Thoughts on if Legend will stay in Baltimore after April 2023?

[IMKTDQT810]

I have never sailed this ship but am now considering taking a cruise out of Baltimore June 2023. Pride is there until October 2021, then Legend arrives but is only listed until April 2023, with no other ship listed at that departure port after the end of April. We have already been on the Pride from that port and knowing it needs to be a "smaller" ship since it goes under a bridges...if it's not Legend what other ship might it be? Not sure if I want to sail on Pride again, I was hoping for a differnet ship since we don't sail often! Thanks!

[Jamman54]

My guess is that the Legend will be there past April of 2023. The Pride was there over 10 years so I expect the Legend to be there for quite a few more years. 😎

[amster65]

Pride and Legend are identical, except for decor.

[pogoism9]

It also may be  contractual. If Carnival and Baltimore have a contract that expires in 2023, they would not be listed until a new contract is signed as far as I am aware

[JMAE]

John Heald post on FB Legend cruise dates into April 2024.  The last one I see he posted was 4/28/2024, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport.  Which is one of the regular cruise routes from Baltimore.     

[PC 462]

It is interesting that no cruises from Baltimore are shown from May through September 2023. Then they resume from October 2023 though April 2024.  I wonder what explains that summer gap?

[jerseyjjs]

On 6/25/2021 at 2:40 PM, amster65 said:

Pride and Legend are identical, except for decor.

 

 

      Well.....that and Pride has the movie screen on lido and the updated sports bar on deck 2.

[JMAE]

1 hour ago, PC 462 said:

It is interesting that no cruises from Baltimore are shown from May through September 2023. Then they resume from October 2023 though April 2024.  I wonder what explains that summer gap?

Can't imagine they would remove a ship from Baltimore in the summer months when demand is higher from that port.  

[PC 462]

1 hour ago, JMAE said:

Can't imagine they would remove a ship from Baltimore in the summer months when demand is higher from that port.  

It's a mystery!  But I remember when they pulled the Pride to Tampa before, even though it always sailed full from Baltimore.  Is it possible Legend will be doing Alaska duty in the summer of 2023?  It is the same class of ship as the Miracle.  We'll see.

I notice from your signature that I have some catching up to do when it comes to cruising from Baltimore. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by PC 462

[toad455]

If Carnival intends to keep sailing from Baltimore if has to be a Spirit-class ship. Spirit will remain in Australia, Miracle out West and Pride/Legend out of Baltimore and the other out of Tampa. I bet Carnival wishes they had built another Spirit-class ship.

[jperry2011]

I like the spirit class ships and all but I would like to see carnival rotate every once in a while not every 5-10 years.. send a different ship on once a year for a month or two for a change of pace please..

[xDisconnections]

I heard it will head to Aliaga some time after April 2023.

Edited July 4, 2021 by xDisconnections

[mondello]

The Costa Magica is in the next bigger class of ships than Pride, 102k vs. 88k tons, wonder if it would fit under the bridges out of Baltimore? It is being refurbished, renamed and join the Sunrise class for Carnival.

[JMAE]

16 hours ago, PC 462 said:

I notice from your signature that I have some catching up to do when it comes to cruising from Baltimore. 

Right now we don't cruise for the stops it is a getaway from work, so Baltimore is great for us.  It is only a three hour drive and we don't have to deal with airports.  We love Grand Turk and HMC.  CCL had plans of building a new pier in Freeport and hope that we be similar to the one CCL owns in Grand Turk.     

 

12 hours ago, toad455 said:

If Carnival intends to keep sailing from Baltimore if has to be a Spirit-class ship.

 

Along with the Spirit class of ships (which we love) CCL still has four remaining Fantasy class ships that would be able to sail from Baltimore.  I hope in the future CCL decides to build additional ships that can continue to serve the ports with size limitations like Baltimore.  For now the Spirit class has a lot of life left.   

Edited July 4, 2021 by JMAE

[toad455]

I don't see Carnival replacing the Pride/Legend out of Baltimore with a Fantasy-class ship.

[JMAE]

I hope they don't because we love the space on a Spirit class, but both classes are able to carry about the same total passengers, Spirit class 2,610 and Fantasy class 2,606.  Both classes have the emission scrubbers which are needed in Baltimore.  However, the Spirit class has two more guest decks, a space ratio of 41 vs 34, about 100' longer and can travel at 22.5 knots vs 21 knots for the Fantasy class.  If they did place a Fantasy class ship in Baltimore based on passengers capacity they would have the opportunity to make the same profit.   

[IMKTDQT810]

Hi All,

 

Took a short break from the boards and you all have pointed out great points. I DID see where Legend was posted as sailing from Baltimore in October 2023 until 2024 but also correct that nothing at all is out of Baltimore from April to October 2023 (when Legend returns back). I'm hoping SOMETHING about what ship will sail from there soon because I love to pick my stateroom and jump on the "planning trip" early to know we got what we wanted. 

[PC 462]

On 7/4/2021 at 10:03 AM, JMAE said:

Right now we don't cruise for the stops it is a getaway from work, so Baltimore is great for us.  It is only a three hour drive and we don't have to deal with airports.  We love Grand Turk and HMC.  CCL had plans of building a new pier in Freeport and hope that we be similar to the one CCL owns in Grand Turk.     

 

 

Along with the Spirit class of ships (which we love) CCL still has four remaining Fantasy class ships that would be able to sail from Baltimore.  I hope in the future CCL decides to build additional ships that can continue to serve the ports with size limitations like Baltimore.  For now the Spirit class has a lot of life left.   

I agree about getting away from work.  I'd go almost anywhere to be on a ship. I expected to cruise more often when I retired, but cruising shut down three months after I retired! We are only 20 minutes from the port of Baltimore, so I am going to cruise as much as I can while the ships keep coming to Baltimore.  I also think the cruise terminal in Baltimore has the easiest boarding experience.

 

The increased size of ships and bridge heights are the problem for Baltimore/ The Key Bridge  has a clearance of 185 feet and the Bay Bridge is 186 feet.  I think the Pride has 6 feet to spare when it passes under the Key Bridge (which is always a thrill during Sail Away!).  Not sure if Carnival will build ships with a smaller air draft, but I wonder about Holland America (which is part of Carnival Corporation).  It is not easy for me to find the air draft of cruise ships.

[vadersprincess12]

Due to the draft of the bridges in Maryland, the port cannot accommodate the larger ships.  Interestingly, we just returned from a cruise out of Bayonne and the Oasis of the Seas had retractable stacks installed so that she could clear the Verrazano bridge.  That's probably the only way to get slightly larger ships into Baltimore.  It's doubtful that any of the lines will build smaller ships at this point in the game.  

 

There are other ships such as those from Holland America, Disney, and NCL that would fit under the bridges here.  Most cruise lines have 18 month contracts for their home ports.  It's unfortunate, but 10 years ago the previous cruise manager passed away.  He had been working with many lines to bring something different to Baltimore.  The current cruise manager pretty much does nothing but put her face out there with a lot of lip service, but except for Royal and Carnival changing out ships, absolutely NOTHING has changed in those 10 years.

[CruiseAdict218]

I think they are still working on Summer 2023 for Baltimore, they just released the 2 Greenland + Canada/New England voyages (originally it was going to be a one off) that are round trip from Baltimore for August and September 2023 and both sailings are on the Carnival Legend.

 

It should be safe to assume Legend will be in Baltimore during the summer. There could also be a shuffle once Costa Magica is converted over to the fleet but John said on Facebook details are still in the works and won’t be out for another few weeks.