Pushback from sailing from Miami?

[coaster]

Port Canaveral recently surpassed Miami in total number of cruise passengers. Princess and Carnival recently added ships departing from this port. Never had good experiences sailing from Miami in the past 30 years. Congestion getting there just seems to get worse even with the new to tunnel. Port Canaveral seems to have gotten things right over the years. Friendly port workers and not stressed as much when boarding from my personal experience.

Edited May 21, 2023 by coaster

[BobH5849]

I tend to agree.  Miami is far from stress free for us.  Besides the high cost of staying overnight close to the port.  We prefer to cruise from PC.  Overnight stays are cheaper in the area and food establishments that won't break the bank are plentiful.  

[twangster]

Port Canaveral has some work to do if they want to hold onto the title of busiest cruise port.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Port Canaveral in general terms but having a drawbridge that isolates half of the port, the lack of anything on the North side and parking have not held up to the growth of the port.

 

The North side of Port Canaveral is basically no different than Miami.  Nothing but cruise terminals with no bars, restaurants or attractions.  The drawbridge is by far worse than the tunnel in Miami.  

 

Terminal one on the South side provides easy access to bars, restaurants and attractions but the same can't be said for terminal three on the South side.   As the port looks to add new cruise terminals that expansion will see the new terminals away from the bars, restaurants and attractions.

 

Parking is disaster at the moment.  Sure they plan to add more surface parking away from the cruise terminals but that means a shuttle bus will likely be needed.  Shuttle bus transportation doesn't work well with a sudden influx of thousands debarking at the same time.  

 

In general terms Port Canaveral isn't scaling well and the lack of planning or forward thinking is hurting them now.

[superduper123]

What's wrong with Miami as a departure port? I have never sailed from there. A few times from Ft Lauderdale, several from Tampa. Once from Port Canaveral. I try to avoid Port Canaveral because, for the most part, the itineraries don't appeal to me. (Specifically Perfect Day.)

[basenji56]

I hate the long trip from the Orlando airport to the port.  Miami or FLL is much easier to fly into.  More hotels too.  

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, basenji56 said:

I hate the long trip from the Orlando airport to the port.  Miami or FLL is much easier to fly into.  More hotels too.  

 

Pt Canaveral is a big drive to port, and an add on to folks doing the theme park experience in Orlando

 

The Orlando airport had recently finished a massive terminal expansion

 

Cape Canaveral has been on a tear in adding hotels. At least 6 new properties in last 4 years. Cocoa Beach is adding a huge new resort just south of the Ron Jon area.

 

Might be a pipe dream, but plans for an aquarium just west of port seem to be progressing

 

And if you're lucky, you get to see rockets launch, and even land 😁

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Port Canaveral has some work to do if they want to hold onto the title of busiest cruise port.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Port Canaveral in general terms but having a drawbridge that isolates half of the port, the lack of anything on the North side and parking have not held up to the growth of the port.

 

The North side of Port Canaveral is basically no different than Miami.  Nothing but cruise terminals with no bars, restaurants or attractions.  The drawbridge is by far worse than the tunnel in Miami.  

 

Terminal one on the South side provides easy access to bars, restaurants and attractions but the same can't be said for terminal three on the South side.   As the port looks to add new cruise terminals that expansion will see the new terminals away from the bars, restaurants and attractions.

 

Parking is disaster at the moment.  Sure they plan to add more surface parking away from the cruise terminals but that means a shuttle bus will likely be needed.  Shuttle bus transportation doesn't work well with a sudden influx of thousands debarking at the same time.  

 

In general terms Port Canaveral isn't scaling well and the lack of planning or forward thinking is hurting them now.

 

Pretty sure they know it's a temporary title

 

Do you think they'll boot Victory out to expand?

 

And FWIW, with many, many years of sailing from PC, I've only got stuck by drawbridge once

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Pretty sure they know it's a temporary title

 

Do you think they'll boot Victory out to expand?

 

And FWIW, with many, many years of sailing from PC, I've only got stuck by drawbridge once

 

You've done better than me.  I've had two drawbridge events since the restart.  

