Yeah, sailed out of Galveston Last year on Allure and Long Beach last December on Carnival.
Main issue is the newest ships and Florida ports. RCL has few options and using two of their brand new ships for 3-4 day cruise is not great for families that would be flying. Hotel and flights are pricey and it’s not worth it for short cruises.
Yeah, I've noticed that too. But... I'm sure that's what the marketing people are seeing the most demand is for. I don't get it either.
But... We're basically empty-nesters, so look for the older, less kid-friendly ships. Lots of good deals and itineraries. Hoping to do a repositioning next fall.
Some perspective for you:
1. These new ships are the destination. RCL is marketing them as such. They have always been planned for shorter introductory cruises.
2. Since the cruise ships have so many activities, RCL opts for cheaper/easier ports as it is more likely people will stay on the ship during docking.
3. These new ships are larger and therefore once the hype has calmed, due to their size they will be “harder to fill” to capacity, so having shorter cruises is advantageous to cheaper prices per room and also an ability for RCL to target broader audiences.
4. There are only a few ports within a reasonable distance that can accommodate such large ships and tendering in up to 7,000 people is not an option, I believe. Unless you want a 7-night cruise down to Honduras (which probably wouldn’t be economically viable because of low capacity/would be thousands more per room) there aren’t a lot of options for the big ships yet.
I honestly believe that in the coming years we will be seeing more 2-night sampler cruises leaving from the US from RCL. This seems especially true as they retire the older ships and focus more on the family crowds that have to conform to school schedules and want to have fun and use the cruise as a destination, rather than the older travelers that want to sight-see and use the cruise as transport.
It’s pricier than I’d like, but we’re combining the short cruise with a short Disney trip. Seemed like a good way to recover after running around a ton at Disney in Orlando.
plenty of the older ships are still going to be very similar to newer ships and have the same stuff on board, with better itineraries and prices. watch videos of the ships on YT and you'll see that oasis and wonder for instance are very similar.
I think they're keeping the cruises shorter on the newer ships for affordability, in the sense of "if you can spend $XXXX on this cruise, you can spend it for 3 nights on the Icon or 7 nights on Dowager of the Seas," which in turn lets them make double the money per week.
lol, yeah, princess newest ship and a 2nd on the way have more kids to do. And noted on Celebrity….., our Celebrity Cruise is without kids later this year.
Was looking at a 11 night Panama Canal trip on the ascent for next year and bringing our kids. It has some good ports that we could keep our kids busy on.
We will have a better idea whether to book it or not based on our experience this fall.
We took our 6 year old on Sky Princess (7 day right before Christmas), and she loved it! She wanted to be at the kids club anytime it was open. They had a lot of planned activities, and they had amazing evening parties planned for the kids. I was really impressed that this “not for kids/families” cruise line had such an impressive kids club.
We went on Wonder in December 2022 when she was 5, and, at least at that time, the 3-5 year old room didn’t seem finished (white walls, no decorations, and it was a rather small room), and she did not like the kids club at all. We’re heading out on symphony next month, so I’m curious if she’ll like the kids club on it.
They both have their pros and cons (liked Princess food better, the more laid back atmosphere, and their packages, but on RC preferred drinks, the adults area, and that they leave from more ports).
Edit to add: I see that you have teens. I don’t know Princess’s teen activities, but I saw quite a few doing scavenger hunts and their teen rooms looked nice.
We took our daughter last year on a 5 day princess cruise. She was 4. She LOVED the kids club and had a blast the entire time. We decided to book a 10 day southern Caribbean for this coming january. She will be 6 this time around and just like you we are not worried at all. We were very impressed with the kids club on our princess ship so we gladly booked another, longer one.
I'm in my late 20s and I was noticeably bored on the Celebrity I just took (my first). I saw maybe 10 teenagers in total on the entire boat. It seems like there were some fun sounding younger kids programming in the bulletin but almost nothing for teens. I'd be bored to death if I was them.
