Why no true 14 day Caribbean cruises?

[fishywood]

If the CB has a true 14 day cruise in January, 2014, we'll be on it.

 

So will we! :)

 

Is there room in your Wayback Machine for anyone else? :D

 

(Yes, I realize you've got 14 on the brain ;))

[fishywood]

OK for everyone averse to opening links or to just taking the time to read the whole thread:

 

Caribbean Princess 14 night Caribbean:

 

FT LAUDERDALE/Princess Cays/St Maarten/Anitgua/St Kitts/Martinique/Barbados/Trinidad/Curacao/Aruba/FT LAUDERDALE

 

7-Oct-17; 20-Dec-17; 13-Jan-18; 18-Mar-18

(Amber Cove replaces Princess Cays on 18-Mar-18)

Edited May 12, 2016 by fishywood

[Amtrack Springfield]

We took two or three true 14 day cruises on the Grand Princess a few years ago. We loved not having to come back to Fort Lauderdale Now we take ten day cruises, but it is nit the same. I wish they would bring them back.

[CruiserBruce]

Remember---it's all about the money.

 

 

Remember, if Princess isn't a profit making business, there won't be any cruise, 7 day, 14 day, or any length. They are not going to do a losing money 14 day cruise just for the heck of it. That is NOT a smart business plan.

 

It is amazing how many people think money is not a factor.

[OCruisers]

OK for everyone averse to opening links or to just taking the time to read the whole thread:

 

Caribbean Princess 14 night Caribbean:

 

FT LAUDERDALE/Princess Cays/St Maarten/Anitgua/St Kitts/Martinique/Barbados/Trinidad/Curacao/Aruba/FT LAUDERDALE

 

7-Oct-17; 20-Dec-17; 13-Jan-18; 18-Mar-18

(Amber Cove replaces Princess Cays on 18-Mar-18)

 

Thanks so very much for posting this. I was not able to open the link.

Very interested in the Jan 13, 2018 so will call our TA tomorrow.

Think we may want to book the new Club Class Mini-Suite so it might be best to book what we want as early as possible.

[Lucky TGO]

We were on Three 14 day cruises and loved them. The rumor was Princess didn't make money on 14 day cruises :eek: I don't know if this was true or not.

Tony

[Jimbo59]

Remember, if Princess isn't a profit making business, there won't be any cruise, 7 day, 14 day, or any length. They are not going to do a losing money 14 day cruise just for the heck of it. That is NOT a smart business plan.

 

It is amazing how many people think money is not a factor.

 

Celebrity has true 14 day cruises from Miami.

[icat2000]

We were on Three 14 day cruises and loved them. The rumor was Princess didn't make money on 14 day cruises :eek: I don't know if this was true or not.

Tony

I think it depends on the region. Maybe not out of the US because working folk get less annual leave than other countries.

 

Plenty of 11,12, 14 day cruises operated by Princess out of Ozland.

[antsp]

I think it depends on the region. Maybe not out of the US because working folk get less annual leave than other countries.

 

Plenty of 11,12, 14 day cruises operated by Princess out of Ozland.

 

I don't think working people from the USA realise how little vacation time they get compared to other regions, most workers in Europe receive a minimum of 5 weeks vacation/holidays a year, this obviously effects sales of cruises when they are a longer duration.

[Go-Bucks!]

There are a few true 14 days coming on the Caribbean Princess with the new sailing schedules that will be open for booking on May 19

 

 

Thank you so, so, SO much for sharing this information!!! Feels like we've been waiting forever for these cruises to be released. This will help us plan so we'll be ready to book on 5/19. :D

 

One question, though: What does the column NCF stand for? And what are Initial Amenity Points?

Edited May 12, 2016 by Go-Bucks!

[blkspy]

There are a few true 14 days coming on the Caribbean Princess with the new sailing schedules that will be open for booking on May 19

 

Hi......what about the Transatlantic sailing?

