Port Everglades in the Summer......

[sail7seas]

We just returned from a wonderful week spent at Hyatt Pier 66 in FLL immediately across from Port Everglades.

 

HAL has no ships in the Caribbean in the summer that we could sail but we wanted to get away for a resort type vacation seeing we couldn't sail. Hyatt was the perfect choice for us for this getaway. We debated various islands and domestic resort areas but we have friends in FLL and have favorite restaurants/stores etc

 

I was under the impression other cruise lines still sailed a ship or two in the Caribbean in the summer but that is barely so.

 

Our balconies looked down onto Port Everglades and the only ships we saw all week were Oasis and Allure. Carnival Freedom was in and Dawn Princess made an unusual stop there as she was ending one very lengthy cruise and embarking for another. It was not to really be a 'caribbean cruise'.

 

The islands must be hurting very badly for all these months each year to have almost no cruise passengers.

 

As an aside, I just learned the AH Riise, one of the oldest and most reputable stores in St. Thomas, closes all summer on Sat and Sun. I feel bad for all those folks on the islands with no business. No wonder they 'hustle' so hard to get business the six months a year the ships come in.

[eh2zed]

AH Riise closed on weekends!!! I would not have thought that possible.

[kent4489]

When we were in Aalska (not recently) we were in a shop that had sent their island employees up there for the summer months. I would guess many other stores do this as well?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sail, the ships do not just sail out of FLL there are quite a few ships that also sail out of Miami and Port Canaveral to the Caribbean in the summer. They are sold out weeks in advance with prices considerably higher than most HAL 7 days cruises.

But yes it is true many shops in the Caribbean also own shops up in Alaska and send employyes up there in the summer.

[sail7seas]

That's good to hear for shops like Diamonds International and a few of the big chains but I really feel for the usual t-shirt and souvenir shop type places. All the lunch spots and taxi drivers and tour operators etc

 

 

Sail, the ships do not just sail out of FLL there are quite a few ships that also sail out of Miami and Port Canaveral to the Caribbean in the summer. They are sold out weeks in advance with prices considerably higher than most HAL 7 days cruises.

 

 

 

Yes, of course, I'm aware Carnival etc mostly sail from Miami but there are A GREAT MANY ships that sail from Port Everglades...... or rather, do not sail from Port Everglades for about 6 months of the year. Certainly no HAL, Celebrity or Princess ships. That's a lot of guests who would normally be calling on those islands that are not there.

 

[GmaPajama]

Welcome back, Sail. I can't say "Welcome Home", because that's reserved for the ship end of each first gangway walk.

[sail7seas]

Thank you, Donna.

 

I admit it felt funny to not be crossing a gangway but we're home just a month from our Maasdam cruise so that's still 'fresh'.

 

We had a great time in FLL...... lots of fun.

 

[Essiesmom]

Dawn Princess is on a World Cruise that started in Sydney in May. EM

[sail7seas]

Someone at the hotel told us they were embarking/debarking 'segment cruisers'.... people not doing the whole thing.

 

The ship looked so lonesome all alone in Port Everglades.

[c-cruise]

There are still plenty of ships sailing the Caribbean this Summer - they just aren't all sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. Carnival alone has probably 15 ships from a dozen home ports doing Caribbean itineraries this Summer.

 

The other thing you have to look at is capacity. Each of the Oasis ships represents 6k passengers. RCCL doesn't need 2-3 ships each day anymore from Ft. Lauderdale/Miami. Even from Port Canaveral the tonnage has gotten huge - Freedom OTS, Disney Dream, Carnival Dream all hold around 4K passengers.

 

I would think HAL in particular would have a hard time competing in the Summer Caribbean market against the more family/kid oriented lines.

[alpal1993]

It is sad that most cruise lines are not sailing to the Caribbean in the Summer.The weather might play a huge role in that decsion The weather has been great here this summer and only this week has a Tropical storm formed that fizzled out causing only slight flood damage,

Lots of families with children would love to cruise in the Summer time The majority of us can't afford to take a family on an Alaskan or European cruise.

Because of having no competion RCCL can charge very high fares,which I wouldn't pay even though the ships are a entity in themselves.

Sail7Seas Thanks for coming and spending your vacation with us in Fort Lauderdale.We appreciate it.

[erewhon]

As Essiesmom stated, the Dawn Princess called at Fort Lauderdale duing a world cruise, I have the itinerary in front of me, friends are doing the London (Dover) to Auckland (NZ) segment.

The next port after FLL was Cartagena, then the Panama Canal Saturday 8th. Arrive in Los Angeles on the 15th, and Auckland on the 4th September.

[sail7seas]

Yes.

 

As I said, they were embarking/disembarking 'segment cruisers'..... those who were not doing the complete cruise.

 

FLL was one of the ports where some joined and some left.

 

Here is the schedule of segments:

 

2011 Dawn Princess World Cruise Segment Voyages

 

London – Ft. Lauderdale (16 days): July 17, 2011 – August 2, 2011

Ft. Lauderdale – Los Angeles (13 days):

August 2, 2011 – August 15, 2011

Los Angeles – Sydney (22 days):

 

August 15, 2011 – September 7, 2011