 

I was wondering if the lumber yard will move.  I suspect a parking lot full of cars may yield more than lumber parked there.  Lumber doesn't need to be stored at the water's edge.

 

Google Earth still has an old image from before CT1.  🙂 

 

 

If they squeezed a CT2 in there they could still have cargo operations on non-cruise ship days.  Not exactly like this but along these lines.  Then add a parking garage with more levels that could also service CT1.

 

 

[jakeil7]

11 hours ago, coaster said:

Port Canaveral recently surpassed Miami in total number of cruise passengers. Princess and Carnival recently added ships departing from this port. Never had good experiences sailing from Miami in the past 30 years. Congestion getting there just seems to get worse even with the new to tunnel. Port Canaveral seems to have gotten things right over the years. Friendly port workers and not stressed as much when boarding from my personal experience.

While I agree that Miami can get crowded, I’ve never had major issues there and the terminals themselves are quite nice IMHO. But that is minor - where PC loses out is the distance between the airport and the terminal. While the hotels in PC and coca beach are nice, they get to be just as expensive. The one thing about Miami is that I don’t HAVE to stay near the port which gives me more options. 
 

Also - on the subject of airports:  MIA >>> MCO. I hate flying into Orlando. It pushes my buttons and turns me into a boomer 😝

[PWP-001]

2 hours ago, superduper123 said:

What's wrong with Miami as a departure port? I have never sailed from there

Miami is a DISASTER!

 

I live about 20 minutes from Port of Miami, all but a mile is expressway driving.  

 

This season to Sunday embarkations typically took anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours with the majority of the delay in the Port.  Last trip it took 90 minutes of stop and go traffic in the port from entry to Royal's terminal which is the farthest point.  The tunnel was supposed to have been open, had been, as evidenced by cars backed up from tunnel entry all the way onto I-395.  Arriving to that point and seeing the red X over each lane and the word CLOSED at point of exit was the first indication the tunnel was closed.  This meant driving east for the first U-Turn and heading back to US1 where there was stop & go traffic to enter the port.

 

Usually on a Sunday, around 11am (+/- 15 minutes) the Sheriff will block off the access point to cruise terminals and divert vehicles along the Cargo route which heads about a mile east, then U-Turns back to the access point.  Issue is that during that diversion drive, cars will drive three or four lanes wide up to and through the U-Turn.  Then about halfway back traffic is funnel down to one lane as it passes through a closed check-point.  

 

The ride share app texted both myself and the driver asking if we needed emergency medical assistance since the ride was taking so long.

 

Port Everglades is much easier to navigate.

[superduper123]

5 minutes ago, PWP-001 said:

Miami is a DISASTER!

 

 

Thanks for the info, good to know. 

[notscb]

3 hours ago, basenji56 said:

I hate the long trip from the Orlando airport to the port.

I honestly hate the Orlando airport, too. If you hit it at the wrong time of year, you get Disney crowds on school holiday and it's a nightmare.

[orville99]

IMHO, the only thing Miami currently has going for it is the number of different cruise lines, demographic levels, and itineraries that it supports relative to PC. Adding Princess to PC may help a bit, but their PC itineraries are unimaginative at best and the reality is that Princess (since it was acquired by Carnival) is just another RCL/Carnival/MSC clone from an experience perspective. The only line out of PC that is showing any imagination right now is RCL with longer cruises sailing to Bermuda, the ABC islands and other ports that typically don't show up on PC itineraries. If PC really wants to keep its "title", it needs to attract more lines that elevate the cruise experience - not just replicate it, and show some imagination in where they sail. Celebrity would be a good start, and something like Silversea or Regent would be even better.

[Cruising89143]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

IMHO, the only thing Miami currently has going for it is the number of different cruise lines, demographic levels, and itineraries that it supports relative to PC. Adding Princess to PC may help a bit, but their PC itineraries are unimaginative at best and the reality is that Princess (since it was acquired by Carnival) is just another RCL/Carnival/MSC clone from an experience perspective. The only line out of PC that is showing any imagination right now is RCL with longer cruises sailing to Bermuda, the ABC islands and other ports that typically don't show up on PC itineraries. If PC really wants to keep its "title", it needs to attract more lines that elevate the cruise experience - not just replicate it, and show some imagination in where they sail. Celebrity would be a good start, and something like Silversea or Regent would be even better.

