leaveitallbehind

Any itinerary that includes the Christmas and NYE holidays will be crowded in general and by families with children. The prices will also be the highest then. The week or two prior and the following few weeks are a good bet. Also, as mentioned, cruise lines operating in the winter out of the Baltimore to NY ports will be limited and will primarily be headed to the Bahamas / FL on 7-night itineraries and the Eastern / Western Caribbean if longer. Certain long (10 nights +) will get into the Southern Caribbean. But you can expect the first and last full days to be colder weather, which would limit the hotter weather days to those in between.

Even though you have your question answered, others may want to continue this discussion for points of their own. It - as with all threads on these boards - will find its own life cycle. You can just choose to not participate. By the way, although not likely what you intended, all capitals suggest yelling. Enjoy your cruise and hope your timing in port works out for your plans.

In our experience "port arrival time" has been when the ship is moored at the pier or at position at the tender point. Depending on port of call, the time for a ship to clear for disembarkation is typically 30 minutes or so, but that can certainly vary. We have never experienced a disembarkation delay as long as 2 hours in a tendered port. However, it may take that long to tender all of the passengers in queue. We try to avoid tender ports as a result. Most of the "clearing" activity is paperwork that is typically electronically conveyed and confirmed. Much of the activity on the pier will relate to tour operators or shuttle vehicles and the like, ship photographers and musicians, or in some cases provisions being ready to be boarded. In some ports, the tenders are provided by local operators but they can also be ship based craft. We have experienced both - ex.: port based in Grand Cayman, ship based in Maui. And to add, "port departure time" is the time the ship actually casts off their lines - or hauls anchor if set at a tender point - to commence departure. Most cruise lines have an "all on board" of at least 30 minutes prior to this or one risks being left behind. Seen that happen many times - but that is discussion for another thread.