Sailings from Baltimore in the Future?

[Cauzneffct]

Has there been any discussion regarding Princess having sailings from Baltimore in the future? I know that Carnival and Royal both have some sailings and wasnt sure if anyone was aware of any murmurs of Princess joining the party.

 

It would be a lot more convenienent for me (which is obviously what Princess is most concerned about:p), but I wonder if it would be worth their while.

[cubfan63]

Unfortunately, Carnival Cruise Line is leaving the "party" in Baltimore at the end of 2014.

 

It was announced in June that that Carnival Pride is being redeployed to Tampa.

[dmwnc1959]

I know that Carnival and Royal both have some sailings and wasnt sure if anyone was aware of any murmurs of Princess joining the party.

 

If I'm not mistaken Carnival Cruise Lines recently announced they were pulling their ship (Carnival Pride) from Baltimore and positioning her in Tampa with no replacement. Something to do with the new Emission Control Area laws that are suppose to go into effect in 2015.

 

I see cubfan63 beat me to it. ;)

 

.

[dmwnc1959]

I think a few things keep cruise lines from permanently using Baltimore. One of them being the very long and relatively slow transit of the Chesapeake Bay from the cruise terminal all the way down until you exit by Cape Henry.

 

Another being the rather limited range of cruise itineraries that they can do from there unless you start looking at cruises of 12 days or longer. Back in 2010 I cruised a 9-night from Baltimore and it stopped at Charleston, SC, Key West, CoCo Cay, and Nassau. I did that cruise mainly for the ship (Celebrity Mercury), otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered. It just takes so long just to get anywhere from there.

 

The last being that the clearance of the Key Bridge seems to be a bit of an issue. Even though there is a single documented case that I've seen of the Grand Princess docking there on a port of call visit I don't think Princess Cruises or other cruise lines want to deal with the tides and other navigational issues that they'd have to deal with.

 

Even when the Celebrity Mercury left there was fleeting hope that they would move Celebrity Millennium over to Baltimore. Even though she can fit under the Key Bridge, according to Celebrity Cruises, they had no further intention of using Baltimore as a home port.

[Potstech]

Also if they wanted to avoid the long Bay run they could use Norfolk, Va which has a fairly new cruise terminal sitting mostly unused. Va port authorities blew it when they tried to charge outrageous fees for its use. That meant all the cruise lines avoided it for the longer cruises. I think Baltimore will become a port of the past except for day visits. Will be limited to either New York or Florida departures in the future. And airline prices will increase to these places to take advantage of the limited ports of departure.

[Pam in CA]

Never say, "Never" but I think the chances of Princess sailing from Baltimore are between zero and zilch. It's all about the money but also the market. Baltimore is within driving distance to NY which has a much larger marketing area to draw passengers from. Probably the same reason why Boston isn't a cruise port for Princess even though with Boston, there are more itinerary options. Cruise lines also sail from major airline destinations. Flying to NY is cheaper and easier from most of the US which is why Norfolk will never be a cruise port either. New York is a major destination city, Baltimore is not.

[mskaufman]

I have sailed from Baltimore three times and it is a great experience. Easy to get to (for me at least) and a nice trip down the bay.

[hubofhockey]

Never say, "Never" but I think the chances of Princess sailing from Baltimore are between zero and zilch. It's all about the money but also the market. Baltimore is within driving distance to NY which has a much larger marketing area to draw passengers from. Probably the same reason why Boston isn't a cruise port for Princess even though with Boston, there are more itinerary options. Cruise lines also sail from major airline destinations. Flying to NY is cheaper and easier from most of the US which is why Norfolk will never be a cruise port either. New York is a major destination city, Baltimore is not.

 

Other cruise lines have no problem starting cruises in Boston and I would diagree that Boston isn't a destination, especially in the summer. Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and NCL all cruise out of Boston. Pre or post cruise in Boston include the Seaport District, a few days at the Cape (Cod), a Sox game, or just enjoying Boston. We live near Boston and I could see myself doing the Boston to Montreal itinerary on HAL or the Royal Caribbean itinerary to Martha's Vineyard (a little too close to home, but nice), Portland, Bar Harbor, Nova Scotia, St John and New Brunswick. The real question is whether Princess believes it can compete with those two cruise lines (NCL goes to Bahamas).

 

As for Baltimore, it's too bad and Baltimore is so close to DC, even though it's very hot and muggy there in the summer.

