Samana removed from 2/20/15 Itinarary

Maybe this has already been discussed but according to RCL site, Samana has been removed from this Itinarary. I know this is not a fantastic port but it may be one of the best whale watching locations in the Caribbean from January thru March when more than 10,000 humpback whales arrive to breed. I was definitely looking forward to whale watching. Labadee is nice but I have been there many times. Same with San Juan - how many times can I tour Old City. St. Thomas is one of my least favorite ports - way too crowded but we always go to St. Johns when we dock there which is good. So basically I am down to one port on this cruise. I know this is a new ship and I am not a port driven cruiser, but this is getting ridiculous. For what I am paying for Quantum, I can probably do a 10-day Celebrity cruise out of Fort Lauderdale with a free drink package which more than pays for airfare from Philly to Lauderdale. I know for sure i can sail on Allure including airfare for less because I am doing it this year. Anyone else disappointed?

Anyone else disappointed?

No

I want to see cruises on Quantum Class around the

Northwest Passage

Norwegian Fjords and Northern Russia.

Asia

Vancouver to Japan via Alaska and Russia ,

The Baltic Sea

South America Easter Island and the Antarctic

U.K. Iceland Greenland Canada Quebec

In other words all the places being visited at the moment by the Small/Medium Luxury Ships .

Not averse to Sun but why go on Large Ships trying to copy Walt Disney to

Third World Ports

You could just go to Walt Disney World with real Race Cars , Real Surf Machines

100's of Restaurants , 3 18 hole golf courses and one 9 hole golf course , Parasailing

2 entertainment zones , a proper Cirque du Soleil , 3 to 6 large Parades , numerous

shows, 24 Screen Cinema . etc etc etc

And thats just inside WDW.

And ponder about what effect carriers like Emirates will mean for Cruise Lines one day

emirates route_map

One stop to anywhere in the civilised World

The new 3rd terminal has 20 A380 gates and

Over 2 billion people in India and China.

.

Maybe this has already been discussed but according to RCL site, Samana has been removed from this Itinarary. I know this is not a fantastic port but it may be one of the best whale watching locations in the Caribbean from January thru March when more than 10,000 humpback whales arrive to breed. I was definitely looking forward to whale watching. Labadee is nice but I have been there many times. Same with San Juan - how many times can I tour Old City. St. Thomas is one of my least favorite ports - way too crowded but we always go to St. Johns when we dock there which is good. So basically I am down to one port on this cruise. I know this is a new ship and I am not a port driven cruiser, but this is getting ridiculous. For what I am paying for Quantum, I can probably do a 10-day Celebrity cruise out of Fort Lauderdale with a free drink package which more than pays for airfare from Philly to Lauderdale. I know for sure i can sail on Allure including airfare for less because I am doing it this year. Anyone else disappointed?

Not really disappointed, but would like to see new ports. I tend to agree with everything you said....just add to that, no desire to travel to the NYC area in the dead of winter to get on a new cruise ship.

With the canal opening up in 2015, and an over-saturation of cabin space in Florida next year, I see lots of opportunities for something new. :)

Not really disappointed, but would like to see new ports. I tend to agree with everything you said....just add to that, no desire to travel to the NYC area in the dead of winter to get on a new cruise ship.

 

With the canal opening up in 2015, and an over-saturation of cabin space in Florida next year, I see lots of opportunities for something new. :)

It's an hour and 15 mintue ride for me to Bayonne. Easiest port to get to. Get off the NJ turnpike and make a left turn into the port. The new terminal will make it even better. I have sailed out of NYC area twice during the winter and weather is generally nice by the second day on the ship. I know that a 9-day cruise is not quite long enough to visit any good ports from NYC but I have some family concerns which don't let me take a longer cruise at this time. Also, the 12-day cruise was way more expensive - more than $1000 extra for 3 more days. I will probably cancel this cruise and do something out of Florida.

Just checked on our March 2014 itinerary and sure enough, Samana is gone, BUT it was replaced with ANOTHER day in Labadee :mad: Oh joy.

Just checked on our March 2014 itinerary and sure enough, Samana is gone, BUT it was replaced with ANOTHER day in Labadee :mad: Oh joy.

Itinerary has two days in Labadee?

Yup. Hope they will make a change before the cruise.

The March 21st sailing has also been changed. Samana dropped for an overnight in San Juan.

Itinerary has two days in Labadee?

Arrives at 4:00pm leaves 4:00pm next day.

The March 21st sailing has also been changed. Samana dropped for an overnight in San Juan.

