Some 4 day cruises not selling?

[Posaune]

Nine days out from a 4 day on Ruby and I see more than 150 balcony cabins available. Is this unusual?

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you're comparing it to normal 7 day cruises, yes, it's unusual. Princess is having a hard time selling the shorter cruises, hence the fantastic deals like "sail for free", reduced prices and bonus commission (which they rarely ever, ever offer! Not that it makes much difference on such an inexpensive cruise fare.)

[Gunner22aa]

We did a 4 day on the Golden out of LA about 6 weeks ago. The ship has a maximum capacity of around 2800 people. It was a ghost town with only 1352 on board. It almost felt like a private cruise at times and boy it was nice. There were no lineups for anything. The longest wait I had was for the bartender to pour the drink of the one lady ahead of me. If only they could all be like this! They actually moved a bunch of people around and had entire sections of the ship empty. I counted 17 cabins in a row on Emerald deck where our suite was that were empty. They handed out upgrades galore on the trip as well. I met one couple out of LA who had booked an ocean view and ended up in an S6 Vista suite right above ours and theirs wasn't the only great upgrade story I heard. Don't knock a ship that sails at less than capacity as its a wonderful experience

[Posaune]

I will hope for an upgrade. Booked a guarantee front inside on Riviera and they "upgraded" me to mid-ship Caribe. I love Riviera on the front. Maybe will get moved to a balcony later.

[runnerodb83]

I will hope for an upgrade. Booked a guarantee front inside on Riviera and they "upgraded" me to mid-ship Caribe. I love Riviera on the front. Maybe will get moved to a balcony later.

 

Riviera deck on the golden? That just blew my mind...the missing deck 13!

 

I think you mean Aloha, the original Grand class ships and diamond/sapphire do not have a Riviera deck.

 

I don't think Princess will run these 3 and 4 day cruises in a year or two. The US west coast demographic doesnt spend enough on cruises to make them financially viable. The only silver lining is that the ships use very little fuel sailing to ensenada. Princess has 1 too many ships on the west coast in the winter as much as I hate to say it. Perhaps it would be better to move one of these ships to be vancouver or seattle based and have them do the hawaii or 15 day mexico runs.

[pcsunlover]

I think most of the 3 and 4 day cruises are mostly going to be booked by people within driving distance to the departure ports. The cost of the airfare for me isn't worth doing any cruise under 7 days.

[antsp]

Do you think Princess has made a mistake trying to market itself as a 4 day cruise product, do you think they will continue to offer this type of sailing.

[critterchick]

I don't think Princess will run these 3 and 4 day cruises in a year or two. The US west coast demographic doesnt spend enough on cruises to make them financially viable. The only silver lining is that the ships use very little fuel sailing to ensenada. Princess has 1 too many ships on the west coast in the winter as much as I hate to say it. Perhaps it would be better to move one of these ships to be vancouver or seattle based and have them do the hawaii or 15 day mexico runs.

 

One big problem I see with the itineraries is that they don't offer a regular 3-night weekend cruise - those are cash cows that carry the less-profitable 4-nighters - they did for RCI and they do for Carnival. Monday departures for a 3-nighter are just a dumb idea, IMO - even those of us who living within driving distance of the port aren't going to take 3 vacation days for a 3-night cruise. On the Friday departures, we can board at 3:00 (I board at noon, but DH stays at the office later) and depart first thing Monday morning to be back at work, only a little worse for wear.

 

We went on 3 weekend cruises this fall and the ship was full every time, plus the onboard revenues were higher than our bartender at Vines had ever seen (he said that he'd seen the receipts).

 

Many people (ourselves included) won't be able to take advantage of the voyage goodwill credits in 2014, so those cruises aren't "free", after all.

[Pia1913]

Nine days out from a 4 day on Ruby and I see more than 150 balcony cabins available. Is this unusual?

 

Surprising, since this is one of the "get all you money back" cruises. We are on the 13th and 18th; couldn't change plans or would have been on this one too.