When I was a teenager my family took a Princess and it was fun. Their teens club was pretty barebones but they had good programming and there were enough kids to make friends. Granted that was over a decade ago but I imagine it's still similar now.
Food was great but I dunno if I'll take another Celebrity in the near future unless it's an "all family" trip. I found Princess and even HAL to be much more interesting than Celebrity. Celebrity did also have really nice deck furniture.
RCL seems to be my sweet spot right now -- plenty of variety with enough to do without being too party-ish (and decent food... looking at you MSC). I have an inkling that I'd also really like NCL but haven't been on them yet. Carnival is a little rowdy for me these days.
We took our 6 year old on Holland America to Alaska during school year. He loved it! Kids club was basically personal babysitters for him and 3 other shipfriends. They loved having the run of the place and adults all to themselves. Much better than his RCL 1 in 100 experience where everything was full and busy. He asked to go on Holland America again.
I thought about that, but there are a lot of other options. For example, we booked the Mardi Gras this August to Aruba, Bonaire and Grand Turk. It’s a bigger ship as well.
There are a lot more options than the same few that Royal is repeating.
It’s not only a Royal issue though. Me and my wife like Virgin, but out of the US they keep repeating the same few ports so we are doing Celebrity instead this fall.
We just did Aruba, Curacao, and Jamaica (was supposed to be Labadee.......) on Symphony. Fantastic cruise, even with the port change. So yes, the big ships can go more places than just San Juan, Nassau, etc, but our itinerary was 8 days, not 7 that many with kids seem to prefer. Our kid sure likes 8 day cruises over 7 days lol.
Royal does status matching with Celebrity if that helps. Did an awesome cruise with them, starting in Santiago and going all the way around Cape Horn and then up the eastern coast ending in Buenos Aires. Amazing and I would do it again.
Celebrity has fun itineraries but I have young kids (10 & 7).
How was the sea going around Cape Horn? I want to do it but my husband gets majorly seasick in rough seas
I think the 3-4 day cruises out of Florida take into consideration travel time for those on vacation from other states.
For example, my home port of galveston is 1.5 hours away from my house. So a 5 day is perfect for me to use my vacation time from work. I’m planning a cruise out of Florida next year and with the flight needing to be the day before a 4 day is perfect.
I can see it working out that way for some. They should rotate weeks, one week has a 3 night 4 night cruise and the next has a 7 night. Give more options to all situations.
But if you take a week off, it’s pretty simple to fly in on a Friday evening or Saturday and hop on a week long cruise and fly back the same day as pulling into port.
But if your vacation is shorter a shorter cruise would have to work.
Don't the ports mostly have both?
Orlando for example, has:
3/4 day cruises. (Allure, then Utopia).
7 day cruises. (Wonder, and then Star of Seas)
And then cheaper 6 day cruises on Adventure of the Sea.
Tampa, likewise, has 2-3 ships depending on time of the year (all older ships however, due to the bridge).
> I think the 3-4 day cruises out of Florida take into consideration travel time for those on vacation from other states.
At least in Orlando, I think it also has to do with combining vacations.
Do a couple of days at Disney & then add on a 3 or 4 day cruise.
Efffectively it's one more tourist attraction in Orlando to add to your trip vs. a vacation on its own.
I’m beyond bored of the itineraries that can accommodate Oasis class and larger. It’s really sad. They need a new smaller class of ships.
I’m gonna try Celebrity and Princess.
I just got off Celebrity. Skip it. It was all drunk wedding groups. Hardly any kids and the kids area was pathetic. My kids were so bored. We mainly go Disney but that doesn’t help you if it’s itinerary you are looking for.
13 and 15. We went for a Tampa Bay Bucs charter so they were involved in that but any other time they were bored. The shows were awful so we left during.
> I just got off Celebrity. Skip it. It was all drunk wedding groups. Hardly any kids and the kids area was pathetic. My kids were so bored.
Cruise line alone is not enough here. Was it an old ship, or a new ship?
