Mercury Yesterday

[cruisecluestoo]

We went past the Mercury yesterday docked in Balto. It looked so cold and lonely. I am sure those on board will be glad to head south . Still wish I was going.

 

DIANECRUISECLUES.

[reklawr]

We went past the Mercury yesterday docked in Balto. It looked so cold and lonely. I am sure those on board will be glad to head south . Still wish I was going.

 

DIANECRUISECLUES.

 

 

The problem with cruising our of Baltimore during the winter is the COLD weather. The sail down the Chesapeake and down the East coast of the US is too cold for outdoor activities. The first one or two days at the start of a winter cruise and the last day or two are too cold to be enjoyed outdoors.

[c-legs]

......and to continue....

 

And if the lines take their vessels out of Baltimore/NewYork area during the winter, folks will scream they want to cruise from close to home, it's unfair, how come we don't get our cruises in the NorthEast,. etc.etc.etc.etc....

HAL got an earful and a half when they closed the book on their experiment ( with NOORDAM, I beleive) sailing from NewYork.....

==X==. CCL & RCL got mucho kudos when THEY started sailing our of the NorthEast....

Now....well ,, three days are really wasted because it's too cold....

Oh well.... Let's be careful what we wish for....

Cheers

[Katie H]

No such thing as a wasted day on a cruise ship. We got off Mercury yesterday. We enjoyed every minute of our cruise and will be boarding again on Feb. 14. Baltimore was the best port we have ever sailed from. They really have their act together.

[cruiseacecat]

Just please put another Celebrity ship in Baltimore and I promise I will "NEVER EVER" complain about cold sea days. ;):):)

 

Anne

[zebra36]

Not too sure about the wasted days, anyone booking a winter cruise leaving very much north of Miami should expect a few days of indoor activities. If the idea of a perfect cruise is 80+ degree weather every day then certainly leaving from Baltimore, New York or Cape Liberty from Nov- Mar. is not the ticket.

[BonnieVA]

Just please put another Celebrity ship in Baltimore and I promise I will "NEVER EVER" complain about cold sea days. ;):):)

 

Anne

 

I'm with you ... PLEASE give us another X ship soon. And I don't mean Bayonne ... BALTIMORE or NORFOLK.

 

Not too sure about the wasted days, anyone booking a winter cruise leaving very much north of Miami should expect a few days of indoor activities. If the idea of a perfect cruise is 80+ degree weather every day then certainly leaving from Baltimore, New York or Cape Liberty from Nov- Mar. is not the ticket.

 

I have NO complaints either. No wasted days since I have no expectations of outdoor time. I just enjoy the relaxation, pampering & excitement of hitting the Caribbean.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

I don't claim to know much about the cruising business so I'm sure they have reasons for pulling out of Baltimore. I heard it was due to Baltimore's inability to handle big ships, to which I thought...why not bring Century?

 

But until I hear what the reason is...I don't get it. Right now I can only picture a corporate meeting:

 

"Let's see....the Baltimore-DC market always has stronger job numbers than the whole country. Uncle Sam is hiring more and more people, paying them well and giving fat benefits. Real Estate prices have dumped most places, but DC is forecasted to recover slightly sooner. It's not a one-industry town, ie manufacturing and tourism. It's a mixture of government nuttiness creating jobs, and well diversified in tech, legal, health care, etc etc etc........Well Sam, we can't be in THAT market. It's too easy to find people with discretionary income there. Let's go somewhere else"

 

(Yes, I'm pouting...and quite enjoying it)

[mmp13]

We actually enjoy the few cold days on cruises out of the northeast. Most of the cruises are longer so you still get your week in the carribean but you get to enjoy the ship so much more on the way back and forth. Those few cold days are really a great time to detox from all the day to day stress . There is always plenty to do . Great time to reconnect with your spouse. No day to day interuptions.

[jgnova]

I don't claim to know much about the cruising business so I'm sure they have reasons for pulling out of Baltimore. I heard it was due to Baltimore's inability to handle big ships, to which I thought...why not bring Century?)

 

Century is the only remaining =X= that will fit under the Key Bridge. They originally had it scheduled for Baltimore next season and then moved it to the South Pacific. At the CC Connections party on our New Year's cruise I griped about this to one of the officers. He said he was at a senior staff meeting in Miami a few weeks earlier and that people from Baltimore Ports were in meetings with Celebrity folk that week. So he thinks something might be in the works.

