Harmony from Galveston?

[melmar02]

Did a random search for cruises from Galveston and the calendar stops at the October 2023 sailing like it has been. Except today, April 2024 was also lit up.

 

Clicked on it, and it's Harmony to the usual Galveston run of Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan. Perhaps a foreshadowing of next week's release?

[TXcruzer]

Bring it 

[BB1]

It's possible because Allure is due for a refurbishment. 

[Chili]

58 minutes ago, BB1 said:

It's possible because Allure is due for a refurbishment. 

Bring it to Australia.

[Zurc]

22 hours ago, melmar02 said:

Did a random search for cruises from Galveston and the calendar stops at the October 2023 sailing like it has been. Except today, April 2024 was also lit up.

 

Clicked on it, and it's Harmony to the usual Galveston run of Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan. Perhaps a foreshadowing of next week's release?

Thanks for this!.  
I’ve been wondering who would replace Allure, since her last cruise listed in Oct 2023 is only a 6-day  Assumed she may be repositioning after that short trip. 

Exciting to be able sail on both from Galveston within 2 years. 

it’s strange to think we don’t even have Allure yet, and we are discussing her potential replacement.

 

 

 

 

[Nathan adams]

Can we get something out of Galveston besides the same couple ports? Throw in a key west, labadee, caymans, something....

[TXcruzer]

10 minutes ago, Nathan adams said:

Can we get something out of Galveston besides the same couple ports? Throw in a key west, labadee, caymans, something....

Key West doesn’t want us, don’t think they could do Labadee or GC on a 7 day (psi’s class can’t do Cayman’s anyway) 

there were a few Perfect Day itineraries from Galveston, but that was pushing the limits 

[melmar02]

1 hour ago, TXcruzer said:

 

there were a few Perfect Day itineraries from Galveston, but that was pushing the limits 

We were supposed to be one one of those which was of course canceled. I would love to see that as a regular offering. I'm sure a lot of regulars from Galveston would.

[wordell1]

4 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Key West doesn’t want us, don’t think they could do Labadee or GC on a 7 day (psi’s class can’t do Cayman’s anyway) 

there were a few Perfect Day itineraries from Galveston, but that was pushing the limits 

What about Nassau, PDCC, New Orleans?

[twangster]

5 hours ago, Nathan adams said:

Can we get something out of Galveston besides the same couple ports? Throw in a key west, labadee, caymans, something....

The geography of the Gulf isn't working in your favor.  If you could move Galveston deeper into the Gulf you might get you wish.  

[TXcruzer]

2 hours ago, wordell1 said:

What about Nassau, PDCC, New Orleans?

Again, the Bahamas is a real stretch from Galveston on a 7 day; New Orleans is never a port stop, way too much time wasted getting to and from up the Mississippi.

 

Galveston is just too far north and west to offer much variety in the 7 day market.  

[Zurc]

Harmony cruises up and available to book.   Starting November 2023. One 4-day followed by 7 days.

[Plumlee2028]

8 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Again, the Bahamas is a real stretch from Galveston on a 7 day; New Orleans is never a port stop, way too much time wasted getting to and from up the Mississippi.

 

Galveston is just too far north and west to offer much variety in the 7 day market.  

 Carnival Does Bahamas but they make it an 8 day.  One of their ships alternates 6 day down to cozumel/belize type route and 8 day to bahamas. They have 3 ships regularly in Galveston (one for 4/5 nights, 1 for 7 nights, 1 for 6/8 nights)  I think outside of one-offs its hard to justify without a third ship.

[MuttMutt]

The bad thing I have seen is that when an Oasis class goes into Galveston we lose a lot of trips to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  Hopefully they start adding those back in at some point but I would love to see something like some 10 nights being offered from time to time as well.  I don't see why it's not possible to have something like Adventure of the Seas sail out of Galveston and then go down to hit Cozumel, Roatan, then head over towards ABC and maybe stop at Falmouth or Grand Cayman on the way back for a 10 night.  I know there are a ton of retirees out in Florida that make that more profitable but to start adding one every other month and then do the 4 or 5 night runs the rest of the time would be an issue.  I also wish they would add the Oasis class and keep Liberty in Galveston as well doing something similar to what Adventure is doing right now.  Trading a Freedom class ship for an Oasis class and only having runs on the same route is a BIG step backwards for me.  3 ships homeporting in Galveston should be doable as it will entice more people with more routes, I have been on 4 cruises and been to Cozumel 4 times.  I am about to the point where I don't even want to walk into the port there unless I have a dive.

[billdauterive]

4 hours ago, Plumlee2028 said:

 Carnival Does Bahamas but they make it an 8 day.  One of their ships alternates 6 day down to cozumel/belize type route and 8 day to bahamas. They have 3 ships regularly in Galveston (one for 4/5 nights, 1 for 7 nights, 1 for 6/8 nights)  I think outside of one-offs its hard to justify without a third ship.

Exactly.  I'm hopeful the new terminal will have a 3rd ship brought in at some point in the not too distant future to sail the "non-standard" itineraries similar to Carnival.

[WAAAYTOOO]

39 minutes ago, MuttMutt said:

The bad thing I have seen is that when an Oasis class goes into Galveston we lose a lot of trips to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  Hopefully they start adding those back in at some point 

Unless GC decides to build a pier, they will never be able to accept an O class ship at full capacity.  O class do not tender.

[MuttMutt]

14 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Unless GC decides to build a pier, they will never be able to accept an O class ship at full capacity.  O class do not tender.

