Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 17 #1 Share Posted July 17 Interesting news. Wonder of Carnival considered Philly as a homeport? Not sure of the logistics and ports of calls. Thoughts? https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/07/norwegian-cruise-line-announces-philadelphia-as-a-new-homeport/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz-s Posted July 17 #2 Share Posted July 17 Carnival does better with homeports below the Mason-Dixon it seems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ColeThornton Posted July 17 #3 Share Posted July 17 They already sail from Baltimore which is just down the road. Doesn't seem like they would need to use Philly also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted July 17 #4 Share Posted July 17 Its in the middle of Baltimore and New York, where carnival already operates now. i don't see carnival making a move at all with this new port Looking at google maps, it is also another height restricted port, requiring to sail under 2 bridges. This is why Norwegian is using an older jewel class ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyntil8ing Posted July 17 #5 Share Posted July 17 Yes, interesting. NCL currently cruises from both Baltimore and NYC seasonally. It just began Baltimore departures last fall. We did Norwegian Joy from NYC to Bermuda last month. The ship was too big and crowded for me, but I'd be inclined to try Jewel. I love multi-day Bermuda cruises! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 17 Author #6 Share Posted July 17 Baltimore is year round, and while New York is this year, it will not be next year. That said, proximity (I think) to the airport would be a plus. In terms of other close homeports, CCL has Charleston, Norfolk Jacksonville and Mobile. It is not necessarily about distance. All of this said, I have absolutely no idea what the terminal is like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyxie Posted July 17 #7 Share Posted July 17 7 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said: Baltimore is year round, and while New York is this year, it will not be next year. That said, proximity (I think) to the airport would be a plus. In terms of other close homeports, CCL has Charleston, Norfolk Jacksonville and Mobile. It is not necessarily about distance. All of this said, I have absolutely no idea what the terminal is like. Well they won't have Charleston anymore. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseAdict218 Posted July 17 #8 Share Posted July 17 48 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said: Yes, interesting. NCL currently cruises from both Baltimore and NYC seasonally. It just began Baltimore departures last fall. We did Norwegian Joy from NYC to Bermuda last month. The ship was too big and crowded for me, but I'd be inclined to try Jewel. I love multi-day Bermuda cruises! Think NCL is trading Baltimore for Philly, they only have one more departure from Baltimore in September then after that there's nothing for the rest of the year, 2025 or even early 2026. I wouldn't expect them to move to Philly at all, there's really not a ship to move there, the four Spirits (not including Luminosa) occupy Baltimore, Alaska, Europe during the summer seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 17 Author #9 Share Posted July 17 (edited) 11 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said: Think NCL is trading Baltimore for Philly, they only have one more departure from Baltimore in September then after that there's nothing for the rest of the year, 2025 or even early 2026. I wouldn't expect them to move to Philly at all, there's really not a ship to move there, the four Spirits (not including Luminosa) occupy Baltimore, Alaska, Europe during the summer seasons. Not sure about the Bridge height requirements, but assuming the same as Baltimore, I can think of potentially 4 other ships. They can move ships all the time from homeport to homeport. For the record, Luminosa was be a GREAT fit. All that said, I have no idea, just that additional homeports for into their model well. Edited July 17 by jimbo5544 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseAdict218 Posted July 17 #10 Share Posted July 17 1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said: Not sure about the Bridget height requirements, but assuming the same as Baltimore, I can think of potentially 4 other ships. They can move ships all the time from homeport to homeport. For the record, Luminosa was be a GREAT fit. All that said, I have no idea, just that additional homeports for into their model well. Poster above said it did have a bridge so I would assume its close to what Baltimore was. What other ships could be moved besides the Spirits and Luminosa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 17 Author #11 Share Posted July 17 2 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said: Poster above said it did have a bridge so I would assume its close to what Baltimore was. What other ships could be moved besides the Spirits and Luminosa? The four Spirit class ships, Elation and Paradise, and the two P&O ships. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyntil8ing Posted July 17 #12 Share Posted July 17 5 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said: Think NCL is trading Baltimore for Philly, they only have one more departure from Baltimore in September then after that there's nothing for the rest of the year, 2025 or even early 2026. I suspect Baltimore was always going to be very limited for NCL. There is only the one dock, and with Carnival and RCCL usually departing Saturday and Sundays, there's no opportunity for regular departures except during the week. And with that, I suspect there could be parking issues. Except for Bermuda, I am not a fan of the mid-Atlantic departures as itineraries are too limited. Also excepting my Greenland/Canada cruise next month. