Just Announced

[iamsteph]

The 2 Dream cruises were not previously long itineraries. If someone had the regular 7 day planned then they would have to change. Most people who book a 7 day can't just go and take extra time off work. It also now involves a flight that would cost extra. This is prime Fall Break time and now a lot of families will have to change their plans if they have booked early. We pretty much always book at least a year in advance and if I was on one of the cruises that are now canceled I would be upset.

 

I see now. I hadn't realized that they changed some itineraries to make Journey cruises. I do think that when Carnival does this however, they waive the change fee and will put you in a comparable cabin on a comparable sailing or refund you what you've paid?

[cruizinisthebest]

We got bumped from a B2B on the Dream in October so they could add a 10 and 11 day-- We had booked way out and had a great cabin at a great price. The 10 and the 11 would have involved flying in or out of San Juan -- no thank you. :(

 

We switched to a 15 day Hawaii, had poor cabin choices and we are now paying top dollar. We have done many Hawaii cruises and we are paying much more for this one that we have in the past on RCI, HAL or Celebrity.

 

I agree it is exciting to see Carnival making an effort to keep their seasoned cruisers.

I see. Understood.

[2Shoes2Go]

They finally listened. I see at least a couple that we'd be interested in because of the new ports! Wheeeeee! :)

[blondietink]

Yes, these sailings sound wonderful and the prices are pretty good. Just don't like that none of them are roundtrip sailings from a mainland port. One way tickets are so expensive.

[CatgirlNC]

These look great, and I would LOVE the Throwback Sea Day! Unfortunately I’m not making any new cruise plans for 2016, and the 10-day itineraries can be tough for time off/scheduling purposes, but I hope these are a success and they continue offering them, because it’s definitely something I would consider in the future.

[nemini]

I am disappointed there are not more closed loop longer offerings.

 

Actually, if you look at several of the 10/11-day offerings, they're made to be a 21-day closed-loop B2B. Glory, for example, leaves Miami on 1/23 for a 10-day to San Juan, then immediately has an 11-day from San Juan to Miami with completely different ports. (Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Antigua, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, San Juan on the first; St. Croix, St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, Miami on the second.) Dream does much the same thing earlier in January from New Orleans to San Juan (1/3), then back (1/14), although that one repeats St. Kitts on the two cruises. Other than that one port, Dream also is doing a completely different itinerary between the two cruises.

 

Admittedly, there could always be more, but I think there are more closed-loop "longer" (much longer!) cruises than one may realize at first glance. Not all of these are repositions.

[iamsteph]

Yes, these sailings sound wonderful and the prices are pretty good. Just don't like that none of them are roundtrip sailings from a mainland port. One way tickets are so expensive.

 

Some of them are roundtrip! There are roundtrips from Baltimore (3/13/16), New York (11/7/16), Miami (10/31/15, 5/26/16), LA (10/17/15, 11/28/15, 1/16/16, 1/31/16), and Port Canaveral (2/21/16)!

[soccersharon]

I understand that people want longer trips and that the beards are listening. What I totally don't get is why they don't plan them for the upcoming 2016/2017 season instead of changing already planned itineraries. I guess they don't care about the people who have already booked their vacation most likely under ES where they will have a hard time changing. I don't have one of these ships booked but I would be pretty ticked off if I had to go and change my entire vacation plan.

 

 

The Vista repo to Miami itinerary hasn't changed. This was simply added to the voyage :)

[SadieN]

Yes, these sailings sound wonderful and the prices are pretty good. Just don't like that none of them are roundtrip sailings from a mainland port. One way tickets are so expensive.

 

 

The Miracle HI and MR cruises are RT.

[KatieCharlotte]

Actually, if you look at several of the 10/11-day offerings, they're made to be a 21-day closed-loop B2B. Glory, for example, leaves Miami on 1/23 for a 10-day to San Juan, then immediately has an 11-day from San Juan to Miami with completely different ports. (Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Antigua, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, San Juan on the first; St. Croix, St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, Miami on the second.) Dream does much the same thing earlier in January from New Orleans to San Juan (1/3), then back (1/14), although that one repeats St. Kitts on the two cruises. Other than that one port, Dream also is doing a completely different itinerary between the two cruises.

 

Admittedly, there could always be more, but I think there are more closed-loop "longer" (much longer!) cruises than one may realize at first glance. Not all of these are repositions.

 

Excellent for retired people who have grown tired of the usual ports and like the "throw back" idea too. These kinds of itineraries are what will keep me cruising in twenty years when I've retired. I like that Carnival is still trying to appeal to all demographics, not just young partiers or families with kids.

[BigB0882]

I love the idea of these but if they aren't roundtrip then it is a no go for me. I can not justify almost doubling my expenses by booking a one way flight to San Juan. It is the same reason I wont be cruising Europe for a LONG time. The flight there costs more than the cruise!

[CheckersMidwest]

Ugh ! 1987 is a throw back ?! Geez, I graduated in 1987. I don't feel retro but it would be so much fun !

 

I saw these a couple of weeks ago on the website. It's interesting. We live in northern Missouri so almost have to fly to all ports except for Galveston or it would add too many days to a vacation. For our family of 4, airfare runs about $1800 or so. We did drive to Galveston last summer for $300. It was about 17 hours & we did drive it all in one day (had to) going, we stopped on the way home and split it up.

 

I priced airfare from Houston to Puerto Rico. We can drive to Galveston for $300.....buy airfare to or from Houston (depending on which direction the ship is going) for $200 per person to Puerto Rico. Cruise back, then drive home. Total for transportation : $1100. Not a bad deal for a longer cruise.

