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Especially in San Juan, if they have a lot of space at the last minute, knowing it will be very costly or nearly impossible for people to fly down from the mainland, they're going to do whatever they can to help sell cabins locally.
Rich
quote:Originally posted by mommoo:We just returned from a southern Caribbean cruise on Adventure of the Seas. The cruise went well, but we were told by other passengers that, since the cruise was not fully booked, Royal Caribbean offered deep discounts to residents of Puerto Rico to fill the ship. This is apparently a common practice for them. I'm just wondering if anyone out there can confirm this. Thanks.
This is true. It's been going on ever since ADVENTURE started sailing out of San Juan. There have been many heated discussions (on other boards) regarding this topic. In a nutshell, mainland cruiser's flying to San Juan were upset not only by the dramatically lower fares offered to locals, but by the behavior of the locals. You will have to do a search to get more specifics as I don't want to get into it. Many people were also surprised to find that 50% or more of their fellow passengers were Spanish speaking. The onboard programming is modified to accommodate the large amount of Spanish speaking passengers.
Ernie
Gordon
I'm not in a big rush to take any more Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan.
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:All cruise lines offer deep discounts if they can't sell their cabins. I think we have a 'cultural' issue here.
Malcolm,The discounts offered to residents of Puerto Rico (on Royal Caribbean) are far different than those offered to say, residents of Florida, Georgia, or other "regional specials". These rates are DEEPLY discounted last minute rates to fill the ship. They are not advertised and seem to be sold only through specific travel agents in Puerto Rico. I'm talking a 7-day cruise for a couple hundred bucks. When rates like that are offered (which they never are in the mainland US), then regardless you are going to get a certain element of people onboard that might not normally take a cruise, or even be able to afford one. Practically anyone with a minimum limit credit card can afford those kind of rates.
As for "cultural differences" .... yes, there is that too!
Ernie - who is flying to San Juan tomorrow.
[ 12-14-2004: Message edited by: eroller ]
quote:Originally posted by eroller:Ernie - who is flying to San Juan tomorrow.
Ah, you have decided that you had best investigate this story first-hand for us!
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:Ah, you have decided that you had best investigate this story first-hand for us!
Unfortunately no cruise involved, just work. At least it will be warm, Atlanta is damn cold right now! It feels like I am Boston or Chicago, not the South!
quote:Originally posted by CGT:I'll be blunt. I would not care to sail on a ship full of Puerto Ricans. Or even half full of them.
CGT, we can always count on you to be blunt!
quote:Originally posted by eroller:Unfortunately no cruise involved, just work. At least it will be warm, Atlanta is damn cold right now! It feels like I am Boston or Chicago, not the South!Ernie
It is too cold here at the moment. Makes me wish that I were back in the Caribbean right now.
quote:I would not care to sail on a ship full of Puerto Ricans. Or even half full of them.
I'd rather sail with a ship of Puerto Rican locals than some snobs. At least they'd not be as boorish.
The resident discounts certainly don't attract any less desireable crowd in Puerto Rico than you'll find anywhere else in the mainland when cabins get dumped. Ever been on one of the first or last cruises of the season out of NYC? 4th quarter cruises out of Miami or Florida?
Personally, I don't care to sail with anyone who is ill-mannered, intolerant or snobbish, no matter where they are from. And perhaps I'm just more accepting of latin culture these days, but I never found any culture clash on any of my cruises from San Juan.
--Tim
quote:Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale: Personally, I don't care to sail with anyone who is ill-mannered, intolerant or snobbish, no matter where they are from. And perhaps I'm just more accepting of latin culture these days, but I never found any culture clash on any of my cruises from San Juan. --Tim
Well there are a lot of "Latin cultures". Puerto Rican is just one of them. Even Latin's have their own "hierarchy" and I figure you probably have learned that by now living in South Florida. I've lived in Miami and also in Los Angeles for 15 years so I know a little about certain Latin cultures (dated my fair share of Latin's as well!).
None the less, what I experienced sailing on INSPIRATION from San Juan was unlike any other cruise I've experienced ... and unfortunately not in a good way. I'm not going to get into specifics, but to say this particular group was extremely obnoxious is an understatement.
As Tim mentioned, these types of passengers can be found on any of the discounted cruises, not just those from Puerto Rico. Unfortunately having read the message boards for years, my experience on INSPIRATION from San Juan was not something unusual. Many have returned from specific cruises on ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS with major problems .... and they all seem to stem from cruises where the "local deals" were offered in excess.
