Symphony of the Seas - Different Embarkation Days

[DaveWithHat]

I searched the blogs to see if this question has already been asked and answered but searching on "embarkation" and similar terms came up with many unrelated results so I apologize if I am repeating.

 

I see that Symphony of the Seas has the following two cruises:

 

7 NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE

Leaving from:  Barcelona, Spain 

Aug 5, 2018; Aug 12, 2018; Aug 19, 2018; Aug 26, 2018

 

7 NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE

Leaving from:  Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 

Aug 2, 2018; Aug 9, 2018; Aug 16, 2018; Aug 23, 2018; Aug 30, 2018

 

It seems that the way these cruises overlap that some passengers will embark on Symphony on Aug 5th in Spain while others will embark on Aug 9 in Italy. The itineraries visit the same ports so If I am interpreting this correctly, the Aug 5th passengers may get off the ship on Aug 9th in Italy for an excursion day while others are embarking on day 1 of their cruise.

 

This seems very interesting from a logistics perspective.

 

1) Am I interpreting this correctly with passengers embarking on different days?

2) What happens if someone is supposed does not get off the ship at the end of their cruise? I get that their sea pass card will be de-activated but what if they went to the pool deck grabbed a chair and napped for the day? Is there a scenario where the crew would be frantically searching for passengers who have remained on board? 

3) Is this a new way to schedule cruises? It seems that it might sense in that the crew only has to move half as many bags etc since only half the ship may be getting off at either port. It adds a new dimension to shopping for a cruise if you are looking for the cheapest flight options or if you desire to spend a few days in a city before/after your cruise.

 

I am very curious to know how this works logistically.

 

Dave

[Jerel]

Hmmm, that is odd. I had to double check it for myself but your dates are correct. All the same ports too, it's like they are giving you the option of hopping on the same looping intenerary at any of two points. Iv never seen that (not that iv seen everything).

Hopefully I wise soul can tell us whats going one.

[JLMoran]

I think I've seen a couple of itineraries like those before when I was just scanning for possible itineraries of interest for the future; as Jerel and you guessed, it's to allow people to embark / disembark at a port of their choice along an itinerary that loops through the same set of ports. I want to say it's limited to two ports on the itineraries I saw, not necessarily at the "ends" of the itinerary. I guess it's a variant on that "open jaw" cruise format I had asked about on another thread.

 

Wish I could remember which cruise line it was where I had seen that. Maybe an RCI Scandinavian tour, or another Mediterranean trip.

[PRC]

A lot of lines do this, mostly in Europe.  It allows them to source from two markets with out airlift costs for locals as well as doubling the chance of fitting in to non-Euro passengers land based plans.  

[monorailmedic]

 

This seems very interesting from a logistics perspective.

 

1) Am I interpreting this correctly with passengers embarking on different days?

2) What happens if someone is supposed does not get off the ship at the end of their cruise? I get that their sea pass card will be de-activated but what if they went to the pool deck grabbed a chair and napped for the day? Is there a scenario where the crew would be frantically searching for passengers who have remained on board? 

3) Is this a new way to schedule cruises? It seems that it might sense in that the crew only has to move half as many bags etc since only half the ship may be getting off at either port. It adds a new dimension to shopping for a cruise if you are looking for the cheapest flight options or if you desire to spend a few days in a city before/after your cruise.

 

 

This is common, especially on other lines, and pretty much never in the US.  Look up Pullmantur itineraries in Souther America and you'll see continuous examples of this.

 

1) Yup, cruises don't need to be so closed.  Busses nor planes are like this.  Your direct flight is just one leg of someone else's trip.

2) This is just like any other disembarkation day.  Consecutive cruisers are supposed to get off for a moment, everyone else gets off for good.  If someone is left on board you can get they'll start paging them, checking their cabin, etc.  Nothing really different here.

3) There are some sales and logistics advantages to this - if the market demands multiple legs of this itineraries.  If the demand isn't there it only become more challenging to sell.  In the US the archaic laws we have (Jones Act, Passenger Vessel Services Act, etc) make this type of thing extra difficult, and frankly, the demand isn't there, b/c it's very rare to see a sailing out of the US that visits the US.  The exceptions are FL cruises with calls to San Juan, NYC/NJ sailings that stop in Port Canaveral, CA sailings going to AK (and sometimes stopping in OR), and Eastern Seaboard cruises that stop in Bar Harbour and such.

[DaveWithHat]

I had not considered that all passengers would have to exit the ship. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the reply!

[Marc]

For those who may be curious, this practice is called "interporting".

[monorailmedic]

I had not considered that all passengers would have to exit the ship. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the reply!

I'm not sure if that's actually the case (though some lines may do this to simplify things, not sure).  My comparisson to embarkation day is that they'll find you if you are still onboard.  When all the passengers are off, there are still plenty of crew, vendors, contractors, etc on the ship - many of them who may look like passengers.  

 

Another time you see this type of thing is on world cruises.  Look at anything billed as a world cruise and you'll see that you can buy passage on just a world cruise 'segment' or the whole thing.  That means some may be getting on for 110 nights, while others may get on at day one and off at day 15, and other still may get on at day 37 and off at day 59.

[DocLC]

I've also read that when you book continuous cruises, a 14 day cruise versus two that are back to back, you don't need to disembark not go to the muster drill again. However, this is only true if the cruise line offers you the option to buy the two back to back cruises as one 14 day cruise. I know Princess and Holland America combined and markets cruises this way, but I haven't seen it done on Royal yet.

 

Regarding the issue of multiple embarkation ports, you may find cabin availability limited as certain cabins are blocked off for this embarking at one port and other cabins for the other port. Another advantage in Europe is that the cruise line will often allow you to disembark at a port other than embarkation with advanced notice. We're doing this in a couple of months on our British Isles cruise thanks to the help of Michelle at MEI Travel. Our last port is Le Have, France, so we've opted to get off the ship a day early to have time to explore Paris rather than going back to Southampton and making transportation arrangements from there. Apparently, about 200 people do this per sailing. However, you do need to have a contingency plan since ports aren't guaranteed, and this is where travel insurance becomes invaluable.

[WhiteSoxFan]

You may remember the Costa Concordia had similar itineraries. Several passengers boarded in Rome. While a muster drill had been held for those who boarded at the prior embarkation point, no muster drill was held before sailing for those who embarked in Rome.