Long Cruises, 30+ Nights

[born-to-cruise]

Recent check with RCCL future cruises doesn't offer cruise lengts beyond 30+ nights. I wonder why :confused:. Holland America (HAL) offers world cruises going to fantastic destinations on cruises that are in the 30+ nights. Much that we prefer cruising with RCCL but if there is no 30+ nights cruises available we will be forced into joining HAL long cruises offerings. Now that time is with us, we are looking at HAL 40 nights cruise in January 2013 coming from Ft. Lauderdale ending in Sydney. The stops are absolutely interesting and it includes Panama Canal transit. IMHO, this is three cruises combined into one if done with RCCL.:( Your thougths, please.

[Merion_Mom]

Recent check with RCCL future cruises doesn't offer cruise lengts beyond 30+ nights. I wonder why :confused:. Holland America (HAL) offers world cruises going to fantastic destinations on cruises that are in the 30+ nights. Much that we prefer cruising with RCCL but if there is no 30+ nights cruises available we will be forced into joining HAL long cruises offerings. Now that time is with us, we are looking at HAL 40 nights cruise in January 2013 coming from Ft. Lauderdale ending in Sydney. The stops are absolutely interesting and it includes Panama Canal transit. IMHO, this is three cruises combined into one if done with RCCL.:( Your thougths, please.

 

Different lines go for different segments of the market.

 

Royal Caribbean has never been a long-cruise company.

 

The longest single cruise I have seen is less than three weeks.

 

I and many others did the repositioning cruise of the Mariner from Florida to California in 2009, which was 46 nights, but it was actually three segments of 15, 15 & 16.

[Skipper Tim]

We did a repositioning on Legend of the Seas from Singapore to Rome over 24 nights. This was actually two back-to-backs of 12 nights each with a changeover in Dubai. Those who were aboard for just one leg certainly seemed to spend more (per leg or per night) on average than those who were aboard for longer.

 

The price model Royal Caribbean works on is closer to a low-cost airline than a long-haul carrier. They are attempting to maximise the relief of money per guest per day in extras on board. I am sure their target market is the the cash-rich, time-poor who may blow their annual holiday savings on one 5-15 night cruise, not the ocean voyage, adventurous oriented types of old.

 

RCI accommodate me when they are desperate and I very much appreciate it.

 

Tim.

 

(Next cruise: Palma to Panama aboard the Grandeur of the Seas, 30th October 2011)

[kyriecat]

I don't mean this in a derogatory fashion, but HAL does cater towards the older cruiser with lots of vacation time. I have sailed on HAL twice (I'm not yet 40) and enjoyed the cruises because of the unique itineraries. I love looking at HAL's intineraries and wish I could take some of their longer cruises. Maybe when I retire. :p HAL has a couple newer ships that are designed for family cruises, but they usually do 7-night sailings.

 

Royal Caribbean appeals to a different audience than HAL. RC is marketing towards familes, who usually can only take 1-2 weeks of vacation at one time. If you look at Carnival (who markets to the same demographic as RC), you won't find many cruises longer than 14 days either.

[bluecruisin]

I can't think of a very viable RCCL option in January. If you can wait 2 or 3 months a RCCL option would be the last Caribbean cruise on a certain ship, then the Transatlantic for that ship followed by the first Med. or Baltic voyage for that particular ship, giving you 3 destinctive cruises all together on 1 ship. This is a cruise plan we're dreaming of once we reach retirement!!

[mamapan]

I can't think of a very viable RCCL option in January. If you can wait 2 or 3 months a RCCL option would be the last Caribbean cruise on a certain ship, then the Transatlantic for that ship followed by the first Med. or Baltic voyage for that particular ship, giving you 3 destinctive cruises all together on 1 ship. This is a cruise plan we're dreaming of once we reach retirement!!

 

 

Fantastic idea!

[PCWalton1]

There are opportunities to do B2Bs that are unique. Radiance in Sept/Oct/Nov 2012 has four in a row that are all different.

 

• Vancouver BC to Hawaii
  
• Hawaii to Sydney
  
• Sydney to Perth across the top of Australia
  
• Perth back to Sydney across the bottom of Australia including New Zealand.
  

There is a large group of people that post here on CC that are doing that route right now.

That is 63 days. Just have to look, the opportunities for long cruises are really there.

[born-to-cruise]

Your senseful input are all appreciated. Learning from others is truly rewarding. Thank you so much.............. Hoping to bump into y'all on future cruises. Will be boarding Navigator of the Seas soon.

