Princess & Port Canaveral

[AmberTeka]

Looks like they are all most finished building at the port.

 

http://Http://www.portcanaveral.com/general/news/releases/08262011.php

 

The last line of the article leave a lot of thoughts in my mind.

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/story/2012-05-17/New-Royal-Caribbean-ship-Carnival-deal-a-win-for-Port-Canaveral/55035602/1

 

Very Interesting......! From what our newspaper tells us..which is not much..Carnival is pushing the Port Of jax..to dredge out the Old Naval Station at Mayport.....where they want to put a deep water ship. The Fascination just clears the Dame's Point Bridge..and you travel down the St. John's River for a good bit before reaching the Atlantic. Very interesting.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO developers (think J.Bush) want to develop Mayport for pricey condos. Big fight.

Carnival losing patience. They have given Port of Jax a year I think..and they are making nice with Savannah. Savannah has said they will do anything to get a big Carnival Ship...so

 

So a Big ship out of Jax..a Big ship from Savannah. Paula Dean. Sea Islands. St. Simon's. Cumberland Island. Atlanta. Lot of stuff.

A princess ship in at Savannah.............that would be a money maker I think. The Sea Islands..Hilton Head..St. Simons..Amelia Island..lot of money tucked away in those Live Oaks....

[tarheelmjfan]

I would jump for joy if Princess would base a ship out of Port Canerval. A HUGE pool of sailers..retired folks in the Villages..around Orlando..over in Citrus Co..up to Ocala...right now they run buses down to MIA and Fort Lauderdale...they could drive to Port Canerval. Less than a hour.

PLUS...you have the huge base of cruisers in Georgia..Alabama..Mississippi..S.C. N.C. Kentucky..Tennessee.........the same folks who pile on the Old tiny Fascination out of Jacksonville...because they can drive there. No language issues. We just got off of the Fascination...and I bet 90% of the passengers were southern. It was very laid back. A lot of Georgia Grads were cruising as College gifts of grandparents and such..EVEN they were well behaved. Always opening doors for the older women..Yes mam and no sir...

 

Almost all of them cruised exclusively out of Jacksonville and Port Canerval...The Dream or The Freedom of the Seas. Most cruised a lot. Several folks we spoke to had been on the Fascination six or seven times.

We were planning to go on NCL...The Sun..but they pulled it back to Miami..and moved the Dawn to Tampa. The NCL Spirit was getting raves from the committed cruisers.

 

Orlando is not just Disney. It is Sea World. It is Universal. It is Jai Ali during some months. Baseball Spring training. Shopping at the miles of outlet malls. The beaches at Coco....spun sugar sand........

AND..CRUISES TO BERMUDA PERHAPS?

 

I doubt they would go to Bermuda from PC, but that's one cruise we would take from PC for sure. That would be awesome! OTOH, I don't care how much closer PC is to us the itineraries offered from there now hold no appeal. I want convenience, but not at the expense of a good itinerary.

[dmwnc1959]

I would jump for joy if Princess would base a ship out of Port Canerval. A HUGE pool of sailers...

 

If it were only about having access to a potentially large number of consumers then Princess would have ships based year round out of Baltimore or NYC, which has a much better chance than Port Canaveral.

 

After NCL announced the year-round deployment of the new Norwegian Breakaway out of NYC, Carnival Cruise Lines upped their game there by moving the Carnival Splendor over from California. Maybe Princess is next in late 2014?

 

The Winter fleet deployments in the Port Canaveral market are reaching a saturation point and adding another ship there just doesn't make sense. And Princess knows that.

 

Like Pam said: Supply and demand. Follow the money. That's the bottom line.

 

And that's not Port Canaveral. At least not for Princess Cruises.

[caribill]

right now they run buses down to MIA and Fort Lauderdale...they could drive to Port Canerval. Less than a hour.

 

Another thread says the buses no longer run.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I doubt they would go to Bermuda from PC, but that's one cruise we would take from PC for sure. That would be awesome! OTOH, I don't care how much closer PC is to us the itineraries offered from there now hold no appeal. I want convenience, but not at the expense of a good itinerary.

 

I don't think what Princess is offering to the eastern Caribbean is much different than what you'd get from Port Canaveral.

 

With Princess you do get an extra stop in Grand Turk but that's not an earth shattering difference.

