Caribbean Princess coming to Port Canaveral in 2024!

[Dawniepoo]

Princess is announcing as we speak Caribbean Princess is home porting in Port Canaveral starting in 2024 from terminal 6. This is fabulous news!! This is another option to consider!

[LACruiser88]

May 9, 2023 10:00 AM EDT Princess Cruises to Homeport Caribbean Princess in Port Canaveral Starting Late November 2024

Iconic "Love Boat" Cruise Line Now Serving Central Florida with Voyages to the Eastern and Western Caribbean   PORT CANAVERAL, Fla., May 9,2023   /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, Princess Cruises will homeport in Central Florida. The iconic "Love Boat" brand will re-position its Caribbean Princess ship in late November 2024 to sail eastern and western Caribbean itineraries out of Port Canaveral for its winter season.     Starting November 27, 2024, the 3,140-passenger ship will sail four to 14-day cruises out of Port Canaveral. Itinerary highlights include:   One departure of a 4-day Turks & Caicos Getaway over Thanksgiving holiday Five departures of our 8-day Eastern Caribbean with St. Thomas sailing to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, San Juan and Grand Turk Five departures of our 8-day Western Caribbean with Mexico sailing to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize City and Roatan (Mahogany Bay) Nine departures of our 6-day Eastern Caribbean with Turks & Caicos including Nassau, Grand Turk and either Amber Cove or San Juan Combine any of the 8-day and 6-day itineraries for a 14-day vacation Princess takes pride in being considered the #1 Large Ship Cruise Line by USA Today due to world-class dining and Broadway-inspired entertainment, all delivered with amazing service and at an exceptional value. Caribbean Princess cruises from Port Canaveral go on sale May 24.   "The combination of a vibrant Central Florida community, exceptional flight options into Orlando International Airport and great pre-cruise and post-cruise experience options makes Port Canaveral an easy choice," said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.  "Princess is unique in its ability to deliver incredible cruise ship amenities typical of the largest ships in the world, while delivering personalized service found on the industry's smallest ships."   The exclusive Princess Medallion powers a personalized, customized and simplified experience for each and every guest. The connected guest experience maximizes guests' vacation time by delivering a host of onboard conveniences including contactless payment for anything on board as well as in select shops and restaurants in ports; expedited embarkation; keyless stateroom entry; muster anywhere; friends and family locator; and ordering food, drinks, retail items or requesting service from their smart phone or stateroom TV and having their order delivered directly to them…even if they are moving.   Establishing Port Canaveral as a homeport is part of the expansion of Princess Cruises' North America presence to offer exciting new voyage options that guests can conveniently access from major drive markets like Central Florida.   "Our collaboration with Princess Cruises marks an exciting milestone for us," stated Capt. John Murray, Port CEO. "The fleet of ships homeported at Port Canaveral continues to grow with next year's arrival of Caribbean Princess. We're looking forward to providing a high-quality experience for our new cruise partners and their cruise guests."   Caribbean Princess features 1,571 staterooms and a total capacity of 3,140 guests and 1,200 crew. It has 19 decks, including 15 passenger decks, and encompasses 112,894 gross tons. It launched in 2004.

[linaka625]

I’m so excited!!

 

 

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

I had to traipse on over to this subforum from my usual haunt after watching/listening to the announcement that I randomly stumbled upon. 

 

As a regular Carnival cruiser who cruises out of Canaveral because it is very local, I look forward to this other option.  I haven't been really drawn to what RCI and NCL offer, and MSC seems like "not my style".  And Disney even more so.  I wonder if an exploration of what Princess has to offer will be something we should, um, explore.

 

Now I get to trawl through this board to see what I might like (or dislike) about Princess...

Edited May 9, 2023 by ProgRockCruiser

[snoozecrooze]

I have to admit I am a bit relieved, having seen the speculation grow stronger that Caribbean would be shuffled out to sister line P&O Australia. She's old, but she's really not that old, so it's nice to see Princess make an actual fresh expansion for once. Really reminds me of that hint that one of the execs was dropping in one of Princess's travel agent seminars a few weeks back about its future Caribbean schedules.

[ProgRockCruiser]

Oh, the only mildly annoying thing is the lack of "different" ports from what Carnival offers.  But I guess there are only so many places you can get to in 8 days from PC.

[voljeep]

works for us - cuts out about 3 hours of driving, and no 'need' to do an overnight pre-cruise.

 

Beware of that 4 day over Thanksgiving. Last year our cruise was 100%+ capacity, bars packed, over 2 hours in the mdr, and only able to book Sabatini's on opening night and Crown not at all.  Also no UBD offered.  We'll "prolly" skip that one ... or not🦄

[GonzoWCS]

Fantastic MSC and now Princess.  That makes the drive closer!  

