RCL abandoned PC and DCL won my business

[Paulette3028]

Rhapsody is doing an Eastbound TA from Brazil to Spain on April 10, 2016 and will be in Europe all summer. She doesn't do her westbound TA to repo to PC until the winter season.

 

Something is going to change somewhere -- is all I can say. Just like no one expected Royal to abandon the 3/4 day market in Miami -- they won't give it away in PC -- other cruise lines have short excursions from there now and Royal will keep it as well.

 

I could not even request the options for Rhapsody following the TA from Brazil to Spain departing on April 10, 2016. So no one knows exactly what Rhapsody will be doing until she replaces Enchantment, which is the plan.

 

If you look at Enchantment cruises for Mar to May 2016 -- it clearly shows the changeover from PC to Miami, and a few days in between for some refreshing perhaps.

 

So when they let us look at options for Rhapsody, after April 10, 2016 -- everyone will know how she is going to be positioned to replace Enchantment -- which the line has stated is the plan.

 

Could it be possible for Rhapsody to do a TA back from Spain immediately and go to PC? Anything is possible, I guess. Time will tell.

[orville99]

Really??? 3 hours is that difficult to travel to get to a cruise terminal? Some people travel across the country/ocean to get to a terminal...

 

YES. REALLY:rolleyes: 3 hours is a medical impossibility:rolleyes:

[MADflyer]

While they have delayed the Rhapsody release, she should sail on the intended TA.

 

Rhapsody Of The Seas Depart: 05:00 PM 10/27/2016 Civitavecchia (Rome),

Rhapsody Of The Seas 10/28/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 07:00 AM - 06:00 PM 10/29/2016 Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain Norwegian Epic 1:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Dock)

Rhapsody Of The Seas 07:00 AM - 02:00 PM 10/30/2016 Cartagena, Spain

Rhapsody Of The Seas 10/31/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM 11/01/2016 Madeira (Funchal), Portugal

Rhapsody Of The Seas 08:00 AM - 05:00 PM 11/02/2016 Tenerife, Santa Cruz, Canary Islands

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/03/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/04/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/05/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/06/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/07/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/08/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas 11/09/2016 At Sea

Rhapsody Of The Seas Arrive: 06:00 AM 11/10/2016 Port Canaveral, Florida

[Aquahound]

Something is going to change somewhere -- is all I can say.

 

You said "When Enchantment moves to Miami in April/May 2016, Rhapsody will replace Enchantment in PC (at the same time)." That is wrong. PC will be absent of 3/4 night cruises during the late Spring and Summer seasons of 2016.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Aquahound

[Paulette3028]

Sometimes it's hard for many of us to feel bad for you Floridians with your great weather and low taxes. Feel bad you get whacked with hurricanes and sink holes? Yes. Feel bad you have to drive three hours to port probably scoring a last minute deal? Not so much. :D Happy sailing! ;)

 

I don't judge others for their decisions on where to live and I surely don't appreciate your attitude towards those that live in our sunny state. Do we have wonderful weather, yes and it comes with the issue of hurricanes that we fully understand....and the high premiums we pay for hurricane and flood insurance, no longer put us in the category of 'low taxes'.

 

There is a great misunderstanding about 'scoring a last minute deal' for a cruise....they are very few and far between and from my point of view, IF you find one, it isn't for a cabin type that I would want.

 

From your vantage point -- the world is much greener in our backyard.

 

We love it here, and although I could drive to Tampa and PC, I keep cruising from Miami and FLL -- because I don't want a long drive. For some, they have medical reasons that a long drive and it isn't something they can do -- and what constitutes a long drive, varies from person to person -- I don't judge others on that -- but hope they continue to find cruises they enjoy taking. I have flown to take a cruise, but don't like that as much as the short drive I have. When we need to fly to take the cruise we want, we do.

[orville99]

Something is going to change somewhere -- is all I can say. Just like no one expected Royal to abandon the 3/4 day market in Miami -- they won't give it away in PC -- other cruise lines have short excursions from there now and Royal will keep it as well.