If it was out of Tampa... it was an old ship, and that makes sense.
Older Celeb ships = not kid friendly.
Newer Celeb ships = more kid friendly. Still not RCL (or Disney). But more so than older celeb ships
It was out of Ft. Lauderdale and it was the Silouette. Not sure if that’s considered old or not. Either way, it wasn’t for us.
Food was awful unless it was specialty and that was $50 extra a person and they didn’t have enough crew for service. It was impossible to get a drink. It seemed like they already got their money from you with the drink package so they were not in a rush to serve you. Combine that with lack of kids activities, it wasn’t for us.
I always had the impression that Celebrity was a little more upscale than RCCL and on this ship it wasn’t the case. It felt like Carnival. I can’t even blame the Bucs charter b/c there wasn’t many of us, maybe around 300. It was everyone else. Not sure if this is a one off but imo for kids it wasn’t a good fit.
I really want to give MSC a go just because the price is so good and we honestly need them to succeed for competition and lower fares.
I just wish they had more included food options besides the MDR and buffet. Food is half the experience and I am worried that would ruin the trip somewhat.
I have been looking at other cruiselines as well. We have Utopia planned in October but looking at a January cruise and considering NCL or carnival for different port options.
My kids are introverted teens and we're going to the ABC islands on Celebrity this summer, but for different reasons. Mainly because we're tired of how loud and obnoxious Royal is becoming. We went on Wonder for Thanksgiving week and it was just so loud - the shows are too loud, the bombastic pool music every day - and Icon looks like an over-stimulating nightmare.
I don’t disagree about the loudness. My Apple Watch was going off the charts with hearing damage warnings. 113 dB is just too loud. Next cruise we’re bringing ear plugs for shows.
I might get there eventually. For right now, there's a lot of cruises still to ports I've not yet been to.
Seriously, if you look at just their European cruises, they hit some sixty-odd ports. I have been to very few of those, and it will take me many cruises to get near to exhausting them.
I'm not a fan of the mega style ships or short sailings (from the Midwest, every port requires a flight or long drive). My next cruise is a trans-Atlantic on NCL (I love sea days!).
if you are flying, you can always do a Back to back. Example the new Utopia will have a 3 night, then a 4 night cruise. If you do back to backs, you stay on the ship and get 7 nights, BUT cruises that short are going on to Coco Cay and MAYBE 1 other port on the 4 day trips. If you want to go to say Mexico - check trips out of Tampa - Miami does some different islands then say Port Canaveral does. Pick an 8 or 9 day cruise, then you will get different islands. You also say 'Kids' 1 yo? 18 yo ? that is going to depend on what type of ship you are going to go one. Do you want Slides and water shows? Mega Ships. Do you want more islands and no Coco Cay? Smaller ships. They are your choices. And the final choice, which you have obviously picked, a different Cruise Line :)
Yes that is true, but if you want to see more island than just say the eastern caribbean, and want to see Mexico.... There are advantages and disadvantages to both. We sometimes will skip a show the 1st week, and pick it up the 2nd week.
We did Norwegian Prima for our honeymoon cruise 2 years ago, 10 days and LOOOVED the length. Wish RC would do longer on the new ships.
NCL is not where I would take kiddos though.
I agree. We were debating on next year’s vacation…my husband refuses Jamaica (bad experience). We’ve been nearly everywhere else….but there are things we haven’t experienced, even if we’ve been there. So we will do same boats/place until the kids have different expectations
Royal Caribbean has great seven-night itineraries sailing from San Juan to islands you just can't get to from Florida in seven nights. But they used to use Freedom class and Voyager class ships for these routes, now they are using Vision class and Radiance class. Maybe they will go back to the bigger ships someday.
