Pushback from sailing from Miami?

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

@John&LaLa I think 500 miles might be a little wide of a net to draw, but as others have pointed out here it kind of depends how far you are from your airport and if it is decent so it might not be bad. 
 

I also did the same analysis on NYC - 85M but I would not want to drive that far in the NE. Also, love your meme - drove from Miami last year for a PC cruise. It is dead on. 🤣

 

Have you seen airline prices this summer?  🤣

 

For a family of four it's probably more than 500 miles now.

[OCSC Mike]

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

By far the worst traffic and worst embarkation I have experienced is at Port Canaveral. It is a cluster f**k every time I cruise out of there.

 

Weird, PC is the only port I use since it's only an hour drive for me and it has always gone extremely smoothly, even during covid protocols. Pull into the Terminal 1 garage a little before 10:00, tons of parking, wheel our two suitcases to the porters (always friendly), breeze through the check-in, on the ship as soon as they get to Diamond (or earlier if I'm being treated to a suite).

[PhillyFan33579]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Weird, PC is the only port I use since it's only an hour drive for me and it has always gone extremely smoothly, even during covid protocols. Pull into the Terminal 1 garage a little before 10:00, tons of parking, wheel our two suitcases to the porters (always friendly), breeze through the check-in, on the ship as soon as they get to Diamond (or earlier if I'm being treated to a suite).

Maybe it’s the time I show up. I always comply with my check-in window, so I have arrived at PC no earlier than 11 AM and as late as 12:30 PM. As you likely know there is no check-in benefit for Diamond Plus plus I am not concerned with being one of the first people to board the ship. 

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Maybe it’s the time I show up. I always comply with my check-in window, so I have arrived at PC no earlier than 11 AM and as late as 12:30 PM. As you likely know there is no check-in benefit for Diamond Plus plus I am not concerned with being one of the first people to board the ship. 

 

The time difference could definitely explain it. We always choose the 10:30 check-in as we do like to be among the first to board.

 

Born and raised in the Philly burbs btw. I keep going back and forth between whether it's a good or bad time to be a Philly sports fan. Orlando City is the only local team I support b/c they originated while I lived here and I didn't follow MLS when I left Philly 23 years ago.

Edited May 22, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[jakeil7]

13 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Have you seen airline prices this summer?  🤣

 

For a family of four it's probably more than 500 miles now.

Eh, just fly Allegiant. They’ll let you strap the kids onto the wings for a small fee 😝

[coaster]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

Food for thought. Is 20+ minutes really that bad🤔

 

 

Personally I prefer driving 70+ vs stuck in bumper to bumper traffic

 

 

Not bad at all. Why we stay the night before by the airport and just drive the next morning without worrying about traffic. Hotels pretty reasonably priced in that area also. No detours to local streets like we often do in Miami to get around the traffic jams.

[orville99]

12 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They need more big ships to keep the title, not boutique lines like Silversea or Regent.

 

It also helps, title wise, to place huge ships doing 3 and 4 day Bahamas runs. Passenger turnover is the metric used. Doing 8+ night voyages does little to boost annual passenger counts

 

And FWIW, they don't seem to have issues filling ships on boring itineraries. Not everyone is as jaded as we are😉

For starters, I don't care whether they have any titles, only that they recognize that not everyone who sails out of PC is the demographic that the lines that currently sail out of PC cater to today. If you only offer boring/repetitive blue collar/disney fanatic/drink till you drop cruises and itineraries, you will miss a huge chunk of the cruising population. (and the $$$$ they have to spend)

 

13 hours ago, rolloman said:

Princess is an iconic line which sails around the world not just the Med or Caribbean. So, it is a BIG deal they will now sail out of PC

It may have been at one time, but gravity has brought a once Iconic brand to ground. While we still enjoy sailing Princess on occasion, it is nowhere near the quality experience that it used to be. And the fact that it sails all over the world is moot, since it will be doing exactly none of those itineraries out of PC, and every major cruise line sails all over the world. You just can't get there from PC.

