Oasis new routes

[John&LaLa]

Not really. It's a reversed route that starts with two days at sea, then does the three islands on consecutive days, and then does a sea day back to PC. San Juan is the middle stop, and you can see Puerto Rico from the Dominican side of Hispaniola.

Ok, so why leave San Juan at 3:00?

 

I'd rather stay later

 

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[BillOh]

Going out of their way to get to Labadee, which is usually on a western itinerary. More

fuel, etc. required than going to Nassau or St. Thomas.

 

Labadee has long been on the eastern itineraries for ships from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Longitude wise its east of all Florida ports, so ships sail SSE to get there before going west.

[villager70]

We were in a Jr. Suite the last cruise before the move. They had changed the menu in june but had deleted a few things and added some a couple weeks ago. Also have three for coastal kitchen.

Bedding had been changed when they went to the 3 new suite classes. also new toiletries. Had suite checkin line for my time dinning

[orville99]

Ok, so why leave San Juan at 3:00?

 

I'd rather stay later

 

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I would as well. It is ~350NM between San Juan and Labadee. The ship would have to do 18-19 Knots to make the departure and arrival times work.

Edited November 9, 2016 by orville99

[kruzerci]

:eek:

 

It's odd because it's not a route Royal has historically done. ;)

Labadee isn't really out of the way since it is on the north coast of Haiti.

 

I wonder if you'll see more ships doubling up there in the future.

 

In my opinion the strange part of the move was swapping San Juan for St Thomas

 

Maybe in the future they will do a 4 port Eastern and add St Thomas back or maybe Nassau. I'm sure a lot of these port choices are both political and economic. Pay me to park my ship in town, build me a new pier, etc..

 

Really just different as of recently. Liberty did it for several years when she was new and sailing from Miami. It was actually our favorite of the Eastern/Western itineraries.

[jamesr3939]

We just booked the October 8th sailing specifically because it does SJU, SM, and Labadee. This is much more desirable than the other ports.

[Computer Nerd]

Ok, so why leave San Juan at 3:00?

 

I'd rather stay later

 

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You always have the option of leaving later......you just won't leave on the ship if you choose that option. ;)

[BillB48]

I would as well. It is ~350NM between San Juan and Labadee. The ship would have to do 18-19 Knots to make the departure and arrival times work.

 

This is the real reason the ship departs SJU at 3PM... (my last time, we left at 2) with a 9AM arrival at Labadee, that is 18 hours steaming time. That equates to just under 20 nm/hr, while not exactly top speed it is certainly in the higher fuel consumption zone.

[island lady]

OK...not that much different as the crow flies (or an airplane)...but would be

interested in what the difference is in nautical miles and the route the ship

has to take to avoid shoals and shallows. Not a small ship, takes a lot of

draft. ;)

 

Flying crow routes:

PC to Nassau: 474 KM

Nassau to St. Thomas: 1486 KM

St. Thomas to St. Maarten: 197 KM

St. Maarten to PC: 2130 KM

Total: 4287 KM

 

PC to St. Maarten 2130 KM

St. Maarten to San Juan 326 KM

San Juan to Labadee 661 KM

Labadee to PC 1281

Total: 4398 KM

[BillB48]

OK...not that much different as the crow flies (or an airplane)...but would be

interested in what the difference is in nautical miles and the route the ship

has to take to avoid shoals and shallows. Not a small ship, takes a lot of

draft. ;)

 

 

Flying crow routes:

PC to Nassau: 474 KM... 253nm

Nassau to St. Thomas: 1486 KM... 800nm

St. Thomas to St. Maarten: 197 KM... 103nm

St. Maarten to PC: 2130 KM... 1147nm

Total: 4287 KM

 

PC to St. Maarten 2130 KM... 1147nm

St. Maarten to San Juan 326 KM... 175nm

San Juan to Labadee 661 KM... 355nm

Labadee to PC 1281... 690nm

Total: 4398 KM

 

Assuming I did not make any mathematical errors... sometimes not a safe assumption with my math:o;)!

 

For a lot of these figures crow flying will give you a close enough guesstimate. For example, depending on the actual route the ship takes from SJU to Labadee, that is somewhere around 370nm, so not too far off from the crow.

