Costa Maya CANCELLED from our March 2013 out of Galveston????

[dforeigner]

Carnival built the Costa Maya port, I assume exempt from port fees and taxes. Why is crime an issue in Mahahual and not Belize City.

I say its simplely not enough room at the dock that day. If carnival owns the dock, it make $$$ by renting the slip to RCCL and NCL.

 

Unfortunately, the Crown and one of RCL's ships were the only ones scheduled at Costa Maya for March 11, 2013.

 

The current table does not show RCL docking at that port. The odd thing is that it is still showing Princess docking for this particular day.

 

Go figure.

 

HAL has two ships scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 15, 2013.

 

NCL has a ship scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 14, 2013.

 

NCL has a ship scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 12, 2013.

 

Regents is scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 10, 2013.

 

HAL has two ships scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 8, 2013.

 

Carnival and NCL each have a ship scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 7, 2013.

 

Disney has a ship scheduled to dock in Costa Maya March 6, 2013.

 

Last time I checked, HAL, Carnival and Regent's are all owned by Carnival Corporation. The same company that owns Princress.

[scurvybeachy]

But I think it was the only ship that day??

Yes, reason for my assumption. This is a itenerary in 2013.

If crime, or a fuel savings issue, it would be altered in 2012.

Seems like its logistics.

[scurvybeachy]

How many ships at once in Costa Maya?

My call last July, only two.

[caribill]

Yes, reason for my assumption. This is a itenerary in 2013.

If crime, or a fuel savings issue, it would be altered in 2012.

Seems like its logistics.

 

100% of the Princess sailings from Galveston have eliminated this port.

 

This includes the Crown for 2012-2013 and the Caribbean for 2013-2014.

[caribill]

Is anyone going to fly to Houston for one of these Crown cruises? Is there enough demand in Texas, Oklahoma and western Louisiana to keep the Crown filled given the competition? This will be interesting to watch unfold...

 

 

Princess left Galveston in 2007 because of the competition from Carnival and RCCL. There was not enough demand, so prices had to be reduced.

 

Now in 2012, there will be competition from Carnival (exact same 7 day itinerary as Princess), RCCL (exact same 7 day itinerary as Princess), and also Disney (7 day itinerary itinerary is Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Grand Caymen).

 

Without a special itinerary (the four ports), competition will be on price again.

[matj2000]

Just wondering if anyone has heard a more accurate reason for the port cancellation?

I called Princess and the person I spoke with knew nothing about it.

She said they don't tell them anything..

[232271]

Just wondering if anyone has heard a more accurate reason for the port cancellation?

I called Princess and the person I spoke with knew nothing about it.

She said they don't tell them anything..

 

At this point I don't think we will ever truly know the truth

[Stevesan]

I found Buckelew's e-mail addy. I suggest that if you're unhappy about Princess canceling Cost Maya without a replacement port you send him a msg, too

abuckelew@princess.com

 

I copied Jan Swartz (Senior VP, customer service and sales.)

jswartz@princess.com

 

msg content:

 

I want to inform you of my extreme displeasure with Princess deciding to cancel Crown's visits to Majuhal, Costa Maya without providing a replacement port. When I inquired about the cancellation, the Princess telephone representative said the reason is a high crime rate. That is very unlikely. There are no U.S State Department warnings for Costa Maya. Other cruise lines, including Disney, still visit Majahual.

I and many other Princess cruisers are disappointed. There is a lengthy thread on Cruise Critic with many unhappy Princess customers seriously considering rebooking with Carnival or RCI. I was on Grand Princess three consecutive years when she sailed from Galveston. I chose her primarily due to the four port itinerary. I looked forward to doing the same on Crown.

Will you please see to it that a replacement port is added before Crown begins her 2012/2013 W. Caribbean Cruises from Galveston? Either Grand Cayman or Playa del Carmen would be good choices. Both are well within the area of her other ports: Roatan, Belize and Cozumel.

[cherylandtk]

I have no knowledge of the actual reason, but I note that the 2013-2014 itineraries for that route also do not include Costa Maya. I suspect there was some sort of inability to reach a contract agreement with the port for that season and when that happened the current season (actually Dec. to Early April) was also cancelled. I also finding interesting that the cancellation notice came out within days of the release of the 2013-2014 itineraries. Again, no actual knowledge of the decision, just some observations of what is happening concurrently.

[dforeigner]

I have no knowledge of the actual reason, but I note that the 2013-2014 itineraries for that route also do not include Costa Maya. I suspect there was some sort of inability to reach a contract agreement with the port for that season and when that happened the current season (actually Dec. to Early April) was also cancelled. I also finding interesting that the cancellation notice came out within days of the release of the 2013-2014 itineraries. Again, no actual knowledge of the decision, just some observations of what is happening concurrently.

 

Unfortunately, I have yet to receive such notice via email. Port fees and taxes remain unchanged since they cancelled the port of Mahahual (Costa Maya).