[kteachcruiser52]

I just put the 10+ days in the advanced search and the journeys cruises came up.

[jwalk03]

Yes, these sailings sound wonderful and the prices are pretty good. Just don't like that none of them are roundtrip sailings from a mainland port. One way tickets are so expensive.

 

Look for tickets with a discount carrier like Southwest. One Way fares do not HAVE to be expensive.

[Laurie S.]

We're booked on the 13-day Miracle Mexican Riviera cruise! Can't wait! :)

[AngAndBoys]

If they would do some of these in the summer, I'd be all over it. I just can't get away that long during the school year with the kids. Even though they are teenagers, I get somebody to stay with them when I go on a cruise. I don't see getting anyone for 10 to 14 days. I'd love to be able to take them with me on an exciting new itinerary and a longer trip. I think they'd love it.

[pe4all]

While some of the new ports are intriguing to me (Trinidad/Tobago, Bonaire, Grenada) most of the ports are the same ones I have been to many times already. As others have said - it is very hard to get 10-11 days off - and add on a day pre-cruise to fly in! I guess I'll have to wait one more year till I retire, and then can take advantage of some of these itineraries. As far as one-way airfare goes - for the past few years we have actually found better prices mixing and matching two one-ways over one round-trip airfare.:)

[BigB0882]

The Miracle HI and MR cruises are RT.

 

I would love to do the HI cruise round-trip but it only runs during time when school is in session (I am a teacher). I understand why, summer in the Pacific is full of hurricanes, that would be a nightmare. I have heard bad things about the Miracle so I do hope Carnival is still running this cruise but with a new ship or with major upgrades. I wont be retiring for a long time (20 years) so I think I have a while before I even look into this cruise. lol

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks for sharing this. The cruises themselves have been announced for at least a few weeks (though there may be more later), but the additions are new, and at least somewhat interesting.

 

I just got off the Triumph which went from San Juan to Galveston on what would be considered a "Journeys" voyage. I enjoyed myself greatly, and I'm completely spoiled for longer cruises from now on. If I can get my mind, life, and notes organized enough, I'll try to write a report on it.

 

I've got my eye on the Triumph going from Galveston to San Juan on January 16-27. I'll take a look at the roll call to see what's happening.

[old sole]

While some of the new ports are intriguing to me (Trinidad/Tobago, Bonaire, Grenada) most of the ports are the same ones I have been to many times already. As others have said - it is very hard to get 10-11 days off - and add on a day pre-cruise to fly in! I guess I'll have to wait one more year till I retire, and then can take advantage of some of these itineraries. As far as one-way airfare goes - for the past few years we have actually found better prices mixing and matching two one-ways over one round-trip airfare.:)

 

Yeah, I don't quite understand that objection either. When I saw someone from Toronto say that this morning about San Juan I did a Kayak search for Toronto-Miami round trip and Toronto-Miami, San Juan-Toronto multi-city. The multi-city itinerary was $50 cheaper. I'd have to think other city pairs would be similar.

[tgmtgm]

It's nice to see Carnival adding longer sailings- which I am a fan of. But some of the pricing? Way too steep for what is offered. The Breeze 9 day to Bermuda in May 2016 costs $1779 for a balcony. I'm booked on a 14 day exotic Caribbean in April 2016 on the Celebrity Eclipse for $1889 balcony- and that includes the unlimited classic alcoholic drinks package free, plus $200 obc.

 

I enjoy cruising Carnival, but won't be taking any of their Journeys...

 

Tony

Edited March 5, 2015 by tgmtgm

[jwalk03]

Yeah, I don't quite understand that objection either. When I saw someone from Toronto say that this morning about San Juan I did a Kayak search for Toronto-Miami round trip and Toronto-Miami, San Juan-Toronto multi-city. The multi-city itinerary was $50 cheaper. I'd have to think other city pairs would be similar.

 

I think the complaints about one way airfare being so expensive are people that are just too set in there ways to research it. I agree that you can often find better pricing booking one way fares with different airlines.

 

I am going to Cabo next month. Flying Southwest on the way there and United on the way home becuase it was the cheapest way to do it.

 

People that complain about high cost one way fares are the same ones that still book flights through AAA! lol

[gone_cruisin]

I love these itineraries! The biggest selling points for me is that they are 1) not during peak travel times 2) longer than the usual 7 days and 3) with one way itineraries, it greatly decreases the amount of children on the ship.

 

The Triumph 11 day cruise had less than 50 kids on the ship and it was great! That trip spoiled us and we have decided we will now only book these longer itineraries.

 

Keep em coming Carnival!!!!

[GottaLuvCruising]

Interesting... Just off the Triumph Monday and we had debated booking the Dream 11 night sailing for January. Wondering if fares will increase with these improvements?

[islandatsea]

Interesting... Just off the Triumph Monday and we had debated booking the Dream 11 night sailing for January. Wondering if fares will increase with these improvements?

 

Not sure how that sailing will sell or if fares will increase due to the extras but if it is anything like our 13 day Sunshine cruise next January which is a "Carnival Journey" cruise, it probably will sell good. Hard to tell. The itinerary is what most people are looking for , IMO. The added extras are icing on the cake. We like the longer cruises when the Ports of Call not the usual ones. Our total cost of our Sunshine cruise has already increased $338 from what we paid for it in Dec 2015.

 

BTW, Carnival only recently added the words "Carnival Journey" to our cruise so will be interesting to see if the extras causes fares to increase or not since they have been going up anyway.