Recommendations for a short cruise departing Tampa
Jun 1, 2018, 3:42 pm
#31
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 96
Fair enough. They surely won't make changes until they risk losing too much money by not making changes. What we can rely on, though, is that the cruise lines won't retain old, smaller ships, or build new, smaller ships, when their profit model is built on the much greater efficiency of today's larger ships.
Jun 1, 2018, 3:51 pm
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,733
In the case of Baltimore and Tampa, with the limitations caused by bridge height, it is possible that, rather than modifying the facilities, they will become obsolete cruise ports once the shorter ships are no longer in service, similar to what happened to Philadelphia (when I first started cruising, there were cruises from Philadelphia).
Jun 2, 2018, 5:13 am
#33
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 96
Tampa especially. With Baltimore, the question of alternative ports comes into play. Norfolk is too far away to be considered an alternative. Cape Liberty is two and a half hours away by car - probably still too far to serve BOS-WASH.
Then there is Wilmington DE. It's surely close enough for all but the most persnickety of Baltimore passengers, and it could even recapture some passengers from Philadelphia that find both Baltimore and Cape Liberty too far away.
Then there is Wilmington DE. It's surely close enough for all but the most persnickety of Baltimore passengers, and it could even recapture some passengers from Philadelphia that find both Baltimore and Cape Liberty too far away.
Jun 2, 2018, 7:46 am
#34
Join Date: May 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: AA EXP, DL Silver, Global Entry
Posts: 1,863
Tampa especially. With Baltimore, the question of alternative ports comes into play. Norfolk is too far away to be considered an alternative. Cape Liberty is two and a half hours away by car - probably still too far to serve BOS-WASH.
Then there is Wilmington DE. It's surely close enough for all but the most persnickety of Baltimore passengers, and it could even recapture some passengers from Philadelphia that find both Baltimore and Cape Liberty too far away.
Then there is Wilmington DE. It's surely close enough for all but the most persnickety of Baltimore passengers, and it could even recapture some passengers from Philadelphia that find both Baltimore and Cape Liberty too far away.
Jun 2, 2018, 8:23 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 96
Norfolk is too far from the big northeastern cities. I'm not sure why "running time to reach even the more northern Caribbean islands" from Norfolk would be any worse than from Baltimore - I'd think better.
Regardless, Wilmington is a much better prospect. 46 million people live within 200 miles of Wilmington, and from that entire area it is almost as if "all roads lead to Wilmington" (I-95 from Richmond, Washington, Baltimore; I-66 from the Shenandoah Valley; I-76, I-70 and I-95 from Pittsburgh; I-95 from Philadelphia and New York; I-476 from Northeastern PA).
Regardless, Wilmington is a much better prospect. 46 million people live within 200 miles of Wilmington, and from that entire area it is almost as if "all roads lead to Wilmington" (I-95 from Richmond, Washington, Baltimore; I-66 from the Shenandoah Valley; I-76, I-70 and I-95 from Pittsburgh; I-95 from Philadelphia and New York; I-476 from Northeastern PA).
Jun 2, 2018, 8:59 am
#36
Join Date: May 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
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Posts: 1,863
Norfolk is too far from the big northeastern cities. I'm not sure why "running time to reach even the more northern Caribbean islands" from Norfolk would be any worse than from Baltimore - I'd think better.
Regardless, Wilmington is a much better prospect. 46 million people live within 200 miles of Wilmington, and from that entire area it is almost as if "all roads lead to Wilmington" (I-95 from Richmond, Washington, Baltimore; I-66 from the Shenandoah Valley; I-76, I-70 and I-95 from Pittsburgh; I-95 from Philadelphia and New York; I-476 from Northeastern PA).
Regardless, Wilmington is a much better prospect. 46 million people live within 200 miles of Wilmington, and from that entire area it is almost as if "all roads lead to Wilmington" (I-95 from Richmond, Washington, Baltimore; I-66 from the Shenandoah Valley; I-76, I-70 and I-95 from Pittsburgh; I-95 from Philadelphia and New York; I-476 from Northeastern PA).
Jun 2, 2018, 9:44 am
#37
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: Delta Gold, silver, what yr is it?
Posts: 2,417
Well, since we're so far afield from short cruises in Tampa....
