Poor itinerary choices / Galveston

[slavearlen]

Looking at the choices out of Galveston, all the cruise ships are repeating the same ports of call. Cozumel, Belize, Hondorus or Jamacia, Grand Cayman. Only exception is Carnival sails to Key West and Bahamas.

 

What is wrong with RCCL not including Key West and the Bahamas in their Galveston itinerary choices. They used to but no longer. Get's a little boring visiting Cozumel all the time.

[Beachin]

I agree! We took our granddaughter out of Galveston last year for her spring break. She wanted to do it again this year but there was no way I was doing the same ports on the same ship. Looking for a little variety in what is offered!

[orville99]

Probably why RCL periodically abandons Galveston entirely;)

Edited February 9, 2015 by orville99

[slavearlen]

Too many ships running same itinerary with too change. Think people would gladly accept choices of longer cruises with different ports. Even longer with fewer ports. Something has got to give there.

[bluegirlum]

Some of us have to fly to go on any of their cruises, so it's hard to feel too sorry for you. :D But I have wanted to try a cruise out of Galveston and the itineraries have been what's kept me from doing so. I have no desire to go to Honduras, Belize or Jamaica on a cruise.

[willcruiseanythyme]

Too many ships running same itinerary with too change. Think people would gladly accept choices of longer cruises with different ports. Even longer with fewer ports. Something has got to give there.

 

Well, I hate that a lot of the eastern caribbean cruises are always....San Juan, St. Thomas, and Turks and Caicos or sometimes St. Maarten. Not too much choice outside of those ports even though I would take St. Maartens any day of the week. I agree though, it would be nice to see some new ports added. Maybe down in Costa Rica or some other place in Mexico. Jamaica isn't that great of a stop either. I like Grand Cayman but they need new excursion offerings. Guess I just like the whole cruising experience though so I won't stop cruising....;)

[Cindy]

Princess is running a couple different and longer itineraries next season from Houston, and Carnival has started mixing some longer stuff in there too. I looked long and hard at the Princess Panama trip in March 2016, and I actually had it booked for a couple days, but I got so many perks from the Celebrity all-inclusive combined with a book-on-board OBC that it was a no-brainer to fly to Florida for the Equinox.

 

I know what you mean about the sameness...I'd gladly pay a little extra to book some longer itineraries from Houston or Galveston. I just switched a December booking from the Liberty to the Caribbean Princess because I just need SOMETHING different -- if not the ports, then at least the menus and the cabin will be new! I know the itineraries are stale because I was excited to realize my cruise doesn't go to Cozumel!:D

[slavearlen]

I've sailed on 15 different itineraries and flown to all of them with the exception of the last cruise. I live in San Antonio so I'm 4 hours from Galveston and can easily drive there. I'm simply making an observation that there are 4 cruise lines in Texas all doing virtually the same ports of call and would like to see RCCL, for one, include Key West and Bahama's to their itinerary, expanding options. I've paid my share in flying and will likely continue to do so. No where near boo-hooing, but thank you!

[vettecruiser1]

Does not matter to me where they go as long as RCCL stays here year round. I will gladly keep going to the same places because I love my cruise vacations and if i'm not flying 3 people everytime I can schedule another vacation in the same year. I have 3 set up this year, mostly going to the same places and each one we are doing totally different things. I hated when RCCL pulled out of galveston and will never complain since a day at sea is better then a day on land.

[Kellie Poodle]

I'd like to see RCI bring back the Panama Canal turn-around cruise that used to sail from Galveston. I believe it was when Rhapsody was still there. Maybe the last one was 2005 or 2006.

 

I normally cruise for ports, but when I need a quick get-away, I'll find a good price and drive the 6+ hours to Galveston and not get off the ship.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

The Port of Galveston and Royal Caribbean have recently signed a new agreement. Part of the agreement is an expansion of the Cruise Port to handle larger ships. I suspect that upon completion of the expansion, the larger ships will dock and RCL will then offer two different class of ships along with additional itenararies. I'm looking forward to it. :D

[Hoopster95]

I've sailed on 15 different itineraries and flown to all of them with the exception of the last cruise. I live in San Antonio so I'm 4 hours from Galveston and can easily drive there. I'm simply making an observation that there are 4 cruise lines in Texas all doing virtually the same ports of call and would like to see RCCL, for one, include Key West and Bahama's to their itinerary, expanding options. I've paid my share in flying and will likely continue to do so. No where near boo-hooing, but thank you!

 

Voyager Class leaving Galveston soon and Freedom Class cannot fit at Key West, so Key West can't be done anyways. Any added Nassau sailing is not expanding imo, but making things much much worse with the bazillion ships and itineraries that already go to the Bahamas. Why sail all the way that far east to the Bahamas when there are so much better islands to visit closer by?

 

An improvement would be expanded itineraries as already mentioned: partial Panama Canal transit incl. Puerto Limon, Cartagena & Santa Maria, Southern Carib incl Aruba/Curacao, excellent one way itineraries like CCL Triumph currently testing, etc.

[slavearlen]

Sounds like great news. Galveston a very successful port. I love being able to drive there and glad RCI is back. Their new Liberty is larger than Navigator so that indicates to me alot of positive possibilities. Carnival has several different itineries put of Galveston. Since I am Diamond with RCI I would like to see them expand their itineraries. We will see how things unfold. Thank you for sharing that info.