 

Bill

[hubofhockey]

If you count as heavily as Princess does on senior citizens, Port Canaveral would be a challenging port for them. I love that area and we can never spend a full week in Orlando (teens love Universal, especially IOA, but Disney not so much) and prices are great there and so are the people. I'd look into a Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas cruise at some point. Great ship.

[sunsetbeachgal]

If you count as heavily as Princess does on senior citizens, Port Canaveral would be a challenging port for them. I love that area and we can never spend a full week in Orlando (teens love Universal, especially IOA, but Disney not so much) and prices are great there and so are the people. I'd look into a Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas cruise at some point. Great ship.

 

Just did the Freedom of the Seas two weeks ago...much as I missed my Princess benefits, it was really refreshing experiencing a different ship and line..it is a lovely ship and I don't think you would be disappointed. Entertainment was probably the best I have seen on a ship. I loved the layout with the promenade, and we were with a family with children and it was a perfect choice. We could not even consider Princess since the ships are elsewhere!!

 

And as Amber said, ship had alot of Floridians on board. i do wish Princess had a ship on the East Coast (other than NY)...and would love Bermuda cruises!!

[hubofhockey]

Just did the Freedom of the Seas two weeks ago...much as I missed my Princess benefits, it was really refreshing experiencing a different ship and line..it is a lovely ship and I don't think you would be disappointed. Entertainment was probably the best I have seen on a ship. I loved the layout with the promenade, and we were with a family with children and it was a perfect choice. We could not even consider Princess since the ships are elsewhere!!

 

And as Amber said, ship had alot of Floridians on board. i do wish Princess had a ship on the East Coast (other than NY)...and would love Bermuda cruises!!

 

We are doing the Allure out of Fort Lauderdale next Spring. But if we do another Caribbean cruise in the near future, it would be Freedom from Port Canaveral combined with 2-3 days in Cocoa Beach. I realize that this port is not a great fit for Princess and Princess isn't always a great fit for us either. But I hope for the best for that port, especially considering the impact of the ramping down of the US space program.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are doing the Allure out of Fort Lauderdale next Spring. But if we do another Caribbean cruise in the near future, it would be Freedom from Port Canaveral combined with 2-3 days in Cocoa Beach. I realize that this port is not a great fit for Princess and Princess isn't always a great fit for us either. But I hope for the best for that port, especially considering the impact of the ramping down of the US space program.

 

I always said "no way...never" when I saw the Oasis docked in Port Everglades, but after doing the Freedom and attending the meet and mingle and speaking with Diamond Plus members who raved about it, I am very tempted to try the Oasis or Allure, perhaps combined as a back to back with a Princess cruise. And what an astute point about supporting the economy of the Cocoa Beach area...losing the space shuttle program has had a devastating impact...we stayed overnight in Cocoa beach before the cruise, had a nice dinner and did a little shopping (and had to visit Ron Jons!) and it was a very pleasant experience.

[geocruiser]

I always said "no way...never" when I saw the Oasis docked in Port Everglades, but after doing the Freedom and attending the meet and mingle and speaking with Diamond Plus members who raved about it, I am very tempted to try the Oasis or Allure, perhaps combined as a back to back with a Princess cruise. And what an astute point about supporting the economy of the Cocoa Beach area...losing the space shuttle program has had a devastating impact...we stayed overnight in Cocoa beach before the cruise, had a nice dinner and did a little shopping (and had to visit Ron Jons!) and it was a very pleasant experience.

 

Ron Jons is something to be seen. I never saw so much beach stuff in my life!

[hubofhockey]

I always said "no way...never" when I saw the Oasis docked in Port Everglades, but after doing the Freedom and attending the meet and mingle and speaking with Diamond Plus members who raved about it, I am very tempted to try the Oasis or Allure, perhaps combined as a back to back with a Princess cruise. And what an astute point about supporting the economy of the Cocoa Beach area...losing the space shuttle program has had a devastating impact...we stayed overnight in Cocoa beach before the cruise, had a nice dinner and did a little shopping (and had to visit Ron Jons!) and it was a very pleasant experience.