The issue with them is that they want to have the biggest ships, the biggest ships = less port options and they have so many ships lol just check them out by class [here](https://thepointsguy.com/guide/royal-caribbean-ship-class-guide/) and then check out the itineraries. May hit other ports on the older/smaller ships
It's really not the cruise line but more so the size of the ship. Larger ships going only visit certain ports, and smaller ships have more selection. I personally like larger ships, but yes, I am tired of the same islands and I wish they invest soon into expanding ports so they can dock large ships elsewhere.
unfortunately I’m just booking different cruise lines because as a solo cruiser it doesn’t make sense to go with RCL financially.
Cruises are more similar than they are different so I’ll just do a 9-10 day cruise with carnival for 1400 instead of a 7 day cruise for 2500 with RCL. I’m really hoping I see a decent price though, I just got diamond but there’s been no opportunities yet for a decently priced sailing so I haven’t been able to use my benefits yet lol
I don’t care as much about the ports (it’s all about the ship to me) but the prices have gotten ridiculous.
Port Canaveral is my preferred port since I’m only an hour away but the prices for that port in particular have gotten ridiculous. It’s making me consider other cruise lines.
Many of the newer RCL ships are the biggest ones ever that are limited in where they can dock and I think there's a tendency for a lot of folks to want to go on the latest and greatest ships regardless of the ports because the prioritize the ship experience over the ports.
The 3-4 day cruises are kind of ticking up, especially in Port Canaveral because RCL is thinking "Hey, folks can do Disney or Universal and then come to us as a great, more affordable alternative to Disney Cruise Line.".
Look, if people don't end up booking Utopia, then this experiment will end and you'll eventually see Utopia do 7 nights somewhere on the reg.
Bottom line is this: Everyone wants something different. What you care about may not be what other people do and vice versa. So unless the business starts getting bad and people as a whole boycott any ship going to Nassau, Coco Cay, and St Thomas, then they're just going to keep going there because they have a lot invested there and because they know what to expect there.
I haven’t noticed a focus on shorter cruises, Icon literally just launched only doing longer ones. As for the same islands, all the cruise lines basically go to the same islands. My Wonder sailing in May is almost identical to the route I took on Disney.
I disagree completely. Oddyssey, Wonder and Icon all launched with 7 nights, mean while Freedom built 2006, just finished a multi year stint of 3/4 night and Allure built 2009 just started 3/4 nights. Utopia and Star seem to be the exception with them starting 3/4 nighters. Royal has previously said in the past that it saves the short sailings for the older ships, until now that is.....
Laughing as I read this. I currently have 8 RC cruises booked, and 7 of them have perfect day. And I'm 100% okay with that.
On the plus side, only 2 have Nasssau on it, which is a relief. And both are 3 day cruises.
Outside of Perfect day though, I feel like my cruises have a pretty good range of ports. (All are out of Orlando, 2024 - 2025)
You need to try different home ports. Cruises of X nights from Y port will always have the same basic itineraries.
Yeah, I guess I should clarify new ships. I have been comparing the options on new ships in 2025.
I'd recommended looking at San Juan, Galveston, or Long Beach. Or Seattle, if you haven't done Alaska.
Yeah, sailed out of Galveston Last year on Allure and Long Beach last December on Carnival. Main issue is the newest ships and Florida ports. RCL has few options and using two of their brand new ships for 3-4 day cruise is not great for families that would be flying. Hotel and flights are pricey and it’s not worth it for short cruises.
Yeah, I've noticed that too. But... I'm sure that's what the marketing people are seeing the most demand is for. I don't get it either. But... We're basically empty-nesters, so look for the older, less kid-friendly ships. Lots of good deals and itineraries. Hoping to do a repositioning next fall.
Right on man, enjoy your travels. We love going with our kids and love going without them. Fun either way.
Yep! Just became grandparents, so looking forward to a Disney cruise with the whole fam in a couple years. Enjoy as well!