[RickEk]

At this point I don't think we will ever truly know the truth

 

The most likely "truth" is that they will be saving fuel costs...

[jpthomas27]

I just noticed that the port has been removed from all the Galveston sailings and popped over here to see if there were any threads on it, sure enough...

We were thinking about late March or the April (2013) departure but I'm honestly not sure now. We cruise for the ports and adding a sea day is a huge dissapointment. If I wanted to sit around a pool and eat all day I could do that at home. A sea day to break up the ports and get a day of rest between exploring is great! But starting a cruise with back to back sea days then 3 ports and another sea day before getting home is not what I would call an ideal itinerary.

This really changes things in regards to Galvenston sailings on Princess IMO. Pricess will have to drop considerably for me to think seriousely about this particular itinerary now.

[matj2000]

I sent an email to the Pres & Senior VP similar to the one that "Stevesan" posted a few threads back.

Here is the response I recieved today.

Thank you for your email. Several of our customers have expressed that they would like additional information about the operational reasons behind the cancellation of Costa Maya on Crown Princess 7-day Western Caribbean sailings beginning December 22, 2012. We would first like to point out that we use the phrase “operational reasons” to cover a variety of factors that influence our business including port logistics, safety and security considerations, consumer feedback, and fuel availability and cost, among others.

 

These factors entered into our decision to make this itinerary change, with the greatest consideration being fuel cost on this 7-day cruise with 4 ports, which has been altered to 3 ports.

 

When we designed these itineraries over one year ago, it was difficult to predict that fuel prices would continue to rise to such high levels. As a result, the cost of fuel has been dramatically impacted because of the rich port content. After careful consideration of the situation and of all alternatives, our decision was to remove the furthest outlying port – in this case Costa Maya – that would result in the greatest reduction of fuel consumption. Our goal was to continue to deliver an excellent, port-rich itinerary while at the same time alleviating a detrimental commercial impact on our business.

 

This was not an easy decision, and we know many passengers may be disappointed with this change. We would like to also point out that the majority of our competitors in this 7-day Western Caribbean cruise market all offer a 3 port itinerary. Our just announced Fall 2013- Spring 2014 program does not include this port for the same reason.

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

[bjkTX]

I sent an email to the Pres & Senior VP similar to the one that "Stevesan" posted a few threads back.

Here is the response I recieved today.

Thank you for your email. Several of our customers have expressed that they would like additional information about the operational reasons behind the cancellation of Costa Maya on Crown Princess 7-day Western Caribbean sailings beginning December 22, 2012. We would first like to point out that we use the phrase “operational reasons” to cover a variety of factors that influence our business including port logistics, safety and security considerations, consumer feedback, and fuel availability and cost, among others.

 

These factors entered into our decision to make this itinerary change, with the greatest consideration being fuel cost on this 7-day cruise with 4 ports, which has been altered to 3 ports.

 

When we designed these itineraries over one year ago, it was difficult to predict that fuel prices would continue to rise to such high levels. As a result, the cost of fuel has been dramatically impacted because of the rich port content. After careful consideration of the situation and of all alternatives, our decision was to remove the furthest outlying port – in this case Costa Maya – that would result in the greatest reduction of fuel consumption. Our goal was to continue to deliver an excellent, port-rich itinerary while at the same time alleviating a detrimental commercial impact on our business.

 

This was not an easy decision, and we know many passengers may be disappointed with this change. We would like to also point out that the majority of our competitors in this 7-day Western Caribbean cruise market all offer a 3 port itinerary. Our just announced Fall 2013- Spring 2014 program does not include this port for the same reason.

 

Sincerely,

 

Princess Cruises

Customer Relations Specialist

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

 

 

So instead of being in port at Costa Maya all day - the ship will be sailing around burning fuel???

 

I'm not buying that answer.

[Loucat]

There was no doubt $$ entered into this. As others have posted, one more day at sea makes money for the ship. They are following RCC's practice. Did they lower the price for sailing to fewer ports? Probably not as the ships out of Tampa with one port for a 5 day cruise are busy. One port:confused:

[jpthomas27]

So instead of being in port at Costa Maya all day - the ship will be sailing around burning fuel???

 

I'm not buying that answer.

 

I'm not defending them, and still not happy about it, but there is at least some logic in it. And to be honest the most realistic, business oriented explination I have heard so far.

 

** Disclaimer**

Numbers in my example are complete for demosntration purposes and are not remotely close to the actual mileage.

 

If you imagine a triangle, two of those side are the rout from Galveston to Costa Maya, then Costa Maya to the next port, each one might be 100 miles making the trip to the second port 200 miles in total. But if you eliminate Costa Maya and head strait to the second port you travel on the third side of the triangle which might only be 100-125 miles, which means you saved miles and made the trip shorter overall. Shorter trip=less fuel.