[Gunner22aa]

When we were on the Golden I was told by the Staff Captain that it was a trial. If it goes over well and is profitable (can't see that with our ship less than half full) then it would continue.

[NewPennCruiser]

Do you think Princess has made a mistake trying to market itself as a 4 day cruise product, do you think they will continue to offer this type of sailing.

 

At the moment, if you look out 12 months, they are scheduling these same 4 and 5 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale on the Caribbean Princess. I suppose they have time to change their mind but right now they plan on doing it for another year. We don't live in Florida but took advantage of the 12/14 cruise and had a great time; but that said, for folks outside of driving distance to the port there isn't much of an advantage when airfare can be pretty high for what amounts to being a long weekend. Dave

[EAGLESLOVER]

We decided on a trip to visit relatives and see spring training. The 5 day Ruby fit in very nicely between visits. Otherwise I agree that the airfare would be prohibitive.

 

 

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[runnerodb83]

At the moment, if you look out 12 months, they are scheduling these same 4 and 5 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale on the Caribbean Princess. I suppose they have time to change their mind but right now they plan on doing it for another year. We don't live in Florida but took advantage of the 12/14 cruise and had a great time; but that said, for folks outside of driving distance to the port there isn't much of an advantage when airfare can be pretty high for what amounts to being a long weekend. Dave

 

Reportedly, this is a program that was devised by Jan Swartz before her CEO position. The goal is to get new cruisers on to expose them to a shorter cruise with the hopes of them opting for longer cruises after trying a short one. In theory, this works well, although they are competing with carnival in many of these markets, the ships are more upmarket than the carnival fleet and they provide a product thats more sophisticated than the carnival product.

 

That said, time will tell if it will pay off. RCL was doing the same thing in SoCal but using an older ship which obviously didn't pay off like other itineraries do.

 

Of the new west coast itineraries i think the Vancouver hawaii one will be a winner. Although there are only a few next year, i think there will be more in the shoulder season before and after alaska season. Also, I can see more coastal cruises from vancouver especially since it is easier for international travelers to get to vancouver and they typically spend more. One thing that I think is missing is a 10 day RT itinerary from Vancouver or Seattle to Alaska. For Seattle, that would allow more than the awkward 5 hr victoria call and allow more scenic cruising, more standard port times, and perhaps another port call.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I will hope for an upgrade. Booked a guarantee front inside on Riviera and they "upgraded" me to mid-ship Caribe. I love Riviera on the front. Maybe will get moved to a balcony later.

 

Riviera deck on the golden? That just blew my mind...the missing deck 13!

 

I think you mean Aloha, the original Grand class ships and diamond/sapphire do not have a Riviera deck.

 

I don't think Princess will run these 3 and 4 day cruises in a year or two. The US west coast demographic doesnt spend enough on cruises to make them financially viable. The only silver lining is that the ships use very little fuel sailing to ensenada. Princess has 1 too many ships on the west coast in the winter as much as I hate to say it. Perhaps it would be better to move one of these ships to be vancouver or seattle based and have them do the hawaii or 15 day mexico runs.

 

 

Looking at Posaune's upcoming cruises and the first one is on the Ruby. Not on the Golden.

[Coveguy4]

Original poster not on the Golden, Booked on the Ruby which does have a Riviera deck

[RickEk]

Nine days out from a 4 day on Ruby and I see more than 150 balcony cabins available. Is this unusual?

 

The itinerary is what is keeping folks from booking.... sea day, Princess Cays, sea day and back to Ft. Lauderdale. :rolleyes:

[John Reid]

Do you think Princess has made a mistake trying to market itself as a 4 day cruise product, do you think they will continue to offer this type of sailing.

 

We are lucky enough to cruise twice per year in recent years (our 11th cruise this Friday; three with Princess), and we were planning to return to Ruby for a seven day cruise having enjoyed our first one so much. When we did the itinerary check, we were disappointed in the change to 4's and 5's. It seems to me there are multiple flaws to this marketing decision. To my knowledge, other lines do not use their top ships for these abbreviated cruises. Also, as pointed out already, the itineraries are port deprived. They try to market 9 day cruises combining the 4 and 5, and that would appear to be a market that does not exist. Pay for 9 days and go to fewer ports than one seven day cruise previously on Ruby??? They should have anticipated these flaws when they made such a poor decision.