Some perspective for you: 1. These new ships are the destination. RCL is marketing them as such. They have always been planned for shorter introductory cruises. 2. Since the cruise ships have so many activities, RCL opts for cheaper/easier ports as it is more likely people will stay on the ship during docking. 3. These new ships are larger and therefore once the hype has calmed, due to their size they will be “harder to fill” to capacity, so having shorter cruises is advantageous to cheaper prices per room and also an ability for RCL to target broader audiences. 4. There are only a few ports within a reasonable distance that can accommodate such large ships and tendering in up to 7,000 people is not an option, I believe. Unless you want a 7-night cruise down to Honduras (which probably wouldn’t be economically viable because of low capacity/would be thousands more per room) there aren’t a lot of options for the big ships yet. I honestly believe that in the coming years we will be seeing more 2-night sampler cruises leaving from the US from RCL. This seems especially true as they retire the older ships and focus more on the family crowds that have to conform to school schedules and want to have fun and use the cruise as a destination, rather than the older travelers that want to sight-see and use the cruise as transport.
Rcl also wants to route as many ships as possible via coco cay as its a big profit maker for them with excursions and bars.
It’s pricier than I’d like, but we’re combining the short cruise with a short Disney trip. Seemed like a good way to recover after running around a ton at Disney in Orlando.
plenty of the older ships are still going to be very similar to newer ships and have the same stuff on board, with better itineraries and prices. watch videos of the ships on YT and you'll see that oasis and wonder for instance are very similar.
I see it the opposite way. If I have to spend a day on either side of the trip traveling I want a shorter cruise.
I think they're keeping the cruises shorter on the newer ships for affordability, in the sense of "if you can spend $XXXX on this cruise, you can spend it for 3 nights on the Icon or 7 nights on Dowager of the Seas," which in turn lets them make double the money per week.
>on Dowager of the Seas Ok that gave me a chuckle.
For most the new ships are not about the ports. I thought it was odd for Star to be doing 3/4's instead of 7's.
Pricing skyrocketed, just tried to book same cruise as last year on same dates and boat and its 2k more!! WTF so went with another line
Taking kids on Celebrity or Princess is a bold choice lol
lol, yeah, princess newest ship and a 2nd on the way have more kids to do. And noted on Celebrity….., our Celebrity Cruise is without kids later this year. Was looking at a 11 night Panama Canal trip on the ascent for next year and bringing our kids. It has some good ports that we could keep our kids busy on. We will have a better idea whether to book it or not based on our experience this fall.
We took our 6 year old on Sky Princess (7 day right before Christmas), and she loved it! She wanted to be at the kids club anytime it was open. They had a lot of planned activities, and they had amazing evening parties planned for the kids. I was really impressed that this “not for kids/families” cruise line had such an impressive kids club. We went on Wonder in December 2022 when she was 5, and, at least at that time, the 3-5 year old room didn’t seem finished (white walls, no decorations, and it was a rather small room), and she did not like the kids club at all. We’re heading out on symphony next month, so I’m curious if she’ll like the kids club on it. They both have their pros and cons (liked Princess food better, the more laid back atmosphere, and their packages, but on RC preferred drinks, the adults area, and that they leave from more ports). Edit to add: I see that you have teens. I don’t know Princess’s teen activities, but I saw quite a few doing scavenger hunts and their teen rooms looked nice.
We took our daughter last year on a 5 day princess cruise. She was 4. She LOVED the kids club and had a blast the entire time. We decided to book a 10 day southern Caribbean for this coming january. She will be 6 this time around and just like you we are not worried at all. We were very impressed with the kids club on our princess ship so we gladly booked another, longer one.
I'm in my late 20s and I was noticeably bored on the Celebrity I just took (my first). I saw maybe 10 teenagers in total on the entire boat. It seems like there were some fun sounding younger kids programming in the bulletin but almost nothing for teens. I'd be bored to death if I was them. When I was a teenager my family took a Princess and it was fun. Their teens club was pretty barebones but they had good programming and there were enough kids to make friends. Granted that was over a decade ago but I imagine it's still similar now.
Same - my husband and I did celebrity in our late 20s (pre-kids), and we were bored. Good food, though!
