Caribbean Collection

[scott mencer]

I think this is by far one of the nicest cruises that Princess offers to see the Caribbean. Now I see that they are doing away with this cruise and the 14 and 20 day cruises return to port halfway through the trip and then proceed elsewhere. I wish Princess wouldn't have done away with this cruise in 2012.

[happytalk44]

Me too. This was on my bucket list and I wish I had done it before these others now.

[1 HappyCruiser]

It could be that they wanted to make it more affordable to more people. Not that many people, especially first time cruisers, actually look for anything over 7 days.

[Putterdude]

We did it last year and it is certainly at the top of our list. Right now we are sitting in FLL , going to board the Crown tomorrow and the Ruby on the 16th and kind of wondering why we have gone to all this fuss. It would be nice if Princess would do a 14 day east/west itinerary.

[GreenBayDave]

We did the Caribbean Collection this past Nov/Dec. It was a great itinerary. We thought we would really like it but it exceeded our expectations.

[scott mencer]

I agree Dave we did this cruise last January and it was one of the nicest we ever been on. The cruise convinced my wife and I to switch from RCL to Princess. We have 2 ten day cruises scheduled in 2012 but we need to return to FLL halfway through the cruise.

[Nylsor]

We are doing Caribean Collection on Feb 14 and are so pleased that we decided to do it this year. Printed off our luggage labels last week. Woo-hoo - can't wait.

[Iamcruzin]

It could be that they wanted to make it more affordable to more people. Not that many people, especially first time cruisers, actually look for anything over 7 days.

Some of us can't get that much time off from work at one time either.

[Toto2Kansas]

The 14 day Caribbean Collection cruise is a great itinerary and we have sailed on this one several times.

 

Such a shame that Princess didn't hit a happy medium and possible offer the straight 14 day sailing even once a month or once every other month for those that don't like the idea of returning to Fort Lauderdale after the first 7 days. They could have offered it as two 7 day B2B cruises under a different name and then occasionally offered it as the regular 14 day Caribbean Collection cruise ever so often.

With the two 7 day cruises, many of the ports can not be visited as it was previously because of the distance involved.

We were actually hoping to take this cruise again in the future, but unless they again offer the 14 day cruise without the return to Fort Lauderdale, we have absolutely no interested in two 7 day cruises B2B and spending that extra day mid cruise in Fort Lauderale. :(

[Infi]

I, too, really wish they had kept the Caribbean Collection itinerary. I had been seriously considering taking that cruise next Christmas, but now that is not an option. If I had known they were taking it away I would have booked that itinerary this Christmas instead.

 

A B2B just is not the same and doesn't visit the more interesting (IMHO) Southern ports. Princess' competition (HAL and X) still both offer 14 day Caribbean itineraries, so there must be a demand for them, just not on Princess.

[canadiansnowbird]

Yes, I wish that we had booked that cruise before now too!! :(

We were booked on the Grand March 28th in our favorite cabin but yesterday cancelled it. :mad:

Saw all the closings that Princess is going to have done while we were sailing, because of the refit right after the cruise, that after talking to our TA (who just received the notice from Princess yesterday) we cancelled. The areas and venues that will be affected were ones that we use.

 

The B2B returning to Ft. Lauderdale does not appeal to us at all next year and we like the Southern islands that the Grand is doing now.

 

Snowbird

[Mrterryl]

We did this cruise on 12/6/2010 and loved it. However I did notice that the other passengers did not spend a lot of money on alcoholic beverages, etc. The avereage age of the passengers was around 70 which is a lot higher than any 7 day cruise. Senior citizens are just more conservative in their spending habits. By going B2B the cruise will sell better and the average dollars spent per passenger will be higher.

[marigail]

We loved this cruise too. So glad we did it since it's being d/c'd. I hope they can replace it with one as nice!

[1 HappyCruiser]

We did this cruise on 12/6/2010 and loved it. However I did notice that the other passengers did not spend a lot of money on alcoholic beverages, etc. The avereage age of the passengers was around 70 which is a lot higher than any 7 day cruise. Senior citizens are just more conservative in their spending habits. By going B2B the cruise will sell better and the average dollars spent per passenger will be higher.

 

We were they also & the avg age was considerably younger than 70. Maybe they just looked 70 to you. :eek:

[fredman]

We did this cruise on 12/6/2010 and loved it. However I did notice that the other passengers did not spend a lot of money on alcoholic beverages, etc. The avereage age of the passengers was around 70 which is a lot higher than any 7 day cruise. Senior citizens are just more conservative in their spending habits. By going B2B the cruise will sell better and the average dollars spent per passenger will be higher.

 

 

:D Well let's paint all senior citizens with the same brush! LOL! I hope to spend my kids inheritance cruising!!!! pssst. I am only in my 50s so hopefully many more cruises!

[elc41]

I agree. We did this over Thanksgiving and it was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable cruises we have taken (it was #27) despite the fact that the ship was older, food was just cruise ship average and the service while good was not exceptional.

The river tubing in Granada was one of the better tours we have taken in the Caribbean.

[Salty Dawg]

We agree with Toto that Princess should do the Caribbean Collection once a month during December-March, and then do the 7 days in between, still offering them as B2B.