And that is a great reason to keep Liberty running out of Galveston IMHO.  But I also think that GC could build a pier and turn it in to a money printing factory even if only a couple of ships use it and the rest are tendered.

[WAAAYTOOO]

8 minutes ago, MuttMutt said:

 But I also think that GC could build a pier and turn it in to a money printing factory even if only a couple of ships use it and the rest are tendered.

....but they never will.  

[BB1]

For me, the ship is really the destination so having an Oasis class ship is wonderful.  I just wish they would move a Celebrity ship over too.

[MuttMutt]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

....but they never will.  

Nope but an interesting alternative popped into mind.  Taking a large barge and anchoring it well off the reefs and using it as a floating dock could easily enable ships that are unable to tender to drop off passengers to then be tendered to shore.

[cruisellama]

Sign me up!

[Scatmanjack]

Yeah but the stage show is 'Cats'...

 

Snore...

 

So glad to be hitting Allure and 'Mamma Mia' before the swap...

 

[CGTLH]

6 minutes ago, Scatmanjack said:

Yeah but the stage show is 'Cats'...

Oasis is Cats, Harmony has Grease.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, Scatmanjack said:

Yeah but the stage show is 'Cats'...

 

Snore...

 

So glad to be hitting Allure and 'Mamma Mia' before the swap...

 

 

1 hour ago, CGTLH said:

Oasis is Cats, Harmony has Grease.

And Columbus the Musical which is a fan favorite Royal Caribbean production.

Scoring Harmony is a major win for Galveston.

As far as the itineraries, blame Galveston.  If Galveston was willing to move about 300 nautical miles South the itineraries would get better.

[AlmondFarmer]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

If Galveston was willing to move about 300 nautical miles South the itineraries would get better.

This is happening. Slowly, similar to the growth of finger nails. 
Tectonic plates want an Oasis class ship to make it to the Bahamas on a 7 night sailing out of Galveston.

[Scatmanjack]

7 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Oasis is Cats, Harmony has Grease.

My bad... 

Need to pay more attention to this page:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/04/01/whats-the-differences-between-each-of-the-oasis-class-ships

[Cakemeister]

I'd love to see some more variety of ports. Maybe a 7-day going from Galveston to one of the Florida ports, and then a 7-day back, like they do for Alaska. A 9-day or longer, or even 14 days, would also be neat. 

I've gotten to where I don't get off the ship anymore. 

[steverk]

4 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

I'd love to see some more variety of ports. Maybe a 7-day going from Galveston to one of the Florida ports, and then a 7-day back, like they do for Alaska. A 9-day or longer, or even 14 days, would also be neat. 

I've gotten to where I don't get off the ship anymore. 

I agree, but there's only a handful of ports within a 7 day cruise from Galveston.  With an Oasis class, the number drops even further. 

I read a story that Belize is reworking their port to have an island that can accept Oasis class and tender from there, so some relief may be in sight.

[EmptyNestTravels]

Was told onboard Harmony two weeks ago that the ship would be moving to Fort Lauderdale in November 2022.

According to CruiseMapper, it seems that's not the end of her future port changes:

• Present - October 2022 - Port Canaveral
• November 2022 - March 2023 - Fort Lauderdale
• March 2023 - October 2023 - Miami
• November 2023 - April 2024 - Galveston

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Harmony-Of-The-Seas-1067

 

[Zurc]

42 minutes ago, EmptyNestTravels said:

Was told onboard Harmony two weeks ago that the ship would be moving to Fort Lauderdale in November 2022.

According to CruiseMapper, it seems that's not the end of her future port changes:

• Present - October 2022 - Port Canaveral
• November 2022 - March 2023 - Fort Lauderdale
• March 2023 - October 2023 - Miami
• November 2023 - April 2024 - Galveston

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Harmony-Of-The-Seas-1067

 

Yea, the Galveston Harmony cruises have been available to book for the last 2 weeks.   Exciting!

[Bill S]

Hmm.  To us, these ships are to dang big.  We don't like the giant ones, at all.

[Cakemeister]

On 3/13/2022 at 1:16 PM, steverk said:

I agree, but there's only a handful of ports within a 7 day cruise from Galveston.  With an Oasis class, the number drops even further. 

I read a story that Belize is reworking their port to have an island that can accept Oasis class and tender from there, so some relief may be in sight.

I found a 9-day going to the Bahamas / Perfect Day out of Galveston on the Radiance and booked it. On a smaller ship, this is the kind of cruise I was hoping for on the Oasis-class ship.

 

[cruisellama]

Thought the Harmony from Galveston was interesting and encouraged as its more up to date than Allure.   So booked that for March '24.  Curious if Allure will get amplified during its absence from Galveston.

[TXcruzer]

18 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Thought the Harmony from Galveston was interesting and encouraged as its more up to date than Allure.   So booked that for March '24.  Curious if Allure will get amplified during its absence from Galveston.

With Allure slated to handle 3-4 day itineraries after Galveston; I don’t think her Amp will happen any time soon. 
 

sidebar- I prefer the “un amped” Allure to the Harmony…

[twangster]

Allure will require a mandatory dry dock in 2025 I think so that may be the window that could include an amp.  It all depends how they are doing financially between now and then.  They have over $30B in debt caused by the pandemic.  Cruising is back and numbers getting back or closer to pre-pandemic levels but they are not in the same financial position they were pre-pandemic and it will be a long time before they are.