Edited November 10, 2016 by BillB48

[robtulipe]

Sure..let me see....draw a line from Port Canaveral to St. Martin/San Juan

and back to PC. The ship usually goes north through the islands of the Bahamas

and north of the Turks.

 

Let me know what you see. ;) Also you may want to look at an actual nautical

chart showing shoals and shallows.

 

As John mention, yes...it's an unusual route, especially since the ship already DOES Labadee

on it's western route.

 

Yes, most eastern Caribbean routes for RCI smaller and mid-size ships call on Coco Cay out of Florida as it is directly on the route to San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Thomas but Labadee isn't really too far off of the eastern route. Larger ships, like Oasis and Quatum class, that can't feasible go to Coco simply have to go south a bit sooner but Labadee being well east of Florida is easy to get to on an eastern Caribbean itinerary.

Labadee is usually the beach stop for a western Caribbean cruise as the ship must pass between Cuba and Haiti to get to Jamaica and Grand Cayman from Florida. Both are very often called on ports for the western itinerary.

In fact Ladadee was the first port for both the eastern and western itineraries we did on Anthem last winter but then it was almost a direct sail south from Port Liberty in NYC area as the maps shows in my signature. We also much preferred being docked at Labadee than being tendered in at Coco Cay for any of our beach stops at either. ;)

Edited November 10, 2016 by robtulipe

[island lady]

Assuming I did not make any mathematical errors... sometimes not a safe assumption with my math:o;)!

 

For a lot of these figures crow flying will give you a close enough guesstimate. For example, depending on the actual route the ship takes from SJU to Labadee, that is somewhere around 370nm, so not too far off from the crow.

 

Nice!! Thanks for converting KM to Nautical miles! :) Still would be interesting to

know how the actual route plays out on the chart they usually have posted on the

ship. DH loves to check the chart daily to figure out our position. He spent a lot

of time sailing the Carib in his post Vietnam days.....though his little sail boat was

a WHOLE lot smaller than the Oasis. ;) :p

[island lady]

Yes, most eastern Caribbean routes for RCI smaller and mid-size ships call on Coco Cay out of Florida as it is directly on the route to San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Thomas but Labadee isn't really too far off of the eastern route. Larger ships, like Oasis and Quatum class, that can't feasible go to Coco simply have to go south a bit sooner but Labadee being well east of Florida is easy to get to on an eastern or southern Barbados Caribbean itinerary.

Labadee is usually the beach stop for a western Caribbean cruise as the ship must pass between Cuba and Haiti to get to Jamaica and Grand Cayman from Florida. Both are very often called on ports for the western itinerary.

In fact Ladadee was the first port for both the eastern and western itineraries we did on Anthem last winter but then it was almost a direct sail south from Port Liberty in NYC area as the maps shows in my signature. ;)

 

Our first visits to Labadee were well before they put the hard dock in. The little spit

of land out there was very, very different at that time. Our favorite beach for snorkeling

was actually where the dock is now. No roller coasters, no huge vendors market, no zip

line...etc. Was much more natural at that time.

Edited November 10, 2016 by island lady

[btregoning]

:eek:

 

It's odd because it's not a route Royal has historically done. ;)

 

Labadee isn't really out of the way since it is on the north coast of Haiti.

 

I wonder if you'll see more ships doubling up there in the future.

 

In my opinion the strange part of the move was swapping San Juan for St Thomas

 

Maybe in the future they will do a 4 port Eastern and add St Thomas back or maybe Nassau. I'm sure a lot of these port choices are both political and economic. Pay me to park my ship in town, build me a new pier, etc..

 

We are on the 8 night Eastern on the Oasis for New Year's. The 4th port they added was St. Kitts.

[nelblu]

Ok, so why leave San Juan at 3:00?

 

I'd rather stay later

 

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Let me tell you a story. The 1st time we sailed on Oasis wee assumed a 7-8am arrival in SJ. My wife goes to tour desk looking for a nice beach tour. The tour person tells her "why do you want to go to the beach as it is a waste since we are arriving in SJ at 3pm. Boy, were we embarrassed. Learned a lesson, we examine itinerary more careful.

[stacis64]

We sail 11/27. Look forward to your review.

Edited November 20, 2016 by stacis64