[Posaune]

@ runnerodb83 yes, this is on Ruby on Riviera deck, not Golden.

 

We had hoped to do a Panama Canal cruise at this time, but due to elderly parent issues we could not get away for 11 to 15 days. We jumped on a 4 day just to get away for a few days when we had some help with my in-laws.

 

We have been on ten Princess cruises and every one was sold out.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Posaune
addition

[love2cruisegal]

We are lucky enough to cruise twice per year in recent years (our 11th cruise this Friday; three with Princess), and we were planning to return to Ruby for a seven day cruise having enjoyed our first one so much. When we did the itinerary check, we were disappointed in the change to 4's and 5's. It seems to me there are multiple flaws to this marketing decision. To my knowledge, other lines do not use their top ships for these abbreviated cruises. Also, as pointed out already, the itineraries are port deprived. They try to market 9 day cruises combining the 4 and 5, and that would appear to be a market that does not exist. Pay for 9 days and go to fewer ports than one seven day cruise previously on Ruby??? They should have anticipated these flaws when they made such a poor decision.

 

I agree. I checked out a couple of the 9 day cruises earlier this year, but yes, they are 4 and 5 day cruises put together. The problem with these "combined" 9 day cruises is they all return back to Ft. Lauderdale and finish the 4 or 5 days. That seems like such a waste of time when you could probably do all 9 days without having to return to Ft. Lauderdale in the middle of the cruise. Princess needs more cruises to southern Caribbean.

[Iamcruzin]

Nine days out from a 4 day on Ruby and I see more than 150 balcony cabins available. Is this unusual?

Personally unless you live in driving distance to a port I can't see anyone wasting money on airfare of even frequent flyer miles to take a 4 day cruise that goes to Princess Cays. Those short cruises were way over priced from the get go so I'm not surprised that they had to slash prices.

[NewPennCruiser]

I agree. I checked out a couple of the 9 day cruises earlier this year, but yes, they are 4 and 5 day cruises put together. The problem with these "combined" 9 day cruises is they all return back to Ft. Lauderdale and finish the 4 or 5 days. That seems like such a waste of time when you could probably do all 9 days without having to return to Ft. Lauderdale in the middle of the cruise. Princess needs more cruises to southern Caribbean.

 

I was disappointed to see they are dropping the 7 day Southern route next year but I'm sure it's very costly for them to go that distance for a week long cruise; at least in fuel. These 4 day cruises are probably very efficient for Princess because I know on our 4 day Western we averaged 14 knots going and 17 coming back and half the time it seemed like we were barely moving. Heck, they can pretty much row to Princess Cay and back in 4 days! Dave

[Coral]

The itinerary is what is keeping folks from booking.... sea day, Princess Cays, sea day and back to Ft. Lauderdale. :rolleyes:

 

I can't think of a 4 day cruise out of FLL that would be desirable. Princess Cays sure beats Nassau.

[Mikeyto]

My hope is they will re-think the departure days like other posters have mentioned and switch to more weekend type departures instead of Monday and Tuesday. I would also like to see more 5 day options or maybe even a couple 6 day itineraries.

[geoherb]

We were on last week for two back-to-back four-day cruises. We would not consider flying down from North Carolina unless we can do that again or else tie in a short cruise with a few days in Florida like we did once on a Celebrity cruise.

 

I prefer the Princess Cays itinerary over the Grand Cayman one. We enjoyed the days at sea and the calm sailing due to the ship moving slower.

[Coral]

My hope is they will re-think the departure days like other posters have mentioned and switch to more weekend type departures instead of Monday and Tuesday. I would also like to see more 5 day options or maybe even a couple 6 day itineraries.

 

I think they will re-think it by eliminating them in the future. I have heard from several that Princess is not pleased with how these cruises are playing out. They are losing $$$ on these. I expect the ships will go back to 7 night sailings in the future.