Caribbean cruises on NCL?

[Gon2hwe]

We absolutely loved our Hawaiian cruise this summer, and are thinking about a Caribbean cruise next summer,but there is only one ship from NCL (7 day cruise) from New York. Why are there no cruises from Miami or Port Canaveral. If their taking The Hawaii out of Hawaii why not send her to the Caribbean for those of us who love NCL but dont want to fly up to New York and then go back down to the Caribbean. From what I hear the Med is already swamped with cruise ships. NCL listen up! We need you in the Caribbean in the summer!

[Don Haynes]

NCL moves its ships from the winter Caribbean season to Europe, and Alaska, and Bermuda during the summer season which is the hurricane season in the Caribbean. Most people would rather vacation during the hot summer season northwards where its cooler and during the cold winter season southwards to where its warmer.

 

Not many want to during the hot season go somewhere where its hotter. You will also notice that the Caribbean itineraries are much cheaper than all of the rest of the itineraries. Therefore cruise ships are moved around for the most revenues, except for Carnival.

[Gon2hwe]

I realize that it's hurricane season but Carnival and RCI dont seem to have a problem . Most of us only have summers for vacations. Oh well, As much as we loved NCL I guess it'll have to be one of them. By the way, if you live in the South the caribbean is actually cooler in the summer.

[cliffd64]

I realize that it's hurricane season but Carnival and RCI dont seem to have a problem . Most of us only have summers for vacations. Oh well, As much as we loved NCL I guess it'll have to be one of them. By the way, if you live in the South the caribbean is actually cooler in the summer.

 

RCI and Carnival also have twice as many ships as opposed to NCL... NCL is growing, but they typically do not have Miami to Caribbean runs in the summer in order to support Europe and Alaska.

[electricron]

I realize that it's hurricane season but Carnival and RCI dont seem to have a problem . Most of us only have summers for vacations. Oh well, As much as we loved NCL I guess it'll have to be one of them. By the way, if you live in the South the caribbean is actually cooler in the summer.

 

Carnival and Royal Caribbean move ships away from the Caribbean during the summer too. Just not all of them.

 

Number of ships sailing the Caribbean during the winter vs during the summer, not including Bermuda:

 

NCL 7 - 1, total 13 ships, so 6 to 12 ships are sailing elsewhere.

Carnival 15 - 14, total 23 ships, so 8 to 9 ships are sailing elsewhere.

Royal Caribbean 16-6, total 21 ships, so 5 to 15 ships are sailing elsewhere.

Holland America 5 - 0, 14 total ships, so 9 to 14 ships are sailing elsewhere.

Celebrity 5 - 0, total 9 ships, so 4 to 9 ships are sailing elsewhere.

Princess 6 - 1, total 18 ships, so 12 to 17 ships are sailing elsewhere.

 

From that comparison, it looks like everyone but Carnival repositions many ships to other locales besides the Caribbean during the summer, and that Carnival sends at least one away too.

 

At least NCL matches Princess and keeps one ship sailing the Caribbean during the summer. Holland America and Celebrity keep none.

 

Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have many more ships than NCL, but not quite as true with Princess.

[CC Help Michell]

As a teacher (that means I vacation ON season, ow for the pocketbook!), and a lover of Freestyle cruising, I too wish NCL would keep one trip from Miami or FLL in the Caribbean during the summer, to give choices other than the Majesty (ish) and the Spirit. :/ Sometimes you just don't WANT a port-intensive itinerary like Europe, Alaska, or Hawaii, you don't want to stay on the ship in the Bahamas (again), you don't WANT to spend a zillion dollars flying to Europe, you don't want to head north to New York to head south to the Caribbean on the Spirit, and you DO want a fresh, newer ship with a spa, and casino and such! Maybe if we keep the pressure on with posts like OP's? :)

[electricron]

As a teacher (that means I vacation ON season, ow for the pocketbook!), and a lover of Freestyle cruising, I too wish NCL would keep one trip from Miami or FLL in the Caribbean during the summer, to give choices other than the Majesty (ish) and the Spirit. :/ Sometimes you just don't WANT a port-intensive itinerary like Europe, Alaska, or Hawaii, you don't want to stay on the ship in the Bahamas (again), you don't WANT to spend a zillion dollars flying to Europe, you don't want to head north to New York to head south to the Caribbean on the Spirit, and you DO want a fresh, newer ship with a spa, and casino and such! Maybe if we keep the pressure on with posts like OP's? :)

 

There's just not enough ships in NCL's fleet this year or next to keep a ship in Miami, which historically gets very low fares during the summer months. But, things start changing when NCL's first F3 class ship enters the fleet in the fall of 2009 and another F3 class will enter NCL's fleet late spring-early summer 2010. At 150,000 tons, they are definitely Super Mega sized ships.

 

They will be too large to sail through the Panama Canal, so they will probably stay on the US East Coast, and possibly reposition to Europe for the summer.

 

Let's review possible scenarios for summer 2010:

 

By this time, I expect both the Dream and Majesty will be gone. That means NCL will have 2 F3 super-mega class ships, 6 Panamax sized ships, and 4 mega-sized ships. Just 12 ships in total.

 

Honolulu 2 ships

Alaska 3 ships

Europe 3 ships

New York 2 ships

Boston-Charleston-Baltimore-Philadelphia 1 ship.

The twelveth ship is free to sail the Caribbean from Miami, or to another destination.

 

For the winter 2010-2011 season, one or both new F3 class ships will sail from Miami. Let's review possible ship deployment scenarios:

 

Honolulu 2 ships

Los Angeles 1 ship

South America 1 ship

New Orleans 1 ship

New York 2 ships

Charleston 1 ship

Miami 3 or 4 ships.

I'm hoping with two super-mega sized ships in Miami, one of these ships will be displaced to Houston.

In early spring 2011, NCL could have a third F3 class ship delivered, assuming they order it. Who knows where it will go?

 

Meanwhile, before the F3 class ships are delivered, NCL is hard pressed to keep a ship in Miami year-round.

[ce2000]

The Caribbean is a very popular destination year around. I know people say they fear huricanes in the Caribbean in the summer, but very few cruises are affected by huricanes; but a small percentage of cruises are. Huricane season is half over now and how many cruises have been affected by a huricane this year. I don't believe there have been any. That is not to say there won't be a huricane this summer, but odds are, if you are booked on a cruise this summer you are not likely to be affected by a huricane.

 

Perhaps one reason that the Caribbean is so popular in the summer is that the cruise fare is less there in the summer, than Alaska, Europe, etc.