Miami has a lot going on with new terminals. They will be taking that title back. Not crazy about either port but Miami is building. I read that PC is looking to add another terminal over the next two to three years as well. 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/03/msc-breaks-ground-on-new-miami-cruise-terminal/

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/28b-royal-caribbean-portmiami-deal-gets-green-light

[voyager70]

The Miami sail away is the most beautiful in FL in my opinion. Sailing through Biscayne Bay and past South Beach can’t be beat. Nothing wrong with the other Florida ports but nothing special either. I’ve never had any major issues with MIA or the drive to the port, although I’ve never been the one driving 😁 

[superduper123]

29 minutes ago, voyager70 said:

The Miami sail away is the most beautiful in FL in my opinion. Sailing through Biscayne Bay and past South Beach can’t be beat. Nothing wrong with the other Florida ports but nothing special either. I’ve never had any major issues with MIA or the drive to the port, although I’ve never been the one driving 😁 

Now I feel like I should take a cruise from Miami, just to see this. 😃  I have always enjoyed sail away from Tampa.

[Ashland]

Port Everglades will always be a favorite when sailing from Florida. However where I sail from depends completely on the itinerary....the port has no bearing on this. I don't sail for the departure port and usually not the ship either.

[Jasukkie]

I've never had a problem sailing from Miami. I always go in the day before and make sure to visit my favorite restaurants, do some sightseeing, etc. I've never cruised from PC, only had it as a port stop.

[Mum2Mercury]

I've sailed out of both ports in the last year, and I strongly prefer Port Canaveral, though most of that is because it's a closer drive for me personally.  

 

Miami is more frenzied, driving is more difficult.  Hotels are more expensive, and the whole place feels less friendly.  

[alfaeric]

Do they force you to go to specific ports to sail from?  Florida seems to be an odd state, then. When we fly in, we are allowed to choose which port to sail from. 
 

Some of the Miami stories are fine to reduce the demand so that the rest of us who are really happy can get cheaper fares. 

[PWP-001]

2 hours ago, superduper123 said:

Now I feel like I should take a cruise from Miami, just to see this. 😃  I have always enjoyed sail away from Tampa.

The iconic scene in many movies of driving in Miami with Royal Palms is along Arthur Godfrey Causeway which lines the north side of the channel ships take to sea.  

[jakeil7]

20 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Do they force you to go to specific ports to sail from? 

Because PC is further up the coast and harder to get to from an airport, the iteneries are less varied than those departing from Miami and Port Everglades.  

[alfaeric]

7 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

Because PC is further up the coast and harder to get to from an airport, the iteneries are less varied than those departing from Miami and Port Everglades.  

Farther up the coast does limit how far you can go, but the airport location has no impact on that. 
 

Still, this thread sure makes it seem that some have no choice in departure ports. Nothing stopping you from flying to New York or Galveston.  And Boston is awesome to depart from. 

[firefly333]

6 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Farther up the coast does limit how far you can go, but the airport location has no impact on that. 
 

Still, this thread sure makes it seem that some have no choice in departure ports. Nothing stopping you from flying to New York or Galveston.  And Boston is awesome to depart from. 

Lol and I'm moving to cape Canaveral and like a kid in a candy store. Southern and eastern and western. 6 and 8 rotating itineraries and wonder. .. I booked 3 on adventure in the last week. Southern to ABC islands and a eastern to DR and st croix all new to me. We will see next nov what is offered. I need a Bermuda.. havent been there but none for my dates. 

[basenji56]

10 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Farther up the coast does limit how far you can go, but the airport location has no impact on that. 
 

Still, this thread sure makes it seem that some have no choice in departure ports. Nothing stopping you from flying to New York or Galveston.  And Boston is awesome to depart from. 

New York and Boston are too far from most of the Caribbean for a seven day cruise.  Galveston is limited to the Western Caribbean unless you take a longer cruise.