[sept10dsm]

Baltimore is a great port to sail from We did so on RCCL The port is easy to get to plus easy to sail from. It is fairly new as well. RCCL sails from both NJ (about half hr away for me) and Baltimore (about 2 half hr away) but I would prefer Baltimore any day! Parking less and port much nicer and easier. I wish Princess would said from NY or Baltimore, the east coast has been basically taken off Princess schedule again except for the Canada NE. We did a Eastern Caribbean on Princess from NY but now no more for that. It was nice to be able to cruise from the NE. Vancouver was a big drive so we would like the closer ports to have Princess again!

[Pam in CA]

Other cruise lines have no problem starting cruises in Boston and I would diagree that Boston isn't a destination, especially in the summer. Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and NCL all cruise out of Boston. Pre or post cruise in Boston include the Seaport District, a few days at the Cape (Cod), a Sox game, or just enjoying Boston. We live near Boston and I could see myself doing the Boston to Montreal itinerary on HAL or the Royal Caribbean itinerary to Martha's Vineyard (a little too close to home, but nice), Portland, Bar Harbor, Nova Scotia, St John and New Brunswick. The real question is whether Princess believes it can compete with those two cruise lines (NCL goes to Bahamas).

 

As for Baltimore, it's too bad and Baltimore is so close to DC, even though it's very hot and muggy there in the summer.

I agree completely with you that Boston is a destination! Heck, I lived there for 35 years (Marblehead/Salem) and would sail out of Boston in a heartbeat. Whenever I hear the word "Bruins" on the News, my ears perk up but then I realize they're talking about some CA football team. I went to many games to see Orr, Esposito and the others play. However, it's not as big a destination as New York and the same issue applies to Boston as it does to Tampa and other ports where other lines sail from: the market is saturated and adding another 3,000 berths weekly means having to lower fare pricing. Follow the money.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We took a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Baltimore to Bermuda last summer....it was fantastic and Baltimore is so EASY to use and to drive to.

 

Wish Princess had something...anything...on the mid-Atlantic!!

[Ship's Wake]

Also if they wanted to avoid the long Bay run they could use Norfolk, Va which has a fairly new cruise terminal sitting mostly unused. Va port authorities blew it when they tried to charge outrageous fees for its use. That meant all the cruise lines avoided it for the longer cruises. I think Baltimore will become a port of the past except for day visits. Will be limited to either New York or Florida departures in the future. And airline prices will increase to these places to take advantage of the limited ports of departure.

 

I read in the past that sailings out of Baltimore are more profitable than sailings from Norfolk - they are able to maintain higher pricing plus get a higher onboard spend from Baltimore.

 

Something along the lines that there are more people with a higher disposable income in the drive market around the Baltimore area than in the drive market around the Norfolk area.

[hubofhockey]

I agree completely with you that Boston is a destination! Heck, I lived there for 35 years (Marblehead/Salem) and would sail out of Boston in a heartbeat. Whenever I hear the word "Bruins" on the News, my ears perk up but then I realize they're talking about some CA football team. I went to many games to see Orr, Esposito and the others play. However, it's not as big a destination as New York and the same issue applies to Boston as it does to Tampa and other ports where other lines sail from: the market is saturated and adding another 3,000 berths weekly means having to lower fare pricing. Follow the money.

 

Pam, I agree with you on NY, but I would rather be in Boston in the summer (even if I didn't live in greater Boston ;) - I'm south of the city). I certainly understand that NY is up to three hours closer to the other major cities in the northeast.

 

The growth of cruise terminal has been great for the city. The same is true for the Seaport. I will definitely do the HAL or RCI cruise out of Boston. It's just a question of when and how I feel about the ports, even though RCI (along with Princess) is one of my two cruise lines of choice. We'll see what happens in the business. The cruise lines are pulling back away from Europe in the summer and that will only help out cities like Boston.

[Tapi]

Another being the rather limited range of cruise itineraries that they can do from there.

 

Royal Caribbean has been able to come up with a pretty decent list of itineraries from Baltimore, ranging from 6-12 nights. You can sail to Bermuda, The Caribbean, Canada/New England as well as Bahamas/Florida cruises. Not bad considering that they are offering all these itineraries with only one ship.

 

In my opinion, the new, stricter emissions regulations will be the reason which may keep other cruise lines away. That's what drove Carnival away.

[Loonbeam]

One of the things that works for RCCL but not likely for Princess is they already have an established infrastructure at the port. Any other line coming in would have to set up their own, which is only cost effective for the long haul, not a few trips (as Disney found out in NYC). Since Princess has an existing operation in NYC it makes more sense to port out of there, given you can get from Baltimore to NYC in 3 hours.

