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Will Navigator ever have longer itineraries?


sryan

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I want to sail on Navigator but by the time I will have that cruise booked I will have already been to the Bahamas quite a few times. My question is will Navigator ever have longer sailings with different itineraries? I know I can book a back to back and get a week long cruise but I do not want to go to the same ports twice. Any thoughts?

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I saw all of the amplifications and that's what made me want a longer cruise ?. 4 nights isn't enough to experience the whole ship at a leisurely pace in my opinion. I know I can book a back to back but I have no interest in paying for the same cruise twice especially back to back. I guess I will just keep my fingers crossed.

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1 minute ago, marti314 said:

just like airlines can get away with "Not spreading" the virus because you are on and off within a few hours, im guessing shorter cruises will be more popular so that you cant pinpoint huge super spreader situations like on a weeklong or 14 day.

See my issue with the logic of shorter cruises is you can always book back to back so why would the initial cruise length matter? I could get on one ship and then get off and go get on another going to even more countries and surrounding myself with an entirely different staff and clientele. But I guess I will save this rant for a different board lol. I get what you are saying though! ?

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1 minute ago, sryan said:

See my issue with the logic of shorter cruises is you can always book back to back so why would the initial cruise length matter? I could get on one ship and then get off and go get on another going to even more countries and surrounding myself with an entirely different staff and clientele. But I guess I will save this rant for a different board lol. I get what you are saying though! ?

I would venture to guess that 95%+ of the passengers do not do back to back so you are dealing with such small percentages (total number of people) for this to be a true problem.

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2 minutes ago, marti314 said:

I would venture to guess that 95%+ of the passengers do not do back to back so you are dealing with such small percentages (total number of people) for this to be a true problem.

I don't know the statistics but I know my husbands family always books back to back on the shorter sailings. I think it would be interesting to see how many people would start that habit as well if short cruises were to become the only option.

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2 minutes ago, sryan said:

I booked 4 cruises all after May 29th this year so trust me.......... "Never" isn't in my vocabulary ?

I don't see longer cruises on Navigator happening for years.. They Amped this ship specifically to do weekend cruises.. They needed a way to make the weekend cruises more expensive.. When weekend cruises were on old ships you could get rates in the $200 a night per person for an inside room.. Now They try to get $400 a person.. Of course they don't always and they drop the price when there isn't demand but they knew what they were doing when they amped navigator. They also charge more for drink packages with shorter cruises so weekend cruises I'm sure are pretty lucrative for them and they wanted to make sure they had a nice ship for that... Do you not like Oasis class ships? They have all the bells and whistles and go for the week you are looking for.. 

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1 minute ago, AGSLC5 said:

I don't see longer cruises on Navigator happening for years.. They Amped this ship specifically to do weekend cruises.. They needed a way to make the weekend cruises more expensive.. When weekend cruises were on old ships you could get rates in the $200 a night per person for an inside room.. Now They try to get $400 a person.. Of course they don't always and they drop the price when there isn't demand but they knew what they were doing when they amped navigator. They also charge more for drink packages with shorter cruises so weekend cruises I'm sure are pretty lucrative for them and they wanted to make sure they had a nice ship for that... Do you not like Oasis class ships? They have all the bells and whistles and go for the week you are looking for.. 

I understand the point of charging more for shorter cruises. I don't blame them but I will stay hopeful. 

As far as Oasis class I have 3 booked within the next year. . Navigator I feel is going to simply be a matter of do I want to b2b cruise to the same ports or drop that ship from my list unless the itineraries change. 

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1 minute ago, sryan said:

I understand the point of charging more for shorter cruises. I don't blame them but I will stay hopeful. 

As far as Oasis class I have 3 booked within the next year. . Navigator I feel is going to simply be a matter of do I want to b2b cruise to the same ports or drop that ship from my list unless the itineraries change. 

Totally understand.. I have been on Navigator 8 times since its been amped. Its a great ship and I love Hooked seafood. I live in Ft. Lauderdale so before the shutdown I went on about every other month.. I miss it so much and I cant wait for cruising to be back.. Its a wonderful ship. If I ever see them post a longer cruise I will come on here and let you know!

