Labadee canceled

[gerig]

4 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

I'll take the old "Barefoot Beach Club" (used to be for suite guests) on Labadee over Coco Cay anytime. Used to be a great buffet. We weren't impressed with what they put out on CC. Next time after spending some time on the beach we'll go back to the ship for lunch.

Royal C wants you to pay for the coco cay.  If you utilize the barefoot beach club without booking a cabana they don't make any money

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I'm really disappointed in this because last time I went to Jamaica the ship stopped in Ocho Rios, which is right next to Dunn's river falls and Dolphin's cove (a really nice animal place for kids).  Now, its an hour drive each way to these attractions from Falmouth.  

 

An overnight in Falmouth would make it easier to reach these attractions, but I don't know why they would want to route the ships in Falmouth versus  Ocho Rios (if anyone knows of better excursions closer in Falmouth please tell me since I'd love to know!)

 

 

I was told Ocho Rios couldn't handle the larger ships. And after investing big $$$ into Falmouth,  naturally most if not all ships will be directed there.

[Engineroom Snipe]

45 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Been sailing to the Caribbean more than 30 years and the ONLY port we felt totally unsafe was Ocho Rios.  Last time we were there (and it's been a while) machine gun carrying soldiers and unhappy looking locals everywhere.  Couple of excursions to plantations had recently been robbed at gunpoint.  

Nordic Prince, 1989: we got off the ship at Haiti and at the port were military with 50 caliber machine guns on jeeps. My "Spider Sense" started to tingle immediately.

 

Not your normal port "Greet and Meet" if you know what I mean.

 

If it does not feel right, time to stage exit right.

 

😬

[rockmom]

On 3/17/2024 at 9:50 AM, DennysDad said:

Does anyone know if Cruise Mapper Port Schedule is being updated with these changes?

So far they have not been updating Cruise Mapper's port schedule.  

[toad455]

45 minutes ago, rockmom said:

So far they have not been updating Cruise Mapper's port schedule.  

 

Cruise Mapper typically doesn't update on itinerary changes last minute.

[khm1]

I’m on Symphony sailing on the 23d. Changed day 3 (3/25) from Labadee to Falmouth, Jamaica. No excursions listed yet. I found out about 1.5 hours ago. I’ve been obsessively refreshing the app. 

[kitkat343]

5 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

I was told Ocho Rios couldn't handle the larger ships. And after investing big $$$ into Falmouth,  naturally most if not all ships will be directed there.

Ah thanks - I sailed there on the Coral princess so that would make sense.  It's a shame they couldn't deepen the harbor since being close to Dunn's river falls is great, but sometimes that happens.

[Jillt92]

10 hours ago, khm1 said:

I’m on Symphony sailing on the 23d. Changed day 3 (3/25) from Labadee to Falmouth, Jamaica. No excursions listed yet. I found out about 1.5 hours ago. I’ve been obsessively refreshing the app. 

Where did you see the change?  I’m on the same cruise but haven’t seen it in the app yet.

[Luke110150]

In my opinion, I was never a fan of Labadee. I would prefer a extra sea day than anything else.

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, gerig said:

Royal C wants you to pay for the coco cay.  If you utilize the barefoot beach club without booking a cabana they don't make any money

You mean they don't make even more money.  Suite passengers already pay huge bucks.

[khm1]

1 hour ago, Jillt92 said:

Where did you see the change?  I’m on the same cruise but haven’t seen it in the app yet.

Refresh the app or close it completely and reopen it. If you click on the ship icon on the top of the screen and you will see the updated ports of call.

[Engineroom Snipe]

7 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

You mean they don't make even more money.  Suite passengers already pay huge bucks.

 

From the CEO, in the last quarterly statement, the passenger on-board add-on revenue (to include excursions) was "not meeting expectations." That revenue suffered a 2% drop from 2022 to 2023 despite record occupancy during the last quarter of 2023.

 

I agree without any dispute that suite guests pay much higher amounts of money than me when I do an interior through my travel advisor. They pay at least 6 to 12 times what I do.

 

The CEO still counts that as "base cabin fare."

 

In general, every activity any passenger does as they walk off the gangplank on a port day is an opportunity to make more revenue.

 

If it is not expressly included in "Star Class", "Sky Class", or any other type of suite perks, it is fare game for some extra revenue as far as Corporate is concerned.

