Itineraries

[GrubbyGrubbles]

Hey everyone

Do you have a favourite itinerary or wish RCI would introduce a particular itinerary?

Part of the reason I like a cruise holiday is because it eliminates the need to fly but unfortunately I find the itineraries sailing from the UK quite limited if you only want to sail for around a week (My husband and I can't really do longer due to work obligations).  The itineraies usually only offer France and Spain (the same stops each time) or the Norweigian Fjords.  I'm going on my second cruise in August which I'm madly excited about but all but one of the stops are the cruise I did last year.  I don't mind that this time around but unless I do a fly-cruise next time then this will be the itinerary I always do when leaving from Southampton.

I'd love a week long cruise that starts from the UK but takes in some of the other mediterranian countries - even if it meant an extra sea day to compensate for the distance.

Out of interest, has anyone ever done a British Isles cruise?  Did you fly in to the UK to do it or did you sail here from elsewhere?  What did you think of it?  I always love hearing about what people think of the the other places the UK has to offer other than London.

[BrianAlt]

We're in the US, so we mostly do Caribbean cruises.  I don't generally cruise for the itineraries, but I will pass on a cruise because of itinerary.  Like I really don't enjoy the Port Canaveral/Nassau/Coco Cay itinerary.  Also, I prefer Western Caribbean to Eastern Caribbean, so I may choose one over the other.  But I wouldn't pass on an Eastern if it fit my timeframe and wanted to experience the ship.

As for European cruises, I've done one Med cruise (FANTASTIC!) and I'm embarking on an 8-night Northern European Cities cruise in 5 days.  I don't get a chance to do such cruises, so they are much more exotic to me.  

I don't think there are cruises of only one week from UK to the Med as it generally takes much longer than that to get there.  Especially assuming 3 ports along the way.  One thought for you, how about a cruise that originates in Southampton and ends in Barcelona with a back-to-back of Barcelona round trip in the Med.  Then fly home from Barcelona, at least you only have to fly one way.  It would be much longer, two weeks plus, but if you could swing that it would be a fantastic trip!

 

[Michael Vitale]

As I've said over & over, I wish they'd do 7 nights to Bermuda ONLY. I love Bermuda and could easily envision 3-4 overnights. I'm sure there's a time limit for each ship in port so I know it will never happen. 

[BrianAlt]

6 minutes ago, Michael Vitale said:

As I've said over & over, I wish they'd do 7 nights to Bermuda ONLY. I love Bermuda and could easily envision 3-4 overnights. I'm sure there's a time limit for each ship in port so I know it will never happen. 

Celebrity does 7-night Bermuda out of Bayonne.  It spends 2.5 days there.

[rjac]

1 hour ago, Michael Vitale said:

As I've said over & over, I wish they'd do 7 nights to Bermuda ONLY. I love Bermuda and could easily envision 3-4 overnights. I'm sure there's a time limit for each ship in port so I know it will never happen. 

Check out the 2019 Bermuda  schedule. They have the Anthem doing a 7 day cruise with 3 days in Bermuda. We're planning to do this one in May 2019 when it opens up. Right now, April is open.

[islandgrandma]

We did a British Isles cruise years and years ago on Princess.  Flew from the States to Heathrow and spent a few days in London then traveled to Southampton to get on the ship.  We enjoyed all the ports we stopped at, especially getting to go to Normandy from the port of Le Harv (sp?).  That was the only cruise we took that was not on Royal Caribbean.  We have sailed 6 times on Royal Caribbean, once on Princess and have 3 more Royal Caribbean cruises booked - so far.  

[BrianAlt]

My itinerary for Friday.

[Danielmills13]

5 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

We're in the US, so we mostly do Caribbean cruises.  I don't generally cruise for the itineraries, but I will pass on a cruise because of itinerary.  Like I really don't enjoy the Port Canaveral/Nassau/Coco Cay itinerary.  Also, I prefer Western Caribbean to Eastern Caribbean, so I may choose one over the other.  But I wouldn't pass on an Eastern if it fit my timeframe and wanted to experience the ship.

As for European cruises, I've done one Med cruise (FANTASTIC!) and I'm embarking on an 8-night Northern European Cities cruise in 5 days.  I don't get a chance to do such cruises, so they are much more exotic to me.  