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7 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

Totally understand.. I have been on Navigator 8 times since its been amped. Its a great ship and I love Hooked seafood. I live in Ft. Lauderdale so before the shutdown I went on about every other month.. I miss it so much and I cant wait for cruising to be back.. Its a wonderful ship. If I ever see them post a longer cruise I will come on here and let you know!

That's why it is on my list. The ship looks amazing! Definitely let me know if you hear or see any upcoming itinerary changes. It's interesting to think if they shorten all cruises, and they are trying to include Royal owned Islands on most of the cruises, maybe they will start alternating itineraries more? Here I go again..... just dreaming lol. I am so interested in seeing what happens when sailings resume.......Me and the millions of other cruises.?

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I love the voyager class, was just on navigator in February as my first reamped ship and love what they did so I share many of the original poster's feelings here. 

When my wife and I were researching cruises we looked hard at the Freedom class as very similar ships and I can tell you that whenever things resume we will be looking at Independence and Freedom of the seas, which I think are also incredible values on upgraded ships.  The Freedom class is VERY similar to Voyager and they offer a lot more variety in their itineraries.  Four night, five night, seven night to canada, bermuda, southern Carib (ABC islands) a lot of great options there for really incredible prices.  I started cruising on the Voyager class, I still prefer that as a more classic cruise feel (for us married in our mid-upper 30's) compared to the Oasis which I truly enjoyed but was overwhelmed by kiddos and pricing and some other things but I'm getting away from the topic at hand. 

While voyager itself is on the other side of the globe, eventually Adventure and Explorer and Liberty will get their upgrades as well.  The world health situation and economy will improve and in a few years there are even more Amped ships offering even more options.  Think positive!

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22 minutes ago, dr martini said:

I love the voyager class, was just on navigator in February as my first reamped ship and love what they did so I share many of the original poster's feelings here. 

When my wife and I were researching cruises we looked hard at the Freedom class as very similar ships and I can tell you that whenever things resume we will be looking at Independence and Freedom of the seas, which I think are also incredible values on upgraded ships.  The Freedom class is VERY similar to Voyager and they offer a lot more variety in their itineraries.  Four night, five night, seven night to canada, bermuda, southern Carib (ABC islands) a lot of great options there for really incredible prices.  I started cruising on the Voyager class, I still prefer that as a more classic cruise feel (for us married in our mid-upper 30's) compared to the Oasis which I truly enjoyed but was overwhelmed by kiddos and pricing and some other things but I'm getting away from the topic at hand. 

While voyager itself is on the other side of the globe, eventually Adventure and Explorer and Liberty will get their upgrades as well.  The world health situation and economy will improve and in a few years there are even more Amped ships offering even more options.  Think positive!

We are eyeballing Freedom for our Southern Caribbean cruise. It looks like an amazing ship with plenty to do on a 7 nighter. 

Liberty is on our list and also stops at Grand Cayman which we haven't been to yet.

We like slides so that was a big reason for wanting Navigator plus the added venues/dinning is a big positive for us. The downside for cruising on the Navigator is simply the ports of call. I don't know if we want to pay for the same ports over and over again, even on a different ship. Like you said..... We are staying positive and hopeful to possible add ons of itineraries or slight changes to existing ones. 

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5 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

We sailed Navigator "pre-amp" back in 2018 and I think she was still doing 5 and 9 day itineraries so it's not out of the question she will get rotated out of the 3 and 4 day trips in the future.

Understand with COVID19 it might be a while before that happens.

Ahhhhhhh so she did do longer itineraries at one point!? This makes me more hopeful for the future ?

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Probably not in the near future, I always thought that they went overboard with her amplification to specifically design her for the short cruise market and my guess was that the same was going to happen to Liberty until recent events threw a wrench in those plans.

Sucks that these Voyager and even Freedom ships are now being wasted on the short cruises - Indy, Navigator, Adventure, Liberty, Mariner and potentially Voyager since the LA cruises also appear to be short. Not a fan and wish that they would keep these on longer itineraries where there is more time to really enjoy the ship. I guess that Royal see it as their ticket to attracting the millennial crowd and I definitely don't blame them but I do feel that these ships are worth much more than a 3 day cruise from Florida to Nassau & CocoCay. Whats next, Oasis Class on the short cruises? Surely that won't happen?

I would gladly trade Anthem back to the States for another Freedom or Voyager in Europe (keep Odyssey over here though since she's new).

