Great Pricing On April Western Caribbean Cruises Onboard Caribbean Princess

If you’re pretty much anywhere in North America, you wouldn’t know it by looking out your window but spring is coming. It’s just having a hard time poking through the many feet of snow. With spring, the high season of cruising begins to make its way towards the door and the great pricing starts to enter.

Princess Cruises has announced some flash pricing rates and you have some time and flexibility to find your right cruise. Their seven night Western Caribbean cruises out of Houston, Texas, onboard the Caribbean Princess have been reduced to as low as $349 per person for an inside stateroom, based on double occupancy. The great thing is that the rate applies to the April 5, April 12 and April 19 sailings in 2014.

The Cruise

 

Choose your Saturday in April (except the 26^th...) and it’s the same great price to get on the Caribbean Princess. The ship embarks from Houston at 4pm on a Saturday and makes three port calls in the Western Caribbean before returning home to Houston at 7am the following Saturday.

The first stop for Caribbean Princess is on Monday at the tropical island of Cozumel off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The ship is docked here from 8am until 6pm. The following day brings another island, this one belonging to Honduras. On Tuesday, Caribbean Princess docks at Roatan, the island belonging to Honduras. She is in port from 9am until 6pm.

Wednesday brings the only mainland port of call. The ship arrives at Belize City in Belize at 7am and departs at 5pm. The three port days are sandwiched by one full day at sea, crossing the Gulf of Mexico, at the start and two full days on the return trip from Belize.

The Price

An inside stateroom onboard the Caribbean Princess for any of these three sailings can be had for as low as $349 per person, based on double occupancy. Adding in the $75 per person in government fees and taxes, the total for two would be $848.

Other levels of stateroom on the ship are quite reasonable. An outside cabin without a view starts at $379 per person. $499 per person will get you an ocean view while $649 per person gets a balcony included. Even some suites can be had for as low as $849 per person. Of course, these prices are also based on double occupancy and the same $75 per person in taxes applies.

Princess doesn’t offer a military discount for these cruises but they do offer an excellent perk. Current and former members of the Canadian and U.S. armed forces receive an onboard credit of $100 per person, regardless of the level of stateroom.

The Ship 

Caribbean Princess is a Grand Class ship built by Fincantieri on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea in Italy. She made her maiden voyage in April of 2004. This is a large ship with a gross tonnage of 112,894. The Caribbean is 290 metres or 951 feet in length and has 15 decks accessible to passengers. The ship has a capacity of 3,080 guests and typically has around 1,200 crew members onboard.

These three dates are pretty much the last to enjoy this itinerary out of Houston. After April 26, the ship repositions to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. For the rest of 2014, Caribbean Princess will alternate between Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises out of her new home port of Port Everglades.

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.

Take The Carnival Triumph To The World's Longest Pier

This five night itinerary out of Galveston, Texas, embarking on January 27, 2014 may seem routine on the surface but there are definitely some interesting facets of the cruise. First, the journey is onboard the now infamous Carnival Triumph. Second, the first of two ports of call is Progreso, Mexico. Progreso is on port call where the actual pier might be the attraction.

The Cruise

 

Carnival Triumph embarks from Galveston, Texas on this five night Western Caribbean cruise at 4pm on Monday, January 27, 2014. She arrives back at Galveston on Saturday, February 1 at 8:30am. Along the way, Triumph makes two port calls.

On Wednesday, January 29, Triumph docks at Progreso, Mexico from 7:30am until 4pm. Progeso is located on the northwest shore of the Yucatan Peninsula, not far from Merida. Although there is debate, the pier is known as the longest in the world. The ship will dock some 6.5 km out at sea. La Terminal Remota was built in its present form in 1989. However, there is the argument that much of the 6.5 kilometres is a causeway and that the pier is actually much shorter.

On Thursday, January 30, Triumph moves east around the top of the Yucatan to dock at Cozumel. The ship will stay on the Mexican tropical resort island from 9am until 4pm before making her way back across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston.

The Price (U.S. Dollars)

Pricing for this cruise is interesting. Just a week away, the Super Saver and Canadian Resident rates for an inside stateroom start from $309 per person, based on double occupancy. This is higher than a similar length Western Caribbean cruise out of Florida. However, the additional $52.49 per person in government fees and taxes is about half of what you’d pay out of Miami, Tampa or Ft. Lauderdale.

The result is an inside cabin for two starting at $722.98, taxes included. As is often the case with Carnival, Military are treated exceptionally well on this cruise. Present and former members of the U.S. and Canadian armed forces can have the same inside stateroom for as low as $269 per person. As an extra bonus, military receive a $25 onboard credit per stateroom.

Too last minute for you? Don't worry, the following two sailings are just $10 more per person.

The Ship 

Carnival Triumph was built by Fincantieri in Italy and entered service in 1999. She is one of three Destiny/Triumph Class ships in the Carnival fleet. Sunshine is the oldest, entering service as Carnival Destiny in 1996. Carnival Victory is the youngest of the three, entering service in 2000.

Triumph is a fairly large vessel with a gross tonnage of 101,509. She is 272 metres or 893 feet in length and has 13 decks accessible to a capacity of 3,143 passengers. There are typically 1,100 crew members onboard.

Yes, this is the ship that was left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico last February. On February 10, 2013, a fire broke out in Triumph’s engine room, leaving the boat incapacitated. After several days, she was finally pulled to Mobile, Alabama.

Carnival Triumph was out of service from February until June, 2013, undergoing extensive repairs. The process was complicated when due to high winds on April 3rd, she broke free of her moorings in the port of Mobile and collided with a U.S. Army Corps ship, sustaining a 20 foot gash.

However, Triumph is all fixed up and has been running four and five night Western Caribbean cruises out of Galveston since June. That means, she does about six cruises per month. That means, Triumph has run around 36 itineraries since without incident.

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.