnival owns Princess, and Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity. Carnival views Princess as their more "upscale" line (I know they own Cunard and many other lines that cost even more), and RCI views Celebrity as their more "upscale" line....i.e. It costs more to go on a Princess or Celebrity cruise in most cases than it does to go on a RCI or Carnival cruise (I know that there are some exceptions to that statement...but they are few). That means that they will be drawing a crowd that is willing to pay more.....I think we can all agree on that.

When you look at it from that perspective, and also look at the fact that one of the larger costs of a Mediterranean cruise is the airfare, it becomes obvious that both Princess and Celebrity will want to position the majority of their ships overseas where they can make more $$$ because the cruiser who is goin over there is more likely to spend more than in the Caribbean. That leaves Carnival and RCI (i.e. the lower cost options) to service that market.

When you look at it from that perspective, and also look at the fact that one of the larger costs of a Mediterranean cruise is the airfare, it becomes obvious that both Princess and Celebrity will want to position the majority of their ships overseas where they can make more $$$ because the cruiser who is going over there is more likely to spend more than in the Caribbean. That leaves Carnival and RCI (i.e. the lower cost options) to service that market.

RCCL corp recent told stock analysts that 2/3 of the passengers on European cruises live in Europe. For many, there will be intra-Europe airfares, but that will be less than crossing the Atlantic.

I do not know the percentage for Princess, but a good number of passengers will be from Europe on the European cruises.