Caribbean Fall 2020 / Spring 2021- Color me unimpressed

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Just saw the newly released Celebrity itineraries to the Caribben for Fall 2020 through Spring 2021. I feel the entire deployment is as ho-hum as it gets. Apex and Edge on the same old 7nt Eastern/Western runs, Equinox taxes over The 9 & 12nt runs, Reflection on 10 & 11 night runs, Infinity back to the 4 & 5nt sailings and Summit back to San Juan for alternating 7 night runs. Nothing new, nothing unique, not a single true 14 day itinerary. I feel that the tendering capabilities of Apex/Edge are totally wasted. I know that there is only so much that can be done in the Caribbean, but was really hoping they would use Apex or Edge to visit some ports that are not normally accessible to larger ships.  They didn't. Instead they went with the mundane and predictable. 

 

To to say I am disappointed is an understatement

[gordylad]

I agree  Reflection TA is the same old same old cartagena barcelona and malaga with 8 nights at sea.

[bengaltiger1]

Easier to charter a seven day cruise?  May be that’s one of the considerations?

[pamkev]

I am wondering about the Summit.  I see she is sailing from San Diego on Nov 13,2020 from San Diego to Florida then from Florida to San Juan the following sailing. I will be interested to see when the other sailings come out next week where she is headed.

[gordylad]

Panama canal summit oct/nov 2020 are out

[leaveitallbehind]

Just a little confused.  If a port of call is not normally accessible to larger ships, why would it be accessible to Apex or Edge? They are the largest Celebrity ships and would require the current infrastructure in a given port to support them.  As to tendering as a means to do so, this is still less convenient and time consuming, and regardless of capabilities this is still not a preferred method of visiting a port of call, in particular with larger passenger capacity ships.  This is why, as example, RCI Oasis / Quantum class ships don't visit Grand Cayman.

 

Not uncommon for cruise lines to commence itineraries for their newer ships on the currently popular itineraries to attract passengers to these ships.  There are many people who have never cruised before that may do so on the new ships where these ports of call would be new tho them,  and many experienced ones who are not as driven by itinerary but want to experience the new ship.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by leaveitallbehind

[Flafun888]

Does anyone know why Coco Cay is no longer on any Celebrity itineraries? I really love that port - but seems only RC ships sail there now. Really would rather not cruise those monster ships with all the kid-geared slides and gimmicks. Was hoping 2021 might see a Celebrity return, but no dice.

[cruisesport]

Nothing new. Not interested.

[Jeremiah1212]

55 minutes ago, Flafun888 said:

Does anyone know why Coco Cay is no longer on any Celebrity itineraries? I really love that port - but seems only RC ships sail there now. Really would rather not cruise those monster ships with all the kid-geared slides and gimmicks. Was hoping 2021 might see a Celebrity return, but no dice.

 

I doubt Celebrity returns since RC did the whole "Perfect Day Coco Cay" concept with two ships themed out to match the port.  

 

Those 7 day Caribbean trips are steep. It will be interesting to see how prices adjust with time. RC lost us by turning the ships into early 90's shopping malls and Celebrity might price me out if they don't come down a good bit.

[Tao Diva]

Well I'm excited! I just booked an Edge cruise in 2020 for a mother-daughter spa cruise. We share a birthday month and DD will be turning 30 in2020. 

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, Flafun888 said:

Does anyone know why Coco Cay is no longer on any Celebrity itineraries? I really love that port - but seems only RC ships sail there now. Really would rather not cruise those monster ships with all the kid-geared slides and gimmicks. Was hoping 2021 might see a Celebrity return, but no dice.

 

I understand that RC has invested a lot of money in Coco Cay for the new "perfect Day" concept so Coco Cay might be fully utilized but I was hoping Celebrity would return to Labadee.   Labadee has always been one of my favorite stops and it's usually a little warmer than Coco cay. 

[Flafun888]

Thanks for the answers to Coco Cay question - very bummed about that. Maybe there's still an older RC ship class (without malls, surfing,, slides, etc) that sails there. I really wanted to book a Celebrity cruise in 2021, but not seeing a THING that's appealing.

 

I regretfully had to scratch off all Edge class ships the second I discovered there were no balconies in non-suite classes - just big windows. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Flafun888

[lovescarborough]

59 minutes ago, Flafun888 said:

Thanks for the answers to Coco Cay question - very bummed about that. Maybe there's still an older RC ship class (without malls, surfing,, slides, etc) that sails there. I really wanted to book a Celebrity cruise in 2021, but not seeing a THING that's appealing.

 

I regretfully had to scratch off all Edge class ships the second I discovered there were no balconies in non-suite classes - just big windows. 

No balconies?  I haven't taken too much notice of the Edge yet as the prices are ridiculous but if that's the case then it will definitely be off my wish list. 

[Jenglish711]

I looked around and couldn't find anything out about this so please forgive me if this has been discussed but - is Celebrity not coming back to NJ/NY? I see the Summit has Puerto Rico winters showing through 2021 but after summer 2019 there's nothing for Cape Liberty.

[jimzgoldfinch]

59 minutes ago, Jenglish711 said:

I looked around and couldn't find anything out about this so please forgive me if this has been discussed but - is Celebrity not coming back to NJ/NY? I see the Summit has Puerto Rico winters showing through 2021 but after summer 2019 there's nothing for Cape Liberty.

