Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Anyone else live on the East coast and notice less choices with ships/ports?

mintsugarcube

By mintsugarcube,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

mintsugarcube

mintsugarcube

Posted
Posted

Is Carnival shrinking?

 

We are both Platinum and LOVE Carnival but are discouraged since it looks like

1. Norfolk port is gone (we had a lovely cruise from there)

 

2. Baltimore port looks like it's gone after October (cruised 3 times from there and heard that Carnival wasn't going to be leaving from there anymore due to some new pollution changes that they couldn't/weren't able to abide by.)

 

3. I Love my Canada cruises. For many years not so long ago there were two ships, Victory and Glory, that went continuously to Canada. There were so many sailings, but now with the Splendor, a ship we sail on later this month to the Bahamas, there's only a handful of sailings to Canada.

 

I told my daughter that it may just end up with New York and Florida as the east coast choices, which would break my heart.

 

Anyone know what's going on?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CdrescherRBL152

CdrescherRBL152

Posted
Posted

Balitmore may turn out to be only temp. as the new rules may end up forcing the port to close completely. The new emission rules only apply to ports that ships have to travel 10 or more miles inland to reach. The only port that is effected is Balitmore. And needdless to say not many companies will spend large sums of money to retrofit ships to go to one port.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sharecruises

sharecruises

Posted
Posted (edited)

The pictures of the Pride covered in snow are another good reason to stop Baltimore

 

It is probably a lot of hassle to get those smaller ports for limited sailings too (Norfolk) although I have seen that prices tend to be higher so I guess they have the demand

 

Some ports like Charleston have a big "anti cruise ship" mentality

 

It is no wonder that east coast of Florida has so many ships - face it we have the perfect spot, ships can get to better ports (not just gulf/west like Gulf ports)

 

You can get to southern ports from South Florida, eastern, western....

if (God forbid) storms come they can easily shift from one area to another and still have a nice cruise

 

Our "infastructure" is geared for this too - I think our ports are great.

Miami is really cool - Carnival has kiosks, luggage carosels = very efficient

 

Fort Lauderdale has spent a fortune to improve it's port - and hosts the BIG ones Allure and Oasis

The airport and cruise port in Fort Lauderdale are soooo close and so easy to get to

 

Both cities have specials and deals for cruisers,beautiful beaches and fun stuff and make a great pre/post cruise vacation - check out Everglades too - take an airboat ride

 

I have read about the "clusters" at other lesser used ports - no thanks

When ships don't sail all the time they just don't have the ability to move people in and out on a temp basis IMHO

 

 

Face it - South Florida rules :) 82 degrees and sunny - that is the way to start a cruise - I hope the islands are warmer cause I like it to be in high 80's for swimming (yeah my blood has thinned I am sure haha)

Edited by sharecruises
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
Balitmore may turn out to be only temp. as the new rules may end up forcing the port to close completely. The new emission rules only apply to ports that ships have to travel 10 or more miles inland to reach. The only port that is effected is Balitmore. And needdless to say not many companies will spend large sums of money to retrofit ships to go to one port.

 

And where did this information come from? The US ECA (Emissions Control Area) covers the entire US coastline out to 200 miles (except in some areas like between Florida and the Bahamas, where the territorial waters of another country intrude into the ECA). If your supposition was correct, then New Orleans would be even more affected than Baltimore. Any ship currently sailing from Houston/Galveston or NOLA need to steam on the more expensive low sulfur fuel for 200 miles, and any passage up or down the East Coast is also within the ECA. The ECA applies to EVERY ship, regardless of flag country, owner, or type (cargo, tanker, passenger). There is currently a restriction on the sulfur content of fuel used in this area, since Aug 2012, and in Jan 2015, this becomes more stringent.

 

You are correct, however, that Baltimore may be lost only temporarily. Carnival has committed to installing exhaust scrubbers on some ships, as RCI and NCL already have, and these scrubbers will allow the ships to continue to burn the cheaper high sulfur fuel inside the ECA. The North Sea and Baltic areas have had an ECA for years, and now pretty much all of Europe will be working with similar restrictions on sulfur emissions, so this is not just for one port, but will be the wave of the future for ALL ships.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
iamsteph

iamsteph

Posted
Posted
The pictures of the Pride covered in snow are another good reason to stop Baltimore

 

 

Saying that such a rare occurrence is a good reason to stop sailing out of a port would justify saying that Carnival should stop cruising out of any northern port :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Carnival_Brides

Carnival_Brides

Posted
Posted (edited)
Is Carnival shrinking?

 

We are both Platinum and LOVE Carnival but are discouraged since it looks like

1. Norfolk port is gone (we had a lovely cruise from there)

 

2. Baltimore port looks like it's gone after October.

 

3. I Love my Canada cruises.

 

 

Anyone know what's going on?

 

We have the same problem you do. We only hit Platinum in a very short time span because the Pride was in our backyard and New York/Boston was also a short MegaBus ride away.

 

Our now yearly family tradition is that we head for Canada every year the week that school let's out. We now make it a b2b because we enjoy the trip north so much. They pulled June's Canada sailing because it became the NKOTB charter to Bermuda and they aren't doing anymore 5 days until school is back in session in August. The Canada cruises worked for us because we weren't dealing with personal days (we all work in the public school system) or pulling kids out of school.

