cruise-y Posted May 7, 2017 Report Share Posted May 7, 2017 Does anyone know how often RC might change itineraries out of the same port? We like to sail out of Galveston only because it is so close and convenient and we don't have to fly. But for several years the only two choices have been Cozumel-Grand Cayman-Jamaica OR Cozumel-Honduras-Maybe Belize. We love all those ports but we're tired of that. Especially Cozumel. If RC would just come up with a new itinerary, I'd be on it in a heart beat. And I don't mean the "private island" thing. I realize they are somewhat limited due to location in the western Caribe, but still....... islandgrandma and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 7, 2017 Report Share Posted May 7, 2017 Ditto for other ports as well. The big ship itins are getting extremely repetitive. MikeK and DocLC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCVoyager Posted May 7, 2017 Report Share Posted May 7, 2017 1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Ditto for other ports as well. The big ship itins are getting extremely repetitive. We would love to do an Oasis Class ship, but as mentioned the itineraries aren't that exciting. Being in the Midwest, we pretty much have to fly to a cruise. If we're going to fly, we might as well head to San Juan. We love Old San Juan and there is more variety of islands in the South. We are looking at the Symphony in Europe next year. DocLC and tkltomp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted May 7, 2017 Report Share Posted May 7, 2017 I feel this a problem wherever you are. We live in New Zealand and all the RC cruises are generally Australia to NZ or up to the South Pacific islands. As the interaries are limited I wish they would change up the ships more often so at least something was different. To be fair they have introduced Ovation OTS last year but they charge a big premium to go on her. I would like to go on Freedom class ship because over the last few years the choice has only been Voyager, Explorer and Radiance. A lot of people do seem to enjoy going on the same ship doing the same thing every year but I think you lose the WOW factor after a while. JLMoran, WAAAYTOOO, whitsmom and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 I think @F1guynz is right. There's only so much RC can realistically do in terms of itinerary variations. tiny260 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 Matt, I agree, I can't even imagine what it's like for cruisers that take 3-4 cruises a year, my work and personal schedule allows 1 cruise a year, I was going to take 2 cruises this year, one was for me, one was with my kids and grand kids, for the kids we were taking the Harmony, more for the boat instead of the itinerary, but we had to cancel, new grand baby on the way and Mom and baby would not be able to travel. The one I picked for me was out of Galveston, mainly because I could drive, knowing that I would be visiting the same ports again. I've been to Cozumel so many times now that I feel like I should buy a house. What I did try and do was go to places (excursions) I have never tried before, different beaches, different side of the island. Roatan should be fun, this will only be my second time visiting. The point being, that I think we need to help ourselves, in 2016 I went to the Mediterranean, 2019 I'm doing the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan, 2020 looking at South Pacific or another Mediterranean cruise. I would love for RCCL to start cruising the Mexican Riviera, I have never cruised in the Pacific, only visited and stayed in Hawaii, that's a thought, maybe cruise Hawaii... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 There is no shame in deciding that you will just stay on the ship in port. Many years ago, when we were newbie cruisers we had some very experienced cruisers warn us that there would come a point when one Caribbean island looked just like any another. That point came much sooner, for us, than I thought it would. We still LOVE cruising in the Caribbean but truly, we, more often than not, just stay on the ship. Particularly somewhere like Cozumel where, like Tiny, I think I should have some type of citizenship rights (LOL). As retirement rushes closer and faster to our door, I am soooo looking forward to trying out South Pacific and Asian itins and of course, Europe and the Middle East. I cannot wait until we can move out to the big, big world and see more of it from our ship's balcony. tiny260, bcarney, F1guynz and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 12 minutes ago, tiny260 said: I would love for RCCL to start cruising the Mexican Riviera, I have never cruised in the Pacific, only visited and stayed in Hawaii, that's a thought, maybe cruise Hawaii... I'd love to do this as well. I keep saying the next time I get sent to Southern California for work, I'll book a 3 day cruise down to Ensenada. I don't necessarily WANT to book a Carnival cruise, but I will if RCCL isn't an option. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: As retirement rushes closer and faster to our door, I am soooo looking forward to trying out South Pacific and Asian itins and of course, Europe and the Middle East. I cannot wait until we can move out to the big, big world and see more of it from our ship's balcony. Well said... When you can live on a cruise ship year round for relatively the same price as a retirement community, why not go for the cruise ship. I agree, with staying on board ship, that is what we are planning on doing at Costa Maya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCVoyager Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 17 minutes ago, tiny260 said: Matt, I agree, I can't even imagine what it's like for cruisers that take 3-4 cruises a year, my work and personal schedule allows 1 cruise a year, I was going to take 2 cruises this year, one was for me, one was with my kids and grand kids, for the kids we were taking the Harmony, more for the boat instead of the itinerary, but we had to cancel, new grand baby on the way and Mom and baby would not be able to travel. The one I picked for me was out of Galveston, mainly because I could drive, knowing that I would be visiting the same ports again. I've been to Cozumel so many times now that I feel like I should buy a house. What I did try and do was go to places (excursions) I have never tried before, different beaches, different side of the island. Roatan should be fun, this will only be my second time visiting. The point being, that I think we need