Prices for cruises out of Baltimore

[cruiser fanatic]

Is it just me or are the cruises out of Baltimore seem really expensive??

[thomarvin]

I don't think so. I am paying a total of 2260.00 for 3 people in a balcony. Depends on what time of year you go. We are headed out in 60 days :D

[ready2cruzagain]

It is not you OP. I think they are high also. I am thinking that since the Pride just got back...Carnival thinks everyone will book her no matter what the cost.:rolleyes: Ridiculous for the ports it goes to.

Edited March 31, 2015 by ready2cruzagain

[cruiser fanatic]

I don't think so. I am paying a total of 2260.00 for 3 people in a balcony. Depends on what time of year you go. We are headed out in 60 days :D

 

Thanks. I could go in October out of Galveston for $629 per person in a Balcony. Baltimore is $859 per person in the same month, week, and cabin type.

[cruiser fanatic]

It is not you OP. I think they are high also. I am thinking that since the Pride just got back...Carnival thinks everyone will book her no matter what the cost.:rolleyes: Ridiculous for the ports it goes to.

 

Glad I am not the only one who feels this way. The itineraries are just amazing aren't they? :rolleyes:

[thomarvin]

I choose Baltimore because we can drive and save on airfare. Going out of other ports might be cheaper but I would have to pay airfare to get there defeating the point.

[LeisaH3067]

Is it just me or are the cruises out of Baltimore seem really expensive??

 

I have always thought that. Maybe we just look to travel during peak times, but Baltimore is always very expensive when we look. Bummer, it would be a fairly easy drive for us too.

[JMAE]

This thread is funny. When the Pride left Baltimore a lot of folks on this site were say Carnival left Baltimore because the prices were too low and they were not making the desired profit. But with that said we have cruised the Pride three time in the last year. Cat. 8C for the first two time and 8A the last. Our first cruise we paid $450pp, second $550pp and the third $819pp (short notice). My thinking is just returning the Pride to the Baltimore market has caused the higher price, after some time the prices will moderate depending on the time of travel. The prices how look to be similar to the high season.

 

I'm just glad the Pride is back in Baltimore.

[KevInPitt]

I have always thought that. Maybe we just look to travel during peak times, but Baltimore is always very expensive when we look. Bummer, it would be a fairly easy drive for us too.

 

What are the costs of flying to another port the day before versus driving in to a nearby one the day of? To me, this would significantly factor into an overall vacation expenditure.

 

I think the cruiselines know this for the market they can attract and price accordingly. From what I can tell, they have no trouble filling their ships.

Edited March 31, 2015 by KevInPitt

[dorisk3]

Its definitely a case of a captive audience and no real competition.

[jwalk03]

Prices are ALWAYS higher overall in markets with very little (or no) competition. Basic Supply and Demand people. In Florida there are so many options you can't count them all, so prices are lower overall and margins thinner for the company. Ports like Charleston & Baltimore where there is high demand from people who don't want to spend money on airfare, but a low supply of rooms equals much higher prices.

 

Norfolk is another good example of this as well for the limited cruises that are offered from there. The prices are always higher than what a cruise from a Florida port to the same places would be becuase there is such a low supply and a pent up demand.

[BigRed93]

I am actually paying less this May than I did last May for the same type cabin and same itinerary.

But it is usually cheaper to fly to Florida and get a cruise out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale even adding airfare. And mostly better ports. And you don't have to be cold for a day if you go in the winter. :)

Baltimore has no competition except for one RCI ship. Florida has many ships all in port the same day.

 

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

We've noticed that too AND we can drive to Baltimore. Haven't sailed on her yet mainly because of the prices. When we went on Glory (out of Miami) in 2010, we were also looking at Pride out of Baltimore because we could drive, but it ended up being less expensive to cruise on Glory out of Miami and fly down.

[BattyL]

I booked our 4-26 cruise June 2014. It was $729.00 PP. Had 1 price drop on 8/25, bringing it to $689. PP. This is for balcony category 8E. I was really expecting a few more price drops but there aren't any 8 a,b c d or e showing on Fare viewer. I am happy with what I paid though. Just counting the days now...:p

[mitsugirly]

I'm paying an outrageous amount for our Pride cruise...next week...during Spring Break AND Easter. :eek: :rolleyes: We paid $3600 for a balcony for this cruise and then later on my daughter booked the very last OV room on the ship a few weeks ago and had to pay $2900 for it. :eek: This is seriously the highest I have EVER paid for a cruise. We normally cruise paying around the 1100-1300 mark.

 

Of course we decided we would go ahead and book then since it was only 6 1/2 hours away from home and saving the flight $$ by driving, it would equal to be about the same price...THEN the hubby decided there was no way he wanted to spend that much time in the car versus 1 hour flight and had me book the plane tickets. LOL Spoiled little brat he is! :p

[djhsolara]

We've always noticed the Baltimore cruises are more expensive than the Florida cruises.

