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Galveston Ports of Call? Can Change Happen?


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Maybe this has been discussed ad nauseam but I've been off the boards for a year or so.  It's SO easy for me to travel out of Galveston but I'm SO sick of the exact same ports of call.  There are a lot of stops in the Western Caribe.  Why can't RC come up with some different itineraries?  If they did, I'd cruise with them way (way, way) more.  That means more $$$ for them.  And I don't think I'm in the minority.  Or am I?  

 

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It's not really RCI's fault, in my opinion.  Galveston is just geographically challenged.    ?

Although I did happen to notice that next year Enchantment will be doing 2 7-night cruises, back to back, out of Galveston with stops in Key West, Nassau and Coco Cay....maybe they are testing the waters.

I live in Texas and absolutely detest air travel, so I love being able to drive down to Galveston and hop on a ship.  But I don't really care so much where it's going as long as it's a cruise.   ?

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Leaving from Galveston where else can a ship go?  I would argue it could get over to CocoCay and possibly key west but that would be the extent of the Stops.  I purposely left out Nassau because well nassau seems to be less than desirable these days.

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The reality is they are limited in where they can reach in the time allotted.  

If you wanted to drive a car from Galveston on a land cruise and you had to be back in 7 nights plus you could only drive at 25 miles per hour maximum, you have a finite area you can visit.  

No one wants a 7 night cruise that starts with 3 sea days, stops in one port then has 3 sea days back.  

No one wants ports of call that arrive at 2am and leave at 11am.  People want to visit during daylight at a destination.

Some people can spend more than 7 nights on vacation, the bulk can't.  The quintessential American vacation is one week (or less). 

All cruises must include a foreign port of call by law. 

Put it all together and you have Galveston itineraries. 

You can't change the physics of the equation.

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2 minutes ago, BB1 said:

I think that's why an Oasis ship in Galveston will be wonderful.  Many people cruise just for the ships. They are also planning more perfect day destinations and I would bet they will be in range of Galveston.

Agreed.  The ship is the destination.  

Bahamas as a destination may represent a nice change, but... 

Perfect Day plus Nassau is basically what Navigator and Mariner are doing on their 3/4 cruises.  Beyond CocoCay it's kind of a boring itinerary.  Only small ships can get into Key West.  

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6 minutes ago, twangster said:

 The ship is the destination.  

I disagree with this as far as we are concerned. We have used our cruises as an all inclusive mode of transportation to get to places we want to see and visit. If we cruised more, maybe we would view it as simply a way to getaway. 

We enjoy the onboard cruise life and if law would allow it, I would book a cruise to nowhere, as a getaway. No different than going to an all-inclusive resort. IMO

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5 hours ago, twangster said:

 

No one wants a 7 night cruise that starts with 3 sea days, stops in one port then has 3 sea days back.  

 

Me me me!  BUT only if the weather is good.  It rained pretty much the whole trip we were on majesty and not having sun made me want to get off...there was only so much eat, drink, read, schooner bar, repeat we could do.  You would definitely need an oasis class ship! 

Now my husband would be climbing the walls by the end of day 2!  Jane

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6 hours ago, marti314 said:

Leaving from Galveston where else can a ship go?  I would argue it could get over to CocoCay and possibly key west but that would be the extent of the Stops.  I purposely left out Nassau because well nassau seems to be less than desirable these days.

The fact being, there are a number of 7-day cruises going to Coco Cay, Key West, Nassau, Falmouth, Belize, Roatan, Caymans, Cozumel, Costa Maya, & Yucatan...all out of Galveston, depending on pairing of itinerary. I would love to see more 8/6 day cruises to balance the 14 day rotation; so, the extra day on an 8-day, could maybe help squeeze in another port of call or facilitate longer port times or an overnight stay(at a Key West, at Caymans, at Coco Cay whenever their hotel resort goes up). Liberty ots has a number of 7-Day cruises to the 1st three itineraries I've mentioned. There are ways to logistically do it. With today's technologies, I would love to see maybe an artificial private island built at the border near South Padre Island...giving cruisers another port of destination & maybe the cruise industry can help fund the build up of Tampica, Mexico, as a destination hub; similar to Progreso, Medina, Mexico. Of course, I have forever spoken about creating a resort complex & new port in Corpus Christi as an added itinerary the West Caribbean could surely use. 