 

I could not even request the options for Rhapsody following the TA from Brazil to Spain departing on April 10, 2016. So no one knows exactly what Rhapsody will be doing until she replaces Enchantment, which is the plan.

 

If you look at Enchantment cruises for Mar to May 2016 -- it clearly shows the changeover from PC to Miami, and a few days in between for some refreshing perhaps.

 

So when they let us look at options for Rhapsody, after April 10, 2016 -- everyone will know how she is going to be positioned to replace Enchantment -- which the line has stated is the plan.

 

Could it be possible for Rhapsody to do a TA back from Spain immediately and go to PC? Anything is possible, I guess. Time will tell.

 

Time has already told...From RCL's March Press Release announcing all of its 2016 moves:

 

"For the winter 2016-17, Oasis of the Seas will inaugurate Oasis-class adventures from Port Canaveral, alternating a seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itinerary. Rhapsody of the Seas will take over three- and four-night Bahamas cruises from Enchantment of the Seas."

[ryano]

PC will be absent of 3/4 night cruises during the late Srping and Summer seasons of 2016.

 

I dont doubt you one single bit. Just really hard for me to believe they are going to give up that revenue! I thought those and the cruises on Maj out of Miami were their "cash cows".

[orville99]

Sometimes it's hard for many of us to feel bad for you Floridians with your great weather and low taxes. Feel bad you get whacked with hurricanes and sink holes? Yes. Feel bad you have to drive three hours to port probably scoring a last minute deal? Not so much. :D Happy sailing! ;)

 

Fortunately, I hold little stock in other peoples opinions;)

[olszie]

I'd love to find some of these reasonable Disney cruises. PC is the closest to us too, and we'd love to try Disney, but their prices have been prohibitive every time I've looked for something. We come out ahead leaving after work and driving halfway to FLL/MIA, staying in a hotel, and embarking before noon, even with the hotel and extra gas. Like, WAY ahead. We'll drive back home in one day when the cruise is over.

 

I'm looking at a weekender over the summer sometime and DCL is coming in at around double RCL. :(

 

Try looking for Florida Resident specials. We were able to sail in June last year on the Fantasy and it was $130 per person per night for a balcony room. :D DCL normally puts their FL resident specials up about 8 weeks before the sailing dates.

Edited March 27, 2015 by olszie

[katrina915]

With RCL's decision to move Enchantment to Miami and not to replace her until the 2016 winter season, we were left with nothing to book for short week-end cruises in the summer and fall. Couple that with RCL's incessant "sales" that only serve to jack up prices, and Disney is now a viable option for us. With no short RCL cruises available from PC, and costs within a few hundred $$ of each other, we are now booked on two DCL cruises in the summer of 2016.

 

What deals did you get with Disney? Wanting to do one with them, but the prices are always so high.

[Desert Cruizers]

We could cruise more from the West Coast, but Princess has priced us away and not enough longer cruises. One can do Mexico only so often and we enjoy seeing new places, so we fly to get where we want to cruise from.

[olszie]

What deals did you get with Disney? Wanting to do one with them, but the prices are always so high.

 

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/special-offers/florida-residents-rates/

 

They update this page every few weeks. You have to be quick though. They do sell out fast.

Edited March 27, 2015 by olszie

[orville99]

What deals did you get with Disney? Wanting to do one with them, but the prices are always so high.

 

One we just saw was a 7-night Fantasy Eastern in a Cat 5A balcony for ~$2200 all in. It was a Florida resident rate that just popped up. (We didn't book it because we're already on a Disney cruise that priced out about $300 less than an RCL cruise (out of PE) that went to the same ports)

Edited March 27, 2015 by orville99

[molly361]

I also find it weird that RCL is leaving PC without a ship doing short runs for 6 months next year.

 

Are there any RCL ships that could take that over or are they all accounted for elsewhere?

[LMaxwell]

OP, I get what you are saying. When a port is only an hour (or less) away, you can do a weekend getaway without screwing up Friday or Monday much. If you have to drive 3+ hours, yeah, that pretty much blows away the Friday and Monday too, unfortunately. And if you've got another reason that you can't do a longer drive than an hour, it is a bummer. I totally get it.