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30 minutes ago, twangster said:

When she first came out of amplification in 2019 she did a couple 5/9 cruises before settling into her 3/4 routine.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/11143-navigator-mar-1-2019-9-nights-southern-caribbean/

 

This itinerary looks amazing!!! Uhg I wish I could have gone on her back then. Oh well.....Here's to the future.?

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27 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Before Freedom took over for Southern Caribbean sailings out San Juan, that was Navigator's beat. Want to say those were 10-night sailings.

And another amazing itinerary I missed. I guess I need to learn to not put off cruising in the future ?

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@Joe01 well see above or just click around on Royal's site...there is a quite a lot of variety among the freedom/voyager class itineraries although Mariner and Navigator are clearly among the nicest/most beloved of the AMP's but those two ships are doing those two particular things because at the end of the day, it's business.  it's well documented that doing the 3-4 nighters with Navigator and Mariner have been a cash cow for royal on ships that had already paid for themselves.  it's showing first timers a great intro to cruising on warm, very calm seas with updated ships moving at low speed (burning little fuel) generating even more revenue through an RC private island, RC excursions etc all clearly benefitting from RC's solid relationship with the Bahamas. 

and it's not just first timers, those long weekends are great for the working folks/ young families and even young single crowd in the southeast (ATL, DC, FL, all up the eastern seaboard and lot of the midwest, heck anywhere with a direct flight to MIA/FLL) and they're great for people who love cruising but can't afford the cost or find the time to take a 10-12 day vacation every winter (me!).  I loved being able to take a shorter cruise which I could probably do at least every other year to help scratch the itch between the larger trips every 4 or 5 years or until kids grow up and other debts are paid up.  Ahhh adulthood.  

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19 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

Probably not in the near future, I always thought that they went overboard with her amplification to specifically design her for the short cruise market and my guess was that the same was going to happen to Liberty until recent events threw a wrench in those plans.

Sucks that these Voyager and even Freedom ships are now being wasted on the short cruises - Indy, Navigator, Adventure, Liberty, Mariner and potentially Voyager since the LA cruises also appear to be short. Not a fan and wish that they would keep these on longer itineraries where there is more time to really enjoy the ship. I guess that Royal see it as their ticket to attracting the millennial crowd and I definitely don't blame them but I do feel that these ships are worth much more than a 3 day cruise from Florida to Nassau & CocoCay. Whats next, Oasis Class on the short cruises? Surely that won't happen?

I would gladly trade Anthem back to the States for another Freedom or Voyager in Europe (keep Odyssey over here though since she's new).

I couldn't see myself booking a weekend cruise on Oasis or even Freedom class. There is too much to do and I would hate feeling rushed. It would take all aspects of relaxation out of the vacation for me.

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4 minutes ago, dr martini said:

@Joe01 well see above or just click around on Royal's site...there is a quite a lot of variety among the freedom/voyager class itineraries although Mariner and Navigator are clearly among the nicest/most beloved of the AMP's but those two ships are doing those two particular things because at the end of the day, it's business.  it's well documented that doing the 3-4 nighters with Navigator and Mariner have been a cash cow for royal on ships that had already paid for themselves.  it's showing first timers a great intro to cruising on warm, very calm seas with updated ships moving at low speed (burning little fuel) generating even more revenue through an RC private island, RC excursions etc all clearly benefitting from RC's solid relationship with the Bahamas. 

and it's not just first timers, those long weekends are great for the working folks/ young families and even young single crowd in the southeast (ATL, DC, FL, all up the eastern seaboard and lot of the midwest, heck anywhere with a direct flight to MIA/FLL) and they're great for people who love cruising but can't afford the cost or find the time to take a 10-12 day vacation every winter (me!).  I loved being able to take a shorter cruise which I could probably do at least every other year to help scratch the itch between the larger trips every 4 or 5 years or until kids grow up and other debts are paid up.  Ahhh adulthood.  

Yea I am sure these weekend cruises are great for a lot of people. We have one booked in December but I am worried we are going to feel rushed and not get to experience the full ship. 

Who knows though! We also might love it and decide to go on one every other month. We will have to wait and see ?