 

It's good that you stayed in Cocoa Beach rather than in Port Canaveral area. We combined a 3-day theme park with a 3-day cocoa beach vacation at a time share on the beach in Cocoa Beach and loved the beach area. The kids learned to surf and we did kayaking with manatees and had a great time in that very underrated area. We dropped some money at Ron Jon's as well. It's amazing. While I understand why Princess isn't at that port area, it's foolish to confine yourself to only ports serviced by Princess or any cruise line for that matter. Each vacation should stand on its own and Cocoa Beach is affordable and has a really nice beach area. That's it's not far from Orlando (an hour) is just a nice bonus. I'm talking myself into a vacation on the Freedom of the Seas in the next couple of years. :cool:

[geocruiser]

It's good that you stayed in Cocoa Beach rather than in Port Canaveral area. We combined a 3-day theme park with a 3-day cocoa beach vacation at a time share on the beach in Cocoa Beach and loved the beach area. The kids learned to surf and we did kayaking with manatees and had a great time in that very underrated area. We dropped some money at Ron Jon's as well. It's amazing. While I understand why Princess isn't at that port area, it's foolish to confine yourself to only ports serviced by Princess or any cruise line for that matter. Each vacation should stand on its own and Cocoa Beach is affordable and has a really nice beach area. That's it's not far from Orlando (an hour) is just a nice bonus. I'm talking myself into a vacation on the Freedom of the Seas in the next couple of years. :cool:

 

With all the take about PC I did just talked myself into a cruise on Freedom of the Seas. With the cruise connection bus not running any more PC is 35 minutes away from our winter home on the Space Coast.

[spunkie4]

I love cruising out of Jacksonville. It's my home, although we live an hour away. It means a quick cruise, but on an older Carnival ship. Nevertheless, it's relaxing not to drive or fly. I have no doubt Jacksonville will lose the cruise business to Savannah. I am an advocate of leaving Mayport intact. It's beautiful and the military is very imporant there.

 

Savannah would be a great cruise port. Lots to see. Easy to fly into. The port can be easily converted to accommodate a cruise ship.

 

Port Canaveral is convenient. Means not having to drive to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami. Not spending a night in a hotel. We drive there the morning of the cruise. Flying into to PC is not as easy as Ft. Lauderdale/Miami.

 

Princess could have a market in either Savannah or Port Canaveral. An extra sea day is always a plus for us.

 

Shirley

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't think what Princess is offering to the eastern Caribbean is much different than what you'd get from Port Canaveral.

 

With Princess you do get an extra stop in Grand Turk but that's not an earth shattering difference.

 

Bill

 

We choose cruises based on itinerary first & cruise line second. Admittedly, I haven't looked at itineraries from PC recently. When I did look, all the cruises went to Bahamas &/or Jamaica. Given a viable alternative, we would never visit those islands again. We decided convenience wasn't worth choosing what to us is an undesirable itinerary, so we forgot PC. PE & POM offer many more itinerary options. PC's location seems to limit itinerary possibilities much more. That said, I don't have anything against PC in general. If I happened on a cruise from there that had a good itinerary, I wouldn't hesitate to book it.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We choose cruises based on itinerary first & cruise line second. Admittedly, I haven't looked at itineraries from PC recently. When I did look, all the cruises went to Bahamas &/or Jamaica. Given a viable alternative, we would never visit those islands again. We decided convenience wasn't worth choosing what to us is an undesirable itinerary, so we forgot PC. PE & POM offer many more itinerary options. PC's location seems to limit itinerary possibilities much more. That said, I don't have anything against PC in general. If I happened on a cruise from there that had a good itinerary, I wouldn't hesitate to book it.

 

where did princess go when they did western Caribbean cruises?

 

Why wouldn't Princess stop at Princess Cays instead of Nassau if they were to leave from Pt Canaveral.

 

I don't see how the itinerary is limited, other than the southern Caribbean ports of Aruba and Curacao.

 

Bill

[tarheelmjfan]

where did princess go when they did western Caribbean cruises?

 

Why wouldn't Princess stop at Princess Cays instead of Nassau if they were to leave from Pt Canaveral.

 

I don't see how the itinerary is limited, other than the southern Caribbean ports of Aruba and Curacao.

 

Bill

 

This is our first Princess cruise. We chose it based on itinerary. Unfortunately, I have no idea where they went for Western Caribbean cruises. All I know is what I found when checking Port Canaveral itineraries. I wouldn't choose a Princess (or any other cruise line) cruise from PE or POM that went to Bahamas &/or Jamaica either given a choice. Fortunately, those 2 ports offer more choices. My opinion is based on itinerary from PC not cruise lines. I would feel the same way, regardless of the line. As far as Princess from PC, we would be happy with a private island, if the other ports were of interest to us. We do prefer the Western & Southern Caribbean, but we're not opposed to much of the Eastern Caribbean either.

[highheel girl]

No desire to sail out of or stop at PC.