[brian1]

Hi,we chose our first ever cruise on the Sea Princess in 2007 because it was the only one starting and finishing in the middle of the Caribbean.All the others started and finished in FL,which in my opinion is not a TRUE Caribbean cruise.Our cruise was 2 7 day b2b from Montego bay to Barbados and back via a different route,with shedloads of Caribbean islands inbetween.For us brits flying to Jamaica was just as easy as flying to FL.By sailing from FL Princess captures the US customer base easier,which makes more sense as a business model.From a pure tourist point of view I way preferred that original itinery,cheers, Brian.

[Hlitner]

A few years ago, DW and moi would routinely take the true 14 day Caribbean cruise that was usually offered on the Grand Princess. Then, Princess ditched the 14 day in favor of 7 day cruises and encouraged folks to book back to back. This meant a major itinerary change (several days were lost just getting back and forth to Ft Lauderdale) and eliminating most of the decent Southern Caribbean ports. So, we simply replaced the Princess cruise with a real 14 day Celebrity Cruise (now done on the gorgeous Eclipse).

 

Being "loyal" to a single cruise line really limits one's options. For us, itinerary is king and accordingly, we have cruised on 14 different lines.

 

Hank

[islandatsea]

There are a few true 14 days coming on the Caribbean Princess with the new sailing schedules that will be open for booking on May 19

 

Thanks for providing that info!

 

OK for everyone averse to opening links or to just taking the time to read the whole thread:

 

Caribbean Princess 14 night Caribbean:

 

FT LAUDERDALE/Princess Cays/St Maarten/Anitgua/St Kitts/Martinique/Barbados/Trinidad/Curacao/Aruba/FT LAUDERDALE

 

7-Oct-17; 20-Dec-17; 13-Jan-18; 18-Mar-18

(Amber Cove replaces Princess Cays on 18-Mar-18)

 

We will be looking at the Oct 7,2017 14 day cruise.

[Esprit]

We did a Caribbean B2B in 2010 and treated the return mid cruise to Ft Lauderdale as a port visit so it was fine for us. Flying out from the UK for 7 days would be pointless.

 

The 7 day B2B cruises in the Med' are great for us too. We board Royal in Athens and disembark 14 nights later in Barcelona. A few years ago though the typical Princess Med' cruise was just 12 nights to accommodate those travelling from the USA etc. To have 14 nights now is so much better.

[grouchomarx]

Wow, travel much? Ft. Lauderdale is a destination for approx 13 million visitors annually that seem to find SOMETHING to do there. There are fabulous restaurants including Valentino Cucina Italiana for Italian and Truluck's Restaurant for seafood. And if you think the FLL airport is the worst you've ever been to, you obviously have not flown much. (La Guardia / LAX / Miami / and I could go on!!!! Why not look at it as a day to have the ship mostly to yourself? Like a sea day without all of the people :-)

 

Thanks for assuming I haven't traveled much, but I have. Been to many many airports and I stick to my statement that FLL is the pits, how could you even mention MIA in comparison? That's a great airport. Lots of restaurants and shops. Exactly where am I supposed to eat at FLL? I once waited an hour for a greasy burger, it was so overcrowded with cruise passengers desperate to eat or even find a place to sit. That is not an exaggeration. I have learned how to work cruising out of Ft Lauderdale: arrive the day before around dinner, eat, sleep, cruise, and fly back as early as humanly possible.

[geoherb]

We love Fort Lauderdale. The b2b cruises we've been on have been short ones. The turnaround day isn't great, but it does give us an opportunity to replenish our wine. It's also nice that we didn't have to attend the muster drill again, so we could enjoy the uncrowded pools before sailaway.

[Thrak]

HAL has some.

 

Not sure why B2B out of FLL would be "truly awful". Really? Undesirable, maybe. But "truly awful"?

 

By the way, we have done both- 14 days (again on HAL) and B2B- 14, 21 and 22.