 

Cheers

[Roberto256]

29 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

I have to admit I am a bit relieved, having seen the speculation grow stronger that Caribbean would be shuffled out to sister line P&O Australia. She's old, but she's really not that old, 

It's really time for (not so) grand to go.

 

[azbirdmom]

Love it!  We can combine a stay with our best friends in Cape Canaveral with a cruise.  🙂 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

The Villages will be empty all winter ..... LOL

 

This is a bit of a surprise move.  I had fully expected them to go year-round from NYC before setting up shop in Port Canaveral.  The growing Sunbelt retiree population within a 5-6hr drive to the port must be getting large enough that Carnival corp wants to build marketshare with Princess rather than letting it bleed to RCCL, NCL and MSC. 

[voljeep]

I 'guess' the 24-25 season is set in stone as far as dates and itineraries.  It would be nice if Princess could somehow include Bermuda, Charleston, and Savanah into the mix for a much needed change.

[stevenr597]

Fantastic news from Princess.  Have long wondered why Princess and Celebrity have not sailed out of Port Canaveral.  

However, Carnival, MSC, NCL, and RCCL have relatively new ships sailing and I do wonder how Caribbean Princess will compete with them.  I do hope that Princess upgrades this ship. 

[Tak8]

A nice option and I like the Caribbean Princess.

[stevenr597]

13 minutes ago, voljeep said:

I 'guess' the 24-25 season is set in stone as far as dates and itineraries.  It would be nice if Princess could somehow include Bermuda, Charleston, and Savanah into the mix for a much needed change.

My feeling is that Princess is "testing the water" If the response is as good as I believe it to be, I would not be surprised to see one of the newer ships from Princess home port in Canaveral and take longer cruises.  

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

works for us - cuts out about 3 hours of driving, and no 'need' to do an overnight pre-cruise.

 

Beware of that 4 day over Thanksgiving. Last year our cruise was 100%+ capacity, bars packed, over 2 hours in the mdr, and only able to book Sabatini's on opening night and Crown not at all.  Also no UBD offered.  We'll "prolly" skip that one ... or not🦄

Yep.  We retired folk have our pick of cruises.  I would avoid a holiday sailing like the black plague.  
 

As the nearest port to our home (+/- 90 minute drive), this is exciting news. The older I get, the less I want to drive to Fort Lauderdale. 

[BamaVol]

33 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

The Villages will be empty all winter ..... LOL

That would be a double incentive to stay home.  No crowds on the road, no lines at Publix, choice of seats in our favorite restaurants. Caribbean Princess loaded with obnoxious Villagers.  I wish you hadn’t said that.

[Dreamcruiser185]

So the Caribbean Princess won’t be using Ft Lauderdale anymore?  I was looking at march 2024 cruises?

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, Dreamcruiser185 said:

So the Caribbean Princess won’t be using Ft Lauderdale anymore?  I was looking at march 2024 cruises?

See the article:  

 

Starting November 27, 2024, the 3,140-passenger ship will sail four to 14-day cruises out of Port Canaveral. Itinerary highlightsinclude:

[snoozecrooze]

39 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

My feeling is that Princess is "testing the water" If the response is as good as I believe it to be, I would not be surprised to see one of the newer ships from Princess home port in Canaveral and take longer cruises.  

I watched the press conference (someone livestreamed it on YouTube) and this was another hint they were dropping, especially if numbers turned out healthy. And there is past precedent - Galveston getting Regal after Ruby just recently revived their presence in the port.

[cruisecrazy82]

Just adding an update regarding Elite preview booking window for these sailings.  🙂

[wayne_trisha]

Excited to see Princess come to my home port but really wish it was a ship over 20 years old when it arrives.

[PrincessDano]

Having never been to Port Canaveral, what is the proximity of hotels/airport to the port and restaurants etc?  TIA 

 

Diane

[stevenr597]

Just now, PrincessDano said:

Having never been to Port Canaveral, what is the proximity of hotels/airport to the port and restaurants etc?  TIA 

 

Diane

Orlando International Airport is a short drive (30-45 minutes) linked by the Beach Line Expressway.  Port Canaveral is next to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beaches which have several motel/hotels.  Some fairly decent restaurants.  In the city of Cocoa across from Cocoa Beach you have Old Cocoa which is the historical district with several more restaurants.  Of course one has the beaches.  

[PrincessDano]

1 minute ago, stevenr597 said:

Orlando International Airport is a short drive (30-45 minutes) linked by the Beach Line Expressway.  Port Canaveral is next to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beaches which have several motel/hotels.  Some fairly decent restaurants.  In the city of Cocoa across from Cocoa Beach you have Old Cocoa which is the historical district with several more restaurants.  Of course one has the beaches.  

Thanks for the quick reply

 

Diane