Charleston vs. Other FL ports for 3, 4, 5 day Cruise

[l2f]

Hello,

 

Although we can guess the answer, wanted to hear from the experts here at CC.

 

We have never done a 3, 4, or 5 day sailing based on reading reviews about how rowdy those cruises tend to be.

 

That said, when reading reviews on the 4 or 5 day sailings from Charleston never really hear about rowdy crowds. Some reviews have said things like a different clientile than expected or something like that.

 

For those that have done the short cruises from Charleston, are they not the rowdy crowds we have heard about from the shorter FL sailings.

 

Thanks in Advance.

[dulcimergirl]

I've done the Charleston thing, probably 8 or 9 times. Mostly its a family crowd. There will be "party" people, but not as much, and that depends also on what time of year. Go in spring, and you get the "spring break" people, who are definitely more into "party". Most of the passengers will be from SC, NC, Tn.

I'll be back in Charleston in Sept, its an easy port for me to get to, and I've got the "how" pretty ingrained by now.

 

Some of my advice,

Stay at one of the hotels on Patriots Point, an easy 10 minute shuttle ride to port.

Most have the park and cruise option. We always use points, and they will still "babysit" our car. 20$ for two to shuttle one way, very reasonable. I call for my own shuttle and go usually around 10:30 am.

Quick shuttle back from the cab stand in front of the port. Very easy.

I highly recommend a porter getting off the ship, they will quickly get you through the lines and gone. the line to check through customs is always shorter in the "porter" line.

When you are on your way to the port, get out your boarding pass, and passport, the first stop is to check these. So much easier when everyone is prepared, its a real hold up if they have to hunt the paperwork..

Any questions?

[l2f]

thanks dulcimergirl.

 

We are considering an early/mid September 5 day sailing from Charleston.

 

The hotel you use, is the parking secure?

Edited June 7, 2016 by l2f

[Bostwick girl]

Hello,

 

Although we can guess the answer, wanted to hear from the experts here at CC.

 

We have never done a 3, 4, or 5 day sailing based on reading reviews about how rowdy those cruises tend to be.

 

That said, when reading reviews on the 4 or 5 day sailings from Charleston never really hear about rowdy crowds. Some reviews have said things like a different clientile than expected or something like that.

 

For those that have done the short cruises from Charleston, are they not the rowdy crowds we have heard about from the shorter FL sailings.

 

Thanks in Advance.

I must say I am surprised at your comments about the rowdy cruises from Florida ports! I live in Florida, have sailed mostly from Port Canaveral, but a few times Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa on 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 day cruises at all different times of the year. I can honestly say we have never been on a cruise that I would consider too rowdy, although I've never been in the peak of spring break, ours have mostly been February, April, May, September and October. There are people having fun, all ages. If you do sail during spring break, then yes, you probably would experience rowdy crowds, especially if you enjoy the late night activities. We recently returned from the Victory cruise to Bermuda out of Port Canaveral, and I must say the "guests" on that trip were all older (senior) people. The thing that got me most about these seniors was the rudeness of so many of them, never quite experienced anything like it. Constantly complaining about something. So, guess I'll take my Florida ports, and a little rowdiness instead of the senior crowd, lol. Yes, I'm a senior too, but I'm not dead yet!

[uncleg]

Hello,

 

Although we can guess the answer, wanted to hear from the experts here at CC.

 

We have never done a 3, 4, or 5 day sailing based on reading reviews about how rowdy those cruises tend to be.

 

That said, when reading reviews on the 4 or 5 day sailings from Charleston never really hear about rowdy crowds. Some reviews have said things like a different clientile than expected or something like that.

 

For those that have done the short cruises from Charleston, are they not the rowdy crowds we have heard about from the shorter FL sailings.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

I have sailed out of Charleston several times and its always been a good crowd. I like to sail between the months of September through March, avoiding holidays, to avoid children on break. I like kids, but many parents tend to forget they are parents on cruise ships.

 

I can also say I have sailed out of Port Canaveral, Jacksonville and Tampa and have never had a problem with rowdy passengers. At least not rowdy IMO.

[dulcimergirl]

thanks dulcimergirl.

 

We are considering an early/mid September 5 day sailing from Charleston.

 

The hotel you use, is the parking secure?

I suppose so, its just their general parking lot. I've never had any problems though, even when we did a B2B. We park where the front desk can see it. I wouldn't leave any valuables in it though.

[pirate4me2]

Hello,

 

Although we can guess the answer, wanted to hear from the experts here at CC.

