It’s the biggest recent development in cruising. In the spring and summer of 2011, four major cruise lines—Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity and Holland America—won’t be sailing from ports in Florida to and through the Caribbean. All the cruises of those lines that were once operated from Florida to that tropical sea will have been shifted to European waters and other oceans of the world.
That's not quite the way I see it, Arthur. But you are right that the shift AWAY from the Caribbean by these lines is unusual.
But I disagree with your reasoning, there are still plenty of ships going there from Carnival and RCL, and Falmouth hasn't even opened yet.
But I think the reason is the weakness of the American dollar - not that people are "bored with fake ports in the Caribbean."
NCL: Norwegian Sun just repositoned to Port Canaveral for all of 2011 and Norwegian Spirit is sailing out of New Orleans (you are correct that it is not Florida, but...) throughout the summer of 2011.
Celebrity: Constellation, Eclipse, Summit and Century are all doing Caribbean cruises in Spring 2011 although they are leaving for summer.
It’s the biggest recent development in cruising. In the spring and summer of 2011, four major cruise lines—Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity and Holland America—won’t be sailing from ports in Florida to and through the Caribbean. All the cruises of those lines that were once operated from Florida to that tropical sea will have been shifted to European waters and other oceans of the world.
That's not quite the way I see it, Arthur. But you are right that the shift AWAY from the Caribbean by these lines is unusual.
But I disagree with your reasoning, there are still plenty of ships going there from Carnival and RCL, and Falmouth hasn't even opened yet.
But I think the reason is the weakness of the American dollar - not that people are "bored with fake ports in the Caribbean."
NCL: Norwegian Sun just repositoned to Port Canaveral for all of 2011 and Norwegian Spirit is sailing out of New Orleans (you are correct that it is not Florida, but...) throughout the summer of 2011.
Celebrity: Constellation, Eclipse, Summit and Century are all doing Caribbean cruises in Spring 2011 although they are leaving for summer.
Has he "flipped"? You mean because his opinion differs from yours?
I personally pick cruises largely with an eye to ports. I am one of those that are tired of Caribbean ports and therefore choose other destinations. I agree with Frommer that the ports typically visited on a Caribbean cruise are overly generic and commercialized. And I don't like going to a beach crowded with other cruise ship passengers.
So I find that his reasoning is in sync with my cruise choices.
I have never considered the Caribbean one if my favorite places to cruise either - so his "opinion" does not vary from mine at all.
Where I disagree with him is factually. How can people be tired of Falmouth when no cruise ship has even stopped there yet? I disagree the reason has to do with boredom with the Caribbean - Celebrity has dozens of Caribbean cruises scheduled up through April 2011.
The MAIN reason why these cruise lines are going to Europe is the weakness of the US dollar due to the longest U.S. recession on record since the great depression. The exception is the domestic family cruise market which takes precedence in summer and is largely focused on the Caribbean rather than Europe, on family-focused lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean.
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
The first reason he lists is "For one thing, the cruise lines are apparently relying more on Asian and European passengers for their ships (and on a declining percentage of Americans), which means that the Caribbean is less of a natural destination for these new nationalities."
He doesn't say why there are fewer Americans on their ships - for all we know he agrees with your hypothesis. It sounds like you are both more or less in agreement.
As for the Falmouth comment, it seems strange to throw out his entire argument for that one error.
All it takes is one major error like that to make a reader understand what he's is trying to say, at least to me...Just makes you think twice about the article as a whole. I can totally see what Paul is questioning about it.
Actually there is, what I would consider, a rather major reason that Mr. Frommer doesn't mention, and that is Hurricane Season.
Families who want to cruise are sort of forced to cruise in the summer months, but many many experienced cruisers avoid summer in the Caribbean specifically because of Hurricane Season.
Taking Hurricane Season into account, the cruise lines often have to lower the pricing on summer cruises to fill ships. Then there are the costs involved, including dealing with passenger's unhappiness or lack of understanding, of the resulting itinerary changes because of hurricanes and tropical storms.
So, my guess would be the combination of the trembling economy, the hurricane season factor, and the rising interest in cruising in Europe and other locales are of much more significant reasons to not have ships in the Caribbean, than just the US passengers loss of interest in the Caribbean.
When they quit placing ships in the Caribbean in the winter months, then I'd believe that premise.
When Cuba opens up to American cruisers, there will be more demand for Caribbean sailings.
TM
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Summer Caribbean Cruises - Arthur Frommer
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