Just Me... Or Does Royal "Caribbean" 17 Caribb offerings stink?

[CanadaRob]

Same old boring itineraries

Ships sailing at near or full capacity, Royal has no need to change what is working for them.

 

 

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[leahlefler]

We're booked on a Feb 2017 cruise (Jewel of the Seas) - our first - and were excited by the islands. Barbados, Dominica, St. Croix.. our friends cruise often and we are going with them. They picked this particular itinerary for the islands, so I hope they're fun ones!

[Coralc]

Yep, they have done it. The island is called AUSTRALIA. We have the Voyager, Explorer and Legends, and as from December we will have the Ovation. The Mariner is also based in Singapore. All these ships call into or are based in China at various times.

 

Seriously, it amazes me that more Americans don't travel downunder - our beaches are the best in the world! With the AUD drop in parity, it's a great time moneywise and there is so much to do!! Apart from that we are friendly and you never have to pay gratuities, as everything is included in the bill automatically!

 

Don't give me the....'but it's so far away' rubbish - it doesn't stop us from travelling and broadening our horizons :D

 

We'd love to sail from there and plan to do so again in the future. Last time it was almost a month off of work though, and unfortunately we don't get "long service" holidays here.

 

Hopefully after we are retired. There are so many more places we want to see in your beautiful country. :D

[CanadaRob]

We're booked on a Feb 2017 cruise (Jewel of the Seas) - our first - and were excited by the islands. Barbados, Dominica, St. Croix.. our friends cruise often and we are going with them. They picked this particular itinerary for the islands, so I hope they're fun ones!

I'm looking at that itinerary too just did Jewel's other itinerary

 

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[kruzerci]

Same old boring itineraries

 

Same old boring ports, but I'd take the San Juan, St Maarten, Labadee over the Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten any day! At least they tweaked something.

 

I'm also glad they added St. Kitts to the Nassau and St. Thomas itinerary.

[leahlefler]

Yep, they have done it. The island is called AUSTRALIA. We have the Voyager, Explorer and Legends, and as from December we will have the Ovation. The Mariner is also based in Singapore. All these ships call into or are based in China at various times.

 

Seriously, it amazes me that more Americans don't travel downunder - our beaches are the best in the world! With the AUD drop in parity, it's a great time moneywise and there is so much to do!! Apart from that we are friendly and you never have to pay gratuities, as everything is included in the bill automatically!

 

Don't give me the....'but it's so far away' rubbish - it doesn't stop us from travelling and broadening our horizons :D

 

Australia is on our bucket list! We get 3 weeks of vacation per year but cannot take them all at once, so it will have to wait until we're retired. The flights are also a bit tough to manage - not for time, but for price. At $1800 per ticket, it's a bit out of our league for a family of four. We are looking at going to Iceland in 2018, though... another island, though not exactly southern!

[LMaxwell]

Ships sailing at near or full capacity, Royal has no need to change what is working for them.

 

 

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Thanks Saturday Night MBA[emoji1]

 

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[CanadaRob]

Thanks Saturday Night MBA[emoji1]

 

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Not saying I agree at all I don't really want to sail oasis class because of the same old ports. I like some variety which is why I'm trying MSC[emoji25] and yup I'm nervous

 

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[LMaxwell]

Not saying I agree at all I don't really want to sail oasis class because of the same old ports. I like some variety which is why I'm trying MSC[emoji25] and yup I'm nervous

 

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Same here. Trying MSC for first time soon to get to some new ports. So many unanswered questions. Their forum has not nearly the volume as here.

 

I get it, all the biggest new ships on all the lines do mostly the same alternating weekly itineraries and are too big to go to less visited islands. But the ships themselves in many cases become the vacation and ports are just background scenery. And I am guilty of repeating ports out of timing, convenience, and cost.

But more port variety would be nice overall.

 

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[CanadaRob]

Same here. Trying MSC for first time soon to get to some new ports. So many unanswered questions. Their forum has not nearly the volume as here.

 

I get it, all the biggest new ships on all the lines do mostly the same alternating weekly itineraries and are too big to go to less visited islands. But the ships themselves in many cases become the vacation and ports are just background scenery. And I am guilty of repeating ports out of timing, convenience, and cost.

But more port variety would be nice overall.

 

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Post a review after on the royal board to give the rest of us some comparison! Wife really wanted to go to Grand Turk-so we are....

 

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[yuvraj]

I am from the UK so prefer the European itineraries. We seem to have a different problem here ...

 

No Quantum or Oasis class sailing from European ports. Plus prices are stupidly high for the other ships.

[screamin400]

I thought maybe it was just me getting bored with the normal ports. We cruise every Feb. We are now looking to book 2018. The Carnival Vista has a great 8 night cruise that RC should have something to compete with or we will be going Carnival. Booked on the Navigator in 17 for the Southern itinerary and looks like there will probably be nothing new for us.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I thought maybe it was just me getting bored with the normal ports. We cruise every Feb. We are now looking to book 2018. The Carnival Vista has a great 8 night cruise that RC should have something to compete with or we will be going Carnival. Booked on the Navigator in 17 for the Southern itinerary and looks like there will probably be nothing new for us.

 

Be aware that not all of the winter 17-18 itineraries have been released yet.