 

My wife and I seeing the writing on the wall just gave Charleston a try, but after our 9 hour drive turned into a 13 hour drive (thank you traffic in Baltimore, DC, and Richmond) and the ridiculous port set-up, we'd sooner pay $35 a day to park in NYC then leave from there again. Ship was nice though.

 

We keep hearing rumblings that the Carnival will make a return to Baltimore, but no one knows if it'll be full-time like it is now (we also really love winter cruising) or if it'll be part-time like Norfolk.

Edited by Carnival_Brides
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phlybice

Phlybice

Posted
Posted
Is Carnival shrinking?

 

We are both Platinum and LOVE Carnival but are discouraged since it looks like

1. Norfolk port is gone (we had a lovely cruise from there)

 

2. Baltimore port looks like it's gone after October (cruised 3 times from there and heard that Carnival wasn't going to be leaving from there anymore due to some new pollution changes that they couldn't/weren't able to abide by.)

 

3. I Love my Canada cruises. For many years not so long ago there were two ships, Victory and Glory, that went continuously to Canada. There were so many sailings, but now with the Splendor, a ship we sail on later this month to the Bahamas, there's only a handful of sailings to Canada.

 

I told my daughter that it may just end up with New York and Florida as the east coast choices, which would break my heart.

 

Anyone know what's going on?

 

I don't think they liked having ports that once commanding premium fares shrink to the absurd prices they bottomed out at.

 

Solution? Increase demand by removing ships. Not sure if it will work, with 2 brand new ships sailing out of NY. With all the bells and whistles.

 

Time will tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Carnival_Brides

Carnival_Brides

Posted
Posted
I don't think they liked having ports that once commanding premium fares shrink to the absurd prices they bottomed out at.

 

Solution? Increase demand by removing ships. Not sure if it will work, with 2 brand new ships sailing out of NY. With all the bells and whistles.

 

Time will tell.

 

Actually--there will be three. Princess, Norwegian, and RCI all have their newest ships leaving from the Big Apple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mutumbojimbo

Mutumbojimbo

Posted
Posted

With a second ship moving to Australia, Carnival is losing some capacity out of the US. I'll take everyone's word that there are environmental reasons behind the move out of Baltimore, but the Pride is replacing the Legend in Tampa as a result, that leaves (I think) just the Splendor and Fantasy as non-Florida options on the East Coast. I'm sure it's frustrating but I suppose Carnival thinks it's the best move for the company. There was no shortage of cruisers in Miami last week, that's for sure.

 

Also, there's another thread going on right now about boring itineraries, you have a lot more options starting from Florida, than you do from the East Coast, although it would be nice if Carnival could sort out their Bermuda issue.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arush5268d

arush5268d

Posted
Posted
With a second ship moving to Australia, Carnival is losing some capacity out of the US. I'll take everyone's word that there are environmental reasons behind the move out of Baltimore, but the Pride is replacing the Legend in Tampa as a result, that leaves (I think) just the Splendor and Fantasy as non-Florida options on the East Coast. I'm sure it's frustrating but I suppose Carnival thinks it's the best move for the company. There was no shortage of cruisers in Miami last week, that's for sure.

 

Also, there's another thread going on right now about boring itineraries, you have a lot more options starting from Florida, than you do from the East Coast, although it would be nice if Carnival could sort out their Bermuda issue.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I did not realize Carnival would have two ships down under. I guess they too see the writing on the walls and realize they are losing the market here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

Posted
Posted

Charleston and Jacksonville cannot currently accomodate anything larger than a Fantasy-class ship.

 

The "best" ships? :rolleyes:

 

Some of us don't feel the need to sail on the newest, biggest, mostest bells and whistles ships. Some of us actually LIKE the Fantasy-class ships.

 

Best if 100% subjective. Fantasy is consistently rated in the top 5 in Carnival's fleet. I love the old gal, myself.

 

If Fantasy and Fascination aren't good enough for you, you'll just have to bite the bullet and go to a further port. I'm happy that there are ports within driving distance.

 

When I started cruising in 2001, Carnival didn't have a ship in Baltimore, Charleston or Jacksonville. They added east coast ports in the last decade.

 

I still wish they'd put a ship in Norfolk. And then people would complain about the "boring" itineraries because they would probably just be Bahamas cruises (after all, you can only sail so far and back in 7 days).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arush5268d

arush5268d

Posted
Posted
Charleston and Jacksonville cannot currently accomodate anything larger than a Fantasy-class ship.

 

The "best" ships? :rolleyes:

 

Some of us don't feel the need to sail on the newest, biggest, mostest bells and whistles ships. Some of us actually LIKE the Fantasy-class ships.

 

Best if 100% subjective. Fantasy is consistently rated in the top 5 in Carnival's fleet. I love the old gal, myself.

 

If Fantasy and Fascination aren't good enough for you, you'll just have to bite the bullet and go to a further port. I'm happy that there are ports within driving distance.

 

When I started cruising in 2001, Carnival didn't have a ship in Baltimore, Charleston or Jacksonville. They added east coast ports in the last decade.

 

I still wish they'd put a ship in Norfolk. And then people would complain about the "boring" itineraries because they would probably just be Bahamas cruises (after all, you can only sail so far and back in 7 days).

 

I'll see your Fantasy and raise you an Ecstasy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DEBnGAB

DEBnGAB

Posted
Posted
Guess you're right!

 

West Coast has only two? home-ports to depart from not so? :confused:

 

.

 

Three if they would port in San Francisco...brand new cruise terminal! Really cool seeing Celebrity there during the Americas Cup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...