Celebrity and the Caribbean

[leerobbs]

Will Celebrity ever have a significant presence in the caribbean again? I prefer Celebrity to the RCCL but because Celebrity has all but left the caribbean I have little choice. They really only have the 4/5 day Century western to choose from and a few odd sailings on another ship or two. They are not anywhere to be found in the spring, summer or fall. Do you think when the new ships are in service they will return with more sailings?

[Lois R]

Will Celebrity ever have a significant presence in the caribbean again? I prefer Celebrity to the RCCL but because Celebrity has all but left the caribbean I have little choice. They really only have the 4/5 day Century western to choose from and a few odd sailings on another ship or two. They are not anywhere to be found in the spring, summer or fall. Do you think when the new ships are in service they will return with more sailings?

 

We can only hope:)

[rebeljohn]

We miss Celebrity's presence there too.............we've had to choose other lines the last couple of years.........

[chessbriar]

There is more money to be made elsewhere in the world. With higher premiums to be had in Europe and Alaska and no fear of hurricanes, they'd be silly not to go where they can get the highest price.

 

From December to April they have the Millie, Connie, Century, Galaxy and Summit in the Caribbean. They will remove the Millie and add Solstice. So at this time they have 5 of their 7 ships there. With such a small fleet, they have to go where the money is. If you want to add Azamara to the picture, you can add one more ship to the Caribbean and make it 6 of 9 ships.

 

They just don't have a summer presence. Ships sail at higher prices and higher berths in places other than the Caribbean during the summer.

[denb]

They will remove the Millie and add Solstice. So at this time they have 5 of their 7 ships there.

Is it too early to begin speculating about Equinox, Eclipse, and #4 ???

I understand their reasons, but it doesn't make me any less disappointed about Celebrity's reduced presence in the Carib.

[BrooklynGirl2]

We are X cruisers who switched to Princess due to Celebrity's lack of presence in the Caribbean eight months of the year. We are happy with our experience on Princess and have booked again for next summer. It's nice that X has so many ships in the Carib December to April but not for us...we have a school age child and can only sail in summer.

 

I don't know why people think there is no demand for the Caribbean aside from the winter months. The Crown sailed full and in fact overbooked ... as they were offering people incentives to give up their cabins. It was not inexpensive either...but worth every cent.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I agree with most of the above. I totally understand that Europe is very hot right now, and that's why the Caribbean does not have as much options as the Caribbean Cruisers would like. Next Winter, there will be less sailings to choose from, as Celebrity has shortened the Caribbean season, and are keeping their ships in Europe longer than ever.

 

To make matters worse, I feel that Century is being wasted on the short sailings. She is far too beautiful of a ship to be wasted like this. At the very least, I wish Celebrity would learn to juggle their itineraries some. If Celebrity is committed to the short sailings, that's fine, but why not mix in a few longer sailings for Century (and their other ships too) so there could be something for everyone.

 

On the bright side, we will have Solstice in the Caribbean in late 2008. I feel that as the other Solstice Class ships make their debut, that Celebrity will have more of a presence in the Caribbean, and hopefully, a Year Round ship in the Caribbean (especially if Europe simmers down a bit) but we probably have a couple of years to wait on that happening.

 

With several thousand new Celebrity berths coming over the next few years, I feel that Celebrity will have a larger presence in the Caribbean. Time will tell.

[Seabee]

The Crown sailed full and in fact overbooked ... as they were offering people incentives to give up their cabins. .

 

Have the cruise lines now started to overbook similar to the airlines. Wow, how disappointing it would be to get to the port only to find out that you really didn't have a cabin even though you had your boarding papers! And your bags were already tagged and turned over to the porters...this seems to me to be infintiely more complicated than an overbooked airline. It would be hard for the cruise line to just put you on the next ship sailing out.

[denb]

I feel that Century is being wasted on the short sailings. She is far too beautiful of a ship to be wasted like this. At the very least, I wish Celebrity would learn to juggle their itineraries some. If Celebrity is committed to the short sailings, that's fine, but why not mix in a few longer sailings for Century (and their other ships too) so there could be something for everyone.

 

With several thousand new Celebrity berths coming over the next few years, I feel that Celebrity will have a larger presence in the Caribbean. Time will tell.

I agree completely about Century. I've considered B2B 4 and 5 night just to sail her again, but I know the crowd would just not be the same as a 7-9 night. I'd book her in a minute if she had longer cruises.