 

Oh and btw, there will be 8 night Eastern Caribbean sailings from Fort Lauderdale on Freedom (to compete with that carnival sailing you speak of ;))

Edited March 17, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[lv2bcruzin]

And Adventure...which I like the stops and prices, but airfare.... and its SAT to SAT which makes it more challenging with trying to limit days off work.

 

Are you saying Alabama to Florida is dramatically cheaper than Alabama to Puerto Rico?

 

For the past 15 years flights from my part of the world (Nebraska and Arizona) the prices have been almost identical between Florida and Puerto Rico with a few times flying to Miami being more expensive than Puerto Rico.

 

Saturday cruising does add one more day of vacation if you like to arrive before the day of the cruise. So, I can see if you cruise more than once a year where that would add up. We also look at overnight flights if we want to save a day of vacation. Not the greatest option, but it can work.

 

Everything else I totally agree with. I was going to book the Allure at release for December 2017, but I'm tired of seeing the same islands. So, we are waiting for the seasonal deployments to be released. Hopefully, the Voyager or Radiance class will have something worth trying.

Edited March 17, 2016 by lv2bcruzin

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I really like the Adventure stops but its SAT to SAT (I prefer SUN to SUN with my work schedule) and I need to book airfare (1st world problem, I know). I am so use to being 8-10 hours from major ports, buying plane tickets for a cruise is like "Why not just go somewhere like Cayman, Costa, Rica, etc" for the week....

 

Then you add the fact I keep comparing prices to NCL....which is turning into all inclusive, and I end up spending 600-over a grand more to sail royal. My wife and I are still realitively young with no kids...so we drink more than the avg sipper.... so I have to equate the drink package prices into the cost because of how crazy individual drink prices have become.

 

Jewel will be doing 7 night sailings from San Juan departing every SUNDAY during the winter.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Well we still have Anthem sailings from Bayonne, Grandeur sailings from Baltimore, Navigator 5/9 night sailings from Miami, Serenade 10/11 night sailings from Fort Lauderdale, Freedom 6/8 night sailings from Fort Lauderdale (yes, the itineraries you claimed they stopped), 7 night sailings from Tampa, as well as 4/5 night itineraries from both Fort Lauderdale and Tampa that have yet to be released.

 

These are considered seasonal Caribbean. Still plenty of options in the Caribbean.

 

And I would expect these itineraries to mirror exactly the 2016-17 season. The 7 night runs out of FLL/MIA in general have always been "ho-hum" - There is just only so far they can go in the timeframe. SJU dropped in popularity as a port of embarkation because of high airfares. Passengers were not willing to pay top dollar for those cruises AND the higher priced airfares (as compared to the FL ports), so the cruise lines retrenched to more US mainland homeports, or have moved the ships to more profitable destinations such as Aus/NZ, East Asia, etc.

[Paul65]

I wish more stops were made at the "lesser" Caribbean islands. I love St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but come on, there are other islands down there, too. And sorry, but I find Labadee a huge bore. But then again, I'm not a sun worshiper.

 

Azamara has some nice itineraries to some of the "lesser" islands. The problem with Royal Caribbean visiting those places is that 3 - 6 thousand passengers would overwhelm many of them, and it wouldn't be a particularly nice visit. Some places just need to be visited on a smaller ship.

[lv2bcruzin]

Jewel will be doing 7 night sailings from San Juan departing every SUNDAY during the winter.

We did the Jewel out of San Juan November 2013. Great ship and So. Caribbean itinerary. Love the Radiance class. Have been on all four. :D

Edited March 17, 2016 by lv2bcruzin

[AmandaKaye79]

Even carnival offers some sailings for Aruba and Curaçao from Florida. I wish they would change it up on Royal. Nassau, Cozumel, Labadee, St Thomas, St Marteen, same ones now for years and years.

[Clarea]

Even carnival offers some sailings for Aruba and Curaçao from Florida. I wish they would change it up on Royal. Nassau, Cozumel, Labadee, St Thomas, St Marteen, same ones now for years and years.

Royal has been offering longer Southern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades on Serenade and Tampa on Vision.

[AmandaKaye79]

Royal has been offering longer Southern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades on Serenade and Tampa on Vision.

 

In the summer months? We usually cruise in July.

[CanadaRob]

Royal has been offering longer Southern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades on Serenade and Tampa on Vision.

And I'm excited to see them in a couple of weeks!

 

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[screamin400]

Be aware that not all of the winter 17-18 itineraries have been released yet.

 

Oh and btw, there will be 8 night Eastern Caribbean sailings from Fort Lauderdale on Freedom (to compete with that carnival sailing you speak of ;))

 

Carnival sailing I am looking at goes south. Aruba plus. I did love the freedom but no interest in another eastern run. Thanks for the info though.

[Clarea]

In the summer months? We usually cruise in July.

No, unfortunately those ships that do the longer Southern Caribbean itineraries are in Europe during the summer. Their US based season is usually November to April.

[jcg4550]

I would like to see Royal offer cruises to the ABC (Dutch) islands from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. One of the competitors is doing this. !!! A full day is San Juan would be nice also since it is only a jump from St. Thomas.

Edited March 17, 2016 by jcg4550