 

But until I hear what the reason is...I don't get it. Right now I can only picture a corporate meeting:

 

"Let's see....the Baltimore-DC market always has stronger job numbers than the whole country. Uncle Sam is hiring more and more people, paying them well and giving fat benefits. Real Estate prices have dumped most places, but DC is forecasted to recover slightly sooner. It's not a one-industry town, ie manufacturing and tourism. It's a mixture of government nuttiness creating jobs, and well diversified in tech, legal, health care, etc etc etc........Well Sam, we can't be in THAT market. It's too easy to find people with discretionary income there. Let's go somewhere else"

 

(Yes, I'm pouting...and quite enjoying it)

 

Our feelings exactly. But how many ads have you seen in the Washington Post for Celebrity sailings from Baltimore? I can't tell you how many people have looked at me with surprise when I've told them we were sailing from Baltimore, "You can cruise from Baltimore?" And very few people who don't cruise regularly even know about Celebrity and/or how it is different from Carnival, etc.

 

j

[TravelerThom]

Century is the only remaining =X= that will fit under the Key Bridge...

What are you basing this on? I have never been able to locate a source for height above waterline for ships. Best I've found is the silhouettes on NauticalCities, and that's just an eyeball guesstimate. On NauticalCities it looks like Mercury tops out at 180 feet above waterline, and M-class ships are also at this height; S-class looks about 182-183 [Century looks somewhat less than 175, but it is not a full sister of Mercury].

 

Do you have a good source that you can share for ship heights above waterline?

 

Thom

[BonnieVA]

At the CC Connections party on our New Year's cruise I griped about this to one of the officers. He said he was at a senior staff meeting in Miami a few weeks earlier and that people from Baltimore Ports were in meetings with Celebrity folk that week. So he thinks something might be in the works.

My heart is pounding now! How I hope & pray!! I was on Merc for a B2B in Oct. On my second cruise I went to the Capt Club party & the sales woman DID say back then that there was a slight possibility there'd be a ship in Baltimore again & that they'd know in April '11.

 

 

 

Our feelings exactly. But how many ads have you seen in the Washington Post for Celebrity sailings from Baltimore?

I was going to repond to Jedi's post saying something about this ... NO advertising. They could advertise down here in Richmond, too, but don't.

 

---

[Ocean Dancer]

we love the 12 day cruises from balt/bayonne, as long as you have a covered heated pool, you get to relax before port days. nothing is wasted, even the 3 days back are wonderful.....i guess a cruise is what you make it.

 

heard rumors of expanding cruise baltimore, we live an hour north, but you know how rumors are.............:confused:

[madelinerose]

I live 20 minutes from the Baltimore terminal and can only hope that Celebrity replaces Mercury very soon. I don't consider cold cruise days as wasted. ;)

[atb]

We love the port of Baltimore - and will be switching to RCL for the near term. No days wasted from us. The only thing we ever complain about is the art auction sucking up the premium indoor space on the last sea day. :mad:

But we can always find something good to get into, regardless of the weather. ;)

[MaryTiller]

We sailed on Mercury out of Baltimore 12-20-10 returning home on 1-3-11. Granted, embarkment was cold but with good logistics we were aboard in no time. It is true that we had some cold weather but to be honest, It was better than we ever anticipated (if you count the unworn winter clothes we brought back with us). Monday night and Tuesday was cold but as we sailed south with every nautical mile, we felt the warmth of the air and watched the channel that posted the air and sea temps climb upwards. We never put our winter coats on after Monday's sailaway until we returned to Baltimore on 1-3-11. By Wednesday morning I had shorts on and my favorite flip flops. The main reason we took this trip was that we left from Baltimore (our home port and no airport nightmares) and we had 14 days to enjoy cruise days and compensate for the few days of winter sailing. I do not think I would EVER take a 7 day winter cruise out of Baltimore for two reasons. The first being that you can only go to the Bahama's and back in 7 days and the cold days outweights the warm days. I will always agree that being on a cruise is always better than being at work!!!! I am counting the days until our next departure out of Baltimore on RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas 6-16-11.

[MaryTiller]

I don't claim to know much about the cruising business so I'm sure they have reasons for pulling out of Baltimore. I heard it was due to Baltimore's inability to handle big ships, to which I thought...why not bring Century?

 

But until I hear what the reason is...I don't get it. Right now I can only picture a corporate meeting:

 

"Let's see....the Baltimore-DC market always has stronger job numbers than the whole country. Uncle Sam is hiring more and more people, paying them well and giving fat benefits. Real Estate prices have dumped most places, but DC is forecasted to recover slightly sooner. It's not a one-industry town, ie manufacturing and tourism. It's a mixture of government nuttiness creating jobs, and well diversified in tech, legal, health care, etc etc etc........Well Sam, we can't be in THAT market. It's too easy to find people with discretionary income there. Let's go somewhere else"

 

(Yes, I'm pouting...and quite enjoying it)

 

The bigger ships can not clear the Key Bridge to get to the cruise terminal.

