CARIBBEAN STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS — AND BOOKINGS
Despite the devastation caused to many parts of the Eastern Caribbean, the Caribbean as a whole is still open for business — and Royal Caribbean (cruise. center/royalcaribbean) has ships of all shapes and sizes plying its crystal-clear waters this winter.
Royal Caribbean garnered major points in my book for its recent humanitarian efforts to many of the affected regions of the Caribbean, including the cancellation of an entire sailing aboard Adventure of the Seas so that ship could be redeployed to provide assistance to the citizens of Puerto Rico. With the majority of its fleet cruising the Caribbean this winter, it’s nice to see the company give back to the islands it calls on each season.
Of course, much of the Caribbean depends heavily on tourism for its economic development. As of this writing, only four of Royal Caribbean’s ports of call in the Eastern Caribbean are still closed: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Roseau, Dominica. San Juan is only available as a turnaround port for Adventure of the Seas; ports of call scheduled for San Juan are being replaced for the meantime.
I personally have a great affinity for some of Royal Caribbean’s older ships. Despite having relatively smaller staterooms, these ships are still winners, with lots of open deck space and fewer passengers than the Oasis Class ships. As if to make them more alluring, Royal Caribbean has them on some great shorter cruises that are perfect for a mini-getaway.
Take my old friend Vision of the Seas, for instance. Royal Caribbean has her doing some really cool four-day runs to Cozumel and Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula in January and February out of Galveston.
While it’s a bit of a drive from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Galveston is relatively easy to get to from much of Canada, and there’s a lot to like about these quick four-day runs down to Mexico, which provide just enough time on-board and ashore. Sister-ship Rhapsody of the Seas is doing some great weeklong runs out of Tampa, Fla., this winter. These visit Key West, Fla., before sailing on to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico, with an additional stop in Georgetown, Grand Cayman.
In many cases, you can hop on one of these for about US$100 per person, per day. There’s no denying that Royal Caribbean has some of the largest and most technologically advanced ships afloat.
Things don’t get much larger than the line’s three Oasis-class cruise ships: Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas. They carry more than 6,000 passengers apiece at maximum occupancy and offer up some pretty amazing diversions at sea, like elevated bars, ziplines, and — on Harmony of the Seas — the first true waterpark aboard a Royal Caribbean ship.
Oasis of the Seas departs from Port Canaveral (Orlando), while Allure of the Seas sails out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Both ships operate a mix of weeklong Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, and Royal Caribbean plans to send them back to ports like Philipsburg, St. Maarten, as soon as the island is ready to welcome them.
These Oasis Class ships are really a destination in their own right.
Royal Caribbean is trying hard to attract passengers back to the Caribbean, and is offering some great deals in order to do so.
They’re so enticing that while researching this article, I actually booked space on my very own quick Caribbean cruise getaway with the line.
Happy cruising.