Cruising out of Baltimore

[Sutee]

Good Morning..... I am a new member and hoping to get advice on how and when to get the best price to cruise Burmuda or the Caribbean out of Baltimore. I am planning a extended family cruise for July 2016. Our budget is approx. $600. per person. When is the best time to look for any deals that may be available for this time of year. I would be booking probably 8-9 cabins.

We plan on driving from Cleveland to Baltimore to save on airfare. NJ ports would also be an option. Checking now.....it seems like fares are much higher out of these areas than traveling from Florida. :-(

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Sutee

[geoherb]

Prices are hard to predict. Right now, I don't see any cruises that meet your budget, even if you put four people to a cabin. In addition to the basic fare, you have to figure in taxes and fees, gratuities, plus any spending money for excursions, drinks, souvenirs, etc.

 

I generally book our cruises at the last minute--after the final payment date. But that's just for two of us. It could be harder to find a cruise that has 8-9 cabins, especially if you want to be somewhat near to each other.

[Sutee]

Thank you for your reply..... I appreciate your advice. :)

[YubaSutter]

Even if it is $600 p/p before gratuities, tax/port charges, and incidentals, you are probably not going to find your cruise.

[Kolten]

It may be possible in December we cruised really cheap I'll have to look and see what we paid. But we also drove to Baltimore saving a lot of money and we booked this cruise very last minute (they typically try to sell all the cabins and offer reduced rates if you wait until very last minute) this could be not doable since the amount of people you're talking about taking.... I would look @ prices in November / December... Don't hold me to it.... Cruise prices are impossible to predict it seems.

[Hlitner]

With that budget you would generally need to look at the 3-4 day cruises and most of those are out of Florida ports.

 

Hank

[Sutee]

Thanks again to all that have written and given me advice. I appreciate it!

The reason I thought this price may be doable.....is that my husband and I did a 10 days Mexican Riviera Princess Cruise in late Jan....early Feb. (this year) out of SFO and only paid $799 (Costco Travel) for a balcony each. I waited until 3 months before to book. They must have been trying to fill the ship. :D I still am hoping that maybe something will pop up over the winter that will be at a better price. I know it will be difficult with the amount of cabins we need. Has anyone booked with CruCon Cruises? They seem to offer some good prices....especially around Black Friday. Thanks again!

SuTee

[navybankerteacher]

There will be a problem with the $600 budget figure. Any Caribbean cruise out of Baltimore will be 7 or more days, and is doubt that will be easy to find. - except on a last minute basis - which will make getting the desired number of cabins tough. Any cruise to Bermuda is unlikely to fall in the $600 range due to demand nd short season.

[shipgeeks]

I just looked at the Baltimore cruises for our online travel agent, and there are a number of 6 and 7-night cruises well under $600, some as low as $449, including port charges but not tax. (Sorry that we are not allowed to name TAs here.) Onboard gratuities would be additional, of course.

Many Baltimore cruisers drive there the day before, and stay at a hotel or motel that offers free parking while on the cruise, and shuttles to and from the port. The Baltimore boards would have more ideas on this.

[Hlitner]

Ahhh, but one is working with a $600 budget. You need to calculate the cost of driving from Cleveland to Baltimore, a pre-cruise night in a hotel, about $13 per person/day for tips, expenses for drinks onboard, and any money spent in the ports. And then we are talking about July 2016 when the cheapest cruise is the 5 day Bermuda cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas. Even the least expensive cabin on that cabin will cost around $1000 per person after adding in taxes/fees. Since July is a very popular cruise month for shorter cruises (kids are on vacation) we would not expect last minute low price deals on these cruises.

 

Hank

[RSLeesburg]

If you look at Sep/Oct 2016, there are cruises out of Baltimore in your price range. Unfortunately, mid-July is prime time for family vacations, and with so few ships sailing from NE, the prices are higher than FL.