Winter Cruises from NYC

[missmacie]

My boyfriend and I are considering booking our 2nd cruise for February 2013. As I absolutely despise flying, we were looking at the 8 Day Bahamas cruise on the Miracle from NYC so that we can cruise without having to worry about a flight.

 

Before booking, I figured I'd ask the experts - what are you opinions on the NYC cruises during the winter? Any experience? Obviously we'd expect to have a cold first and last day - but what about the rest of the time?

 

Any advice?

 

Also - any hotels in the area offer parking packages?

 

Thanks!!

[firefly333]

No hotels that offer park n cruise from what I have read.

 

Baltimore was snowed in once and people had a hard time getting to the port. I hope you get there early and dont take weather chances on missing your cruise. No matter the weather, they expect you to get there.

[SNJCruisers]

My boyfriend and I are considering booking our 2nd cruise for February 2013. As I absolutely despise flying, we were looking at the 8 Day Bahamas cruise on the Miracle from NYC so that we can cruise without having to worry about a flight.

 

Before booking, I figured I'd ask the experts - what are you opinions on the NYC cruises during the winter? Any experience? Obviously we'd expect to have a cold first and last day - but what about the rest of the time?

 

Any advice?

 

Also - any hotels in the area offer parking packages?

 

Thanks!!

The only hotels that offer parking packages are located on Staten Island or in the Newark NJ area. Another option is to look into the Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne NJ. It does 7 day sailings similar to the Miracle, but it stops at CoCo Cay, RCI's private island. It also does 9 day sailings further south to the Caribbean with 2 days down and back and 4 port stops in the middle.

[MrPete]

My boyfriend and I are considering booking our 2nd cruise for February 2013. As I absolutely despise flying, we were looking at the 8 Day Bahamas cruise on the Miracle from NYC so that we can cruise without having to worry about a flight.

 

Before booking, I figured I'd ask the experts - what are you opinions on the NYC cruises during the winter? Any experience? Obviously we'd expect to have a cold first and last day - but what about the rest of the time?

 

Any advice?

 

Also - any hotels in the area offer parking packages?

 

Thanks!!

 

This is the first Winter Carnival is sailing out of NY, so you will need a visit from someone who has done it on another line.

 

My only concern is that I'm warm enough at night, with nice heavy blankets, but the Bahamas are not far enough south for me. I might have tried it had they gone to at least the eastern Caribbean.

[rjrpar]

We've done 3 cruises out of NJ on RCCL. They are great because of the simplicity of driving vs flying. The one issue is the cruise takes 2 full days to get to the islands, so the cruise should be at least 9 days to enjoy some warm Caribbean ports.

[LANDLADY]

We have sailed out of NYC in both December and January. It was no problem. And sailing out of NYC at night is the best. We sailed in December with snow on the decks...it was pretty interesting. Sorry I can't help you regarding hotels and parking as we live in NJ and just drive in and leave car at port.

[ibcnusoon]

yea, I don't like what Carnival offers as ports from NYC. If you want a more exciting itinerary, try Royal Caribbean out of Bayonne or Norweigian Cruise LInes out of New York City. Carnival needs to step it up a bit in NYC and offer better ports, the old Bahamas itinerary is going to grow old on Carnival once NCL brings in their new ship, Breakaway, which has a much better Bahamas itinerary than Carnival.

[MS52]

I'm one who likes going out of the NE ports in the winter to avoid flying. We have always used Baltimore.

 

Yes, you have a cold day going and a cold day returning but in my mind, a cold day on a cruise ship beats a day at the airport anytime....and yes, a three hour flight takes up a whole day.

[Redsfan]

out of curiosity have you thought about Amtrak? Pick it up in Buffalo and take a nice scenic route to Florida and go from there? New York is still a 10 hour drive for you from T.O..

[golfadj]

We cruise in winter to get away from winter and most likely first 1 1/2 days and lst 1 1/2 will be on cold side.

 

Also not going far enough south to get warmth. Would do a more southern itinerary at least.

[serene56]

Expect 4 days out of those days to be cold weather.

 

we cruised out of Baltimore last February- arrived with a balmy 54 degrees. a Few weeks before our cruise-- the port had a lot of snow. People arriving off that cruise had to dig their car out.

 

Expectation --going with the flow.

[missmacie]

out of curiosity have you thought about Amtrak? Pick it up in Buffalo and take a nice scenic route to Florida and go from there? New York is still a 10 hour drive for you from T.O..

 

It's still 24 hours or more to Florida... I did look into that option prior to our last cruise and although the scenic route would be great, I don't have that many vacation days to spare ;). We travel to NYC several times a year and it's actually about an 8.5 hour drive [as long as we don't hit construction/traffic, etc]. Thanks for the suggestion though :)

[Ocean Dancer]

We have done Bayonne, and Baltimore many times in the winter...try for a longer cruise. We love the 12 days to the Eastwern Carribbean, but they are getting less..........we are doing a 10 day on the Explorer in Dec.:D

 

Bayonne area offers a sleep and park, but you must pay for a limo/shuttle to the pier. You probably can find someone on the roll call to share those expences. Baltimore has many sleep/park/shuttle to the pier, cheaper than parking at the pier.