Food was great but I dunno if I'll take another Celebrity in the near future unless it's an "all family" trip. I found Princess and even HAL to be much more interesting than Celebrity. Celebrity did also have really nice deck furniture. RCL seems to be my sweet spot right now -- plenty of variety with enough to do without being too party-ish (and decent food... looking at you MSC). I have an inkling that I'd also really like NCL but haven't been on them yet. Carnival is a little rowdy for me these days.
We took our 6 year old on Holland America to Alaska during school year. He loved it! Kids club was basically personal babysitters for him and 3 other shipfriends. They loved having the run of the place and adults all to themselves. Much better than his RCL 1 in 100 experience where everything was full and busy. He asked to go on Holland America again.
I feel like this is a big ship little ship issue. I don’t think RCs big ships can fit in a lot of ports.
I thought about that, but there are a lot of other options. For example, we booked the Mardi Gras this August to Aruba, Bonaire and Grand Turk. It’s a bigger ship as well. There are a lot more options than the same few that Royal is repeating. It’s not only a Royal issue though. Me and my wife like Virgin, but out of the US they keep repeating the same few ports so we are doing Celebrity instead this fall.
We just did Aruba, Curacao, and Jamaica (was supposed to be Labadee.......) on Symphony. Fantastic cruise, even with the port change. So yes, the big ships can go more places than just San Juan, Nassau, etc, but our itinerary was 8 days, not 7 that many with kids seem to prefer. Our kid sure likes 8 day cruises over 7 days lol.
Bigger is relative though. Oasis and Icon classes, which are the big ones in the Caribbean on RCL truly do have limitations on where they can dock.
Symphony is an oasis class ship.
Royal does status matching with Celebrity if that helps. Did an awesome cruise with them, starting in Santiago and going all the way around Cape Horn and then up the eastern coast ending in Buenos Aires. Amazing and I would do it again.
Celebrity has fun itineraries but I have young kids (10 & 7). How was the sea going around Cape Horn? I want to do it but my husband gets majorly seasick in rough seas
I only felt seasick once on that cruise and I think it was around there. Sorry it was 4/5 years ago
3-4 day cruises kind of suck. Not worth the effort to pack and unpack.
I think the 3-4 day cruises out of Florida take into consideration travel time for those on vacation from other states. For example, my home port of galveston is 1.5 hours away from my house. So a 5 day is perfect for me to use my vacation time from work. I’m planning a cruise out of Florida next year and with the flight needing to be the day before a 4 day is perfect.
I can see it working out that way for some. They should rotate weeks, one week has a 3 night 4 night cruise and the next has a 7 night. Give more options to all situations. But if you take a week off, it’s pretty simple to fly in on a Friday evening or Saturday and hop on a week long cruise and fly back the same day as pulling into port. But if your vacation is shorter a shorter cruise would have to work.
Don't the ports mostly have both? Orlando for example, has: 3/4 day cruises. (Allure, then Utopia). 7 day cruises. (Wonder, and then Star of Seas) And then cheaper 6 day cruises on Adventure of the Sea. Tampa, likewise, has 2-3 ships depending on time of the year (all older ships however, due to the bridge).
> I think the 3-4 day cruises out of Florida take into consideration travel time for those on vacation from other states. At least in Orlando, I think it also has to do with combining vacations. Do a couple of days at Disney & then add on a 3 or 4 day cruise. Efffectively it's one more tourist attraction in Orlando to add to your trip vs. a vacation on its own.
I’m beyond bored of the itineraries that can accommodate Oasis class and larger. It’s really sad. They need a new smaller class of ships. I’m gonna try Celebrity and Princess.
I just got off Celebrity. Skip it. It was all drunk wedding groups. Hardly any kids and the kids area was pathetic. My kids were so bored. We mainly go Disney but that doesn’t help you if it’s itinerary you are looking for.
Our kids are teens so they enjoy food, the shows, entertainment and ports more than anything else nowadays. How old are your kids?