 

If it wasn't for the passenger laws, I could see a line offering a 'loop' itinerary with NYC, , Boston, Norfolk and Charleston and maybe Key West all being load/unload ports like they do on some Med Cruises.

[cruis247g]

We live in a DC suburb and have sailed out of Baltimore many times. It is fabulous to be able to leave home and be parked at the port in less than 45 minutes! I love Princess and would be absolutely thrilled if they began to sail from this area. There is a sizable market with DC and Baltimore and good access with BWI, and even Dulles and National for those willing to take a slightly longer shuttle. Is it as big as NY? No, but we're a bit closer to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

 

We have sailed Princess and another line out of NYC. Theoretically, it's a quick drive (a bit over 4 hours) from this area; however, that seldom happens. I do this drive often and just last week it took me 8 hours to get from Manhattan to our home. Would we sail more if Princess was closer? You bet!

 

Maybe someday...:).

[iceleven]

Other cruise lines have no problem starting cruises in Boston and I would diagree that Boston isn't a destination, especially in the summer. Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and NCL all cruise out of Boston. Pre or post cruise in Boston include the Seaport District, a few days at the Cape (Cod), a Sox game, or just enjoying Boston. We live near Boston and I could see myself doing the Boston to Montreal itinerary on HAL or the Royal Caribbean itinerary to Martha's Vineyard (a little too close to home, but nice), Portland, Bar Harbor, Nova Scotia, St John and New Brunswick. The real question is whether Princess believes it can compete with those two cruise lines (NCL goes to Bahamas).

 

As for Baltimore, it's too bad and Baltimore is so close to DC, even though it's very hot and muggy there in the summer.

 

I agree, I love Boston and it makes a great port city. I would think Baltimore would work well with Philadelphia and D.C. being within an hour and hour-1/2 drive to the port. I could see some seasonal Bermuda cruises.

[westerdam_is_the_boss]

I live in Baltimore and know for a fact that either Holland America or Norwegian will most likely come to Baltimore when Carnival pulls the Pride to Tampa. Baltimore isn't expected to compete with the New York market but provides a convenient alternative for those living in the Baltimore/Washington area or those visiting the nation's capital.

[Loonbeam]

Norwegian would surprise me, because of the Breakaway in NYC. I could easily see HAL moving in there tho.

 

Since you are from the area: someone told me there are different rules regarding minors sailing from that port that affects cruise lines? Any idea what that is? (Apparently it was a problem for Disney when they considered going there)

 

I live in Baltimore and know for a fact that either Holland America or Norwegian will most likely come to Baltimore when Carnival pulls the Pride to Tampa. Baltimore isn't expected to compete with the New York market but provides a convenient alternative for those living in the Baltimore/Washington area or those visiting the nation's capital.

[westerdam_is_the_boss]

Norwegian would surprise me, because of the Breakaway in NYC. I could easily see HAL moving in there tho.

 

Since you are from the area: someone told me there are different rules regarding minors sailing from that port that affects cruise lines? Any idea what that is? (Apparently it was a problem for Disney when they considered going there)

 

I don't know anything about that policy. Minors sail from this port all of the time.

Although, I do know about a case of harassment of a minor on a Bahamas cruise sailing from Baltimore in 2010.

I believe Celebrity took that slot that Disney was looking at.

[whiterose]

We live in Northern Virginia and would take more cruises with Princess if they sailed from Baltimore. The cost of air and the aggravation at the airports make us think twice about cruising.

[bmore cruiser]

Carnival has finally reached a tentative deal with federal regulators to reduce air pollution. Now if Baltimore doesn't find a new cruise line to take their place at the beginning of 2015 maybe Carnival will return to Baltimore. :)

 

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-09-05/news/bs-gr-carnival-cruise-pollution-20130905_1_tom-dow-largest-cruise-company-ships

[westerdam_is_the_boss]

It is possible, but pretty unlikely. Carnival has probably signed a deal with the Port of Tampa for at least two years and Baltimore is probably working with HAL already. By the time Carnival wants to return the slot in Baltimore will most likely be taken and the EPA might have more restrictions in place. The Baltimore terminal is capable of handling three or four ships, though, but on different days of course.

[fishin' musician]

DW and I did a RCL cruise out of Baltimore over New Years this past winter. We took Amtrak from the Midwest and back; Cardinal going and Capitol Limited on the return... piece of cake and no airport hassle!