Non USA Departure Ports in the Future?

[livingonthebeach]

Not sure this has been mentioned before but there are talks by the cruise lines and Antigua to make Antigua a home port.  Antigua recently upgraded a berth to accommodate Oasis class ships.  Interesting. 

[smokeybandit]

Antigua would be a challenge to fly to much like Barbados.

[karena1]

On 3/17/2021 at 1:17 AM, 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.

Why would it eliminate those of us that drive to ports?  I would fly to Nassau or Cozumel or Barbados to get on a cruise with no issues at all.  We have been flying from FLL to Cancun and Punta Cana every month since last August. 

[Bobal]

58 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Antigua would be a challenge to fly to much like Barbados.

 

Not from the UK, much like Barbados - we have two airlines who do direct flights there (Virgin and BA). It's not just people from the US who cruise you know 😉

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, Bobal said:

 

Not from the UK, much like Barbados - we have two airlines who do direct flights there (Virgin and BA). It's not just people from the US who cruise you know 😉

 

A 9 hour flight is still a challenge😀

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, karena1 said:

Why would it eliminate those of us that drive to ports?  I would fly to Nassau or Cozumel or Barbados to get on a cruise with no issues at all.  We have been flying from FLL to Cancun and Punta Cana every month since last August. 

I guess I should have been more specific with my wording.  You can't drive to Nassau or St. Maarten like Floridians and others drive to the various FLA cruise ports.

[little britain]

Cruise lines are showing interest in using Bermuda as a home port, says the island's tourism minister

[D C]

21 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

I guess I should have been more specific with my wording.  You can't drive to Nassau or St. Maarten like Floridians and others drive to the various FLA cruise ports.

It would be very interesting to see the demographics for each cruise line.  Where do people originate from.  How do they get to the port.  It would probably be eye opening.   

 

I would suspect that flying to a non-US port would be cheaper from FL than from a lot of other states where people might originate.  Can't honestly say I'd be feeling sorry for the Florida-based cruisers 🙂

[CruiseAdict218]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Cruise lines are showing interest in using Bermuda as a home port, says the island's tourism minister

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24621-royal-caribbean-adds-second-ship-to-north-american-start-from-bermuda.html

[toad455]

Just announced: Vision of the Seas will be sailing from Bermuda beginning this June. How soon before RCCL announces they'll be sailing from Cozumel, then Jamaica and St. Maarten?

[HxFx]

3 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24621-royal-caribbean-adds-second-ship-to-north-american-start-from-bermuda.html

I would fly to Bahamas but I don't think a cruise out of Bermuda would be worth the flight. I imagine lots of sea days. Plus, though the flights are about the same length/price for me, with Bahamas we would have multiple backup options if our flight was cancelled. I would like to do a cruise there some day.

[toad455]

It's a 7-day cruise with four sea days and a stop in CocoCay mid-week.

[SNJCruisers]

34 minutes ago, HxFx said:

I would fly to Bahamas but I don't think a cruise out of Bermuda would be worth the flight. I imagine lots of sea days. Plus, though the flights are about the same length/price for me, with Bahamas we would have multiple backup options if our flight was cancelled. I would like to do a cruise there some day.

Also have to factor in the higher port charges that are always associated with Bermuda, but they could be lower than normal because the ship would be docked there for only two days instead of the normal three.

Edited March 23, 2021 by SNJCruisers

[Hoopster95]

49 minutes ago, HxFx said:

I imagine lots of sea days. 

 

No difference of sailing out of Bayonne with 2 sea days there and back, and then 2 days at the port in between? The 5 day Grandeur sailings were even more horrible for port times.

 

Royal Caribbean is all about seas days on most all of their sailings, even before C19. They are not about itineraries at all.... keep you aboard their ships and not in port of calls so that you can spend your time and money on the ship.

[Sunshine3601]

So what island will be the next announcement?     Cozumel, Antigua, Aruba, St Thomas - who is ready for thousands of vaccinated tourists to show up and spend money on their beautiful island?

 

I don't pay much attention to other threads but is HAL NCL or CCL setting up other homeports in the carribbean?

[HxFx]

18 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

No difference of sailing out of Bayonne with 2 sea days there and back, and then 2 days at the port in between? The 5 day Grandeur sailings were even more horrible for port times.

 

Royal Caribbean is all about seas days on most all of their sailings, even before C19. They are not about itineraries at all.... keep you aboard their ships and not in port of calls so that you can spend your time and money on the ship.

When I was looking at Bermuda cruises in the past, I purposely dismissed the ones out of Baltimore (closest to me) because of the weird "2 day" port call (1PM to 1PM). I think 1 sea day to port with 2 full days in port and a sea day back would be doable (though I would want a ship with a decent amount of activities.) I think these 7 days are supposed to be 3 or 4 sea days with only a stop at Coco Cay. Maybe on one of the destination type ships but I don't think Vision would have enough activity for me for that many sea days.

[not-enough-cruising]

8 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

So what island will be the next announcement?     Cozumel, Antigua, Aruba, St Thomas - who is ready for thousands of vaccinated tourists to show up and spend money on their beautiful island?

 

I don't pay much attention to other threads but is HAL NCL or CCL setting up other homeports in the carribbean?

NOT St Thomas, that’s a fact 

[Ken at the beach]

12 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

So what island will be the next announcement?     Cozumel, Antigua, Aruba, St Thomas - who is ready for thousands of vaccinated tourists to show up and spend money on their beautiful island?

 

I don't pay much attention to other threads but is HAL NCL or CCL setting up other homeports in the carribbean?

Celebrity has another announcement on Thursday

[toad455]

I'm fully expecting Cozumel to be next since it's been mentioned they're willing to home port several ships right now. Aruba could also happen soon.

[c-leg5]

16 minutes ago, toad455 said:

I'm fully expecting Cozumel to be next since it's been mentioned they're willing to home port several ships right now. Aruba could also happen soon.

Apparently Calica also being discussed

https://www.riviera-maya-news.com/cruise-company-interested-in-riviera-maya-home-port-not-cozumel/2021.html

[dswallow]

It's a shame they didn't keep Empress and use it as a ferry between Cape Liberty and an Oasis class ship in international waters... 🙂

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

 

I don't pay much attention to other threads but is HAL NCL or CCL setting up other homeports in the carribbean?

As of right now, no.  I don't think that HAL would be doing anything since these are all short term summer sailings by Royal and X and HAL's first Caribbean sailing at this point is the end of October.

[deliver42]

I hear tehy are having a sailing out of Bermuda with the Vision of the Seas.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

Apparently Calica also being discussed

https://www.riviera-maya-news.com/cruise-company-interested-in-riviera-maya-home-port-not-cozumel/2021.html

That sounds great!    That is a beautiful area.     And I can get a flight from PHL to Cancun for $375 to $450 non-stop for summer months.

[toad455]

2 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Apparently Calica also being discussed

https://www.riviera-maya-news.com/cruise-company-interested-in-riviera-maya-home-port-not-cozumel/2021.html

 

It appears Calica already has the infrastructure already in place. Could see cruises sailing from there and going to Cozumel(overnight), Costa Maya & Jamaica.