 

We have never done a 3, 4, or 5 day sailing based on reading reviews about how rowdy those cruises tend to be.

 

That said, when reading reviews on the 4 or 5 day sailings from Charleston never really hear about rowdy crowds. Some reviews have said things like a different clientile than expected or something like that.

 

For those that have done the short cruises from Charleston, are they not the rowdy crowds we have heard about from the shorter FL sailings.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

I just got off the 4 day Sunshine sailing and it was nothing like I was expecting! I saw no more rowdiness than on my 7+ day cruises I've done before this one.

[Sabalon]

It was 2013, but we took our first cruise out of Charleston - in February - 5 day.

 

It was a mix just like any cruise - families, college kids, older kids. There was one family that I kept seeing who were a little more "rural" than most of the passengers, but it takes all kinds right! I don't think I recall anyone craziness. I remember one of the college groups because walking by their open doors (they had neighboring cabins to each other) and they were a mess, and I remember seeing one of them on the beach, and she looked a lot redder on-board the next day.

 

As for staying, as others have said, Mt. Pleasant is a nice place to stay right across the water. You can visit the USS Yorktown museum if you have time...makes the Carnival accommodations all that much nicer looking!

 

We stayed at a Sleep Inn with their Stay and cruise rate. However, getting a taxi the next morning was a pain. I don't remember all the details, but basically it seemed impossible to get a cab from there to the port. A couple companies said "Yeah, we'll be there in 20min but never showed." Others were having a similar issue. We finally gave up and ended up parking at the port.

 

Our second was a 5-day out of Jacksonville - same thing - all types, no real rowdiness or anything I'd consider out of the ordinary, except one family who I swear the mother and daughters were having a contest in the MDR night after night to see who could wear the shorter dress.

[summersigh]

We sailed twice on the Sunshine - January for an 8 day out of Port Canaveral and in May for a 5 day out of Charleston. The 5 day had a not so much a rowdy feeling as a more "frantic" feeling like folks felt they had to cram everything into just a little time to get their money's worth. :rolleyes: It was not enough to feel really unpleasant but it was a different vibe on 5 vs 8.

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Mt Pleasant with the park and cruise package. It included the room for 1 night, breakfast, free parking during the cruise in their parking lot and free shuttle to and from the port. Well worth the cost in $$ and convenience. We brought the luggage down from the room pre-cruise and didn't have to tote it again until it was time to put it into the car at the hotel to go home.:)

[l2f]

Thanks for all the responses. Perhaps rowdy wasn't the best word choice. Perhaps the shorter cruises having the reputation as a "Booze Cruise"

 

We were really trying to see the relation to why Charleston would somehow have different clientale. We didn't think it would be any different.

 

We will probably try a 5 day from Charleston.

 

The reason I asked about parking on the East Coast board, people seem to ask all the time when speaking about hotels. Not being familiar with the area, our conclusion would be there must be some not so good areas to avoid.

[summersigh]

The reason I asked about parking on the East Coast board, people seem to ask all the time when speaking about hotels. Not being familiar with the area, our conclusion would be there must be some not so good areas to avoid.

If you Google Mt Pleasant SC you'll see a lot of nice tourist hotels. Mt Pleasant is just over the Ravenel Bridge (Hwy 17) from Charleston.

Nearby is the Shem Creek area with lots of really good seafood restaurants - many right on the water.

[T's MOM]

We sailed twice on the Sunshine - January for an 8 day out of Port Canaveral and in May for a 5 day out of Charleston. The 5 day had a not so much a rowdy feeling as a more "frantic" feeling like folks felt they had to cram everything into just a little time to get their money's worth. :rolleyes: It was not enough to feel really unpleasant but it was a different vibe on 5 vs 8.

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Mt Pleasant with the park and cruise package. It included the room for 1 night, breakfast, free parking during the cruise in their parking lot and free shuttle to and from the port. Well worth the cost in $$ and convenience. We brought the luggage down from the room pre-cruise and didn't have to tote it again until it was time to put it into the car at the hotel to go home.:)

 

what time did the shuttle take you over to the port on cruise day?

[summersigh]

what time did the shuttle take you over to the port on cruise day?

 

It left the hotel about 11am if I remember correctly. It was for the first cruise after dry dock and they weren't ready for boarding when we got there so it worked out great. It's only a 10-15 minute or so trip from the Hampton to the port.

 

The shuttle driver unloaded the luggage from the bus (small tour type bus) and a porter loaded it up so we didn't have to touch it after wheeling it out of the hotel doors.