 

Itinerary’s for Alaska, New England/Canada and Pacific coastal will be announced on December 11.

 

 

 

 

 

[pamkev]

1 hour ago, Jenglish711 said:

I looked around and couldn't find anything out about this so please forgive me if this has been discussed but - is Celebrity not coming back to NJ/NY? I see the Summit has Puerto Rico winters showing through 2021 but after summer 2019 there's nothing for Cape Liberty.

On another site I found Summit doing a repo from Boston to Florida October 2020. I called Celebrity to confirm as it's not on  there web site they confirmed it. Prices are sky high

[Jenglish711]

Thank you, @jimzgoldfinch and @pamkev! Was starting to get a little worried. Went on the Summit for the the first time (and my second ever cruise) in August of this year and fell in love with her.

[Jeremiah1212]

5 hours ago, Flafun888 said:

Thanks for the answers to Coco Cay question - very bummed about that. Maybe there's still an older RC ship class (without malls, surfing,, slides, etc) that sails there. I really wanted to book a Celebrity cruise in 2021, but not seeing a THING that's appealing.

 

I regretfully had to scratch off all Edge class ships the second I discovered there were no balconies in non-suite classes - just big windows. 

 

The aft/SV cabins are not suites and still have a traditional balcony. They're also sometimes cheaper than the non-aft balconies in some categories. 

[leaveitallbehind]

7 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I understand that RC has invested a lot of money in Coco Cay for the new "perfect Day" concept so Coco Cay might be fully utilized but I was hoping Celebrity would return to Labadee.   Labadee has always been one of my favorite stops and it's usually a little warmer than Coco cay. 

 

To clarify, Coco Coy originally was only an RCCL private island destination that became available to Celebrity after RCI acquired Celebrity, just as with Labadee.  RCI owns the lease and development rights to both.

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The aft/SV cabins are not suites and still have a traditional balcony. They're also sometimes cheaper than the non-aft balconies in some categories. 

 

That is correct - they are classified as Veranda category, of which the aft facing have larger than standard balconies.

Edited December 4, 2018 by leaveitallbehind

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The aft/SV cabins are not suites and still have a traditional balcony. They're also sometimes cheaper than the non-aft balconies in some categories. 

When we booked on Edge  for Nov 2019, it was under AQ Class prices but more than a regular Inf enclosed balc..

Edited December 4, 2018 by hcat

[hcat]

Took a quick look..APEX  has a 7 day itin in Nov 2020..includes St Kitts.

Sunset Veranda at a great price..$1749 or $1779, cant recall.... good center balcs available ..bed by balc ..

 

If anyone is interested... suggest you reserve one..they will increase  and sell out!

I,d skip decks 12  and  7  ...

[AtlantaCruiser72]

14 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Just a little confused.  If a port of call is not normally accessible to larger ships, why would it be accessible to Apex or Edge? They are the largest Celebrity ships and would require the current infrastructure in a given port to support them.  As to tendering as a means to do so, this is still less convenient and time consuming, and regardless of capabilities this is still not a preferred method of visiting a port of call, in particular with larger passenger capacity ships.  This is why, as example, RCI Oasis / Quantum class ships don't visit Grand Cayman.

 

Not uncommon for cruise lines to commence itineraries for their newer ships on the currently popular itineraries to attract passengers to these ships.  There are many people who have never cruised before that may do so on the new ships where these ports of call would be new tho them,  and many experienced ones who are not as driven by itinerary but want to experience the new ship.

 

 

My point about tendering is because Celebrity has hyped the Magic Carpet and Edge Launches so much as an integral part of the product, and how it would revolutionize the tendering process.  By logical deduction, one would infer the intent was to offer ports otherwise inaccessible to ships of this size due to docking restrictions, that the new fabulous tendering process would now make more practical.  I had hoped one of the two ships would have done some 9/12 night or 10/11 night rotations with unique ports in the Caribbean where the ability to offer faster, more comfortable, tendering would be a selling point. 

 

Alas the itinerary planners and revenue management team (who know FAR more than this armchair CEO ever will!) seem to feel that the 7 day milk-runs are the best use of their newest assets

[patterson3]

On 12/4/2018 at 9:15 AM, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

I doubt Celebrity returns since RC did the whole "Perfect Day Coco Cay" concept with two ships themed out to match the port.  

 

Those 7 day Caribbean trips are steep. It will be interesting to see how prices adjust with time. RC lost us by turning the ships into early 90's shopping malls and Celebrity might price me out if they don't come down a good bit.

Agree completely. The new cruises just released are priced at around a 50-60% premium based on the same cruises on the solstice ships doing those same itineraries this winter. The Edge and Apex look beautiful but there's no way I'm willing to pay 50-60% more (for an itinerary that I've done a few times already) just to experience their new product. If prices remain where they currently are at I'll be more than happy to sail on Princess or HAL (admittedly in a less impressive-looking ship) for a huge discount over what Celebrity is currently charging.

[hcat]

We have 2 booked on EDGE but are not booking anything in the new cycle. Nothing  really inspires!

 

.We are not sure how the "Revolution" will affect the M and S Class ships.,.public spaces, dining, spa, areas,  and , will they use the same  spartan furniture and design colors??? 

 

And will they  introduce many concepts from EDGE that we are concerned about....loud music, bright lights, EDEN creatures,...etc

 

We may take a time out for a  generational family style cruise instead on another line!