Unlike other regional specials, which any travel agent has access to, those offered in Puerto Rico seem to be kept very quiet except for a few large agencies located in San Juan. Also, just like Tim mentioned it's fairly easy to pinpoint when the deepest discounts are offered on cruises from the mainland US. Skirt season, after the holidays, etc. The specials in Puerto Rico seem much harder to pinpoint. They can be offered on any cruise during any time of the year. I don't think this is a problem until a majority of the ship's capacity is offered under the "regional special". I think that is when the culture clash comes into play. It's seems I've been reading fewer reviews lately with issues concerning ADVENTURE, so maybe RCI is pulling back from these local specials just a bit.
[ 12-15-2004: Message edited by: Jamaica Jeff ]
On the other side of that, I've been on at least 4 cruises (2 RCI, 1 Carnival, 1 NCL) where the majority of the passengers were company employees because the ship wasn't full so they opened it up to employees at a rate of $ 25/day per person... I've been fortunate enough to be a guest of an employee on a couple occassions, therefore I can't find issue with it.
Think about this for a minute, I paid less for a balcony on Connie last week for 7 days than I did for an inside cabin sharing 3 people on the Horizon 7day 10 years ago....the price of cruising has not really increased over the last 10 years...it's basically stayed the same or decreased a tad...cruise lines know that they really make their money with onboard revenue programs, such as shore ex's, casino, drinks, alternate dining, etc...
quote:Originally posted by wile1170:Come on, how can you blame the cruise lines for wanting to fill up the ship?
I don't, but I also think any cruise line should rethink their policies should they discover it degrades the onboard experience to a level beyond reason.
I also have no problem with cruise lines offering rock bottom prices. My problem is with the passengers that these prices sometimes attract. Simple consideration of others and manners is all I ask for. Unfortunately this is not always the case, and instead the mentality can be "I paid my $399 and I'm damn sure gonna get my's money worth". With that comes "damn anyone that steps in my way" and "screw the crew, why should I tip them". As cruising becomes more mainstream, this type of mentality also becomes more common on cruise ships.
Silversea is sounding better and better all the time!
quote:Originally posted by eroller:"I paid my $399 and I'm damn sure gonna get my's money worth". With that comes "damn anyone that steps in my way"
These kind of people are probably not too happy that the likes of me and you are onboard! They probably regards us as spoil-sports or snobs?
quote:Originally posted by eroller:I don't, but I also think any cruise line should rethink their policies should they discover it degrades the onboard experience to a level beyond reason.I also have no problem with cruise lines offering rock bottom prices. My problem is with the passengers that these prices sometimes attract. Simple consideration of others and manners is all I ask for. Unfortunately this is not always the case, and instead the mentality can be "I paid my $399 and I'm damn sure gonna get my's money worth". With that comes "damn anyone that steps in my way" and "screw the crew, why should I tip them". As cruising becomes more mainstream, this type of mentality also becomes more common on cruise ships.Silversea is sounding better and better all the time! Ernie
Well said and very true. At this point I have no desire to cruise out of San Juan. I have read story after story from cruisers who have had less than desirable cruises out of this port due to the cruise lines doing this type of thing. I have nothing against a certain type of culture or race but I will not sit back and let my cruise that I paid much more for be ruined by someone who if they had to pay the same price could not afford to do it and then put forth the manners of something uncivialized. That is how I feel and make no apologies for it.
Given the expense and limited capacity of airlift to San Juan, it seems a shame to have to practically give the product away to the locals, simply to have enough people to fill all those cabins.
Perhaps a Vision-class ship would be better suited for that market.
Ernie the same applies to the major airlines. I am always amazed how the quality and manners of passengers has changed over the last 15-20 years. The bigger discount you give them, the more they expect-and demand! Some people should just stay home and the rest of us would have a much more pleasant trip.
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:These kind of people are probably not too happy that the likes of me and you are onboard! They probably regards us as spoil-sports or snobs?
The lines could always purchase some old tired out-of- work cruise ship and fill it with those people. I remember a free cruise I went on. It was a 3-day Carnival Cruise (my 1st and last) on ms Holiday out of L.A.. A passenger on board said that if that ship sank, the Jerry Springer Show would lose a huge potential supply of on air 'guests'! If you are familiar with that TV show, you will know what I am talking about.
quote:Originally posted by mec1:i must be mistaken - judging by the posts from Atlanta, apparently it was the south that won the Civil War.
Exactly what is that supposed to mean?
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