to help ourselves, in 2016 I went to the Mediterranean, 2019 I'm doing the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan, 2020 looking at South Pacific or another Mediterranean cruise. I would love for RCCL to start cruising the Mexican Riviera, I have never cruised in the Pacific, only visited and stayed in Hawaii, that's a thought, maybe cruise Hawaii... Given the current issues with crime and drug lords on the west coast of Mexico, I look for Riviera cruises to be more difficult to come by than they've been in the past. My brother and his wife are on the Carnival Miracle now. The Acapulco stop was cancelled months ago. So they ended up with two days in Cabo. Puerto Villarta is having crime trouble now too. It's probably a matter of time until the issues creep in to the gulf side as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 I knew from following news reports why companies don't want to cruise the Mexican Riviera, I guess what I should have correctly said was that I wish things were different on the Mexican Riviera so that we could cruise there without worrying about the safety of our Families. I don't know about the gulf side, maybe, but I think big brother is watching pretty closely for it to get to far out of hand. I don't want to get in trouble for going off topic, so, yes, hopefully RCCL can add more diversity for cruises leaving from Galveston, they could go to the South Caribbean, it just might need to be a 9 or 10 day cruise to get there and back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 53 minutes ago, tiny260 said: I don't want to get in trouble for going off topic, so, yes, hopefully RCCL can add more diversity for cruises leaving from Galveston, they could go to the South Caribbean, it just might need to be a 9 or 10 day cruise to get there and back. Exactly, I think distance is biggest issue for Galveston. To avoid the ports they currently visit from there would mean 3 sea days in each direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCVoyager Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said: Exactly, I think distance is biggest issue for Galveston. To avoid the ports they currently visit from there would mean 3 sea days in each direction! I've cruised from Galveston twice. It is a decidedly different crowd than Florida, East Coast, or San Juan. It appears to me that many of these passengers are truly getting the best bang for the buck. I'm not saying this with any sort of agenda or overall lifestyle judgement. I'm not sure a 10 day cruise would sell well there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesfaninfl Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 We have the same itinerary problem cruising out of Tampa. Luckily,we can drive to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami in 4+ hours, so we are able to get away from the Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize, etc. rotation, if we want. In fact, we did just that last February and have two more booked in 2018/2019. But as others have already said, there's no requirement to get off the ship just because you're there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 Yea, I was trying to interject a little humor by suggesting the Southern Caribbean, I agree, Galveston attracts a lot of Mid-western states for obvious reasons, it's close, the TA I used when I booked my first Galveston cruise even warned me, "I just want you to know, there will be a lot of Texans on this cruise!", I was like really, hummmm, well I'm from Oklahoma which is right next door to Texas, not a foreign country, LOL. No haters, I love Texas, except once a year, during football season, when OU plays Texas. It's a 10 hour drive from where we live to Galveston, But we are going to make a road trip out of it, first day we are driving to Waco so my wife can go to the Silo's (for those living in a cave this goes with a home improvement show on HGTV.), then we will drive to Houston and then to Galveston. Coming home we will do it all in one stretch. I believe it is a nitch market, just like New Orleans and Tampa that RCCL is trying to fill, if you were to see the states roll call members were from on CC, you would see a lot of mid-western states, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 8, 2017 Report Share Posted May 8, 2017 I guess there is one alternative, the 16 night Galveston to Barcelona on Vision OTS in April of 2018. RestingBird, WAAAYTOOO and DocLC 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigHouseFootball Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 My only complaint when it comes to Oasis Class ships is that they do the same itineraries over and over. And the fact that they don't tender. I'm glad CoCo Cay is getting a dock so maybe they will start stopping there instead of Nassau. I was really looking at a Liberty Cruise that did the Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel route but they replaced Belize City with Costa Maya before we could make it happen. The Cave Tubing in Belize is something I really want to experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 5 hours ago, BigHouseFootball said: The Cave Tubing in Belize is something I really want to experience! It was very cool! We did a combo zip line/cave tubing. I got to shock my children when i tried eating termites on the walk to the caves...best moment of the trip! Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 7 hours ago, mom2mybugs said: It was very cool! We did a combo zip line/cave tubing. I got to shock my children when i tried eating termites on the walk to the caves...best moment of the trip! Jane Did they taste like chicken? WAAAYTOOO and mom2mybugs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted May 25, 2017 Report Share Posted May 25, 2017 On Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 6:12 AM, MikeK said: Did they taste like chicken? They actually tasted like mint. It was so weird! I could only do it because they were so little! Jane RestingBird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Vitale Posted May 25, 2017 Report Share Posted May 25, 2017 While I understand the poster's frustration on repetitive itineraries, here's my view. I only cruise twice a year. So even if I were to stop at the same 3 ports EVERY cruise, that would be a total of 2 days spent in each port per year. I couldn't possibly imagine getting tired of such a pleasant experience after 2 visits each year. RestingBird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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