Very disappointed by this

This is actually a HUGE amount of $$ to spend for a cruise to 2 ports in 8 days, especially since there is not enough to do in Labadee for TWO days unless you are totally a beach person, which we are not.:(

Arrives at 4:00pm leaves 4:00pm next day.

Not going to lie, if Royal Caribbean does it right this could be awesome. Has a ship ever stayed over night in Labadee? If they do some night time entertainment on the peninsula like a true beach party (not that pool deck thing) they could make it a great night and a unique experience.

IMHO a huge beach party does NOT make up from totally missing a port - especially for the prices we are paying for the Quantum.:o

Just checked on our March 2014 itinerary and sure enough, Samana is gone, BUT it was replaced with ANOTHER day in Labadee :mad: Oh joy.

It's still on our March 11th cruise.

Below is what I see on RC website using the two different approaches. Diffrent answers as you can see.

A. Via plan a cruise

B. Via My Cruises

RCI Home page/Plan a cruise

Sailing Date 3/21/13

Day Port *** Arrive Depart Activity

Day 1 Cape Liberty, New Jersey

5:00 PM

Day 2 Cruising

Day 3 Cruising

Day 4 San Juan, Puerto Rico

4:00 PM Docked

Day 5 San Juan, Puerto Rico

3:00 PM Docked

Day 6 Labadee, Haiti

9:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

Day 7 Cruising

Day 8 Cruising

Day 9 Cape Liberty, New Jersey

8:00 AM

Below from “my cruises”

Date Port Arrive Depart Activity

21-Mar Cape Liberty, New Jersey

5:00 PM

22-Mar Cruising Cruising

23-Mar Cruising Cruising

24-Mar San Juan, Puerto Rico

4:00 PM 11:00 PM Docked

25-Mar Labadee, Haiti

4:30 PM Docked

26-Mar Labadee, Haiti

5:00 PM Docked

27-Mar Cruising Cruising

28-Mar Cruising Cruising

29-Mar Cape Liberty, New Jersey

8:00 AM

It's still on our March 11th cruise.

March 11th? I see March 1st, 13th, 21st and 29th, none of which show Samana at least from the search for a cruise page.

People are mixing up the ships and the year:

March 11, 2014 - Explorer

March 21, 2015 - Quantum

People are mixing up the ships and the year:

 

March 11, 2014 - Explorer

 

March 21, 2015 - Quantum

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought we were all looking at Quantum.

Arrives at 4:00pm leaves 4:00pm next day.

Actually only one day in Labadee. I doubt anyone would get off the ship after 4 PM in Labadee.

Actually only one day in Labadee. I doubt anyone would get off the ship after 4 PM in Labadee.

I wonder if they would even allow you off the ship at 4pm in Labadee. :(

Gotta say, crappy itinerary.

That's a good point about not getting off the ship at 4:00 in Labadee. Soooo - we will have 6 "sea" days on an 8-day cruise.:eek:

March 11th? I see March 1st, 13th, 21st and 29th, none of which show Samana at least from the search for a cruise page.

Sorry...that's on the Explorer, this up coming March 11th.

People are mixing up the ships and the year:

 

March 11, 2014 - Explorer

 

March 21, 2015 - Quantum

I wasn't intending on mixing up the ships, but rather just a comment that it's still a scheduled stop for an upcoming cruise, so the port wasn't being removed across the board. (Like Costa Maya was a few years ago)

Again, sorry for the confusion.

Just checked my 1/3/15 sailing, and no Samana there, either. We get an overnight in San Juan instead - we now arrive at 4 pm and leave the next day at 3 pm.

I have mixed feelings about this. I would like another port, but an overnight in PR might be cool - bio bay and nightlife for the nocturnal folks, and then time the next morning to explore PR for the early risers.

Personally, i would have loved to have an extra day on Labadee. I never do any of the cultural trips or excursions because I enjoy the beach, so I could spend one day on the beach and one day doing something educational and/or touristy. And I totally would go to the beach even if we arrived at 4 pm - I'm completely nocturnal, so I'm never out there early anyway. :D

Well, it's 470 days away. Who knows what will change by then!

We really enjoyed out stop in Samana last spring. We took a tour through "Tour Samana with Terry." We had stopped there 2 years ago and hated it. So, this time we did a lot of research to get a good experience. It was such a unique stop. I do not think RCL has very good excursions [except whale watching] for the Samana port of call. If they are going to keep this port they need to do a better job.

I would enjoy an overnight in Labadee. It would be fun to have a night beach party.