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 17 Author #13 Share Posted July 17 46 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said: I suspect Baltimore was always going to be very limited for NCL. There is only the one dock, and with Carnival and RCCL usually departing Saturday and Sundays, there's no opportunity for regular departures except during the week. And with that, I suspect there could be parking issues. Except for Bermuda, I am not a fan of the mid-Atlantic departures as itineraries are too limited. Also excepting my Greenland/Canada cruise next month. It is a unique area to sail from, that is for sure. Good luck on the Greenland trip, hope it goes WAY better than we got to experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohlerbear Posted July 17 #14 Share Posted July 17 Being about 20 minutes outside of Philly, this is exciting. I've only cruise Carnival but would def try NCL if its out of Philly. I would love it if Carnival did too. I also miss when Carnival went out of Boston. Got a really cheap cruise out of there once but I guess that's why they left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolphinsfan246 Posted July 17 #15 Share Posted July 17 Carnival DID used to sail from Philly. In the early 2000s. I know Carnival Legend came brand new to Philadelphia for a brief series of cruises. Not sure if it would fit into their lineup now though. Assuming Paradise and Elation are on the way out soon, that leaves only the Spirit class as an option and they are already stretched thin with the height restricted ports. Technically the P&O transfers could but I think the idea is to keep them down under. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3smithboys Posted July 17 #16 Share Posted July 17 Hmmmm, our very first cruise (before we knew anything about cruising) was on the NCL Dawn, and we said never again! It was horrible. Idk… we love Carnival’s Excel Class ships & thought the Havana area on the Horizon was amazing… but not having to travel to the ship… that sounds nice, but not enough for a subpar experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyntil8ing Posted July 17 #17 Share Posted July 17 2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said: Good luck on the Greenland trip, hope it goes WAY better than we got to experience. Thanks. Fingers crossed for good weather. We got an itinerary change yesterday. They flipped the order of the Greenland ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #18 Share Posted July 18 4 hours ago, cyntil8ing said: Thanks. Fingers crossed for good weather. We got an itinerary change yesterday. They flipped the order of the Greenland ports. Please let us know your thoughts when you return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidecat Posted July 18 #19 Share Posted July 18 5 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said: Carnival DID used to sail from Philly. In the early 2000s. I know Carnival Legend came brand new to Philadelphia for a brief series of cruises. Not sure if it would fit into their lineup now though. Assuming Paradise and Elation are on the way out soon, that leaves only the Spirit class as an option and they are already stretched thin with the height restricted ports. Technically the P&O transfers could but I think the idea is to keep them down under. Paradise and Elation both have 2026 drydocks set, they'll likely finish their careers in Florida. They both turn 28 in 2026, they should be able to last another 2-3 years after that, if not 5-6 years. Carnival's next window of opportunity would likely be in 2027 when Excel 4 enters the fleet. Sunshine may also be on retirement watch as well, so probably the only way Carnival adds a homeport is to reduce service somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #20 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 9 hours ago, tidecat said: Paradise and Elation both have 2026 drydocks set, they'll likely finish their careers in Florida. They both turn 28 in 2026, they should be able to last another 2-3 years after that, if not 5-6 years. Carnival's next window of opportunity would likely be in 2027 when Excel 4 enters the fleet. Sunshine may also be on retirement watch as well, so probably the only way Carnival adds a homeport is to reduce service somewhere else. No dog in this fight (do not really think there is a dog fight….but the point is valid). They have shown they can add homeports (seasonal at any rate), they do it all the time. As for Elation and Paradise, they will end their cruising time when the business case says it is time, where is TOTALLY open. All that said, nothing may change, but if Carnival has shown us something, it is they are extremely open to adding seasonal homeports if there is a business model to do so. By far more than any other cruise line, their model is to establish a homeport to support new cruisers with cruising opportunities that might not be able to or want to travel great distances to do so. Edited July 18 by jimbo5544 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdr69 Posted July 18 #21 Share Posted July 18 I would love to sail from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #22 Share Posted July 18 4 minutes ago, kdr69 said: I would love to sail from there. While only semi related, still have hopes that the USS Untied States gets refurb and be able to tour it. Having it near the cruise port would add to the experience. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stobe1 Posted July 18 #23 Share Posted July 18 2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said: While only semi related, still have hopes that the USS Untied States gets refurb and be able to tour it. Having it near the cruise port would add to the experience. Interesting idea. I have no idea about the cost (I am sure it would be several figures $$$), but maybe look at turning it into a hotel/museum like the Queen Mary in Long Beach?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ohioNCLcruiser Posted July 18 #24 Share Posted July 18 19 hours ago, cyntil8ing said: Thanks. Fingers crossed for good weather. We got an itinerary change yesterday. They flipped the order of the Greenland ports. Good luck! Just got off the Holland America N. Statendam and we lost all our Greenland ports but were replaced with two overnight ports, including Reykjavik which was great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ohioNCLcruiser Posted July 18 #25 Share Posted July 18 4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said: While only semi related, still have hopes that the USS Untied States gets refurb and be able to tour it. Having it near the cruise port would add to the experience. Not sure if you know but next month you can tour her for $250 before her eviction date. Most likely the last time before she heads to scrap or an artifical reef. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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