I don't think there are cruises of only one week from UK to the Med as it generally takes much longer than that to get there.  Especially assuming 3 ports along the way.  One thought for you, how about a cruise that originates in Southampton and ends in Barcelona with a back-to-back of Barcelona round trip in the Med.  Then fly home from Barcelona, at least you only have to fly one way.  It would be much longer, two weeks plus, but if you could swing that it would be a fantastic trip!

 

Hi, any reason you prefer western to easten? We're looking at our first cruise in November to eastern so very curious from an experienced cruiser as yourself why you prefer. Many thanks 

[tiny260]

I'm not Brian, but for me it has to do with personal preference, I love the Southern Caribbean, mainly because my wife and I love Aruba and Curacao.

Here recently I've been on the western so many time, I really don't care to go back, so I'm sticking with Eastern and Southern for awhile. One cruise I have booked I don't even know what the Itinerary is, I booked it because of the ship and the suite I was able to get, date didn't even matter.

[RestingBird]

1 hour ago, tiny260 said:

One cruise I have booked I don't even know what the Itinerary is, I booked it because of the ship and the suite I was able to get, date didn't even matter.

After reading similar statements on here I'm starting to broaden my cruise searches based on the ship, or a certain cabin.  My wife isn't as open yet, but she's slowly getting there.

[tiny260]

Mine was based off the comments of people getting these ridiculous cheap cruise pricing, I kept thinking to myself, your a smart person, you can figure this out, and then I read a post from DocLc, "Pick the itinerary, then pick the ship", so I took this a step further and just started shopping price, it worked out that I got a cheap price, the suite I wanted and a great ship, so I really didn't care what the itinerary was. The cruise is in January of 2019, so I do have to wait a while, but I have 3 other cruises between then and now, so I will probably make it...

[cruise-y]

9 hours ago, Danielmills13 said:

Hi, any reason you prefer western to easten? We're looking at our first cruise in November to eastern so very curious from an experienced cruiser as yourself why you prefer. Many thanks 

Everyone has different preferences.  Brian probably likes the Western Caribe for great reasons, but personally that is my least favorite.  The cruises always go to Cozumel, so it gets repetitive, and it's really commercialized and geared for partying.   I agree with Tiny that the Southern is the most interesting, with out-of-the-way stops and unusual venues.  The water and beaches are gorgeous. But again, it's all in what you want and everyone likes different things.  The good thing about the Western is that you can leave from ports that are an easy drive from many states.  No need for a flight.  Flying nowadays is stressful, delayed, cramped and you risk losing your luggage.  So we usually end up in the Western just to make it easier.  We can leave the house at a more leisurely pace, take our time driving down and so on.  And, there are great Mayan ruins in parts of the Western.   Grubby, I'd give my right arm to be so close to so many different European stops.  I guess the grass is always greener....

[BrianAlt]

11 hours ago, Danielmills13 said:

Hi, any reason you prefer western to easten? We're looking at our first cruise in November to eastern so very curious from an experienced cruiser as yourself why you prefer. Many thanks 

I don't like St. Thomas very much.  My wife always just wants to shop there.  :)

Don't like Nassau.

I prefer Cozumel where we can have a nice beach day. 

I prefer Labadee to Coco Cay. Although many Eastern and Western do Labadee.

Grand Cayman is beautiful.

I like San Juan, but it tends to be a short stay.

St. Kitts isn't the most beautiful island.

I do like St. Maarten, which will often be part of a Western itinerary.

So it's all about the ports.  I just tend to prefer the ports that are part of the Western itineraries over the Eastern.

Southern is nice too.   I've only done that a couple of times.  But most of those cruises go out of San Juan and flights tend to be much higher.  There are some longer cruises that go out of Florida to southern itineraries.

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I'm with you, Brian.  I prefer Western to Eastern unless I'm in the market for jewelry.  In that case, there is no better port than St. Thomas.  Otherwise, the Eastern Caribbean isn't of much interest to me.

[Sweety]

While I was on the Enchantment this past week, I went to the Next Cruise office. I booked a cruise on the Empress July 18, 2018 that is not on their website. Called IT and they are working on the problem. Just wondering on how many great iternary I have missed. 

