GinaGigi Posted July 16 #1 Share Posted July 16 We want to take a cruise in December and was looking at HAL out of Ft. Lauderdale. However, the flights are not great Need to come a day early and stay over a night after. Also, quite expensive. I liked the idea of the ship being a bit smaller than the Mega ships. I am thinking now of sailing out of New Orleans or Galveston, (no HAL there), so looking for opinions of nice, smaller ships without spending hours and hours of research time. Any advice will be greatly appreciated...TIA, Gina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted July 16 #2 Share Posted July 16 19 minutes ago, GinaGigi said: We want to take a cruise in December and was looking at HAL out of Ft. Lauderdale. However, the flights are not great Need to come a day early and stay over a night after. Welcome to CruiseCritic! Please keep in mind that arriving a day early is strongly recommended by many! That ship will leave... with you or without you. So IF there are any airline delays... you could miss the ship if you plan to arrive several hours before the ship sails. (And don't forget to make sure you understand when you *must* be checked-in/on-board before sailing time, regardless of which day you arrive "in town".) We prefer smaller ships, but there are sizes and amenities for everyone it seems! GC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted July 16 #3 Share Posted July 16 (edited) My suggestion would be to talk with a live travel agent who is well versed in cruising. They would be in the best position to listen to your concerns and cruising preferences, and guide you to the best cruise lines that would fit your travel criteria and budget. There are many cruise line options from different departure ports with different air options that would best be navigated by one who makes their living finding the best fit for people with diverse travel circumstances. They also will be able to provide the best fares available for these options. JMO. Edited July 16 by leaveitallbehind 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike981 Posted July 16 #4 Share Posted July 16 1 hour ago, GinaGigi said: I am thinking now of sailing out of New Orleans or Galveston, (no HAL there), so looking for opinions of nice, smaller ships without spending hours and hours of research time. Any advice will be greatly appreciated...TIA, Gina Since this is the internet, I'm sure someone will give you their take. I strongly suggest you spend enough time that you can make good decisions on the suggestions you receive. Not going in blind if you will. Either way, have a great trip! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinaGigi Posted July 16 Author #5 Share Posted July 16 Thank you, I appreciate the opinions. I am the person who does too much research, hours and hours, so I thought I ask - might be a lightbulb moment in there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 16 #6 Share Posted July 16 40 minutes ago, GinaGigi said: Thank you, I appreciate the opinions. I am the person who does too much research, hours and hours, so I thought I ask - might be a lightbulb moment in there.... Some of the well known lines like NCL, Royal and Carnival do have smaller ships. Galveston is generally cheap but New Orleans can be expensive to fly to during the tourist season and decent hotels are not cheap. When checking Fort Lauderdale air also check Miami, it is a toss up for me which is cheaper. There are many decent quality hotels in Fort Lauderdale at very good rates (book early) and offer a free airport shuttle and a small fee cruise terminal shuttle. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 16 #7 Share Posted July 16 3 hours ago, GinaGigi said: We want to take a cruise in December and was looking at HAL out of Ft. Lauderdale. However, the flights are not great Need to come a day early and stay over a night after. Also, quite expensive. I liked the idea of the ship being a bit smaller than the Mega ships. I am thinking now of sailing out of New Orleans or Galveston, (no HAL there), so looking for opinions of nice, smaller ships without spending hours and hours of research time. Any advice will be greatly appreciated...TIA, Gina You are going to have the same issues no matter where you begin and end your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted July 16 #8 Share Posted July 16 I will throw in the idea of sailing from Baltimore, on a small (2000 passenger) ship, Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas. BWI would be the airport, and Trinity Reservations is a good source of hotel info, including those that provide shuttles to the port. Are you primarily interested in cruising to the Caribbean? Vision does a rotation of itineraries, including Caribbean (12 nights), and South Coast and Bahamas (9 nights). She is a classic ship without the amusement park vibe that larger ships might have, and passengers are mainly adults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 16 #9 Share Posted July 16 Living in Idaho does limit your air options and unfortunately, it is what it is. Certainly check Southwest (which does not show in some search engines) as they do have some flights out of Idaho. Otherwise, we do not have any good solution other than to drive to a distant city (such as Salt Lake City) that offers more air options (and more competitive pricing). The reality is that air prices are up, up, up, in many markets. Cruising out of New Orleans really does limit your cruise options (RCL, NCL and Carnival) and the itineraries might be less desirable than what you can get from the Florida ports. Galveston (you would fly to Houston) would add Princess to the mix. That time of the year you also have the possibility of doing some cruises out of California ports that would take you down to Mexico and ever further (if you have the time and money). Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runner15km Posted July 17 #10 Share Posted July 17 Brillance of the Seas out of New Orleans is a smaller ship considering what is sailing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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