A big difference between Royal Caribbean and Carnival is how the two leading cruise routes approach short voyages. Both are regularly offered sailing for up to 3 days. On the East Coast, both offer quick trips to the Bahamas.
However, the difference is the boat they use. The Royal Caribbean offers short cruises of some of the latest and largest ships. For example, the Utopia of the Ocean, currently the latest ship in the Royal Caribbean Fleet and a member of the large Oasis-class ships, sailed 3 and 4 nights from Port Canaveral.
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It’s not just a utopia. The marvel of the Royal Caribbean sister ship against Utopia will begin sailing from Miami later this year. Although the brand new Ocean Star will sail for a week in most cases, it begins with two special 4-night voyages starting in August.
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Carnival, on the other hand, does not use the same strategy. Its latest and largest ship is just the Excel class, which includes Carnival, Carnival celebrations and Carnival Jubilee, as well as all three exclusive sailings for longer itineraries. It can even be said about the ships before the Cruise Line.
To name just a few, Carnival uses radiation to conduct short cruises of the West Coast ports, the conquest and glory of Miami and Port Canaveral. Radiance is 25 years old, about half the Excel-class ship, conquered slightly larger and launched in 2002, while Glory was its sister ship, launched a year later.
Image source : Carnival companies and cycles;
Will Carnival start a short voyage on large ships?
To measure cruisers’ interest in shorter voyages, Carnival brand ambassador John Heald conducted an informal poll on his popular Facebook page.
The poll, which received over 64,000 votes at the time of writing, has three options related to sailing on the largest ship:
- I hope the new large boat will make a shorter cruise like some of your competitors. The big ship should conduct a four-day cruise.
- I prefer to have longer cruises on Carnival, Carnival Jubilee and Carnival celebrations, and I don’t think four days are really enough to really enjoy them.
- I didn’t really cruise on the big boat. Excel classes are not suitable for me.
It might surprise you to learn that the overwhelming winner is the second response. In fact, the response that favors longer cruises on large ships exceeds the response that you want to see a shorter cruise 10 to one. Not surprisingly, a large number of respondents showed that they simply did not like cruising on Excel Class boats. Large ships can overwhelm many people.
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Several responses pointed out that shorter cruises tend to have more “party” atmosphere than week-long voyages. “I like big boats, but I don’t like short cruises that are caused by the party crowd,” said Heald follower Terri Buchanan Wood.
Admittedly, I can see both sides. I had four three-night cruises in total on the Royal Caribbean or Celebrity boats, including two Oasis-class ships.
While the argument that three days are not enough to fully experience the boats is valid, the boats are just so huge that in many ways, the whole week is not even enough. However, longer cruises (especially at multiple seas) do provide cruisers with more opportunities to experience more amenities and spend some holidays relaxing instead of trying to see and do as much as possible.
Carnival situations may change
It is worth pointing out that unlike the Royal Caribbeans, which currently have seven giant ships in their fleet, there are only three of the Carnival. However, its fleet is expected to add several more in the coming years.
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Two other Excel-class ships will be delivered in 2027 and 2028. Additionally, Carnival has ordered three new vessels from 2029 to 2033 and will be delivered in new, larger classes. As Carnival adds larger giant ships to its convoy, it can certainly transition one or more of them to a short cruise. After all, the Royal Caribbean did not start regular short cruises on Oasis-class ships until it had more than three giant ships.
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