Royal Caribbean Ships in San Diego and Los Angeles

[born-to-cruise]

I have made Royal Caribbean as my preferred cruise line because of their previous presence in San Diego and Los Angeles ports. RCI has 3 or 4 ships permanently originating from ports mentioned. One day they were all gone. The pacific ports have been unpopular stops to RCI ships.

 

With that said, is RCI going to ever return some of their ships to San Diego and Los Angeles?

 

Your thoughts and comments please. Thanks so much....

 

born-to-cruise

(funds permitting)

 

12 Royal Caribbean, 3 Carnival

[Clarea]

As long as Royal can make more profit from ships based elsewhere, they won't be doing any long-term basing in California.

[riclop]

I have made Royal Caribbean as my preferred cruise line because of their previous presence in San Diego and Los Angeles ports. RCI has 3 or 4 ships permanently originating from ports mentioned. One day they were all gone. The pacific ports have been unpopular stops to RCI ships.

 

With that said, is RCI going to ever return some of their ships to San Diego and Los Angeles?

 

Your thoughts and comments please. Thanks so much....

 

born-to-cruise

(funds permitting)

 

12 Royal Caribbean, 3 Carnival

 

Don't hold your breathe on it.

[poopin]

I have made Royal Caribbean as my preferred cruise line because of their previous presence in San Diego and Los Angeles ports. RCI has 3 or 4 ships permanently originating from ports mentioned. One day they were all gone. The pacific ports have been unpopular stops to RCI ships.

 

With that said, is RCI going to ever return some of their ships to San Diego and Los Angeles?

 

Your thoughts and comments please. Thanks so much....

 

born-to-cruise

(funds permitting)

 

12 Royal Caribbean, 3 Carnival

 

The captain of the Allure was asked this question last week. He told everyone that they had tried all kinds of things but people would not pay the money to cruise out of LA. He said it was a financial decision made by management. There is a lot of money in LA/OC/SD so I don't know why that is so, but the captain said that people out in SoCal would not pay the prices that the people leaving Florida would.

[Firefighterhoop]

There are a few issues that play into this in my opinion

 

1) They had the Vision of the Seas out of LAX doing 7 Night Mexico for years and they had to work to fill that. then people asked for a bigger ship. They had to bring rates down to 299 or less when they brought Mariner over. So if On Board spending was low because of a lot of people just looking for a cheap getaway they weren't making any money

 

2) Issues with Mexico - Due to the unrest in Mexico, there are still a few ports on the West side that the cruise lines will not go to and there are a lot of people that after the Cartels started to hit the news a few years ago, are very nervous about doing a Mexican Riveara cruise.

 

3) They had Monarch out there for a long time doing 3/4 day Baja/Catalina Island cruises, however they also re-positioned that ship and never replaced it.

 

If there really was money in it, I am sure they would replace both the 7 day and the 3/4 day ships instantly. However factoring in the concerns with mexico, hard time to fill the ship, and possibly a saturated market due to the above from other cruise lines, they must find it in their best interest not to return to the West Coast.

[Clarea]

There are a few issues that play into this in my opinion

 

1) They had the Vision of the Seas out of LAX doing 7 Night Mexico for years and they had to work to fill that. then people asked for a bigger ship. They had to bring rates down to 299 or less when they brought Mariner over. So if On Board spending was low because of a lot of people just looking for a cheap getaway they weren't making any money

 

2) Issues with Mexico - Due to the unrest in Mexico, there are still a few ports on the West side that the cruise lines will not go to and there are a lot of people that after the Cartels started to hit the news a few years ago, are very nervous about doing a Mexican Riveara cruise.

 

3) They had Monarch out there for a long time doing 3/4 day Baja/Catalina Island cruises, however they also re-positioned that ship and never replaced it.

 

If there really was money in it, I am sure they would replace both the 7 day and the 3/4 day ships instantly. However factoring in the concerns with mexico, hard time to fill the ship, and possibly a saturated market due to the above from other cruise lines, they must find it in their best interest not to return to the West Coast.

