Best ship out of Baltimore or NY?

[cwnhokie]

I've posted on the Carnival boards and RCCL boards and was referred here for your knowledge. We are traveling with two families plus grandparents with kids ages 6,7,11,13,16,17,20,and 21. We live in Maryland and could easily drive to Baltimore, NY would be a bit further. Would it be better to drive to NY to go on the Explorer (5 nights) or the Splendour (8 nights) or just stick with easy Baltimore and which would be better for our group Pride (7) or Grandeur (7)? My husband and I sailed on the Pride but we didn't have the kids with us and didn't pay attention to what they had for kids to do. Thanks for all your thoughts!

[Underwatr]

Not sure what your timing is, but the Pride will be leaving Baltimore in ~November 2014.

[Mattib]

Just my two cents, have done Explorer, Pride, and Splendor...of the three my choice would be Splendor. A great boat, in very good condition offered something for everyone and a very good value in general. Only thing that for me would be another influence would be the itinerary. And for me I prefer the 8 day Bahamas, or Caribbean vs a Bermuda run.

 

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[cwnhokie]

We are looking for June 2014. How difficult is getting to the port for Splendour? The only negative I've heard for the Splendour is that it's more crowded than the Pride, did you find this to be a problem? Splendour is the cheapest and longest of the ones I've priced. Although I'm sure driving and parking in NY will eat up those savings.

[mjkacmom]

NCL Breakaway! Our favorite so far (and tons to do - my kids range in age from 10 - 17, and they loved it).

[caribsun]

We are looking for June 2014. How difficult is getting to the port for Splendour? The only negative I've heard for the Splendour is that it's more crowded than the Pride, did you find this to be a problem? Splendour is the cheapest and longest of the ones I've priced. Although I'm sure driving and parking in NY will eat up those savings.

 

I would choose the Splendor. Bolt Bus and others have r/t from MD for around 50.00 or less.

Edited December 12, 2013 by caribsun

[cwnhokie]

NCL Breakaway! Our favorite so far (and tons to do - my kids range in age from 10 - 17, and they loved it).

 

 

I didn't realize the Breakaway went out of NY, now another to consider...:confused:

[cwnhokie]

Breakaway looks amazing but it a little over the price range I'm trying to stay in.

[deacent1]

My husband and I just got back from the Splendor last week out of NY to the Bahamas. We took the bus from Hartford (about an hour shorter than Baltimore). If you take a bus, it's a short cab ride to/from the bus terminal. Carnival's terminals are around 12th Ave & 48th St. The cabs aren't allowed into the cruise terminal area but they'll drop you across the street. There's a taxi stand across 12th Ave when you debark. Embarkation/debarkation was efficient and convenient.

 

I didn't think the Splendor was overly crowded. Obviously the promanade on the two formal nights was pretty packed with a lot of photo areas set up along the way. Most of the time Carnival ran a lot of different activities in various parts of the ship so passengers weren't congregated in one place most of the time. The Serenity deck was practically deserted much of the time. Sadly the Splendor's Serentity deck only has chairs and loungers. No hammocks, hot tubs, or those giant layout areas like the Glory has on the Serenity deck. Still, it was nice. And there are a couple of extra indoor hot tub on the second floor of the Lido deck. The mini golf had a lot less wind than some of the other ships we've been on.

 

Our daughter is a very independent kid and didn't like Camp Carnival. On other Carnival cruises, we also had issues with Camp Carnival not being open as much as they say it would be. It felt like they strongly encouraged parents to not have their kids at Camp Carnival for more than a couple hours at a time. They make you carry around this large, old-looking pager (phone?). But once our daughter was old enough to be in Circle C (12-14), she could sign herself in and out. We all like Circle C a lot more.

 

I see that there are interior obstructed view rooms on decks 6 and 7 still available for the Splendor's 6/17 sailing if that date works. 6/25 doesn't get the Holiday Sale rate so that might end up working to be a lot higher price. The cruise desk rep on the Splendor said that Carnival can get you a group rate if you need 8 cabins or more. Don't know if that would apply to you.

 

We have our eye on the Breakaway for March 2015 when our daughter has her spring break. That's supposed to be a fantastic ship.

[Carnival_Brides]

Although I'm sure driving and parking in NY will eat up those savings.

 

I posted on your thread on the Carnival boards and mentioned the parking situation. It is $280 for 8 days in New York ($35 a day) and $105 for 7 days at Baltimore ($15). When we were planning our wedding Baltimore won over NYC purely because of the cost of parking (we had three cars full of guests and luggage).

 

We did the Pride and thought it was great. We had a group of 15 ages 4-73. Our niece liked the waterslide and Camp Carnival and Grams liked that the ship was easy to get around-- especially since the dining room and theater were on opposite sides of the ship. I'm not sure Grams would have been comfortable on a larger ship with her mobility issues.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Carnival_Brides

[cwnhokie]

Thanks, we have a granny with mobility issues too. Something to consider. We took her on the Liberty of the Seas and I promised her she wouldn't have to walk much and could sit in her lounge chair the whole cruise. That turned out to be lie. We had quite a walk from the elevator to our cabins, but live and learn, right?

[RSLeesburg]

We have been on Grandeur. She is a great ship, but does not have a lot of the bells and whistles that the newer and bigger ships have. Our 4 y/o loved her, but I fear that as he ages we may need to move to a bigger ship.

 

I have heard great things about Pride from some fellow travelers on Grandeur, and was looking at booking her next year, but she is leaving sooner (Oct 2014), and we wanted a Thanksgiving cruise.

 

In terms of Explorer vs Splendor vs Breakaway, if price is equal I would go with longer cruise or better itinerary :D.