Non USA Departure Ports in the Future?

[baldilocks]

With the CDC wobbling along with definite cruise guidelines, will the cruise lines say they have had enough and start sailing from non USA ports? It has already started with Crystal (Nassau) and Royal (Barbados).

[Ourusualbeach]

6 minutes ago, baldilocks said:

With the CDC wobbling along with definite cruise guidelines, will the cruise lines say they have had enough and start sailing from non USA ports? It has already started with Crystal (Nassau) and Royal (Barbados).

It’s a whole lot easier for cruise lines that have the smaller ships than trying to do it with ships that carry 6000 passengers. 

[baldilocks]

7 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It’s a whole lot easier for cruise lines that have the smaller ships than trying to do it with ships that carry 6000 passengers. 

Royal has the Vison and Radiance class ships and Celebrity has the M class ships. None of those carry 6000 passengers. Royal's Freedom and Voyager class ships carry less the 4000 passengers.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, baldilocks said:

Royal has the Vison and Radiance class ships and Celebrity has the M class ships. None of those carry 6000 passengers. Royal's Freedom and Voyager class ships carry less the 4000 passengers.

And Crystals shops carry under 1000.

[twangster]

The CDC isn't exactly blessing international air travel either so flying to a ship somewhere else isn't that convenient right now.

 

If Royal was further along with the Freeport hotel deal that could've come in handy once the Bahamas fully reopens but at the moment it's not like ships have anywhere to go so bypassing the CDC doesn't accomplish much.

[paulh84]

Lines with smaller ships use all sorts of ports within the Caribbean. They just don’t see much traffic from Americans since airfare increases substantially and it’s not as convenient. 

 

Barbados, Aruba, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe and Martinique are all ports already used for embarkation.

 

[mpdog42]

Perfect example is Barbados, Try flying out of St Louis to Bridgetown in Jan/Feb 2022, then exchange Bridgetown for Paris France....Its the same or cheaper to fly to Paris....

[SNJCruisers]

 First of all, you eliminate everybody that drives to their embarkation port.  You then eliminate the frugal cruiser that likes to fly on the cheap.  You then eliminate those cruisers that do not have a passport.

It would only be a stop gap measure to generate some revenue for the short term with smaller ships if the CDC keeps dragging their feet. And because of the first 3 reasons I mentioned, it would be a limited audience, so because of this I don't see it happening.

[Cruise Wonderland]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

And because of the first 3 reasons I mentioned, it would be a limited audience, so because of this I don't see it happening.

 

Agree that it is less likely to happen on mainstream US cruise lines (Carnival, RCI, NCL), since they have a significant proportion of US passengers who drive to the embarkation port / do not wish to fly / do not have a passport.

 

But this may work for premium and luxury cruise lines. Their passengers are willing to fly to overseas ports for embarkation. That's why Crystal Cruises is now trying to restart operations in July by using Nassau as homeport. 

 

[orville99]

While possible, the elephant in the room is where the cruise lines draw the majority of their customers. My guess is that the vast majority of passengers on a ship come from within a reasonable flight/driving distance from the home port. Shifting a fleet to a remote port where everyone who wants to cruise has to fly in from a long distance significantly impacts the go/no go decision.

[smokeybandit]

No Caribbean (or Cozumel) island has the infrastructure to support cruising as a home port for more than 1 ship or so (like Barbados).

It definitely would be a stop gap or an act of desperation to change things up like that.

[Canadianmama3]

1 minute ago, Heymarco said:

For a lot of people it’s a flight to the Carribean vs flight to Florida, no biggie. For our European friends it would be even better because they can skip extra steps required to fly to US.

Agreed.  Yes there are a lot of people who drive to ports.   But there are also a lot of people who fly.  
 

For us it’s just the difference of an hour or two flight time.  And possibly slightly more for flights, but sometimes flights to Florida can be pricey too.  The cheaper cruise cancels that out.  And you get the bonus of exploring more of the southern Caribbean on a 7 night cruise because you aren’t taking the time to get there and back.  
 

Also can I ask.  Why do a lot of people in the US seem so hesitant to get a passport? I ask because as a Canadian it’s just normal for us to have passport, it’s not a big deal at all.  

[Canadianmama3]

4 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

No Caribbean (or Cozumel) island has the infrastructure to support cruising as a home port for more than 1 ship or so (like Barbados).

It definitely would be a stop gap or an act of desperation to change things up like that.

Actually other cruise lines that don’t cater to the US market already use some islands as home ports.  MSC does this and several lines that cater to UK cruisers.   So the facilities do exist.  

[smokeybandit]

Yes they do exist. But not at the level that would make it worth the effort for the USA Big 3.

[Canadianmama3]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Yes they do exist. But not at the level that would make it worth the effort for the USA Big 3.

Why not? If a port is already able to handle that it wouldn’t be a big deal for one of the lines to put a ship there.  

[broadwaybaby123]

Right now, I think it's unlikely that they would even allow US passengers to even fly to those ports.  We have some of the worst numbers in the world for this virus, why would they chance bringing the virus back into the country?

