New destinations out of Galveston?

[aprildream]

Why do the itineraries out of Galveston seem to be always the same? Its always the western Caribbean and most of the same ports, Cozumel, Belize, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. I would like for variety to see the Panama Canal, Eastern and Southern Caribbean and even farther offered. Anybody know if any others are planned?

[yst347]

Why do the itineraries out of Galveston seem to be always the same? Its always the western Caribbean and most of the same ports, Cozumel, Belize, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. I would like for variety to see the Panama Canal, Eastern and Southern Caribbean and even farther offered. Anybody know if any others are planned?

 

The Celebrity Galaxy was sailing a winter series the last few years from Galveston. They alternated 10 and 11 day cruises going to Panama, Aruba etc. Unfortunately that has ended now. The RCI Splendor of the Seas did some longer cruises also a few years back but is only doing the short cruises now.

 

The reason the itineraries seem so simular is the geography. From Galveston a seven day cruise cannot really go farther than Jamaica, Roatan and Key West. A four or five day itinerary can't go much farther than Cozumel. Even Belize would be a stretch in five days, impossible in four.

[wrp96]

Well, it's not Eastern or Southern Caribbean, but I know RCCL has added Roatan to some of it's Galveston itineraries (as has Princess I think) so at least it is one new port.

 

Celebrity did Panama Canal cruises this past year out of Galveston and had a hard time filling the ship and the profits were down as compared to other ships in the fleet so they pulled out.

[DannyMac]

It is a long haul across the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston to round the Yucatan. I think it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 36-43 hrs. steaming time to Belize or Roatan. I would think the cruise lines would look into developing Merida or Progreso as a port of call from Galveston. I have never been to those places but they may be better than Costa Maya. Another factor is when steaming out of Galveston, the ships are at reduced speed due to the "Safety Fairway" they must travel to get through the oil rigs. On the Grand, they enter the outbound fairway around 4:30pm and exit around midnight.

[aprildream]

All that makes sense however I am taking a tranatlantic out of the port of Houston in May. It manages to get to Miami with 1 sea day in between. If NCL can do it from Houston I don't see why the others can't spend one extra day to get to the eastern Caribbean. A 7 day cruise would work perfectly.

[yst347]

All that makes sense however I am taking a tranatlantic out of the port of Houston in May. It manages to get to Miami with 1 sea day in between. If NCL can do it from Houston I don't see why the others can't spend one extra day to get to the eastern Caribbean. A 7 day cruise would work perfectly.

 

Hi aprildream. You are mistaken. You sail on Saturday at 5:00 pm, spend 2 days at sea and arrive in Miami on Tuesday morning. Here is your itinerary:

 

Saturday, April 14, 2007 Houston, Texas -- 05:00 PM

Sunday, April 15, 2007 At Sea -- --

Monday, April 16, 2007 At Sea -- --

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Miami, Florida 09:00 AM 06:00 PM

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 At Sea -- --

Thursday, April 19, 2007 At Sea -- --

Friday, April 20, 2007 Kings Wharf, Bermuda 07:00 AM 04:00 PM

Saturday, April 21, 2007 At Sea -- --

Sunday, April 22, 2007 At Sea -- --

Monday, April 23, 2007 At Sea -- --

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 At Sea -- --

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal 02:00 PM 09:00 PM Thursday, April 26, 2007 At Sea -- --

Friday, April 27, 2007 At Sea -- --

Saturday, April 28, 2007 At Sea -- --

Sunday, April 29, 2007 Cobh (Cork), Ireland 08:00 AM 05:00 PM

Monday, April 30, 2007 Dublin, Ireland 07:00 AM 06:15 PM

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 At Sea -- --

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Le Havre (Paris), France 08:00 AM 08:00 PM

Thursday, May 3, 2007 Dover (London), England 07:00 AM --

[wrp96]

It is a long haul across the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston to round the Yucatan. I think it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 36-43 hrs. steaming time to Belize or Roatan. I would think the cruise lines would look into developing Merida or Progreso as a port of call from Galveston. I have never been to those places but they may be better than Costa Maya.

 

Again, look at Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas which visits Progreso and Roatan in addition to Cozumel and Costa Maya. Personally, Costa Maya is a much better option than Progreso. In Progreso there is one main beach area, and no snorkeling at all. Progreso has great access to ruins, but so does Cozumel and Costa Maya - which have other things to do as well.

[wrp96]

All that makes sense however I am taking a tranatlantic out of the port of Houston in May. It manages to get to Miami with 1 sea day in between. If NCL can do it from Houston I don't see why the others can't spend one extra day to get to the eastern Caribbean. A 7 day cruise would work perfectly.

 

Even if it only took 1 sea day to get to Miami (which it doesn't per your itinerary above), it takes an additional sea day to get down to the Eastern Caribbean from Miami. So if you consider that on a 7 night cruise you have 6 days of sailing, and it takes 2 days to get to Miami and an additional day to get down to the Eastern Caribbean - that's 6 days sailing time right there. So yes, you could make the Eastern Caribbean but you wouldn't be able to visit any ports. Even if it only took 1 day to get to Miami, you would still only have 2 days possible for port days - which would not be a popular cruise.