[Drewmommy]

On 7/2/2017 at 5:25 AM, Michael Vitale said:

As I've said over & over, I wish they'd do 7 nights to Bermuda ONLY. I love Bermuda and could easily envision 3-4 overnights. I'm sure there's a time limit for each ship in port so I know it will never happen. 

May I ask what there is to do in Bermuda for 3 nights? I was on the Allure this past week and put a deposit for this 4/13/19 Anthem itinerary only because I wanted to sail on that ship and the dates coincides with Spring Break.  I figured for only a $50 deposit, why not?  

[craig403]

We have been to Bermuda only 1 time and found it really enjoyable and easy to get around.  We took the city bus and used it as a hop on/hop off bus.  Plus we found the people friendly and as a plus, they speak English.  :-)  I don't remember anything specific but you always have beach, snorkeling, fishing, shopping, and so on.  We are looking to book Bermuda again soon also.  

 

The itinerary question is interesting.  We are D+ on Royal and Elite on Celebrity so ship and sometimes even cabin aren't a major concern.  The ship feeds us and gives us a place to sleep.  Example is we just booked a Montreal to Boston on Royal in 2019 because we have never been to Montreal and Quebec.  At this point we are thinking about canceling because airfare is more than we choose to pay.  Also flight scheduling and travel time is horrible.  10 hours travel time with 1 or 2 stops just to get to Canada?!?  We fly only AA for the points.  

  

[WAAAYTOOO]

You are able to see 2019 airline schedules now ?  I can't even see schedules a year away.

[craig403]

17 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You are able to see 2019 airline schedules now ?  I can't even see schedules a year away.

Nope, but I can see schedules and fares up to 11 months from today.  Don't need a crystal ball to know airfares and schedules are only going to get worse.  Most I can live with.  

[Danielmills13]

On 03/07/2017 at 3:41 AM, cruise-y said:

Everyone has different preferences.  Brian probably likes the Western Caribe for great reasons, but personally that is my least favorite.  The cruises always go to Cozumel, so it gets repetitive, and it's really commercialized and geared for partying.   I agree with Tiny that the Southern is the most interesting, with out-of-the-way stops and unusual venues.  The water and beaches are gorgeous. But again, it's all in what you want and everyone likes different things.  The good thing about the Western is that you can leave from ports that are an easy drive from many states.  No need for a flight.  Flying nowadays is stressful, delayed, cramped and you risk losing your luggage.  So we usually end up in the Western just to make it easier.  We can leave the house at a more leisurely pace, take our time driving down and so on.  And, there are great Mayan ruins in parts of the Western.   Grubby, I'd give my right arm to be so close to so many different European stops.  I guess the grass is always greener....

Thank you. I'm fortunate to live in Europe so seen many wonderful places but still not cruises to any.

[Danielmills13]

On 03/07/2017 at 6:18 AM, BrianAlt said:

I don't like St. Thomas very much.  My wife always just wants to shop there.  :)

Don't like Nassau.

I prefer Cozumel where we can have a nice beach day. 

I prefer Labadee to Coco Cay. Although many Eastern and Western do Labadee.

Grand Cayman is beautiful.

I like San Juan, but it tends to be a short stay.

St. Kitts isn't the most beautiful island.

I do like St. Maarten, which will often be part of a Western itinerary.

So it's all about the ports.  I just tend to prefer the ports that are part of the Western itineraries over the Eastern.

Southern is nice too.   I've only done that a couple of times.  But most of those cruises go out of San Juan and flights tend to be much higher.  There are some longer cruises that go out of Florida to southern itineraries.

 

Thank you for your advice

[Farminger]

With cruising being a decidedly more affordable option for many over flying when it comes to travel outside their country of origin, I would love to see RCI (or anyone, for that matter) offer a few 4 or 5 nights going to Grand Cayman or Puerto Rico from either Tampa, Port Canaveral, or South Florida that has an overnight in the port of call. I understand there may be some restrictions on the amount of time ships are allowed to stay in port or at station keeping. However, if they are going to do overnights in Cuba, why not other locales?