 

My opinion...1) higher port taxes in Baltimore and 2) more time and fuel spent to get to the destinations.

 

It still ends up costing less for us because we drive rather than fly (and when I say costing less, I mean cabin price, no flight, no additional day off work to fly to Florida early, no hotel room in Florida the night before, only just over an hour from our door to the ship...it all adds up).

[cruiser fanatic]

I'm paying an outrageous amount for our Pride cruise...next week...during Spring Break AND Easter. :eek: :rolleyes: We paid $3600 for a balcony for this cruise and then later on my daughter booked the very last OV room on the ship a few weeks ago and had to pay $2900 for it. :eek: This is seriously the highest I have EVER paid for a cruise. We normally cruise paying around the 1100-1300 mark.

 

Of course we decided we would go ahead and book then since it was only 6 1/2 hours away from home and saving the flight $$ by driving, it would equal to be about the same price...THEN the hubby decided there was no way he wanted to spend that much time in the car versus 1 hour flight and had me book the plane tickets. LOL Spoiled little brat he is! :p

 

Wow, both of those prices are ridiculous! The highest I have ever paid was $2400 during summer, balcony, 7 day cruise on the Magic. That price was for 3 people. We are driving 13 hours to Port Canaveral next Thursday. We will go halfway to Mobile and then to Port Canaveral the next day. Airplane tickets were outrageous. The gas prices are down so we are trying to take advantage of it!

Edited April 1, 2015 by cruiser fanatic

[cruiser fanatic]

Look at this price! Crazy, even if it is Spring Break!

[tropicaledrink]

I've cruised about the same week in May in 2011, 2013, and 2014 and will be on the Pride one week later than those cruises (boarding May 31, so we are really on the first week of June). Out of those 4 cruises, the Pride has run $200-$400 cheaper per person than in 2011 and 2014 and comparable to 2013 out of Miami.

 

I think this April has been expensive since it literally JUST got back to Baltimore, but the May prices are quite reasonable at the moment. As others have mentioned, this a convenient port for us to drive to - 7.5 hours :)

Edited April 1, 2015 by tropicaledrink

[John Reid]

Prices are definitely higher than the previous two years we have sailed Pride out of Baltimore. My thought is that the recent extreme increases in fares on Royal Caribbean have allowed Carnival, in competing markets, to increase prices and still be lower than Royal.

 

RCI Grandeur is the only Baltimore competition. Their fares are running 25% to 35% higher than I have paid for the same cruises for the past two years.

 

RCI Liberty of the Seas out of Bayonne, NJ, is in the same possible drive-to radius as Baltimore. It, also, could provide competition. I find the fares for Liberty are 50% or more higher than I paid for RCI Explorer out of the same port.

 

Carnival can charge more for Pride than the past and still be a bargain compared to Grandeur and Liberty.

[barante]

We are equal opportunity cruisers, going from one line to another as long as the itinerary is interesting and the price compelling. Because of the ease of sailing out of Baltimore, that's what we are increasingly doing. Just Sunday we returned from the Pride's Tampa-to-Baltimore repo.

 

I think Pride prices aggressive. They are high enough that I usually go for my favorite category 4K, an OV with a view of a lifeboat but openable french doors sold as an inside.

 

But why limit yourself to Carnival. The esteemed RCL Grandeur of the Seas has much better prices for balconies and junior suites, in addition to my new favorite, the 220-square-foot Panoramic OV built into the extension on Decks 8 and 7. It sells as a regular OV.

[cruiser fanatic]

We are equal opportunity cruisers, going from one line to another as long as the itinerary is interesting and the price compelling. Because of the ease of sailing out of Baltimore, that's what we are increasingly doing. Just Sunday we returned from the Pride's Tampa-to-Baltimore repo.

 

I think Pride prices aggressive. They are high enough that I usually go for my favorite category 4K, an OV with a view of a lifeboat but openable french doors sold as an inside.

 

But why limit yourself to Carnival. The esteemed RCL Grandeur of the Seas has much better prices for balconies and junior suites, in addition to my new favorite, the 220-square-foot Panoramic OV built into the extension on Decks 8 and 7. It sells as a regular OV.

 

The Grandeur is cheaper then the Pride on some weeks.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I don't think so. I am paying a total of 2260.00 for 3 people in a balcony. Depends on what time of year you go. We are headed out in 60 days :D

 

Yikes that is high. Have never paid that much on any of my cruises for a balcony.

[thomarvin]

I just looked at the Grandeur leaving on May 29, and for 3 in a balcony cabin it is a little over 3500. i am paying 2200 for the same week. Thank you CCL

[mrneil001]

Add another person to the list that thinks Pride out of Baltimore is way overpriced. I actually save tons of money flying into ft. lauderdale or miami by booking in advance during a sale through Frontier. Better itineraries and selection of ships. For me, paying almost double for a cabin, driving 2 hours and paying for parking vs taking a $20 cab ride to Dulles airport, taking a cheap $200 flight and flying 4 hours.. seems like flying would be the better option.