Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses into Patapsco River in Baltimore after vessel crashes into support column

[KmomChicago]

14 minutes ago, ferfoodle said:

 

First up and most important, my thoughts are with the families of those who have perished and who are injured in this terrible incident. Human life is most important.

 

I too am on the Pride repositioning cruise April 7th. I hope we find out in the next few days what are end destination will be. Changing flights this late is going to be rough enough but having to do that at sea...ay ay ay. 

If it were me making the decision I would simply tell Carnival guests we’ll bus you if you fly into Baltimore until we return to Baltimore. If you prefer to change your flight feel free. Since no one knows how long until a shipping lane is open, it’s impossible to advise flight passengers in, for example, May, what to do. 
 

It might be less hassle and risk to ensure passengers know they will be accommodated without changing flights so everyone can just still come to Baltimore.
 

A lot of people will prefer to change their flight anyway to avoid the bus. A lot will likewise prefer not to mess with the stress of changing plans and maybe taking on more expenses. Carnival will probably ask passengers to pre book a bus ride if needed via the shore excursions for their sailing so they can plan bus demand.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, KmomChicago said:

If it were me making the decision I would simply tell Carnival guests we’ll bus you if you fly into Baltimore until we return to Baltimore. If you prefer to change your flight feel free. Since no one knows how long until a shipping lane is open, it’s impossible to advise flight passengers in, for example, May, what to do. 
 

It might be less hassle and risk to ensure passengers know they will be accommodated without changing flights so everyone can just still come to Baltimore.
 

A lot of people will prefer to change their flight anyway to avoid the bus. A lot will likewise prefer not to mess with the stress of changing plans and maybe taking on more expenses. Carnival will probably ask passengers to pre book a bus ride if needed via the shore excursions for their sailing so they can plan bus demand.

according to mr Google it is 232 miles between ports.  That is one long bus ride.... 

[KmomChicago]

3 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

according to mr Google it is 232 miles between ports.  That is one long bus ride.... 

right. I’m interested what % of Baltimore passengers typically fly anyway. I’m in Chicago and we drove.

[jimbo5544]

13 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

right. I’m interested what % of Baltimore passengers typically fly anyway. I’m in Chicago and we drove.

I would bet very low.  Pretty sure that home port has the highest persistency.

[CatDadWV]

28 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

If it were me making the decision I would simply tell Carnival guests we’ll bus you if you fly into Baltimore until we return to Baltimore. If you prefer to change your flight feel free. Since no one knows how long until a shipping lane is open, it’s impossible to advise flight passengers in, for example, May, what to do. 
 

It might be less hassle and risk to ensure passengers know they will be accommodated without changing flights so everyone can just still come to Baltimore.
 

A lot of people will prefer to change their flight anyway to avoid the bus. A lot will likewise prefer not to mess with the stress of changing plans and maybe taking on more expenses. Carnival will probably ask passengers to pre book a bus ride if needed via the shore excursions for their sailing so they can plan bus demand.

I just finished rebooking my flight and pre-cruise hotel from Baltimore to Norfolk.  Original fare applied to new flight and no penalty cancellation for the hotel.

[Wehwalt]

I would suspect that the cruise lines do not want to be in the business of busing people from Baltimore to Norfolk. I anticipate generous cancellation policies, but it won't be their job to bus passengers except for returning from the voyages that have already started. 

Edited March 27 by Wehwalt

[ferfoodle]

21 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I would bet very low.  Pretty sure that home port has the highest persistency.

 

Well since Colorado doesn't have a home port...I fly. My flight from Baltimore is early afternoon. A bus ride wouldn't make it in time. Not knowing what the arrival time in Norfolk would be, I would be uncomfortable changing to a new flight right away. I'll get it figured out but would like the official word from Carnival first (and in time).

[Theo1429]

Legend coming to Norfolk on the March 31 they are going to bus everyone back to Baltimore. Legend will be sailing out of Norfolk for now

[shof515]

guest on the sunday sailing on the legend is getting a 100 dollar credit:

[lstone19]

2 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

I would suspect that the cruise lines do not want to be in the business of busing people from Baltimore to Norfolk. I anticipate generous cancellation policies, but it won't be their job to bus passengers except for returning from the voyages that have already started. 

 

I can only say good luck to the passengers then. There is nowhere close to the same amount of air capacity to Norfolk as to Baltimore. Norfolk handles less than 25% of the passengers BWI handles in a year and National and Dulles are also alternatives for getting to Baltimore. Norfolk handles only about 2 million departing passengers per year (a little over 5,000 per day).

[Wehwalt]

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

I can only say good luck to the passengers then. There is nowhere close to the same amount of air capacity to Norfolk as to Baltimore. Norfolk handles less than 25% of the passengers BWI handles in a year and National and Dulles are also alternatives for getting to Baltimore. Norfolk handles only about 2 million departing passengers per year (a little over 5,000 per day).

Baltimore is an attractive cruise port despite being relatively far from open ocean because it is very drivable. If you are going to fly then for an hour or at most two more you can be in FLL and take a cheaper ship that leaves from a port much closer to the action.  Norfolk is less attractive not because of flight connections but because it is further from DC and other cities within a hour or so drive of the Baltimore cruise port. 

[SRF]

A lot of the issue is that a lot of people drive to Baltimore.   So now they have to drive a lot further.  Or be bussed.   