[Jeremiah1212]

51 minutes ago, Canadianmama3 said:

Agreed.  Yes there are a lot of people who drive to ports.   But there are also a lot of people who fly.  
 

For us it’s just the difference of an hour or two flight time.  And possibly slightly more for flights, but sometimes flights to Florida can be pricey too.  The cheaper cruise cancels that out.  And you get the bonus of exploring more of the southern Caribbean on a 7 night cruise because you aren’t taking the time to get there and back.  
 

Also can I ask.  Why do a lot of people in the US seem so hesitant to get a passport? I ask because as a Canadian it’s just normal for us to have passport, it’s not a big deal at all.  

 

A lot of US cruisers are very price sensitive. Plugging in random dates for next January, I can fly to Miami with a slew of options for $208rt. Even as low as $173rt. Change that to Barbados and my cost goes to $744ft with 1 one-stop option. 

 

My very unofficial and completely unvetted Google search says about 42% of American and 60%+ of Canadians hold a passport. A lot of American's are not adventurous travelers and see the cost has exorbitant when can get by using a birth cert and drivers license. You can kind of gauge it from the questions people ask here. They want to go to ports, hotels and restaurants that are exactly like what they have at home, but with a beach and a ship. 

[not-enough-cruising]

19 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

A lot of US cruisers are very price sensitive. Plugging in random dates for next January, I can fly to Miami with a slew of options for $208rt. Even as low as $173rt. Change that to Barbados and my cost goes to $744ft with 1 one-stop option. 

 

My very unofficial and completely unvetted Google search says about 42% of American and 60%+ of Canadians hold a passport. A lot of American's are not adventurous travelers and see the cost has exorbitant when can get by using a birth cert and drivers license. You can kind of gauge it from the questions people ask here. They want to go to ports, hotels and restaurants that are exactly like what they have at home, but with a beach and a ship. 

From DFW the cost differential between flying to Miami, and any of the islands is pretty substantial (under normal circumstances)

 

You can easily tell a large percentage of American cruisers to not hold passports, just by looking at CBP lines when debarking. The line for “birth certificates” is extremely long. 

[Goodtime Cruizin]

9 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

 First of all, you eliminate everybody that drives to their embarkation port.  You then eliminate the frugal cruiser that likes to fly on the cheap.  You then eliminate those cruisers that do not have a passport.

It would only be a stop gap measure to generate some revenue for the short term with smaller ships if the CDC keeps dragging their feet. And because of the first 3 reasons I mentioned, it would be a limited audience, so because of this I don't see it happening.

 

Which basically means you couldn't fill the Oasis, but you could the Grandeur. So...yes there is a market for the smaller classed ships. But as you say, it would only be a stop gap measure. It would not fill the pinned up demand from the non-pssport passengers, the frugal passengers, and those that would drive to a cruise port. But if someone wants to go on a Caribbean cruise w/ RCL, the Grandeur is waiting for you! 

[D C]

12 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

From DFW the cost differential between flying to Miami, and any of the islands is pretty substantial (under normal circumstances)

 

You can easily tell a large percentage of American cruisers to not hold passports, just by looking at CBP lines when debarking. The line for “birth certificates” is extremely long. 

Going on a cruise and stepping foot in another country without a passport is mind-boggling to me.  

[D C]

Mexico is open for business and the idea of Cozumel as a home port has already been floated.  Why not?  Resorts on Cozumel are already including the required pre-return covid test.   Flights aren't that much more than going to FLL or MIA, and are cheaper than Barbados. 

 

 

[livingonthebeach]

Iceland will open tomorrow for fully vaccinated US citizens.  Reykjavik could become a port possibility soon.  

[Tapi]

Definitely not one of the mammoth ships, but I believe that the cruise lines could base short term one of their smaller ships at a non-US port to appease that smaller sliver of the cruising population that has the means to reach those ports. 
 

NCL will be basing a ship this winter in Panama (Royal did that at one point in time as well). Other cruise lines like Costa and MSC operate seasonally from the Dominican Republic. Marella also operates seasonally from Montego Bay. Aruba was also used by now-defunct Pullmantur.

 

While not as convenient or as affordable as flying (or driving to Florida), all of these potential ports of embarkation can be reached fairly easily from major US airports (from where I live, there are nonstop flights to all these ports and the flights are 3-4 hours). 
 

While the vast majority of cruisers who would only drive or fly to a port in the US mainland would not be interested, I believe that these cruises would be attractive and accessible to cruisers who routinely fly to places like San Juan to meet their ship. I know I’d be interested. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Tapi

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

Right now, I think it's unlikely that they would even allow US passengers to even fly to those ports.

You’d be surprised. I worked for a major airline and not only are we operating international flights, but they are packed. In fact, we’ve upgraded airplane size to meet demand to many Caribbean destinations. And we are not the only airline doing that. Several routes that were operated with smaller 160-180 passenger 737’s and 320’s are now operating on larger 250-300 passenger 330’s, 777’s and 787’s. Cancun on any given afternoon looks like a mini-hub for several US airlines. 

[smokeybandit]

They're packed, but you're still operating with a lot less frequency on those routes than pre-covid, right?