I was also told by management that taxes, fees, cost of provisions (fuel being a big one) were higher in California, so that even if they could get the stateroom prices that they get in Florida, the profit was still significantly less.

[travelgoddess1]

Historically, RCI has never had a big presence in Southern California -- for any or all of the above-mentioned reasons. Other cruise lines seem to make it work.

 

When they eventually brought a big ship to Los Angeles (Mariner), they also brought Radiance to San Diego, going to the same destination, which was not RCI's best deployment decision.

 

Galveston has had more RCI ships than Los Angeles!

[Desert Cruizers]

Unfortunately, our West Coast doesn't offer enough choices for shorter cruises, as FL does. FL and other Ports have a wider choice of ships and destinations. If we wanted to go to Hawaii round trip then we have to move to Princess or I believe Celebrity. I would love to see a round trip to Alaska from San Diego or LA. Until we can offer Royal a market to come here, we won't be seeing them back anytime soon.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

We really miss sailing out of SD!!

 

RC could easily make some CA coastal cruises and Hawaii cruises.....they just chose to ignore the pleads for it.

 

***

[Shippy]

..the trouble / perceived trouble in Mexico.

I also remember when Royal was stationed in Southern California.

Holland also had a big presence there but no more.

We live in California so still cruise on the ships still stationed here.

We get tremendous last minute deals because they cannot fill these ships.....basically now just Carnival & Princess...although occasionally there is a random cruise by a different line.

I have friends that will not go because of the trouble in Mexico.

Last year I spoke to one of the officers while onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. They stated the until people could look beyond that & fill the ships again, they will not put any ships there.

I do not particularly care for Princess but the deals are so cheap & the convenience is there.

[SelectSys]

I am not all that hopeful for a big recovery in cruises from Southern California. My reasons:

 

1) Lack of variety in ports compared to Florida. Some limited attempts have been made to start having port calls further north in the gulf of California like in La Paz and Lorreto, but not all that much.

 

2) Perception that Mexico is unsafe for tourists. This to me is a largely irrational fear, but it exists. Some places in Mexico are not safe, but the major tourist areas are fine as long as one isn't completely out of control or engages in unsafe behavior.

 

3) Cost of doing business in California. California is perhaps the most business unfriendly state in the US. As a result, the costs of doing everything are just a whole lot higher than anywhere else - especially compared to Florida and Texas.

 

I hope RCCL comes back some day. I went on both Vision and Mariner and liked having at least one ship California doing 7 day or longer cruises south.

[orville99]

There is a lot of money in LA/OC/SD so I don't know why that is so, but the captain said that people out in SoCal would not pay the prices that the people leaving Florida would.

 

While there may be " a lot of money" in CA, there is also an tremendous amount of cost. The cost of living in CA is almost twice what it is in Florida. In addition, the distribiti0on of that money is very stratified (probably more so than in any other state), so the ones who can afford to cruise (more than "one and done") tend to go to where the cruises are.

[jnojr]

While there may be " a lot of money" in CA, there is also an tremendous amount of cost. The cost of living in CA is almost twice what it is in Florida. In addition, the distribution of that money is very stratified (probably more so than in any other state), so the ones who can afford to cruise (more than "one and done") tend to go to where the cruises are.

 

That; and honestly, as much as I'd like to see Mexico cruises out of San Diego again, it just isn't that big of a deal to drive to Long Beach.

[born-to-cruise]

Thank you so much for all your comments......they all sound reasonable: Profitability, Crime in Mexican Ports, Weak popularity and Limited Destinations for shorter cruises seems to be the primary reasons for RCI to leave California ports.

 

I hope that one day RCI will study to consider long cruises, 18 days minimum, traveling to Hawaii, Polynesian Islands, Asia, New Zealand and Australia originating from California ports, preferably San Diego. Holland America does this itinerary occasionally.

 

Who do we tell in RCI to let them know?

