Why do so many cruises go to the same place(s)?

I started thinking about another cruise and after some perusing I came up with the question. Also, why do so many leave from the same place(s)?

Is it because the water must be a certain depth for a cruise ship to dock or certain facilities must be present? Probably.

Is it because the cruise line receives preferential (ie cheap) rates to dock there?

Is it because many, many people want to go to certain places? Seems like everyone that wants to would have cruised to Venice or St. Martin, Santorini, Bermuda or Ketchikan. Maybe not.

I wonder about places like Fort Lauderdale, where it seems that thousands of cruise ships depart. The prices of services that you would need like airport shuttles, overnight hotels, etc. would likely become more expensive as cruisers are 'stuck'. Someone told me it is difficult to get a reasonable hotel in Boston for under $400. Tends to negate the savings on last minute New England cruises.

Many Mediterranean cruises leave from Citavechia (sp?). It looks like a challenge and considerable expense to get there from a flight into Rome.

I thought I would like to see Petra and Acre but the only cruise line that seems to include them in any itineraries is Seabourn.

Hi

Yes, you are right. Cruise ships can only go where there is a port that can accommodate them.

If the cruise lines go somewhere, that is where the people will go. So it might not necessarily be that the ports the ships go to are where everyone wants to go as much as the options are limited. Imagine a train line...everybody goes to the stops on the line.

You mention some ports that only Seabourn goes to. That is because most/all of their ships are smaller and can enter smaller ports. A large part of the appeal for the upscale cruise lines is the fact that they can enter smaller ports that the mainstream cruise lines just can't enter. For the privilege of going to these more exotic destinations you have to pay a premium price.

Boston has a great many hotel rooms but we also have a huge number of colleges and universities, If you wish to book a hotel room during graduation 'season, you should do so long in advance as families of graduates book gtheir rooms for graduation very far in advance. Supply ad n demand, of course, makes them very costly particluraly during graduation months.

Boston is costly city in most respects, Much like NYC.

It’s kind of obvious: for a port of embarkation there needs to be infrastructure- airports and hotels for passengers who don’t live nearby, piers, tugs and fueling facilities and staffing and terminals to process passengers. For ports of call there also must be facilities — and there are very few Caribbean islands which are not such ports.

Civita Vecchia is blatantly obvious - near Rome, with its attractions and facilities.

Boston hotels have always been more expensive than motels in Bridgeport , CT. The few cruises originating there in the short season have minimal impact.

I suppose if enough people expressed interest, a few 5,000 passenger ships might moor off Acre - and ruin it the same way they did Santorini and other small ports.

Well I don't think it takes a marine engineer to figure out that a port that has shallow water and/or limited docking facilities is not going to be high on any cruise line's list of favorite places to stop at or depart from. Most if the mainstream cruise ships are just to big to stop in small ports.

They need safe docking/Anchorage. They need adequate shore facilities for guests boarding and disembarking. They may need fueling abilities. The port has to offer sufficient options for guest activities ashore, and those options have to be able to cater to the influx of people coming ashore. Most mainstream ships are carrying 2-5,000 passengers. Smaller ports may not be capable of handling that many people?

As for embarkation ports, again it's a matter of facilities and capacity to handle the amount of traffic. Ft. Lauderdale, to use your example, has the necessary infrastructure, and is also located in a place that makes Caribbean cruises convenient. As for associated, peripheral service industries like shuttles and hotels- it's capitalism at it's best. Prices rise with demand. More hotels or more shuttle services (more competition) drives prices down. Boston is a poor example, since hotel prices there are more likely to be affected by major social events going on in the city, than by a few cruise ships.

Civitavecchia has been Rome's port for thousands if years -before cruise ships were even a thing. And it's only an hour outside the city. Transfers between the airport and port are neither challenging or expensive. Why would you assume otherwise?.

A port must have the infrastructure to handle thousands of people on a given day. Some places simply don't have the ability to handle a larger ship, let alone 2-3 or more at one time! It could overwhelm them.

I started thinking about another cruise and after some perusing I came up with the question. Also, why do so many leave from the same place(s)?

 

Is it because the water must be a certain depth for a cruise ship to dock or certain facilities must be present? Probably.

 

Yes.

 

Is it because the cruise line receives preferential (ie cheap) rates to dock there?

 

Not usually.

 

Is it because many, many people want to go to certain places? Seems like everyone that wants to would have cruised to Venice or St. Martin, Santorini, Bermuda or Ketchikan. Maybe not.

 

Yes. Some of us like going to these places multiple times.

 

I wonder about places like Fort Lauderdale, where it seems that thousands of cruise ships depart. The prices of services that you would need like airport shuttles, overnight hotels, etc. would likely become more expensive as cruisers are 'stuck'. Someone told me it is difficult to get a reasonable hotel in Boston for under $400. Tends to negate the savings on last minute New England cruises.

 

Or possibly, because there are so many cruise ships, there is also a proliferation of services available leading to competition, choice, and better prices for customers.