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The CocoCay cruises from Galveston and New Orleans have some ridiculous overpricing.   These are not even Freedom Class ships that could semi-justify the expense... If I remember, Disney did same thing when it did a couple of sailings to Castaway Cay from Texas/Louisiana. 

 

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7 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

The fact being, there are a number of 7-day cruises going to Coco Cay, Key West, Nassau, Falmouth, Belize, Roatan, Caymans, Cozumel, Costa Maya, & Yucatan...all out of Galveston, depending on pairing of itinerary. I would love to see more 8/6 day cruises to balance the 14 day rotation; so, the extra day on an 8-day, could maybe help squeeze in another port of call or facilitate longer port times or an overnight stay(at a Key West, at Caymans, at Coco Cay whenever their hotel resort goes up). Liberty ots has a number of 7-Day cruises to the 1st three itineraries I've mentioned. There are ways to logistically do it. With today's technologies, I would love to see maybe an artificial private island built at the border near South Padre Island...giving cruisers another port of destination & maybe the cruise industry can help fund the build up of Tampica, Mexico, as a destination hub; similar to Progreso, Medina, Mexico. Of course, I have forever spoken about creating a resort complex & new port in Corpus Christi as an added itinerary the West Caribbean could surely use. 

Interesting...I hadn’t even considered the 8/6 idea!  That would make sense...they did it with freedom out of Fort Lauderdale last year.  Jane

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A private island/beach option would be nice. Both Carnival (Mahogany Bay. Roatan) & NCL (Great Harvest Caye, Belize) have them. Hopefully, one of the 7 "Perfect Day" locations, one being in the Western Caribbean, mentioned in the press release will be part of the Galveston ports. I can't see it not being. Just wondering how long it will take to come to fruition, though. Realistically, I don't see it happening in the next 4-5 years. Hopefully, I will be pleasantly surprised with an announcement soon about RCL buying property in the Western Caribbean. 

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13 hours ago, FManke said:

Same problem with San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. Great cities with limited cruise options. 

But a West Coast cruise could visit all of these cities, as long as Vancouver or Victoria (or something in Mexico) was included for the foreign port requirement. Alternative itinerary for ships currently visiting Alaska.

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4 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

But a West Coast cruise could visit all of these cities, as long as Vancouver or Victoria (or something in Mexico) was included for the foreign port requirement. Alternative itinerary for ships currently visiting Alaska.

It's more than just can they do it. The first problem is the route mentioned is it.  That's it, that's all.  No where else to go, no diversity.  This drives the second problem.  People would go once but that's it.  It's not desirable like Alaska is.  Who would repeat the cruise again and again?  Some might, if the fares are cheap.  Once the initial rush of folks is over, the consumer market shrinks very quickly.  The third problem is that Carnival brands saturate this market now often using old and small ships at bargain rates.  

The simple truth is that Royal could come and add yet another line doing the same routes.  They can make more money with their ships in other areas.  Why give up revenue from more profitable routes just to say "we also do the West coast now".  Saying to investors "the good news is we are doing the West coast.  The bad news is we are doing the West coast and reducing dividends".

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On 7/19/2019 at 8:50 PM, HeWhoWaits said:

But a West Coast cruise could visit all of these cities, as long as Vancouver or Victoria (or something in Mexico) was included for the foreign port requirement. Alternative itinerary for ships currently visiting Alaska.

Would love to do a West Coast cruise, so many great cities, but @twangsteris right. Probably once would be enough and after all the initial cruisers have done it, what do you do then?

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