 

Also, if you have to make two ports in two days you have to travel faster. If you can take two days to travel almost the same distance, you can travel slower. Slower=less fuel.

 

One less stop means less port charges, which means more money saved.

 

You couldn't actually save money by being in port versus traveling. The only realistic scenario is simply breaking even and having the costs be the same whether they stop or not. If the ports were in an exact strait line from home port to port one to port two, then travel would be the same distance using the same fuel, but even then, one could argue that skipping the first port and traveling at a slower rate of speed over two days to reach the second port would save some money on fuel.

[RickEk]

So instead of being in port at Costa Maya all day - the ship will be sailing around burning fuel???

 

I'm not buying that answer.

 

I'm not defending them, and still not happy about it, but there is at least some logic in it. And to be honest the most realistic, business oriented explination I have heard so far.

 

** Disclaimer**

Numbers in my example are complete for demosntration purposes and are not remotely close to the actual mileage.

 

If you imagine a triangle, two of those side are the rout from Galveston to Costa Maya, then Costa Maya to the next port, each one might be 100 miles making the trip to the second port 200 miles in total. But if you eliminate Costa Maya and head strait to the second port you travel on the third side of the triangle which might only be 100-125 miles, which means you saved miles and made the trip shorter overall. Shorter trip=less fuel.

 

Also, if you have to make two ports in two days you have to travel faster. If you can take two days to travel almost the same distance, you can travel slower. Slower=less fuel.

 

One less stop means less port charges, which means more money saved.

 

You couldn't actually save money by being in port versus traveling. The only realistic scenario is simply breaking even and having the costs be the same whether they stop or not. If the ports were in an exact strait line from home port to port one to port two, then travel would be the same distance using the same fuel, but even then, one could argue that skipping the first port and traveling at a slower rate of speed over two days to reach the second port would save some money on fuel.

 

JP's logic is correct... they're probably going to save somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million dollars in fuel costs by altering this itinerary for the entire season from Galveston.

[bjkTX]

JP's logic is correct... they're probably going to save somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million dollars in fuel costs by altering this itinerary for the entire season from Galveston.

 

Think how much they could save if they didn't go at all - like the last several years. At this rate they won't be back.

[05mak05]

While I am very upset about dropping Costa Maya, I do commend Princess for stepping to the plate and explaining the decision making process. We had booked the Christmas cruise and were originally paying $2199 pp for 1 & 2nd passenger and $1099 for the 2 children in a mini suite and $2199 for Jack and I in a 2nd mini suite. Since the holiday sailings are always substantially higher, I wish they had left this particular week as is. People expect to splurge Christmas and New Year's. We're regulars on Royal and were willing to give up perks and our balcony discount of $250 per stateroom because of

Costa Maya. My gut feeling was that Princess would come out on top of the bookings game bettering Carnival, Disney and RCI. We actually expected a fuel surcharge to be tacked on. We love 4 ports on 7 day sailings. While we understand, we are also really bummed and will probably switch to the Mariner's New Years Cruise. I'm wondering if Princess might restore the port for the Holiday sailings .... Please? :-)qq

[RickEk]

Think how much they could save if they didn't go at all - like the last several years. At this rate they won't be back.

 

You do realize that this makes no sense at all... :) the Crown Princess will most likely be sailing full from Galveston. Some folks will cancel because of the itinerary change, but most others won't care at all.

[bjkTX]

You do realize that this makes no sense at all... :) the Crown Princess will most likely be sailing full from Galveston. Some folks will cancel because of the itinerary change, but most others won't care at all.

 

If you say so. They left Galveston before, I'm sure it was because of money. Now they are making the cruise less appealing than others leaving from the same port for less money. We'll see how it ends up.

[Stevesan]

Apparently princess isn't about to relent and add a fourth port.

Fine. Now I have good cause to try RCI. I sailed Carnival from Galveston (avoiding school holidays and spring break) and enjoyed it immensely. Nice ship and crew with larger cabins and comfortable beds.

[highheel girl]

Just like the last time they tried this, I don't see their time in Galvaston lasting. :(

[dforeigner]

Apparently princess isn't about to relent and add a fourth port.

Fine. Now I have good cause to try RCI. I sailed Carnival from Galveston (avoiding school holidays and spring break) and enjoyed it immensely. Nice ship and crew with larger cabins and comfortable beds.

 

If you are referring to RCI sailing out of Galveston, they also cancelled Costa Maya.

[austinlw]

Over the past few months I was considering a cruise on either RC Mariner of the Seas (on a Roatan/Belize trip) or Crown Princess. Crown Princess' balcony price was higher (by around $200pp), but with the additional 4th port, that made it a real decision. Now that CP has dropped the 4th port, the itineraries are basically the same. If I were still in the market for a Galveston cruise next winter (we've since booked Emerald Princess out of FLL instead) right now I'd definitely go with RC Mariner OTS.