Favourite Departure Port - and Why ?

[Clio1610]

So far I have only departed from Miami, Port Everglades & Malaga and by far the Most Exciting was Port Everglades !!!

 

The atmosphere as we glided out through the inlet was electric, we were soooooo excited (Ok so we were on Oasis and that helped !)

 

All the waving and jumping up & down to the superb HDTV Port Everglades Webcam guys and all the other people on the rocks and on the beach, made our Sailaway so special... I so enjoy watching the PE webcam Sailaways when ever I can - its almost like being there with the stereo sound too.....

 

Miami was a very quiet sailaway and Malaga, well there wasn't a soul about to wave too...

 

Quite looking forward to our first Sailaway from Southampton this summer on IOS, hope there will be lots of waving, jumping up and down and hollering going on from the people in Mayflower Park - there certainly will be from me anyway......lol.....

[The Grumpus]

Baltimore - because the Terminal is 25-minutes from my house.:D

 

If I'm going to fly though, then I like Port Everglades too. The flights from BWI & FLL are cheap; the airport & hotels are close by and the weather is normally nice in the dead of winter.

[Icruzthere4Iam]

I love Port Canaveral. Very easy to drive into and out of. Very easy luggage retrieval. Seeing the ships for the first time as you come over the bridge, ahhhhh. For sailaway there are a couple of restaurants that have outdoor patios on one side of the inlet. Always people out there. Always people lining the jetties. The space center in the distance. Just a really nice port I think.

[lovemylab]

I like San Juan. The view of the old city and forts during sailaway is gorgeous, and the Southern Caribbean ports are (IMO) the best in the Caribbean.

[ValerieJo]

My favorite cruise port is which ever one is next! :D

[bigeagle12]

I like San Juan. The view of the old city and forts during sailaway is gorgeous, and the Southern Caribbean ports are (IMO) the best in the Caribbean.

 

I agree. Plus we like to cruise in the winter and it is so nice sailing from a warm Caribbean port.

[Mines]

This post brings back such fond memories. It is a difficult choice but I would say:

 

1. New York City - so easy and in the middle of Manhatten;

2. Miami - fantastic sail away experience

3. Santos, Brazil - so many people waiving goodbye

4. Port Everglades

5. Barcelona

6. Dover, England

7. Civitavecchia, Italy

8. Harwich, England

9. San Juan

10. Oslo, Norway

11. Lisbon, Portugal

 

They have all been fantastic departure ports and we look forward to seeing Southampton (twice) this Spring.

[Chelley00]

New York. Sailing past the Statue of Liberty and then under the bridge is so fun.

 

We've only ported in San Juan, but we left at dark and sailing past the forts at night was beautiful.

[heathermk57]

My favourite has to be Venice. Going down the Grand Canal on a cruise ship is just a wonderful experience with the whole city set out below and around you.:) Best enjoyed from an aft balcony with a glass of something cold, sparkly and preferably alcoholic! ;)

[awboater]

Port Everglades is nice because they are really efficient in getting crowds on and off the ships.

 

But my favorite is Port Canaveral due to the many hotels that offer park-n-cruise packages.

 

We usually stay at a hotel in Cocoa Beach were we can enjoy the beach and ocean the day prior.

 

Besides, Port Canaveral is about 2 hours closer to home than Port Everglades.

 

Tampa is not too bad, but the ship size there is limited due to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (which is a blast to go under). Don't expect to see anything larger than a Radiance class ship in Tampa.

 

Tampa doesn't really have a very good park-n-cruise hotel offering.

 

We have not been to Miami recently, and it seems the cruise lines are reducing their presence in Miami these days.

[Guest maddycat]

Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, NJ. It's only a 40 minute drive from my home. In the distance you can see the Statue of Liberty off the left side of the ship and the 9/11 Memorial is on the right (a gift from Russia). There are also great views of lower Manhattan.

[paul929207]

Venice

[operafan]

Venice. Absolutely gorgeous.

[jocap]

Barcelona; Pireaus- easy peasy...Sharm el Sheikh, no probs, if you ignore the scrummage at the airport....Fort Lauderdale was horrendous, because of the immigration, but not nearly as bad as at the disembarkation...luckily the ship we use now just sails fromthe Caribbean, so we'll not face that again.

We've mainly sailed from Southampton, where it's fairly straight forward, unflappable, but usually dull and grey.....:cool:

Jo.

[johneeo]

Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, NJ. It's only a 40 minute drive from my home. In the distance you can see the Statue of Liberty off the left side of the ship and the 9/11 Memorial is on the right (a gift from Russia). There are also great views of lower Manhattan.

 

Ditto.

 

No flying, NYPD helicopter fly by, Veranzanno Narrows bridge, Statue of Liberty, Tear Drop memorial, etc.

[sail7seas]

Port Everglades because HAL (our cruise line of choice) Shore Operations team is so efficient and does a great job. IMO

 

Boston because we live near Black Falcon Cruise Terminal so no flying and fast home at the end of our cruise. It's actually a beautiful sailaway and planes going into and out of Logan Airport fly overhead. Very fun.

 

Tampa and that surprised me. We liked sailing from there a few times and enjoyed pre and post cruise stays. Nice hotels and restaurants, good weather, small easy port to arrive and depart from as a passenger. The down side is the fog that sometimes delays ships arriving and departing.

 

[DonnaK]

NYC (preferrably Red Hook, Brooklyn) and Port Canaveral.

[Hlitner]

New York at the Hudson River Terminal (around 50th and 12th AVe). It is about a 3 hour drive from our home and we will usually rent one-way cars from Hertz. We can drop our luggage at the port, drive about 3 blocks to Hertz, and then stroll back to the port (the walk along the river side of 12th is nice). Its perfect for long cruises since we have no parking, no worries about our car, no transfers, etc. Ft Lauderdale is also pretty good since its very close to the airport. In Europe, Barcelona is probably the most convenient major port.

 

Hank

[happy trailer]

Haifa or Ashdod. They're the only ports I can can drive to easily! :)

 

But, sailing out of Port Everglades was fun- the horns going off along the canal, and watching several other ships following us, and then turning toward other directions added to the excitement of our ship's sailaway.

[Travelcat2]

San Francisco. . . sailing under the Golden Gate bridge. . . or, Sydney, Australia -- one of the most beautiful bays in the world!

[UofMGoBlue]

Sydney! Need I say more....

[cruiselover57]

San Pedro, CA - (or LA) - it's only 10 minutes from my house! :)

[Calgary North]

My vote goes to Vancouver - under the Lion's Gate Bridge, past Stanley Park, and then north to ...

 

It was also a beautiful sunny September day with several hours of sunlight after departure.