Wonder if Celebrity is planning on ever bringing Canada / NE cruises back to Bayonne instead of roundtrip Boston?

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, MikeMary4449 said:

We believe that "one-way between Boston and Bayonne" would be a violation of the PVSA, which says you cannot begin a cruise in one US port and terminate in another US port without docking at a distant foreign port.

Ah yes...forgot about that ruling! Good catch. I would have thought Quebec would qualify but then came across this from a previous CC thread..

"A distant foreign port is defined as any port not in Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean (ABC Islands excluded), the Bahamas and Bermuda."   Jones act, etc. Oh well...it was a nice thought. So that's why this itinerary is ok...starts in CA and ends in US.

 

Edited March 7 by OnTheJourney

[ArgoNereus]

We have sailed out of Bayonne many times for the Canada New England 14 itinerary.

Now we sail out of Montreal or Quebec City for a 14 day roundtrip to Boston and back.

The Boston Cruise terminal is a dilapidated warehouse where taxis and Ubers are not permitted to pick up passengers near the door.

The trip from the airport to the cruise terminal is always tedious because of construction delays.

Sailaway from NY is always special.

Hotels in Boston are more expensive than in Bayonne area.

 

Strangely it is easier for us to drive from our home (50mi from DTW to NJ than to Quebec.

Edited March 7 by ArgoNereus

[CruisinShips]

10 minutes ago, hcat said:

We cruise from Port Ev but travel  from the  West Coast of Fl,  so we always go  over one day ahead. 

 

 Prices for  pre- cruise hotels is escalating..esp in Prime Season but saves same day travel stress.

 

We usually find something interesting to do even in repeat ports & try not to repeat ships if possible.

as is said here very often, the ship is more important in Caribbean sailings.

[OnTheJourney]

6 hours ago, ecslady said:

RT 14 day

 

1 hour ago, hcat said:

interesting RT  itin on LIBERTY OF THE SEAS.

Yeah those are nice enough - 9 days. We've done that, only not on the Liberty.

 

1 hour ago, CruisinShips said:

Nothing is better than being within an hour of two major cruise ports

Yep...same for us in PA

 

3 hours ago, soccermommy said:

A good, comprehensive Canada cruise from Bayonne needs 14 days, imo.

Definitely. Those 2-week trips were great.

[Turtles06]

26 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Ah yes...forgot about that ruling! Good catch. I would have thought Quebec would qualify but then came across this from a previous CC thread..

"A distant foreign port is defined as any port not in Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean (ABC Islands excluded), the Bahamas and Bermuda."   Jones act, etc. Oh well...it was a nice thought. So that's why this itinerary is ok...starts in CA and ends in US.

 

A little nit. Not the Jones Act, which applies to cargo, but the Passenger Vessel Services Act. 😊

 

To summarize—calling at a “distant foreign port” is required only when a non-U.S. flagged carrier is transporting passengers from one U.S. port to a different U.S.port.  Any foreign port will do on a RT cruise out of a U.S. port. And the PVSA doesn’t apply at all if the cruise starts or ends outside the U.S. 

[OnTheJourney]

47 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

And the PVSA doesn’t apply at all if the cruise starts or ends outside the U.S. 

So there'd be nothing stopping them from doing one-way Bayonne to Quebec, right? I believe that RCL has offered that at times, allowing for a B2B for those who like RT out of Bayonne.

[jelayne]

We have to fly to any Celebrity cruise and would choose Boston over Bayonne.  i don't need to see NYC again and Boston has places  I haven't seen yet.

[Turtles06]

19 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

So there'd be nothing stopping them from doing one-way Bayonne to Quebec, right? I believe that RCL has offered that at times, allowing for a B2B for those who like RT out of Bayonne.

 

Yes, that would be okay.  And I do believe some cruise lines have itineraries like that, making for nice B2Bs.  

[OnTheJourney]

53 minutes ago, jelayne said:

i don't need to see NYC again and Boston has places  I haven't seen yet.

Agreed on lots to do in Boston, but I can do that as part of the CA / NE cruise out of Bayonne or Baltimore, without having to start or end a cruise in Boston. At the least, X should alternate years or at least every few years return the itineraries to being roundtrip Bayonne - just to be fair. It comes down to whatever makes the most $ for them.

[Liao]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Agreed on lots to do in Boston, but I can do that as part of the CA / NE cruise out of Bayonne or Baltimore, without having to start or end a cruise in Boston. At the least, X should alternate years or at least every few years return the itineraries to being roundtrip Bayonne - just to be fair. It comes down to whatever makes the most $ for them.

The MassPort has been making a major push to the cruise industry to originate more cruises from Boston.  2023 was a very successful year and I think 2024 has even more.  They are more hungry than Bayonne and the cruise industry has responded.  

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, Liao said:

They are more hungry than Bayonne and the cruise industry has responded.  

Interesting. How many cruise lines go in and out of Boston?

[Liao]

4 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Interesting. How many cruise lines go in and out of Boston?

NCL, RCL, Celebrity, Holland America, Oceania

[CTSandy]

I’m between Boston and Bayonne, so either port works nicely for me.  I usually take advantage of the Bayonne/Bermuda cruise and the New England/Canada cruise from whichever port.  I am doing both this summer on Eclipse and am hoping I like it as much as Summit, so sad that it will not be sailing from Bayonne.