[Susie51]

I like being able to fly non-stop to Houston in order to go on a cruise. I hope RCI expands its options. What about 3/4 day cruises? 5/9?

[wolfganghowell]

This comes up every so often. What many people don't seem to get is that there is a limited number of ports that a ship can sail from Galveston in 7 days. Of those, they have to have berths. Key West limited cruise ships a few years back - it's not the cruise lines fault they can't go there. Blame local Key West government. Nassau can only handle so many ships and those berths are already taken.

 

That being said, I do wish Costa Maya would get back on the itinerary. Seems a much better port than Belize or Falmouth. But Falmouth is probably a permanent fixture given how much they spent on the port itself.

 

Celebrity tried years back to do a 10 night itinerary, partial Panama Canal. They couldn't fill the ship. Basically, if you want variety in your ports, you are going to have to choose different starting points. That's just basic geography. We want to do Southern Caribbean one of these days and we know that's going to mean leaving out of San Juan.

[Deatsch]

Would you just LISTEN to us?

 

I mean, really!

 

We get to go where it's warm in the winter on a lovely ship, with great service, and we COMPLAIN about the stops?

 

Sure, they are the same ports but, just like YOUR town, there are different things to do in each stop. Different excursions, different places to shop, rent a car and GO somewhere different.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Deatsch

[stewpapa]

Nov 13th 9 Nights on Liberty's 1st trip out of Galveston. Same old ports but at least it's something a little different. Jamaica, Cayman, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel. js

Edited February 9, 2015 by stewpapa

[nomoreknothead]

I don't mind any of the current ports, I do wish they would add Costa Maya back and maybe Key West! I'd be happy if we sailed from Galveston to one port and then back ! :p It's all about the sea days for me. I love being able to drive to the port. Galveston is a special place for me , It where my DH brought me for our honeymoon. So RCCL please stay here year around!

[setsail]

I don't think much will change until the ratio of new cruisers to repeaters changes. Right now about 50% are new and have not been to any of these ports and of the repeaters most only cruise once every 3 years or so. Most people cruising are not the multiple times a year cruisers like on cc

[dplusd]

We love to cruise from Galveston or Houston because we can drive to port! But, that is the ONLY reason. Both ports are unattractive and plagued with weather delays during winter months. On our cruises from the Texas ports we do not even get off the ship anymore...it's just an easy cruise with no airports involved and the ship as the destination.

 

I would love to see Royal alternate 10-day cruises and 4-day cruises. On the 10-day cruise you could get to the Bahamas and/or Key West.

[bilyclub]

Sounds like great news. Galveston a very successful port. I love being able to drive there and glad RCI is back. Their new Liberty is larger than Navigator so that indicates to me alot of positive possibilities. Carnival has several different itineries put of Galveston. Since I am Diamond with RCI I would like to see them expand their itineraries. We will see how things unfold. Thank you for sharing that info.

 

 

I see Carnival Liberty listed at 110,000 gross tons. Voyager class is 138,000 tons, how is that bigger? I f you were talking about the Magic still only 128,000 tons.

Edited February 9, 2015 by bilyclub

[Cruzin-K]

Princess is running a couple different and longer itineraries next season from Houston, and Carnival has started mixing some longer stuff in there too. I looked long and hard at the Princess Panama trip in March 2016, and I actually had it booked for a couple days, but I got so many perks from the Celebrity all-inclusive combined with a book-on-board OBC that it was a no-brainer to fly to Florida for the Equinox.

 

I know what you mean about the sameness...I'd gladly pay a little extra to book some longer itineraries from Houston or Galveston. I just switched a December booking from the Liberty to the Caribbean Princess because I just need SOMETHING different -- if not the ports, then at least the menus and the cabin will be new! I know the itineraries are stale because I was excited to realize my cruise doesn't go to Cozumel!:D

 

 

I can't believe I missed that Princess itinerary, but then again, I try to stay away from Spring Break cruises so usually skip March when I'm searching. :o I'm really hoping Princess does that itinerary again in 2017. It's really not a "spring break" cruise because it's longer than a week :) I was planning to fly to Florida to do a partial Panama Canal trip that year anyway. This will save me the cost of airfare, although it would be nice to try a different class of Princess ship (Coral or Island) rather than the same exact ship I've sailed on twice already.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Cruzin-K

[Cauzneffct]

If the itineraries aren't interesting, don't book a cruise. Do a land trip, fly somewhere, read a book, etc. I don't see why people act like they're forced to take the same trip over and over.

[LMaxwell]

If the itineraries aren't interesting, don't book a cruise. Do a land trip, fly somewhere, read a book, etc. I don't see why people act like they're forced to take the same trip over and over.

 

What the heck?:confused:

 

Someone is just saying they wish for my diverse itineraries. Why is everyone so combative to that perfectly reasonable idea.

 

Partial canal transits would be great from Texas!

[dplusd]

If the itineraries aren't interesting, don't book a cruise. Do a land trip, fly somewhere, read a book, etc. I don't see why people act like they're forced to take the same trip over and over.

 

Because the ship is the destination...not necessarily the ports. A week on a ship without getting off is very relaxing for us. We absolutely love port days when the ship empties out!