 

Cheers,

born-to-cruise

(funds permitting)

12 RCI, 3 Carnival

[wblynch]

Funny, I started a thread on this topic over four years ago and the responses were almost exactly the same. RCCL's explanations haven't changed either.

 

RCCL has decided to place more of its ships in Asian waters and now Caribbean, Hawaiian and Alaskan offerings are being scaled way back.

 

Essentially it seems RCCL don't like American money much any more.

 

As for California cruises, we have Princess, Carnival, Norwegian and some Holland America. I recently sailed Princess and though it isn't RCL, it was great and we will go again.

 

Personally I'm getting a little sick and tired of Royal Caribbean's games. I love the line but their new ships are too gimmicky (Harmony/Anthem) and the pricing with the endless fake BOGOHO sales is confusing.

 

So, yes I love RCCL but Princess will be getting more of my money now.

[Desert Cruizers]

Since we don't cruise every year, mainly cost and my DH wouldn't stand for me to book one every single year.:D I could, however. When we do cruise which is roughly every 2 years, I select itineraries we haven't been on & to see new places. The past two years was an exception with our Sydney Australia trip and NZ cruise then cruises home in addition to our Canada, NE this year. Since we did a land trip to Alaska, I would prefer to do only the cruise and not the combination land & cruise.

[Piepkorn]

There has a been a discussion on another thread regarding Empress possibly doing Panama Canal starting in April 2016. But it is sheer speculation only based on the time between stops in Grand Cayman. We just gotta wait and see. But it might been sooner rather than later.

 

Princess is a similar product to RCCL - not as nice, but with no RCCL ships on the west coast, we will be Elite later this year.

[davekathy]

Another shout out for West Coast Cruising. The hell with Mexico. Don't get me wrong we've enjoyed our Mexico Cruises. However the good ole' USA and Canada West Coast has a lot to offer and beautiful. We sailed the Jewel September 2015 leaving from Vancouver and ending in Long Beach. Fantastic itinerary. September 2016 we are Cruising the West Coast again on the Explorer. This Cruise is a R/T from Seattle. The itinerary is a little different than our 2015 September Cruise. Looking forward to that Cruise. I guess for us those Cruise are better than none.

[wblynch]

... September 2016 we are Cruising the West Coast again on the Explorer. This Cruise is a R/T from Seattle....

 

Interesting.

 

I guess we should never give up hope. I would book Empress of the Seas immediately if they brought her to California. Maybe an Acapulco itinerary? 😀

[SelectSys]

...

Essentially it seems RCCL don't like American money much any more.

...

 

I would say they RCCL just likes money without regard to its national origin. Being a cruise line just makes it easier to chase the most money in whatever area is popular.

[travelgoddess1]

An interesting note: when Jewel made ports of call on the West Coast in May and again in September/October, the cruise prices were some of the highest I've seen recently, and the ship was full on each of those sailings. (We were on all of them.) I can't believe RCI would ignore those results.

[John&LaLa]

I think seasonal is the way to go for now.

[davekathy]

I think seasonal is the way to go for now.

 

Agree, better than no Cruises.

[Clarea]

An interesting note: when Jewel made ports of call on the West Coast in May and again in September/October, the cruise prices were some of the highest I've seen recently, and the ship was full on each of those sailings. (We were on all of them.) I can't believe RCI would ignore those results.

If I remember correctly, those were special sailings of which there were only a couple. It's possible that if they had an entire season of those kind of sailings, the prices would not have been so high.

[Piepkorn]

An interesting note: when Jewel made ports of call on the West Coast in May and again in September/October, the cruise prices were some of the highest I've seen recently, and the ship was full on each of those sailings. (We were on all of them.) I can't believe RCI would ignore those results.

 

Michael Bayley is aware of them, as I made it a big point in my post-cruise letter to him. (we were on Oct 3 sailing with you). He seemed open to the idea of non-repeating cruises that would cover just about everything without the need to home port a ship in California.