[DeepWaterMariner]

If you are thinking longer cruises you should also check Princess. They also do longer itineraries similar to HAL. Many of these longer cruises, particularly the Grand Voyages on HAL and world cruises on Princess, are sold in segments. Taking the entire world or grand voyage comes with some very nice perks (like free shipping for luggage) but probably less than half of the passengers are on for the entire ride.

[derwoodff64]

I don't mean this in a derogatory fashion, but HAL does cater towards the older cruiser with lots of vacation time. I have sailed on HAL twice (I'm not yet 40) and enjoyed the cruises because of the unique itineraries. I love looking at HAL's intineraries and wish I could take some of their longer cruises. Maybe when I retire. :p HAL has a couple newer ships that are designed for family cruises, but they usually do 7-night sailings.

 

Royal Caribbean appeals to a different audience than HAL. RC is marketing towards familes, who usually can only take 1-2 weeks of vacation at one time. If you look at Carnival (who markets to the same demographic as RC), you won't find many cruises longer than 14 days either.

 

We did a repositioning on Legend of the Seas from Singapore to Rome over 24 nights. This was actually two back-to-backs of 12 nights each with a changeover in Dubai. Those who were aboard for just one leg certainly seemed to spend more (per leg or per night) on average than those who were aboard for longer.

 

The price model Royal Caribbean works on is closer to a low-cost airline than a long-haul carrier. They are attempting to maximise the relief of money per guest per day in extras on board. I am sure their target market is the the cash-rich, time-poor who may blow their annual holiday savings on one 5-15 night cruise, not the ocean voyage, adventurous oriented types of old.

 

RCI accommodate me when they are desperate and I very much appreciate it.

 

Tim.

 

(Next cruise: Palma to Panama aboard the Grandeur of the Seas, 30th October 2011)

 

I think you misread this post it says adventurous oriented types of old. As in the old days of cruising not people.

[kyriecat]

I don't believe that I misread anything since I was not responding to Skipper Tim's post. I was responding to the OP. The OP was questioning why HAL offers so many longer cruises but RC does not.

 

I stand by my statement that HAL is focused on older (adult) cruisers with lots of vacation time vs. RC who is more focused on the family cruiser. Have you compared HAL & RC literature or websites? They are are designed to appeal to different demographics.

 

I have HAL's 2010/2011 Caribbean brochure. There are only pictures of 2 children in the entire brochure. Most of the pictures are people in their 50s/60s doing relaxing things - sitting on a beach, strolling by El Morro, eating dinner, getting a massage, taking a cooking class. There are a couple pictures of people in their 20s/30s and one picture of ziplining. The brochure describes the enrichment classes offered (cooking, computers, history & nature). The focus is not on adventure.

 

I also have Royal Caribbean's Caribbean brochure. Almost every page shows families with children doing active things - flow rider, swimming, ziplining, jet skiing, jeeps, kayaking. There are pictures of the spa and casino and a few pictures of couples, but the focus is family and adventure.

 

HAL makes it very easy for people to choose longer cruises because they package them that way. They offer several 30+ day cruises that are also packaged as 12-16 day segments for the people who don't have as much vacation time. I've read that HAL reserves cabins for those taking the longer cruise so they don't have to switch cabins between segments even if they book late.

 

If you do some research on RC, you can put together some cruises to make a longer one, but it isn't always easy to find what you want and unless you book early, there is a chance you will have to switch cabins.

 

It's good business sense to know and understand your focus group. In some cases, I think HAL does that better than RC.

[Cshgrand]

My parents have combined rc and Hal to get the trip they want next spring. They are on Hal for a month ish round south America ending in Miami then board an rc transatlantic back to Rome. They have a bit of time in the us for independent travel in between. Just a thought as combining lines has given them everything they are looking for.

[RSGS315]

My late husband and I took back to back cruises on the Legend of the Seas in January 2001.

We started in Singapore and cruised for 16 nights to Sidney, Australia, stayed on board for another 14 nights, ending the cruise in Auckland, NZ. This made it a 30 night cruise. We could have stayed onboard for another 16 night cruise from Auckland to Honolulu, but since we were still working, we didn't have the time.

We did cruise the following year from Auckland to Honolulu, via French Polynesia, and it was wonderful.

Royal Caribben doesn't do these segments any longer and it's a shame, as we did many of them on the Legend of the Seas.

 

Ginnie