Why Not Norfolk??

[madelinerose]

No, please. For those of us that love the small ships, we like the bridge. It forces them to bring a small ship. I've tried the Mariner and wanted off at the first stop to fly home. Give me Grandeur and I'll stay on forever. I'm one that's worried that the extra people on Enchantment (becuase of the stretch) might be to many.

 

We don't mind smaller as long as they're updated and well maintained. ;)

[pjlee3333]

Agreed. Maybe we've just been to into our cruise but we've just never had a problem with Grandeur but I know others have. Also, and I know we're the odd ones out, since we don't drink or eat meat, the extra bar or the specialty restraunt on Enchantment (or most of the other ships) don't appeal to us. Because of this, we hate to see the shipleave Baltimore.

[kicker]

No, no, that was not my intent! Sorry! I was just adding to vavasmom's post. ;)

 

We live close to the Baltimore terminal and haven't sailed from here in a few years. I would love to see some newer ships in Baltimore, but the newer, larger ships can't fit under our 2 bridges.

 

This year the Enchantment's rates I find almost obscene for a 13-year old ship. I see you're booked. Perhaps I'll change my mind. The Celebrity board hints at Century replacing Mercury. Who knows? Celebrity would be my choice, but I'll have to wait and see.

 

Perhaps Norfolk & Baltimore could join forces and build a new terminal south of Annapolis? Yeah, right. :rolleyes: ;)

 

 

Madelinerose: if you see this, I'm a joker, and I was kidding - I appreciate your comments. We got what I feel is a great deal on Enchantment (and our feloow cruisers are currently getting deals with recent price drops - we have cruisers getting several hundred dollars in OB credit, so RCCL apparently is overpricing these cruises). We chose this cruise because 1). with 6 of us, adding airfare is probitive - we can drive to Norfolk (still 10 hrs); 2). We have friends in Chesapeake that we'll visit with, and they'll watch our cars (saving us $14 per day fro each vehicle), plus drive us to port. To be honest, when we booked our deal wasn't great (we booked 2 OV cabins), but they had a special sale, book a balcony for the price of OV, and we switched to 2 balcony cabins for what I think is a very good price.

[madelinerose]

Madelinerose: if you see this, I'm a joker, and I was kidding - I appreciate your comments. We got what I feel is a great deal on Enchantment (and our feloow cruisers are currently getting deals with recent price drops - we have cruisers getting several hundred dollars in OB credit, so RCCL apparently is overpricing these cruises). We chose this cruise because 1). with 6 of us, adding airfare is probitive - we can drive to Norfolk (still 10 hrs); 2). We have friends in Chesapeake that we'll visit with, and they'll watch our cars (saving us $14 per day fro each vehicle), plus drive us to port. To be honest, when we booked our deal wasn't great (we booked 2 OV cabins), but they had a special sale, book a balcony for the price of OV, and we switched to 2 balcony cabins for what I think is a very good price.

 

kicker, I know you were kidding. ;)

 

Wow, sounds like your pricing worked out very well and everything else has fallen into place. That's great! Enjoy your cruise. I'll have to check prices again. ;)

[madelinerose]

Agreed. Maybe we've just been to into our cruise but we've just never had a problem with Grandeur but I know others have. Also, and I know we're the odd ones out, since we don't drink or eat meat, the extra bar or the specialty restraunt on Enchantment (or most of the other ships) don't appeal to us. Because of this, we hate to see the shipleave Baltimore.

 

We had Grandeur issues. We also prefer more dining options than just the MDR, cuisine and ship aside. We like to mix it up. If one of the new Celebrity S Class ships came to Baltimore, I'd be in cruise heaven...not holding my breath. ;)

[madelinerose]

I cannot believe that I just got my wish! Well, not from Baltimore, but almost as good. The new Celebrity Silhouette will be sailing from Bayonne!

We can drive or Amtrak it. Got some other good personal news this morning also. Must be my lucky day! ;)

[pjlee3333]

We had Grandeur issues. We also prefer more dining options than just the MDR, cuisine and ship aside. We like to mix it up. If one of the new Celebrity S Class ships came to Baltimore, I'd be in cruise heaven...not holding my breath. ;)

 

I'm sorry about the problems you had. Fortunately for us we never had the issues you did on the ship. Also, fortunately theres different strokes for different folks. We never even made it out of the windjammer and into the mdr - and enjoyed it. The quiet atmosphere of the Windjammer in the evening was, for us, much beter than the noise in the mdr and had the advantage of being mtd as well. Since we sat in the same section we ended up with the same people that would have drinks on the table when we sat down etc. just like we would have in the dining room.

 

Please belive me - I'm not trying to make light of your situation. Issues are bad no matter what ship they are on.

 

Glad you got a ship you think you will like from a port you can get to failry easily.

[madelinerose]

I'm sorry about the problems you had. Fortunately for us we never had the issues you did on the ship. Also, fortunately theres different strokes for different folks. We never even made it out of the windjammer and into the mdr - and enjoyed it. The quiet atmosphere of the Windjammer in the evening was, for us, much beter than the noise in the mdr and had the advantage of being mtd as well. Since we sat in the same section we ended up with the same people that would have drinks on the table when we sat down etc. just like we would have in the dining room.

 

Please belive me - I'm not trying to make light of your situation. Issues are bad no matter what ship they are on.

 

Glad you got a ship you think you will like from a port you can get to failry easily.

 

Oh, it's history now. We didn't hate it, just wouldn't do a repeat. It's all good. Happy to hear it was good for you. ;)

[BumperII]

If the Norfolk terminal is as nice as people have described it, and the area itself seems nicer than most immediate port areas (I'm not familiar with all that many, but I know the Norfolk one has restaurants and shops nearby), why don't more cruises originate out of Norfolk?

 

Does it have anything to do with the distance they have to travel to ports? Anything to do with port charges? Or is it just a conspiracy by Floridians & New Yorkers to monopolize cruising? (kidding on the last one)

 

We cruised twice on the Maasdam out of Norfolk and loved both cruises. The only problem for HAL was these cruises covered a lot of distance and they were pressed for time between destinations. Then there was Cape Hatteras where the seas get a little rough on the way home, and a lot of folks spent the last day of the cruise in their cabins. HAL always wants to leave a good last impression. I think that is why they moved the Maasdam to Florida for the fall and holiday cruise season.

m

[Eng23]

No, no, that was not my intent! Sorry! I was just adding to vavasmom's post. ;)

 

We live close to the Baltimore terminal and haven't sailed from here in a few years. I would love to see some newer ships in Baltimore, but the newer, larger ships can't fit under our 2 bridges.

 

This year the Enchantment's rates I find almost obscene for a 13-year old ship. I see you're booked. Perhaps I'll change my mind. The Celebrity board hints at Century replacing Mercury. Who knows? Celebrity would be my choice, but I'll have to wait and see.

 

Perhaps Norfolk & Baltimore could join forces and build a new terminal south of Annapolis? Yeah, right. :rolleyes: ;)

 

Baltimore makes sense for all the reason's stated. Unfortunately you are also correct about larger ships not being able to clear the bridges therefore Baltimore can only handle smaller ships. Norfolk on the other hand has no bridges to go under and would have no problems with the larger classes of ships. So even with the larger population to draw from RCI is only filling their ships with a small portion of said population. RCI could bring in a larger class of ship to Norfolk and leave the small ships to sail from Baltimore so that both cities could have great service to their respective populations.