 

 

[JWR1011]

17 hours ago, brevardcruiser said:

A few asked about grand Turk.  Currently on adventure.  Grand Turk was a total success yesterday. 2 ships can dock. Only us there yesterday.  Lot of folks talks about Labadee on board and safety.  We are a party of 8 and rented golf carts and drove around island.  Drove to secluded beaches on other side of island.  Totally safe and a great choice for labadee. 

Did you just rent them when you got off? Or did RC post excursion options?  I am not sure what we should do while be are there on Saturday.

[OnTheJourney]

15 hours ago, gerig said:

they don't make any money

Of course. It always comes down to $$

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Suite passengers already pay huge bucks.

LOL...you got it. Least they could do on Labadee was offer something special for suite guests. But, they know that people on cruises (where Labadee is on the itinerary) will still book suites regardless of whether RCL offers a different buffet and private beach area for them or not. I have no idea what happens on Cococay. Only ever been there once. It was exceedingly windy so we were only there a few hours.

[Engineroom Snipe]

4 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

 But, they know that people on cruises (where Labadee is on the itinerary) will still book suites regardless of whether RCL offers a different buffet and private beach area for them or not.

 

Exactly.

 

1. The suite sales would need to drop off significantly.

 

2. The drop off of the suite sales would have to be tied to not getting special perks on one of their private resort areas. That would take months of feedback if not years.

 

As of now, the first item of suite sales dropping off significantly is not happening.

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

LOL...you got it. Least they could do on Labadee was offer something special for suite guests. But, they know that people on cruises (where Labadee is on the itinerary) will still book suites regardless of whether RCL offers a different buffet and private beach area for them or not. I have no idea what happens on Cococay. Only ever been there once. It was exceedingly windy so we were only there a few hours.

No special suite treatment at PDCC

[exm]

6 hours ago, Luke110150 said:

In my opinion, I was never a fan of Labadee. I would prefer a extra sea day than anything else.

 

If so, you could stay on the ship and enjoy lots of space. Much better than a sea day. And I personally love Labadee.

[brevardcruiser]

6 hours ago, JWR1011 said:

Did you just rent them when you got off? Or did RC post excursion options?  I am not sure what we should do while be are there on Saturday.

Rented couple days prior.  Viator.  Not from cruise line 

[pyrateslife4me84]

Oasis of the Seas April 7 will skip Labadee April 9 and instead go to St. Maarten April 10. I’m ecstatic!

Edited March 19 by pyrateslife4me84

[sandc4e]

4 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Oasis of the Seas April 7 will skip Labadee April 9 and instead go to St. Maarten April 10. I’m ecstatic!

Happy for you, we are going to Grand Cayman on the 4/8 Indy sailing. 

[lovelife]

Just received notice we are visiting Grand Turk instead of Labadee on the April 4 Independence sailing.  Woo Hoo!!  Yay for Grand Cayman on the April 8 sailing also.

[rockmom]

3 minutes ago, lovelife said:

Just received notice we are visiting Grand Turk instead of Labadee on the April 4 Independence sailing.  Woo Hoo!!  Yay for Grand Cayman on the April 8 sailing also.

Ugh, we are on April 22 on Indy--and we got Bimini.  We did also get PDCC, but I'm there the week before already. And Icon is there with us on this new itinerary--and they were supposed to be the only ship, so I'm guessing most things are booked up at PDCC already.  I know it's a free beach day, but I was hoping to not have 5 days circling around the Bahamas and picked a Labadee sailing to go farther south.  

[Engineroom Snipe]

5 minutes ago, rockmom said:

Ugh, we are on April 22 on Indy--and we got Bimini.  We did also get PDCC, but I'm there the week before already. And Icon is there with us on this new itinerary--and they were supposed to be the only ship, so I'm guessing most things are booked up at PDCC already.  I know it's a free beach day, but I was hoping to not have 5 days circling around the Bahamas and picked a Labadee sailing to go farther south.  

 

Bimini, like most destinations can be great the first time just because it is a new place to visit. We would not do it twice. I would easily do a cruise that included it but I would not get off the ship.

 

It is nice to have a "Sea Day" at port with less people on board.

 

Understand your feelings......

Edited March 19 by Engineroom Snipe
OMG! I called the ship a boat. I do not want twenty-nine lashes for that.

[jerryg95]

PDCC is now an abbreviation? Isn’t PD a description? How come GT, GC, STM, B, N, or the other replacements don’t get a PD?