[cachouonacruise]

Being from the greater Montreal area, I would love to see more cruise offer departing from Montreal, especially during the summer time.
 

Sadly, Celebrity does not offer these options: Embarking in Montreal or Summer Canada/New England cruises. (Last I check, Celebrity cruises mostly sail on that itinerary in the fall, and don't embark in Montreal. ( ships may be too big). 
 

This said Holland America offers these itineraries. 
 

[NMTraveller]

48 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

Being from the greater Montreal area, I would love to see more cruise offer departing from Montreal, especially during the summer time.
 

Sadly, Celebrity does not offer these options: Embarking in Montreal or Summer Canada/New England cruises. (Last I check, Celebrity cruises mostly sail on that itinerary in the fall, and don't embark in Montreal. ( ships may be too big). 
 

This said Holland America offers these itineraries. 
 

We were booked on a HAL cruise preCovid.  It was a much smaller ship.  And it was one way only.  Much better than a roundtrip cruise IMHO.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

12 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Could you please elaborate on why it was a nightmare out of Boston.

Apparently the dockworkers union does not permit Celebrity personnel to come ashore to assist passengers.  At the time, I required wheelchair assist.  I waited over two hours.  The pier coordinator finally took me up.  And I was traveling in a suite.  So if Boston wants more cruise traffic, they're going to have to up their game and get their union under control.

Edited March 8 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[markeb]

1 hour ago, cachouonacruise said:

Being from the greater Montreal area, I would love to see more cruise offer departing from Montreal, especially during the summer time.
 

Sadly, Celebrity does not offer these options: Embarking in Montreal or Summer Canada/New England cruises. (Last I check, Celebrity cruises mostly sail on that itinerary in the fall, and don't embark in Montreal. ( ships may be too big). 
 

This said Holland America offers these itineraries. 
 

 

One of our favorite cruises was Montreal to Boston on HAL. On the Maasdam which could sail from Montreal up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway. A long time ago...

 

But that was a typical 7 day cruise. Which allowed us to spend time in Montreal at the beginning. When you throw Bayonne into the mix the cruises become 10-12 or even 14 days. Not including any pre-cruise activities, and I'm not sure how far up the St Lawrence Celebrity cruises. But that's just not a great business model for Celebrity today. The 7 day cruises are basically 5 days off work; less for people on flex schedules. The NE/Canada schedule seems pretty short already and it probably is good business to offer more short cruises.

[Liao]

32 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Apparently the dockworkers union does not permit Celebrity personnel to come ashore to assist passengers.  At the time, I required wheelchair assist.  I waited over two hours.  The pier coordinator finally took me up.  And I was traveling in a suite.  So if Boston wants more cruise traffic, they're going to have to up their game and get their union under control.

Boston has 100+ cruises from the major lines departing from Flynn Terminal in 2024, this is an increase over 2023, which was a record year for the terminal.  As for the union situation in Boston, oh boy you got that right.  For many years I was a Facility Manager for a national firms office in Boston with 200,000SF of office space in one of the major Financial District buildings, and dealing with the unions; movers, electric, plumbing, cleaning, elevator operators, carpenters, talk about learning to be an expert negotiator.  The longshoremans union at the pier has a LOT of control. 

[mahasamatman]

9 hours ago, ArgoNereus said:

The Boston Cruise terminal is a dilapidated warehouse where taxis and Ubers are not permitted to pick up passengers near the door.

 

They were dropping off and picking up right at the door last fall.

[OnTheJourney]

16 hours ago, Liao said:

NCL, RCL, Celebrity, Holland America, Oceania

Wow! Didn't expect there'd be that many.

[PTC DAWG]

On 3/7/2024 at 1:12 PM, CruisinShips said:

Nothing is better than being within an hour of two major cruise ports (South Florida)!  The ports all start to look alike, but there is no flying or pre/post stay hotel issues!

Enough with the bragging! 🙂

[CruisinShips]

5 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Enough with the bragging! 🙂

Well in all honesty, I much prefer port Everglades to Port of Miami. The extra 22 minutes to get to Miami is kind of a drag. 😜

[ArgoNereus]

16 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

Being from the greater Montreal area, I would love to see more cruise offer departing from Montreal, especially during the summer time.
 

Sadly, Celebrity does not offer these options: Embarking in Montreal or Summer Canada/New England cruises. (Last I check, Celebrity cruises mostly sail on that itinerary in the fall, and don't embark in Montreal. ( ships may be too big). 
 

This said Holland America offers these itineraries. 
 

We're driving the 880 KM to cruise from Montreal.  Celebrity's ships are too large to fit under the bridge on the way to Quebec (city) so we cruise with HAL, Volendam this year.

[ArgoNereus]

15 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

Well in all honesty, I much prefer port Everglades to Port of Miami. The extra 22 minutes to get to Miami is kind of a drag. 😜

We've had traffic jams between FLL and MIA that have taken at least two hours.

[OnTheJourney]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:02 PM, ArgoNereus said:

Celebrity's ships are too large to fit under the bridge on the way to Quebec (city)

Interesting. Didn't know that. Makes sense. So then I suppose RCL doesn't come in or out of Montreal either. 

Edited March 11 by OnTheJourney