How do you cruiser's determine which port of departure to use?

[drifter42]

Hello I will be taking my first cruise on the dream in October and the Fantasy next April. I was just wondering how others determine which port of departure you use? Is it a particular ship, proximity to where you live, destinations, etc. As for now for me it's proximity to where I live. NOLA and Mobile are the 2 closest ports to me followed by Charleston Sc., Jacksonville and Orlando. I'm not much into to flying although I have a few times. Just wondering how you ladies and gentlemen choose your cruises. Cheers!

 

 

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[sparks1093]

How close it is and how much it costs to get there.

[Charlami]

I just pick a place or a ship and then start looking for deals. I have been out of several different ports. I either drive or fly depending on the destination. I went out of NY last year and my TA was great at booking my flight and shuttle transfer. The bus through downtown NY was pretty slow but the whole process of transferring was seamless.

 

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[beltane]

For Hubs and I we choose purely on itinerary and dates. I have found that flights from Toronto to FLL and MCO are much less expensive than flying in to MIA... but for the right itinerary I will find a way to work it out. For example it is very easy to shuttle to the Miami cruiseport when flying in to FLL, and we often do that if the flight is much less expensive.

[GlamorousGirl]

My closest ports are Norfolk and Baltimore. Since they are so far from most destinations, and a lot of sea days and less port days, I am driving to Florida on most of my upcoming cruises. I prefer not to fly because of cost, luggage restrictions, and the security hassles. I will fly on some because I want to try a certain itinerary, but other than that trying to stick with Florida, and drive to the port with one or two hotel stops. Besides that, I enjoy Florida and spending a few days there along with the cruise makes it all the better!

[ilovethesparkles]

We live 30 minutes or so from Galveston, so that is our first departure port choice. We have looked at sailings out of NOLA too, since it would only be a 4ish hour drive.

[tef43]

Total price, nothing else matters.

[bnorris10]

I live in Florida so basically any port within the state of Florida is good but I prefer Port Canaveral as I live 15 minutes from there and its nice that I can have someone drop us off and pick us up and avoid leaving my vehicle

[shof515]

im stuck with only embarkation port (NYC) so that limits my choices and i do not want to fly

[A&Jfamily]

1)where I want to go on my cruise and 2) can I afford the trip.

 

We purposely are not doing trips leaving outside the US because it takes too much time and money to get our kids and us there. For now, our vacations are a week or less. We will save those longer adventures for trips where they are not going or when we are no longer working.

 

 

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[camijo]

Where I live, Galveston is about an hour from me.

[evandbob]

Flights to MIA and FLL from NY LGA are run pretty much like a shuttle, with many choices and decent fares. Since the majority of my cruises are in the Caribbean, flying from NY to either port gives me lots of 7 day or longer itinerary choices.

 

I also enjoy sailing out of NYC, going down the Hudson past the NYC skyline is awesome, and I get choked up going by the Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty. I prefer a 10 or 14 day cruise from NY, esp. in winter time, since the 1st and last days at sea probably aren't a pool day

 

San Juan is another easy and economical port for me to get to, but it won't be for a Carnival cruise. In San Juan, I prefer Celebrity, but will try NCL this January.

[CharlesKru]

We look at everything that is leaving in the time window we are able to cruise. From there, we decide if we want to fly or not ( mostly not) and how much extra time it would take to drive.

 

Mostly we go to Charleston SC, Jacksonville, or Port Canaveral since they are all reasonable drives... have also used Tampa, Miami, NYC, and soon New Orleans.

 

My favorites were the 2 Trans-Atlantics we have done from Spain. That required flight, but was an outstanding experience.

[Anthomaniac]

We're in Iowa, so we have to fly no matter what, so we go by itinerary.

 

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[FloridaMommyof3]

I live in Florida and have cruised out of Tampa, Pt. Canaveral and Ft. Lauderdale. Pt. Canaveral is my favorite.

[bury me at sea]

Proximity to port. I can drive to Galveston in half a day.

[cruzeluver]

We live in Charleston so cruises from here are easy. We just don't care for Fantasy class ships (once was plenty) but we have enjoyed two Sunshine cruises from here. Wish she was here more.

 

We also really like Port Canaveral for convenience and ease of driving.

[Staceman225]

Hello I will be taking my first cruise on the dream in October and the Fantasy next April. I was just wondering how others determine which port of departure you use? Is it a particular ship, proximity to where you live, destinations, etc. As for now for me it's proximity to where I live. NOLA and Mobile are the 2 closest ports to me followed by Charleston Sc., Jacksonville and Orlando. I'm not much into to flying although I have a few times. Just wondering how you ladies and gentlemen choose your cruises. Cheers!

 

 

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You must be from my neck of the woods. We also go by driving distance - Jax, NOLA, and Mobile. We are in the Georgia/Tennessee/Alabama corner.

 

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[Tank's Mom]

I live in Florida so any port in the state works. If I can get a good itinerary out of Tampa it's my first choice. I can uber for $15.

 

 

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[Mysticks1]

We don't fly to cruise normally so I pick a port that we can drive to in one day or approx. 8-9 hours drive. That limits me to Ports that are between Port Canaveral and Galveston. We figure out where we want to go then I research the different cruise lines that go there, check pricing and then the port of embarkation.

[Ethel Henderson]

Lol the first port listed for day 1 is the departure port lol

[cganesh]

Itinerary then total price (cruise, airfare,hotel). We live both New Orleans and Mobile but in winter time don't like the one say out and one day on return that are cold. In winter we fly to anywhere that's it's warm when we get off plane.

 

Cherie

[drifter42]

You must be from my neck of the woods. We also go by driving distance - Jax, NOLA, and Mobile. We are in the Georgia/Tennessee/Alabama corner.

 

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West Tn here, a little town called Paris.

 

 

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[drifter42]

Lol the first port listed for day 1 is the departure port lol

 

 

That works [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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[Scurvy Seadog]

Another Florida resident here, so I have 5 ports within a reasonable driving distance. Port Canaveral is now my preferred port, since I live 30 mins away.