 

Not retired yet (soon!) and live on the west coast so haven't done these yet but I would just look on the turnaround day in FLL as a day to get more wine to take onboard without a corkage fee. :)

 

That HAL itinerary looks pretty good! One of these days we will make it to the Caribbean. Really. We have talked about driving and camping our way across the country (hotels every third or fourth day) and then just parking in FLL and taking a cruise or two before heading back to California via a different route. Retirement can't get here too soon for me. :)

Edited May 12, 2016 by Thrak

[Viesczy]

FWIW I am positive that the "not making a profit" line about the 14 day cruises is truly "not making as much profit as we'd like because there ivory back scratchers that need purchased for board of directors posthaste".

 

 

:D

[eandj]

We've done the Celebrity's 14 day cruise twice and will again in January. It is EXTREMELY popular and always filled. It is the most relaxing and fun winter cruise we ever done. With 4 or 5 sea days, they are making a ton on money spent onboard.

 

If Princess adds one to their schedule, watch it fly off the shelf! Will watch for the 2018 season.

Edited May 13, 2016 by eandj

[BettyCruiser]

There are four 14 day cruises on the Caribbean Princess listed on the spreadsheet for late 17 early 18!

[takeadip]

Why does Princess not offer any true 14 day cruises in the Caribbean this fall? They are all b2b cruises. Is a 14 day cruise not popular enough? I notice Celebrity offers true 14 day cruises. I would not want to return to Ft Lauderdale mid cruise, that would be just awful. I wish they would have a real 14 day cruise with no return to Florida.

 

I think when you look at demographics....the older, shall i say more "experienced" travelers tend to be on cruises longer then 10 days...id say the average age shoots up to about 68 years old when you start to look at 14 days at sea...(2) schools of thought here....The First: with passengers being much older maybe Princess feels staying "close" to home...such as ft Lauderdale is a little bit safer if they had to disembark a terminal passenger.

The Second: Seeing that the "Nearly Priceless Art Work" gets shipped from Ft Lauderdale...maybe they circle back there to unload these highly sought after "treasures" and then have time to "refill" inventory with the rare masterpieces they have printed...

 

Circle of life I guess,

-Mark

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have never minded the turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale; it's the sea day(s) to get back to Fort Lauderdale that can be a bit tedious. With Global Entry cards, even immigration isn't onerous...providing one gets off the ship before the other B2B passengers go through immigration. My biggest peeve is that the midship elevators get tied up for embarkation, but we even work around that, using the stairs to get to Deck 7 and then using the aft elevators.

Edited May 13, 2016 by PescadoAmarillo

[iceleven]

Remember, if Princess isn't a profit making business, there won't be any cruise, 7 day, 14 day, or any length. They are not going to do a losing money 14 day cruise just for the heck of it. That is NOT a smart business plan.

 

It is amazing how many people think money is not a factor.

 

But aren't ALL cruise lines in the profit making business? If other cruise lines, such as HAL, do it, why not Princess? And who says they have to be continuous 14 days? On the west coast Princess has 15 day cruises (Hawaii) alternating with 7 and 10 day cruises. It's quite do-able.

 

I've never cruised out of Ft. Lauderdale but I have other Florida cruise ports. Yet I booked what was going to be a 10day and 4 day B2B in November but turned it into a 14 day in order to maintain our same cabin. Since Ft. Lauderdale is somewhat new to us, this time we won't mind coming back to port and exploring the city a bit. But I can see where it can become a bit of a bore if done many times because of B2Bs. I will be looking into the new 14 day cruises for next year.

[iceleven]

The Second: Seeing that the "Nearly Priceless Art Work" gets shipped from Ft Lauderdale...maybe they circle back there to unload these highly sought after "treasures" and then have time to "refill" inventory with the rare masterpieces they have printed...

 

Circle of life I guess,

-Mark

 

That was the best chuckle for the day.:D