My first cruise with my husband was 2006, 10day southern Caribbean out of Norfolk on HAL. We loved being able to drive (from central NC, not a short drive, but totally doable day of...) It's really the only drivable port for us, so we don't drive anymore. Of course, we're also not really interested in Caribbean cruising either, but we do mourn the loss of Norfolk as an option...We had a VERY ROUGH first couple days on that cruise. Like, rolling out of bed bad. And many of the people with cabins in the bow were looking for alternate places to sleep.
My first cruise with my husband was 2006, 10day southern Caribbean out of Norfolk on HAL. We loved being able to drive (from central NC, not a short drive, but totally doable day of...) It's really the only drivable port for us, so we don't drive anymore. Of course, we're also not really interested in Caribbean cruising either, but we do mourn the loss of Norfolk as an option...We had a VERY ROUGH first couple days on that cruise. Like, rolling out of bed bad. And many of the people with cabins in the bow were looking for alternate places to sleep.
Jun 2, 2018, 10:01 am
#38
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 96
The drive from W-S (for example) to Charleston is only a few minutes longer, as compared to Norfolk, and less prone to bad traffic in my experience.
Of course, as we mentioned earlier, the problem with all these cruises from the off-price ports is that you tend to get lesser ships and lesser itineraries. Having said that, there are cruises from Charleston that visit Aruba and Curacao.
Of course, as we mentioned earlier, the problem with all these cruises from the off-price ports is that you tend to get lesser ships and lesser itineraries. Having said that, there are cruises from Charleston that visit Aruba and Curacao.
Jun 2, 2018, 10:24 am
#39
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: Delta Gold, silver, what yr is it?
Posts: 2,417
The drive from W-S (for example) to Charleston is only a few minutes longer, as compared to Norfolk, and less prone to bad traffic in my experience. Of course, as we mentioned earlier, the problem with all these cruises from the off-price ports is that you tend to get lesser ships and lesser itineraries. Having said that, there are cruises from Charleston that visit Aruba and Curacao.
Jun 2, 2018, 1:47 pm
#40
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 96
If you restrict yourself to a local port then your choices are going to be limited, and again, inferior to what you can get by embarking from a major cruise port, like Miami.
Jun 3, 2018, 8:24 am
#41
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: ATL
Posts: 802
for a 3 day,you will get on the boat at around 2pm, have a whole day, and then get off the boat at 10am the next day. you will hardly have time to play the slot machines.
i like RC. we yacht(fly?) out of Baltimore. they only have one boat that services Balt. it is old, and been rebuilt a time or two. the something of the sea. cooking is very good, staff is terrific. one gets nickel and dime to death, but the berths are cheap. my understanding is that both balt and tampa have a problem with water depth, so the monster boats do not fit.
i like RC. we yacht(fly?) out of Baltimore. they only have one boat that services Balt. it is old, and been rebuilt a time or two. the something of the sea. cooking is very good, staff is terrific. one gets nickel and dime to death, but the berths are cheap. my understanding is that both balt and tampa have a problem with water depth, so the monster boats do not fit.
"boat" arround crew members. Boats are on the ship to save you if the ship sinks.
Jun 3, 2018, 9:18 am
#42
Join Date: Jul 2009
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I would have thought saying we don't enjoy sailing the Caribbean but live in NC would have already limited us. We don't drive to cruise ports. We did it once, for our first cruise together. It is highly unlikely we ever will again. That's where the "moot" in my original quotation comes into play ;-)
Jun 3, 2018, 10:14 am
#43
Join Date: May 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
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I would have thought saying we don't enjoy sailing the Caribbean but live in NC would have already limited us. We don't drive to cruise ports. We did it once, for our first cruise together. It is highly unlikely we ever will again. That's where the "moot" in my original quotation comes into play ;-)
Jun 4, 2018, 7:53 am
#44
Suspended
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I've never seen or heard of a crew member objecting to what you called the vessel. You might find a cruise culture snob tut-tutting if you use the term "boat" but like most annoying pests they are easy to shoo away.
Jun 4, 2018, 7:58 am
#45
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: ATL
Posts: 802
I have never heard it either. They would probably get fired if they reprimanded a guest. I have heard passengers call it a boat in front of ship personnel and in every instance, the employee used the term "ship" in their response.