 

We do not like the idea of having to return from the Caribbean to FLL after 7 days for a turnaround, then head back south. The itineraries of these B2B's are not appealing at all to the experienced cruiser. We cruise in the winter. We do it to escape the cold. Florida, especially the last couple of winters, can be cold even in Fort Lauderdale.

 

We did not take Princess up on its offer of sailing B2B in January, 2012 because of both substandard itineraries and having to return to FLL in mid cruise.

 

We really hope Princess will reconsider completely eliminating the 14 night Caribbean Collection.

[bjkTX]

We are doing Caribean Collection on Feb 14 and are so pleased that we decided to do it this year. Printed off our luggage labels last week. Woo-hoo - can't wait.

 

We'll be on the Feb cruise with you and we're looking forward to it.

 

There is a fairly large/active Roll Call group for this cruise we'd love to have you join if you're interested :-)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=27199719#post27199719

[Amtrack Springfield]

We did the Caribbean Collection last year and are leaving again on 1/31/11. We don't want to go back into to Fort Lauderdale and turn around and go back out again. The only cruise line that still offers a true 14 day exotic Southern Caribbean is Celebrity Constellation. I hate to switch to them. I hope Princess is listening and will do a few dates next year.

[Salty Dawg]

bjkTx--We have done 3 b2b's out of Puerto Rico, one on the Golden, and two on the Crown, which were the ships doing the deep southern itineraries during those years.

 

Yes, it is better than going all the way back to FLL for the turn around, but the trip to P.R. is very long for us, and can not be done without connecting flights anymore since the Northwest/Delta merger, so the Grand's Caribbean Connection was ideal for our needs.

 

We would still urge Princess to do three 14 night cruises per winter out of FLL.

[JudithLynne]

We are very upset to lose 14 day cruises is both Alaska and the Caribbean. We will do the 14 day Caribbean in March. Traveling from our small west coast town to FLL makes for a very long day both coming and going so if we are going to do it, we want to spend 14 days. I agree with Toto, not at all interested in combining two 7 day cruises with a return to Ft. Lauderdale midway.

 

Judith

[HollyK]

I'm with you all on being p'd abut this change. When I originally began looking at these cruises, the 14 day was only out of FLL & back. Now for what amounts to the same trip (less St. Vincent's) we go all the way back to FLL and then out AGAIN.

And so we looked at the 20 day but same scenario with two times at Princess Cays and two times at St. Thomas. Ewww. :rolleyes:

Could you not come up with at least ONE cruise Princess that doesn't do this 'repeat bizness' stuff? We've been to St. Thomas quite enuf and don't care if we ever go to Princess Cays. I want to see islands and destinations I haven't yet been to, not the same old same old.

Someone - this thread or another I don't recall - said something about peeps not having 14 days or more to spend for a cruise. I don't agree. There are many of us 'baby boomers' who have the time and the money and would really appreciate an 18-21 day cruise of the Caribbean along the lines of the (former) "Caribbean Collection". So please bring at least ONE cruise back that doesn't return to FLL half way thru the cruise. I come - among other things - for the sun. I have no desire to return to the chill. :(

[pms4104]

Yes, I also am saddened that Princess apparently will not be offering a true 14-night Carib itinerary. But ... I suspect economonics has something to do with it. We were on the Grand back in October and, if reports are accurate, the ship had only about 1700 people onboard, and that included some/many who had started their sailing in Europe. Suspect that the full suites were filled, for the most part, by people who received free upgrades ... that was our good luck, and my understanding from scuttlebutt around the ship.

 

So, if it is problematic to fill the ship for such a Carib sailing, Princess likely believes they are more apt to fill the ship with two 7-night sailings back to back, as that taps in to a group for the first 7, a group for the second 7, and a group for the total of 14.

 

We also had done 14-night Carib on Holland America, but it appears that their offered itinerary is unchanged since we did it in 2009 ... and we have little desire to do an exact repeat of the same ports.

 

I have no desire to do two 7-night itineraries with a stop in the middle at Port Everglades and double visits to St. Thomas and perhaps other islands. So, we are considering a full transit of the Canal this year ... and, hopefully, true 14-night sailings will return for our next cruise in 2012.

[1 HappyCruiser]

 

I have no desire to do two 7-night itineraries with a stop in the middle at Port Everglades and double visits to St. Thomas and perhaps other islands. So, we are considering a full transit of the Canal this year ... and, hopefully, true 14-night sailings will return for our next cruise in 2012.

 

Although I also would prefer not to have to return to Ft Lauderdale during a 14 day trip it really doesn't affect us all that much since we've been to the same islands so many time we just go to enjoy the ship itself. I would expect to see less of the more traveled Elite Princess cruisers & more of the first time cruisers since the 7 day trips are really aimed at a different type of person who doesn't have the time to get away for 10 days off work.

[davidnsteph]

We took a beautiful 14-day Caribbean Calypso cruise on the Royal Princess last April, with stops at St. Thomas, Virgin Gorda, Antigua, St. Barts, Dominica, Barbados, Tobago and Aruba. It was a great itinerary on a small ship, which became available after the cancellation of a 14-day Amazon cruise. We would gladly take this cruise again, and would recommend it to anyone. However, this itinerary is offered infrequently.

 

David