I sure hope you're right about X increasing their Carib presence when they replace/swap/add ships. In the mean time I'll have to give Carnival more of my cruise money.

[chessbriar]

Have the cruise lines now started to overbook similar to the airlines. Wow, how disappointing it would be to get to the port only to find out that you really didn't have a cabin even though you had your boarding papers! And your bags were already tagged and turned over to the porters...this seems to me to be infintiely more complicated than an overbooked airline. It would be hard for the cruise line to just put you on the next ship sailing out.

Carnival owned companies have been doing it for years. They book heavily knowing people will cancel once final payment is due. When they have less people cancel than expected, they are forced to contact people on the cruise and offer incentives to move their cruise to another date.

 

That is one of the reasons Carnival pulled out of Baltimore. They would overbook and then could not get people to move their vacations. They just couldn't figure it out. So they found it easier to pull from the port.

[BrooklynGirl2]

People were contacted and offered incentives at least a week before departure. Some were given a vastly discounted cruise and upgrandes to full suites on subsequent sailings along with OBCs. If you are flexible with vacation plans it could be a great deal. I think the people with the problems were the guarantee cabins but I don't really know more than that. I'm sure a TA on here could give more info on how it works.

[Rev22:17]

leerobbs,

 

Will Celebrity ever have a significant presence in the caribbean again? I prefer Celebrity to the RCCL but because Celebrity has all but left the caribbean I have little choice. They really only have the 4/5 day Century western to choose from and a few odd sailings on another ship or two. They are not anywhere to be found in the spring, summer or fall. Do you think when the new ships are in service they will return with more sailings?

 

Celebrity has four ships in the Caribbean for the winter of 2007-2008 and five ships in the Caribbean for the winter of 2008-2009, with itineraries that range from four nights to eleven nights. In both years, that's more than half the fleet. How many more ships do you think that Celebrity should deploy there???

 

Here's the run-down.

 

* 2007-2008

 

>> 1. MV Century: Intieraries of 4-5 nights round trip from Miami

 

>> 2. GTS Constellation: Itineraries of 10-11 nights from Port Everglades

 

>> 3. MV Galaxy: Itineraries of 10-11 nights from San Juan

 

>> 4. GTS Millennium: Itineraries of 7 nights from Port Everglades

 

* 2008-2009

 

>> 1. MV Century: Intieraries of 4-5 nights round trip from Miami

 

>> 2. GTS Constellation: Itineraries of 10-11 nights from Port Everglades

 

>> 3. MV Galaxy: Itineraries of 10-11 nights from San Juan

 

>> 4. MV Celebrity Solstice: Itineraries of 7 nights from Port Everglades

 

>> 5. GTS Summit: Itineraries of 7 nights from San Juan

 

Norm.

[Lois R]

Hi Norm, not trying to start an argument with you but I believe

most folks would like to see a ship in the Caribbean year round,

not just during the winter.

I know one of my closest friends only sails in the summer because

her son is school aged. They don't pull him out for a week and so

they cannot sail with X any longer.

Your list does show all the ships but it seems they pretty much

all sail within the same time span....wintertime...maybe into the

spring just a little bit.

I know when I first started cruising (only 4 years ago) Century was

doing the Caribbean~alternating Eastern and Western out of FLL

all year.

So basically I think many people would like somewhere between

a 7 and 10 nighter year round (Caribbean Cruises).

 

Just my .02......well, maybe .05 due to inflation;)

[RLM77]

I don't know why people think there is no demand for the Caribbean aside from the winter months. The Crown sailed full and in fact overbooked ... as they were offering people incentives to give up their cabins. It was not inexpensive either...but worth every cent.

 

BG2, I'm sure that Celebrity's management recognizes that there is demand for year-round Caribbean itineraries. But demand is even higher in other parts of the world from mid-April into November, Europe especially. Fares in Europe (and Alaska) are much higher than off-season fares in the Caribbean. So the cruise lines follow the money. Unfortunate for those who wish to cruise closer to home, but the companies have an obligation to their shareholders first. Passenger interests are considered only to the extent that the company believes that shareholders will benefit.

 

The possible good news is that Caribbean fares during peak season appear to be strengthening. Our CC fare on Connie at the end of February is now $1,000 per person higher than when we booked. If off-season fares also improve at that rate, then there may be a bit more incentive to remain in the Caribbean for a longer period.

 

Rich