[MaryTiller]

We love the port of Baltimore - and will be switching to RCL for the near term. No days wasted from us. The only thing we ever complain about is the art auction sucking up the premium indoor space on the last sea day. :mad:

But we can always find something good to get into, regardless of the weather. ;)

 

Lucky Cruisers.. I loved Mercury so much that we wished we could be on her farewel cruise with you. I did notice that we will be cruising together on Enchantment 6-16-11. Hope to see you in Roll Call!! Have a wonderful trip and I know you will enjoy the crew and ship as much as we did over the holidays. Have a wonderful sail.

[2SeaWithMe]

The added benefit of a vacation from a closer "home" port is that you can justify spending more as you normally don't have travel costs, or at a minimum large travel costs.

 

On the flip side you can also justify an impulse purchase because the prices are competitive AND you don't have to than plan airfare on top of the trip.

 

I've left twice out of Miami, and in a couple weeks, will be my third departure from a port within two hours from my home. We're also planning to book on the silhouette from Bayonne.

[Chesterpeake]

On October 30, 2007 Grand Princess made a port call at Baltimore as part of a repositioning cruise.

Even if she docked at the old terminal at Dundalk, she still had to pass under the Key Bridge.

So, I am still confused when people say that the big ships can't navigate beneath that bridge. How did the Grand Princess do it?

PS Still hoping Princess will add my homeport as a port of departure.

[TravelerThom]

Century is the only remaining =X= that will fit under the Key Bridge...

What are you basing this on? I have never been able to locate a source for height above waterline for ships. Best I've found is the silhouettes on NauticalCities, and that's just an eyeball guesstimate. On NauticalCities it looks like Mercury tops out at 180 feet above waterline, and M-class ships are also at this height; S-class looks about 182-183 [Century looks somewhat less than 175, but it is not a full sister of Mercury].

 

Do you have a good source that you can share for ship heights above waterline?

 

Thom

The bigger ships can not clear the Key Bridge to get to the cruise terminal.

On October 30, 2007 Grand Princess made a port call at Baltimore as part of a repositioning cruise.

Even if she docked at the old terminal at Dundalk, she still had to pass under the Key Bridge.

So, I am still confused when people say that the big ships can't navigate beneath that bridge. How did the Grand Princess do it?

I'm almost positive that Carnival Cruise Line used to dock at Sparrows Point before going under Key Bridge. Since Princess is owned by Carnival corporation I'm GUESSING that Princess docked there. BUT I'm still looking for FACTS that show that M-class will not fit under Key Bridge. Can anyone direct me to actual info?

 

Thom

[BonnieVA]

So I guess X's M class is larger than CCL's Pride, which goes under the bridge 2x/week?

[jgnova]

I just searched and can't find any specs. Someone here posted specs a while ago. I also recall that someone posted a comment that the M-class had stopped in Baltimore once, but doing so required taking on more ballast to get under the bridge.

 

j

[dmwnc1959]

I had posted this back in November....

The Francis Scott Key Bridge has a navigational clearance under the main span of 185 feet. The air draft being the distance from the waterline to the highest part of the ship above water. Air Draft comparisons:

 

QE2 171'

Celebrity Mercury - 177'

Voyager of the Seas - 208'

Oasis of the Seas - 236'

Celebrity Solstice - 200'

Grand Princess - 188'

Queen Mary 2 - 203'

The MILLENNIUM-class would be a very tight fit but doable. Remembering that the Francis Scott Key Bridge has a navigational clearance of 185', here are some more air draft comparisons courtesy of some friends in the UK and Norway:

 

Millennium-class 180'

Carnival Dream 203'

Carnival Destiny 195'

Grand/Caribbean Princess-class 188-213'

 

Thread showing that a Grand-Class did visit Baltimore:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=653296

 

Original post of air drafts:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26920987&postcount=58

 

From this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1310016[/color]

[Ocean Dancer]

the serenade did an inagural cruise out of dundalk to san juan in 2003, almost booked it. carnival's legend used dundalk also. what ever happened to the carolina, one of the little queens............we were next to her on the crown dynasty, now the braemer, and she was a spit of a ship. the crown dynasty was only 20,000 tons herself..............and a lovely ship.....

 

we really don't need/want a huge ship out of baltimore, just keep baltimore as an option for us east coasters............:D