How do you cruiser's determine which port of departure to use?

[GUT2407]

For me it's all about where the cruise I want to do leaves from.

 

But as Mrs Gut isn't allowed fly it's normally Sydney.

[Cyber Kat]

For us it's NYC or Baltimore because we can drive. NYC is really close and Baltimore has the Pride.

 

Flying is such a PITA these days I only do it for something special. We fly to Bermuda to stay. We flew to Amsterdam for our river cruise. And we will be flying to San Juan for a Viking West Indies cruise in March.

 

Our Canada cruise in September is out of NYC and we will drive, but if you want to do Canada/NE you pretty much have to cruise from NYC.

 

 

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[Boston Mom]

We've cruised out of a variety of different ports, depending on the situation.

 

For this trip we are making the 15 hour drive from MA to Charleston so we can have a few extra days there before and after the cruise. We will have our 3 kids with us, and it is much cheaper to drive and pay for a few nights' hotel than it is for five of us to fly. It also works out to be less hassle since there don't look to be good direct flights when we want to go.

 

We have cruised a few times out of NY/NJ because of the convenience of driving to the port (3 hours), and we have also flown to FL so the kids can stay with the Floridian grandparents while we cruise. We usually do Port Canaveral since it's the closest to where we are bringing the kiddos, but we have also done Miami, depending on itinerary and price.

[cmukid87]

I look to Galveston 1st and foremost. We have to fly no matter what (from Michigan). By planning far enough in advance and being diligent I can usually find round trip airfare for under $100/pp out of Chicago to Houston. Much of that airfare ends up being free using miles. Galveston also has the cheapest port fees and taxes than the other ports so when that is spread out over 6-8 people the cheaper fees/taxes make a big difference.

[dmdiver]

It depends on who we're traveling with. If it's our neighbors or family, we sail out of Galveston because we can drive there & not have to fly. If we are going with our friends from Virginia, it's typically Fort Lauderdale or Miami. If we ever get to go to Bermuda, we will likely go out of Baltimore, as we can stay overnight with our friends and drive to port with them.

[DebJ14]

Proximity to home. Galveston wins hands down since it is only 60 miles from home.

[mrsfuzzmo]

We choose our cruises by the itinerary and the ship. After that, if we have a few choices narrowed down, we choose a date frame and we definitely take airfare into consideration.

 

We live in WI and going to MIA/FLL in late winter or early spring is always more expensive than NOLA or TX type of thing. Tampa is always an option as we can get great airfare there, but won't book it if it's not a cruise I want to take. That being said, I will also choose a ship/itinerary and then play around with the date and time I will fly to the port to cut down on air prices.

 

 

So I choose the ship/itinerary/date and just deal with port of departure. I would never choose a cruise BECAUSE of a port of departure.....but I have to fly no matter what.

[Icesk8rReedy]

It's NOLA, Mobile, or Canaveral for us since it's close drive. We'd consider Tampa as well. Flights out of my city are super expensive since it's not a major airport and we have to keep cost into consideration. It tends to be cheaper for us to drive to ports than fly because of the cost of checked bags. Too much to deal with plus lost luggage. I carry all my stuff on board and carry it all off.

[drifter42]

Yes I live 2 hours from the nearest airport, so pretty much the only way I will fly is to go to LAX or Seattle.

 

 

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[Tapi]

It really varies from one cruise to another. We live in Atlanta so sometimes we fly and sometimes we drive. Just looking at my last few cruises:

 

 

• MSC Divina from Miami (Price driven. Too cheap to pass up and wanted to try a new cruise line)
  
• Enchantment of the Seas from Port Canaveral (needed to burn some credit card points)
  
• Golden Princess from Los Angeles (10th wedding anniversary. Wanted new destinations and a more upscale cruise line)
  
• Westerdam from Seattle (wanted to visit Alaska)
  
• Carnival Dream from Port Canaveral (mother in law joined us and she had credit card points to burn)
  
• Allure of the Seas from Ft. Lauderdale (wife won the cruise through her company)
  
• Carnival Fascination from Jacksonville (wanted an easy cruise from a nearby drive-to port for our son's 1st cruise)
  

We try not to repeat the same cruise line 2 times in a row. Next up is Disney Fantasy from Port Canaveral and Anthem of the Seas from Bayonne

Edited May 24, 2017 by Tapi

[RWolver672]

We never look at what port it leaves from. We look for cruises to places we haven't been to before. Then we pick from that list the ships that we haven't been on before. That gives us what port to cruise from.

[AnitaVacation]

We prefer to drive to port....and we live in upstate ny, so we typically sail from Boston, NYC and Baltimore...we have sailed out of Philly too....and would sail out of NJ if you found the right deal....

Flying is a pain in the butt....you have the added expense of the flight, luggage, pre-cruise hotel, etc...plus your limitations on liquids (each way, and we like to take advantage of some duty free alcohol)...and my husband really doesn't like it....he likes to be able to hop in his car after a cruise and head home....and we can bring what we want, take home what we've bought....

[tandemcruzr]

We don't fly anymore, so the port needs to be driveable for us.

[Doggielover68]

So far we have only sailed out of Florida and San Juan. Baltimore is a pretty short drive away from us, but the fares are much higher and itineraries aren't as good as what is offered from Florida. We go on more back to back cruises now since we only have to pay for flights once.

 

 

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[Alaskan Joe]

My DW and I pick our cruises by price p/day.