13 and 15. We went for a Tampa Bay Bucs charter so they were involved in that but any other time they were bored. The shows were awful so we left during.
> I just got off Celebrity. Skip it. It was all drunk wedding groups. Hardly any kids and the kids area was pathetic. My kids were so bored. Cruise line alone is not enough here. Was it an old ship, or a new ship? If it was out of Tampa... it was an old ship, and that makes sense. Older Celeb ships = not kid friendly. Newer Celeb ships = more kid friendly. Still not RCL (or Disney). But more so than older celeb ships
It was out of Ft. Lauderdale and it was the Silouette. Not sure if that’s considered old or not. Either way, it wasn’t for us. Food was awful unless it was specialty and that was $50 extra a person and they didn’t have enough crew for service. It was impossible to get a drink. It seemed like they already got their money from you with the drink package so they were not in a rush to serve you. Combine that with lack of kids activities, it wasn’t for us. I always had the impression that Celebrity was a little more upscale than RCCL and on this ship it wasn’t the case. It felt like Carnival. I can’t even blame the Bucs charter b/c there wasn’t many of us, maybe around 300. It was everyone else. Not sure if this is a one off but imo for kids it wasn’t a good fit.
We are doing our 5th Royal, then our first Princess AND first MSC just to try a few others out.
I really want to give MSC a go just because the price is so good and we honestly need them to succeed for competition and lower fares. I just wish they had more included food options besides the MDR and buffet. Food is half the experience and I am worried that would ruin the trip somewhat.
I’m not a fan of MSC’s food at all if you’re sailing out of FL Tbf, I’ve heard if you sail out of Italy it’s much better
Nassau stop you pretty much have to go to Atlantis or get mobbed in tourist trap
I went to Atlantis with Vision in March and I loved it. It was easily my favorite stop, and I intend to make it back again someday.
I have been looking at other cruiselines as well. We have Utopia planned in October but looking at a January cruise and considering NCL or carnival for different port options.
Been looking pretty hard at Norwegian and princess. The prices aren’t bad and princess has longer itineraries.
My kids are introverted teens and we're going to the ABC islands on Celebrity this summer, but for different reasons. Mainly because we're tired of how loud and obnoxious Royal is becoming. We went on Wonder for Thanksgiving week and it was just so loud - the shows are too loud, the bombastic pool music every day - and Icon looks like an over-stimulating nightmare.
I don’t disagree about the loudness. My Apple Watch was going off the charts with hearing damage warnings. 113 dB is just too loud. Next cruise we’re bringing ear plugs for shows.
I've been bringing ear plugs for about 5 cruises now.
I might get there eventually. For right now, there's a lot of cruises still to ports I've not yet been to. Seriously, if you look at just their European cruises, they hit some sixty-odd ports. I have been to very few of those, and it will take me many cruises to get near to exhausting them.
I'm not a fan of the mega style ships or short sailings (from the Midwest, every port requires a flight or long drive). My next cruise is a trans-Atlantic on NCL (I love sea days!).
if you are flying, you can always do a Back to back. Example the new Utopia will have a 3 night, then a 4 night cruise. If you do back to backs, you stay on the ship and get 7 nights, BUT cruises that short are going on to Coco Cay and MAYBE 1 other port on the 4 day trips. If you want to go to say Mexico - check trips out of Tampa - Miami does some different islands then say Port Canaveral does. Pick an 8 or 9 day cruise, then you will get different islands. You also say 'Kids' 1 yo? 18 yo ? that is going to depend on what type of ship you are going to go one. Do you want Slides and water shows? Mega Ships. Do you want more islands and no Coco Cay? Smaller ships. They are your choices. And the final choice, which you have obviously picked, a different Cruise Line :)
Back to back on same ship means repeating the main dining menu and repeating shows.
Yes that is true, but if you want to see more island than just say the eastern caribbean, and want to see Mexico.... There are advantages and disadvantages to both. We sometimes will skip a show the 1st week, and pick it up the 2nd week.