 

The good news is, the ship normally has to sail from Baltimore down the bay, so that is a good bit of time to allow the ship to leave later and have people fly/drive into Baltimore and be bussed.

 

We are on the April 15 Balt - Barcelona.  A REAL pain to have to get to Norfolk to depart and then get back there to get a car left there.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

A lot of the issue is that a lot of people drive to Baltimore.   So now they have to drive a lot further.  Or be bussed.   

 

The good news is, the ship normally has to sail from Baltimore down the bay, so that is a good bit of time to allow the ship to leave later and have people fly/drive into Baltimore and be bussed.

 

We are on the April 15 Balt - Barcelona.  A REAL pain to have to get to Norfolk to depart and then get back there to get a car left there.

I bet you are right on in regards to the amount of people that drive to the port.  It will be interesting to see how long the temp arrangement is and how they come up with plan to mitigate the issue.  Your cruise is fairly unique in nature.

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, shof515 said:

guest on the sunday sailing on the legend is getting a 100 dollar credit:

Seems to be the new baseline for issues.

[kdr69]

On 3/26/2024 at 5:17 AM, pohlerbear said:

I’ve seen video where the ship appears to lose power before it hits the bridge. Early reporting is they lost ability to control the ship. So tragic. 

watched one where it was apparent they lost power a few times before hitting the bridge support.

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

watched one where it was apparent they lost power a few times before hitting the bridge support.

Seen a lot of them and one appears to lose it at least twice.  It will be interesting to see how the investigation unfolds.  Sometimes Murphys law is just not pretty to watch.

[Laszlo]

Kind of surprised they did not pick NYC or NJ or Norfolk 

[tidecat]

2 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Kind of surprised they did not pick NYC or NJ or Norfolk 

Norfolk only has a handful of ships calling this summer. Royal Caribbean uses Bayonne (NJ), so any ships relocating there will have to juggle around what is scheduled. New York has multiple piers, but multiple cruise lines call there. Norfolk had the greatest availability and ships out of Baltimore basically have to pass it anyway.

[KmomChicago]

10 hours ago, CatDadWV said:

I just finished rebooking my flight and pre-cruise hotel from Baltimore to Norfolk.  Original fare applied to new flight and no penalty cancellation for the hotel.

Oh good!! That makes me feel relieved for all the impacted travelers!
 

I am glad the adjustment info was provided by Carnival same day as the incident and that you’re able to get all reset. Surely hundreds of others are doing the same. Enjoy the cruise. 

[At Sea At Peace]

11 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

according to mr Google it is 232 miles between ports.  That is one long bus ride.... 

 

I'm wondering if passengers without cars or the need to go to Baltimore on the buses and simply rebook flights from Norfolk with a 20 minute taxi or uber or shuttle bus?

[Guest]

I wonder if Carnival will extend some of the port times when possible for these cruises from Norfolk, or just slow crawl there and back. They will now be getting an additional 8 hours both down and back by not having to go through the bay. 

[KmomChicago]

10 hours ago, ferfoodle said:

 

Well since Colorado doesn't have a home port...I fly. My flight from Baltimore is early afternoon. A bus ride wouldn't make it in time. Not knowing what the arrival time in Norfolk would be, I would be uncomfortable changing to a new flight right away. I'll get it figured out but would like the official word from Carnival first (and in time).

Understood! We can have a lot of fun speculating/ aka making up wild theories but of course it’s nothing until Carnival says so. I likewise wouldn’t change plans without actual decisions in place.
 

As for the homeport problem I feel you. We tried Baltimore just the once to see if the drive (closest / shortest drive time of any large ship port) was worth it over flying. It wasn’t. It was a miserable drive, and we have accepted we will fly to any future cruises unless we move somewhere coastal. However, that being the case, I would probably not bother flying for those older ships, just me. We had a lovely Christmas cruise on Legend but a one and done for us.
 

I can just go to Miami and have practically every cruise line and shiny new megaship option to choose from if I am already accepting that I’m flying no matter what.

 

So I am going on that assumption, that the convenience of a same day, half day drive is a major draw for these Baltimore departures. Obviously there are exceptions. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

13 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

according to mr Google it is 232 miles between ports.  That is one long bus ride.... 

 

When you consider the major cities along that route, it could easily become an extremely long bus ride.  

[StephPS79]

For my experience, we booked Pride to Bermuda out of Baltimore for September 2025.  For reference, we live about 15 minutes from Norfolk.  A few reasons we picked Baltimore, we definitely wanted to go to Bermuda, the ship didn't matter much, and the it seemed to be the only port with an itinerary with 2 overnights in Bermuda, which was important to us.  We figured we'd drive or possibly take the train to Baltimore and avoid airfare.  There are cruises out of Norfolk with only 1 overnight, but we really wanted two and it was worth the 4-5 hour driver for us.  

 

However, if any of the NYC to Bermuda 2025 cruises were 2 overnights, we probably would have picked that one over Baltimore, but I didn't see any.

[shof515]

12 minutes ago, StephPS79 said:

However, if any of the NYC to Bermuda 2025 cruises were 2 overnights, we probably would have picked that one over Baltimore, but I didn't see any.

 

if you can you jump ship to another cruise line, Norwegian does weekly Bermuda cruises out of NYC. the ship is in Bermuda Wednesday to Friday