Boston's hotel rates have nothing really to do with cruisers. Boston has plenty of tourism without factoring that into the mix. And prices in the NE are higher in general.

Many Mediterranean cruises leave from Citavechia (sp?). It looks like a challenge and considerable expense to get there from a flight into Rome.

 

The idea is that you should fly in a few days ahead of your cruise and spend time in a wonderful city like Rome (or Athens, or Barcelona) before boarding your ship. And unfortunately, Rome isn't located on the sea....

 

I thought I would like to see Petra and Acre but the only cruise line that seems to include them in any itineraries is Seabourn.

 

Not sure where you came up with this idea. I just took a look at cruises in the fall of 2018 (a more common time of year for those ports) and saw several Celebrity cruises on Constellation that visit Aqaba for Petra and/or Haifa for Akko. HAL also calls at Haifa, and Costa, MSC and Princess had calls in Aqaba.

See my comments above.

I know that there are cruises that go to various US cities but they are so expensive .I would like to see the major cruise lines cruise within the continental US.

At embarkation point there must be the infrastructure in place to load about 250 tons of food, water and booze for just one week of cruising on a 3,000 passenger ship. That's approximately 20 semi trailers full. Not every port is capable of handling all of that volume in just 8 hours. Not every port has enough shore workers to do the loading in such a short time.

Simply put, they have to go where they can get serviced quickly and adequately. Cities that have that infrastructure are typically big cities, which typically means higher travel costs. Not the cruise line's fault that they can only dock where a large number of passengers can conveniently embark a ship that has been fully replenished with enough food to feed them.

I know that there are cruises that go to various US cities but they are so expensive .I would like to see the major cruise lines cruise within the continental US.

Due to the Passenger Service Vessels Act (PVSA) unless a ship is US flagged the ship (or an airline or bus or any public transportation) cannot start in one US port and end in another US port unless the vessel stops at a far foreign port (e.g. Aruba). If not US flagged the cruise would need to start and end at the same US port or start in the US and end in Canada but could not do Boston to Miami without a stop in Aruba or Bonaire etc.

I started thinking about another cruise and after some perusing I came up with the question. Also, why do so many leave from the same place(s)?

 

 

 

Is it because the water must be a certain depth for a cruise ship to dock or certain facilities must be present? Probably.

 

 

 

Is it because the cruise line receives preferential (ie cheap) rates to dock there?

 

 

 

Is it because many, many people want to go to certain places? Seems like everyone that wants to would have cruised to Venice or St. Martin, Santorini, Bermuda or Ketchikan. Maybe not.

 

 

 

I wonder about places like Fort Lauderdale, where it seems that thousands of cruise ships depart. The prices of services that you would need like airport shuttles, overnight hotels, etc. would likely become more expensive as cruisers are 'stuck'. Someone told me it is difficult to get a reasonable hotel in Boston for under $400. Tends to negate the savings on last minute New England cruises.

 

 

 

Many Mediterranean cruises leave from Citavechia (sp?). It looks like a challenge and considerable expense to get there from a flight into Rome.

 

 

 

I thought I would like to see Petra and Acre but the only cruise line that seems to include them in any itineraries is Seabourn.

A lot of folks on CC, primarily those who don't travel regularly to cosmopolitan or gateway cities, seem not to understand that what was a norm of $100 for a great hotel 20 years ago is now more like $300 today.

Of course there are occasional surprises last occasional "flash sale," which is why it's important to be vigilant. For example: recently, Hilton Waikoloa Village had a flash sale that got us a $500/night oceanfront room in March for $150. We jumped on that for the one particular week that had United RT fares "dirt cheap."

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I've read that some places, like St. Maarten and Santorini are inundated with cruise ship passengers, the latter to the extent that the mayor was going to cut off/limit the numbers. It seems that 10,000 people arriving daily in the season would affect the ambience of a place.

I know that there are cruises that go to various US cities but they are so expensive .I would like to see the major cruise lines cruise within the continental US.

You might like to "see" such a cruise, but you probably would not like to pay for it - - with all on board receiving US union wages, and the line having to cover other costs arising from being US flagged.

You might like to "see" such a cruise, but you probably would not like to pay for it - - with all on board receiving US union wages, and the line having to cover other costs arising from being US flagged.

FOOTNOTE:

As an example, NCL's US flagged seven day cruises from Hawaii all carry a $200, or more, per diem for insides - while there are dozens of ocean view, and better, accommodations on foreign-flagged (including NCL) ships sailing from US ports with a per diem of less than $100.

The embarkation port has to be able to have the ability and facilities to deal with a large number on ships and places for folks to stay at hotels pre and post cruise.

I've read that some places, like St. Maarten and Santorini are inundated with cruise ship passengers, the latter to the extent that the mayor was going to cut off/limit the numbers. It seems that 10,000 people arriving daily in the season would affect the ambience of a place.

It does.