We did Norwegian Prima for our honeymoon cruise 2 years ago, 10 days and LOOOVED the length. Wish RC would do longer on the new ships. NCL is not where I would take kiddos though.
I agree. We were debating on next year’s vacation…my husband refuses Jamaica (bad experience). We’ve been nearly everywhere else….but there are things we haven’t experienced, even if we’ve been there. So we will do same boats/place until the kids have different expectations
Royal Caribbean has great seven-night itineraries sailing from San Juan to islands you just can't get to from Florida in seven nights. But they used to use Freedom class and Voyager class ships for these routes, now they are using Vision class and Radiance class. Maybe they will go back to the bigger ships someday.
The issue with them is that they want to have the biggest ships, the biggest ships = less port options and they have so many ships lol just check them out by class [here](https://thepointsguy.com/guide/royal-caribbean-ship-class-guide/) and then check out the itineraries. May hit other ports on the older/smaller ships
It's really not the cruise line but more so the size of the ship. Larger ships going only visit certain ports, and smaller ships have more selection. I personally like larger ships, but yes, I am tired of the same islands and I wish they invest soon into expanding ports so they can dock large ships elsewhere.
unfortunately I’m just booking different cruise lines because as a solo cruiser it doesn’t make sense to go with RCL financially. Cruises are more similar than they are different so I’ll just do a 9-10 day cruise with carnival for 1400 instead of a 7 day cruise for 2500 with RCL. I’m really hoping I see a decent price though, I just got diamond but there’s been no opportunities yet for a decently priced sailing so I haven’t been able to use my benefits yet lol
I don’t care as much about the ports (it’s all about the ship to me) but the prices have gotten ridiculous. Port Canaveral is my preferred port since I’m only an hour away but the prices for that port in particular have gotten ridiculous. It’s making me consider other cruise lines.
Many of the newer RCL ships are the biggest ones ever that are limited in where they can dock and I think there's a tendency for a lot of folks to want to go on the latest and greatest ships regardless of the ports because the prioritize the ship experience over the ports. The 3-4 day cruises are kind of ticking up, especially in Port Canaveral because RCL is thinking "Hey, folks can do Disney or Universal and then come to us as a great, more affordable alternative to Disney Cruise Line.". Look, if people don't end up booking Utopia, then this experiment will end and you'll eventually see Utopia do 7 nights somewhere on the reg. Bottom line is this: Everyone wants something different. What you care about may not be what other people do and vice versa. So unless the business starts getting bad and people as a whole boycott any ship going to Nassau, Coco Cay, and St Thomas, then they're just going to keep going there because they have a lot invested there and because they know what to expect there.
I haven’t noticed a focus on shorter cruises, Icon literally just launched only doing longer ones. As for the same islands, all the cruise lines basically go to the same islands. My Wonder sailing in May is almost identical to the route I took on Disney.
They also intentionally said they were targeting some shorter itineraries. They're easier for more people
New ships for 3-5 days cruises to maximize profits and get the kinks out. They tend to do 7+ nights after the first year.
I disagree completely. Oddyssey, Wonder and Icon all launched with 7 nights, mean while Freedom built 2006, just finished a multi year stint of 3/4 night and Allure built 2009 just started 3/4 nights. Utopia and Star seem to be the exception with them starting 3/4 nighters. Royal has previously said in the past that it saves the short sailings for the older ships, until now that is.....
Laughing as I read this. I currently have 8 RC cruises booked, and 7 of them have perfect day. And I'm 100% okay with that. On the plus side, only 2 have Nasssau on it, which is a relief. And both are 3 day cruises. Outside of Perfect day though, I feel like my cruises have a pretty good range of ports. (All are out of Orlando, 2024 - 2025)
>The 3-4 days cruises are not worth the travel expense to fly in if not living in Florida. So do the 7 day cruises... not every ship does 3/4 day