 

Hopefully you will share your thoughts on Disney here. I'm not a big Disney fan, but it would be a great surprise one day for my wife if I can swing those rates.

[orville99]

OP, I get what you are saying. When a port is only an hour (or less) away, you can do a weekend getaway without screwing up Friday or Monday much. If you have to drive 3+ hours, yeah, that pretty much blows away the Friday and Monday too, unfortunately. And if you've got another reason that you can't do a longer drive than an hour, it is a bummer. I totally get it.

 

Hopefully you will share your thoughts on Disney here. I'm not a big Disney fan, but it would be a great surprise one day for my wife if I can swing those rates.

 

 

The irony of all this is we sailed Disney exclusively (we're platinum) when we moved to Florida, until they pulled the Magic over to Europe in 2010 and left us with nowhere else to go but to try RCL. Since we made the switch, we've made D+ on RCL, and are going back to Disney next summer because RCL pulled Enchantment out of PC and left us with nowhere else to go but back to Disney

[jakenashleysmom]

If your dw can't spend 3 hours in a car, maybe you could drive 1 1/2 hours and stop for lunch then continue on? Good luck with DCL and enjoy all those kiddos!

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

Edited March 27, 2015 by jakenashleysmom

[John&LaLa]

Disney may very well be cheaper because they have no casino for my wife to lose $200 per night.

[grandgeezer]

Really??? 3 hours is that difficult to travel to get to a cruise terminal? Some people travel across the country/ocean to get to a terminal...

 

Not everybody likes to travel by car. I don't care to drive or be in a car for three hours, not even with stops. When we do west coast cruises, we fly to San Pedro or San Diego, rather than the 5-6 hour drive. Our car is over six years old and just recently went over 15,000 miles. We've done five transatlantics and the flying is not a problem. Really.

[American Bear]

My goodness, why limit yourself to only one port. I understand not wanting to fly but don't you have three other ports within easy driving distance? Sounds kinds silly to me...

 

Silly? Your comment is rude!

Port Canaveral is about 3 hours driving time away from Ft Lauderdale, and about a half hour more to Miami, 'without traffic'.

So if you add that on to the time it takes you to get to Port Canaveral, many can't drive that far because of age, medical reasons, etc..

The driving distance might not bother you, it might bother others!:eek:

 

That being said, I'm sure RCL will keep a ship in PC if only to keep Carnival, and Disney from taking over completely!

[American Bear]

Perfectly understandable explanation :) I am pretty much limited to PC and Tampa as well. I can be to both in about 8 hours. FLL is just too far away. Especially for that long ride home after the cruise. Flying would likely put cruising out of the question for me but I absolutely would not fly if the plane tickets were free! Not that Im afraid. I just dont want the hassle.

 

So they are moving Enchantment to Miami before they bring in a replacement? I cant imagine them abandoning those short cruises even on a short term basis?

 

 

Tampa has several short cruise options.

[orville99]

Tampa has several short cruise options.

 

Not in the summer. When HAL, NCL, and RCL pull their ships across the pond for the summer, all that's left is the Carnival Paradise.:(

[cruzingduo]

Rhapsody is doing an Eastbound TA from Brazil to Spain on April 10, 2016 and will be in Europe all summer. She doesn't do her westbound TA to repo to PC until the winter season.

 

Nov 10, 2016 RH will arrive in PC.

 

I'd love to see a second ship out of NJ in addition to Anthem. RCCL built the new terminal. And send a ship out to the West Coast too. No harm in wishing!

[orville99]

Disney may very well be cheaper because they have no casino for my wife to lose $200 per night.

 

Hadn't thought about that:) With what we donate to the casino each RCL cruise, Disney is definitely easier on the wallet:eek:

[coldflame]

My goodness, why limit yourself to only one port. I understand not wanting to fly but don't you have three other ports within easy driving distance? Sounds kinds silly to me...

 

For us (live in FL as well) PC or TPa are both about the same distance (~2.5h). The next closest one Ft. Lauderdale is ~5h away. 5h of drive to and back is entirely too much for us (and we're a young, athletic couple). It's not silly for us to choose ports that are within "driving distance".