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30 minutes ago, sryan said:

I couldn't see myself booking a weekend cruise on Oasis or even Freedom class. There is too much to do and I would hate feeling rushed. It would take all aspects of relaxation out of the vacation for me.

Agreed, you need a week at minimum on those ships. In fact, for those going on Oasis Class for the first time, I would actually recommend a B2B.

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57 minutes ago, dr martini said:

@Joe01 well see above or just click around on Royal's site...there is a quite a lot of variety among the freedom/voyager class itineraries although Mariner and Navigator are clearly among the nicest/most beloved of the AMP's but those two ships are doing those two particular things because at the end of the day, it's business.  it's well documented that doing the 3-4 nighters with Navigator and Mariner have been a cash cow for royal on ships that had already paid for themselves.  it's showing first timers a great intro to cruising on warm, very calm seas with updated ships moving at low speed (burning little fuel) generating even more revenue through an RC private island, RC excursions etc all clearly benefitting from RC's solid relationship with the Bahamas. 

and it's not just first timers, those long weekends are great for the working folks/ young families and even young single crowd in the southeast (ATL, DC, FL, all up the eastern seaboard and lot of the midwest, heck anywhere with a direct flight to MIA/FLL) and they're great for people who love cruising but can't afford the cost or find the time to take a 10-12 day vacation every winter (me!).  I loved being able to take a shorter cruise which I could probably do at least every other year to help scratch the itch between the larger trips every 4 or 5 years or until kids grow up and other debts are paid up.  Ahhh adulthood.  

Nice for people in America to have that luxury but it doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. Most cruises in other regions are longer. As I said, it's probably the ticket for them to attract younger cruisers - the older Vision and Sovereign Class no longer had any purpose on short cruises. I just wish that it wasn't so many of the big ships confined to the short cruise market.

As for the variety thing, not really - Independence, Mariner and Navigator are all off the menu (possibly permanently) as I come from Scotland, as will Liberty when she heads to Miami in a couple of years and Voyager if she is permanently committed to short cruises from LA. Adventure is doing Europe next year but that'll be a one off and then she's back to Galveston for the short cruises and is likely there for years. 

That leaves Explorer and Freedom - I suppose their itineraries are half decent (Freedom from NJ looks intriguing) but I wouldn't call it variety by any stretch. Certainly not compared to a few years back when these 8 ships were spread all over the globe, with 1 rotating Alaska/Oz, 1 rotating Asia/Oz, 1 full time in Asia, 2 of them in Europe at summer and a few that mostly stuck around in the Caribbean.

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i guess it really depends on a bunch of factors. Nav does a short itinerary like Mariner, but there is a lot to see and do; I think it might be possible to do it in the time allotted. I feel like if you get on the ship as early as possible you can hit the slides and Florider easily. If you only do CocoCay then you would have a whole day while at port to explore the ship at your leisure. Most people don't do B2B because of time and money factors....often times it may just be cheaper to book a 7+ night cruise. However, you could do a S2S if you want to change up the itinerary, I am doing Indy on a 4n and Mariner on a 5N because I am flying from Chicago.

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1 hour ago, Joe01 said:

Nice for people in America to have that luxury but it doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.

Appreciating you are not part of the EU but the EU guidelines for a return to cruising call for short itineraries to start.  While longer itineraries in Europe may have been where the money was before that may not be an option for a while. 

Also, it's only Florida really that has a short cruise market and the primary route for these short cruises is Bahamas.  Once you've done that a few times it's not that exciting for the return cruiser, it's primarily a route that targets the new to cruise market.   So it's not fair to state the entire US as large as it is benefits from the short cruise market which is as misleading as it is to say the entirety of Europe only does long cruises.

Aisa has short cruises as well, as does Oz.  Singapore, Hong Kong,  Shanghai, have 3 to 5 night.  Oz offers short sampler cruises to nowhere.  So it's not just the US that has short cruises, they do exist elsewhere in the world.

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we're still new to cruising, live in SFL and still love (the idea of) these short weekenders for a mini getaway. Although we've booked 4 or 5 (6?) since we got into Cruising July last year I've only ever gone on 2 and DH only 1, so while we book them often we've not gotten bored with them yet because so many have cancelled. For us it's a great compromise: DH wants a quick trip to get away and not miss much work and although I'd love a 9 or 10 night trip I am happy to just get on a ship.

 

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