Planning Family Cruise

[susquehannaretriever1]

I am trying to plan the first cruise for my wife and me, adult son & girlfriend and adult daughter and friend or boyfriend (single right now).  I want to make it a Christmas present for this year.  We live in Pennsylvania so I would like to drive to NY, NJ, or Baltimore so I don't have to pay airfare.  No preference on cruise lines as we haven't cruised thus don't have a favorite.  Any PA/east coast people have suggestions, things to consider, advise.  All are welcome and appreciated!

[KmomChicago]

I'm not in PA but we are sailing out of NJ in August, will also be driving - just a bit further. :) 

 

Are you actually taking the cruise at Christmas? Because prices are hugely inflated at that time.  If you can travel other times, I would look at right after Christmas, starting the 2nd week of January through President's day (when spring break starts ramping up).  You have a better shot at far fewer rugrats running about and off season pricing.

 

We are on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas this August, but if you want a lot of wow factor for your first experience I would consider Anthem of the Seas, also out of Cape Liberty (Bayonne) NJ.  It's a fairly new ship, huge, with all sorts of bells and whistles.  It's the Quantum Class which is just "below" Oasis class among Royal Caribbean's options.   I would have loved to go on Anthem rather than Adventure (which is still a nice ship that I'm sure we will love) but the itinerary was wrong for us.

 

I would start by simply visiting the websites of Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian and look to see what's available for the dates you want.  You can price out full cruises with various types of rooms and compare. Good luck!

[1025cruise]

I would suggest you find a travel agent who can advise you of your different options.

[jlp20]

Your just going to have to make the offer. The primary issue is agreeing on a sail date. Once that is decided you have to see if three acceptable cabins are available. 

[pacruise804]

15 hours ago, susquehannaretriever1 said:

I am trying to plan the first cruise for my wife and me, adult son & girlfriend and adult daughter and friend or boyfriend (single right now).  I want to make it a Christmas present for this year.  We live in Pennsylvania so I would like to drive to NY, NJ, or Baltimore so I don't have to pay airfare.  No preference on cruise lines as we haven't cruised thus don't have a favorite.  Any PA/east coast people have suggestions, things to consider, advise.  All are welcome and appreciated!

 

I'm in the Susquehanna Valley, so about 3 - 3.5 hours from any of your ports.  We have sailed from Manhattan (first cruise), Baltimore, and Brooklyn/Red Hook; and will sail from NJ this summer.

 

I'm personally a fan of Baltimore, especially for a first cruise.  It's very easy to get in and out of the port (NY traffic is a bit more confusing 😉 ). I'm not sure about the Grandeur, but the Pride leaves late enough that we have no issue driving morning of if weather is decent.  For winter travel (or just peace of mind) there are also several park and sail hotel packages where you can stay at a hotel for just a little more than the cost of parking at the port, arrive the day before (maybe explore the area a little), and be shuttled back and forth from the hotel.

 

For a first cruise, Carnival and the Bahamas can be a nice way to find what you do and don't like about cruising at a reasonable price.  Pride just came out of dry dock (and even before had the Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades), so it should be fairly clean and updated.  It's a smaller ship (comparatively), but still has a lot to offer.

 

You might want to post this in the East Coast departures board too for a more local audience.

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm in the Susquehanna Valley, so about 3 - 3.5 hours from any of your ports.  We have sailed from Manhattan (first cruise), Baltimore, and Brooklyn/Red Hook; and will sail from NJ this summer.

 

I'm personally a fan of Baltimore, especially for a first cruise.  It's very easy to get in and out of the port (NY traffic is a bit more confusing 😉 ). I'm not sure about the Grandeur, but the Pride leaves late enough that we have no issue driving morning of if weather is decent.  For winter travel (or just peace of mind) there are also several park and sail hotel packages where you can stay at a hotel for just a little more than the cost of parking at the port, arrive the day before (maybe explore the area a little), and be shuttled back and forth from the hotel.

 

For a first cruise, Carnival and the Bahamas can be a nice way to find what you do and don't like about cruising at a reasonable price.  Pride just came out of dry dock (and even before had the Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades), so it should be fairly clean and updated.  It's a smaller ship (comparatively), but still has a lot to offer.

 

You might want to post this in the East Coast departures board too for a more local audience.

 

Going to Bayonne is about 2 1/2 hours from my house in PA and there is generally very little traffic.  Fairly new terminal and brand new garage.  Easy in and out of Bayonne.  

[pacruise804]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

 

Going to Bayonne is about 2 1/2 hours from my house in PA and there is generally very little traffic.  Fairly new terminal and brand new garage.  Easy in and out of Bayonne.  

 

I'm hoping that will be the case for our June cruise on the Anthem - it seems like it should be easier than either NY port.  I'm not sure how the X ship(s) are, but for a first timer I personally wouldn't recommend something as big as the Anthem.  It looks great and I'm looking forward to it, but I would have likely been overwhelmed if it was my first.

[dkjretired]

25 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm hoping that will be the case for our June cruise on the Anthem - it seems like it should be easier than either NY port.  I'm not sure how the X ship(s) are, but for a first timer I personally wouldn't recommend something as big as the Anthem.  It looks great and I'm looking forward to it, but I would have likely been overwhelmed if it was my first.

 

The only Celebrity ship that currently goes out of NJ on a regular basis is Summit.  It is a great ship currently in dry dock for millions of dollars in upgrades. The Summit goes to Bermuda for three days but only in the summer. Summit is a cruise ship not a floating amusement park.

[boontj2003]

i Don’t think the summit is in Jersey in December. Ibelieve it stays in SJ. 

[dkjretired]

On 2/28/2019 at 4:57 PM, boontj2003 said:

i Don’t think the summit is in Jersey in December. Ibelieve it stays in SJ. 

 

It is but the OP didn’t say when he was as going, only that he wanted to give it as a Christmas present.

[jtheile]

Traffic to and from Manhattan port has not been an issue for us on the four cruises we have done that left on Saturday or Sunday.

 

In a post on the East Coast departures board the OP stated they were looking to cruise spring break.