[orville99]

24 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Weird, PC is the only port I use since it's only an hour drive for me and it has always gone extremely smoothly, even during covid protocols.

Port Tampa is only about a 10 minute longer drive for us than PC, so we slot in a cruise or two out of there as well. (also very easy to get in, park, and get out)

[John&LaLa]

41 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

@John&LaLa I think 500 miles might be a little wide of a net to draw, but as others have pointed out here it kind of depends how far you are from your airport and if it is decent so it might not be bad. 
 

I also did the same analysis on NYC - 85M but I would not want to drive that far in the NE. Also, love your meme - drove from Miami last year for a PC cruise. It is dead on. 🤣

 

We started sailing Royal from PC when we lived in Atlanta. Right at 500 miles.  Pt Canaveral was a doable drive down. Ft Lauderdale we did once, it was just to much

[John&LaLa]

39 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Have you seen airline prices this summer?  🤣

 

For a family of four it's probably more than 500 miles now.

 

@Ourusualbeach drives down from Ontario😱

[John&LaLa]

23 minutes ago, orville99 said:

For starters, I don't care whether they have any titles, only that they recognize that not everyone who sails out of PC is the demographic that the lines that currently sail out of PC cater to today. If you only offer boring/repetitive blue collar/disney fanatic/drink till you drop cruises and itineraries, you will miss a huge chunk of the cruising population. (and the $$$$ they have to spend)

 

The OP brought up title of busiest port, and you mentioned how to 'keep' the title. I was merely pointing out the flaw in your logic.😉

 

FWIW, the massive population of affluent Boomers in the Villages seem to enjoy the offerings. 

 

Would I like Celebrity, sure, but not holding my breath. That opportunity passed years ago.

Edited May 22, 2023 by John&LaLa

[PWP-001]

30 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

Eh, just fly Allegiant. They’ll let you strap the kids onto the wings for a small fee 😝

But don't they charge $200 for each strap?

[John&LaLa]

17 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Port Tampa is only about a 10 minute longer drive for us than PC, so we slot in a cruise or two out of there as well. (also very easy to get in, park, and get out)

 

Tampa is fine, actually closer, but it's offering ans clients are even more blue collar than PC.

 

Bridge limits are a pain 

[PWP-001]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

sailed from MIA several times, never had a problem. Uber is cheap as well.

 

Uber from MCO to the Port Canaveral cost us $120 to and $150 on the way back. That's is very expensive.

Rides from home to Terminal A used to be $29.  Thankfully the price quoted is fixed, unless I add a stop or alter my destination.  On the Sunday I described where the ride took close to 2.5 hours, after the fact the fare was increased to over $50.  Good thing I didn't shake my shoulders and accept it.  Using their website, I started the process for a fare dispute.  The minute I selected the ride in question, a credit was issued without question for the extra fee.

 

At disembarkation at the end of the cruise, fares had already been adjusted to $50+ for a ride home.

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Tampa is fine, actually closer, but it's offering and clients are even more blue collar than PC.

 

Bridge limits are a pain 

True, but occasionally they sneak in a gem or two - like our 10 night Panama Canal cruise on Serenade in February. Once the trains start running from OIA to FLL and Miami, PC will see a lot more of our backs and a lot less of our $$.

[John&LaLa]

8 minutes ago, orville99 said:

True, but occasionally they sneak in a gem or two - like our 10 night Panama Canal cruise on Serenade in February. Once the trains start running from OIA to FLL and Miami, PC will see a lot more of our backs and a lot less of our $$.

 

I haven't seen any kind of luggage policy for Brightline yet

[OCSC Mike]

28 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Port Tampa is only about a 10 minute longer drive for us than PC, so we slot in a cruise or two out of there as well. (also very easy to get in, park, and get out)

 

That's funny, I've always ignored Tampa b/c I'm really not a fan of anything below Voyager class. That said, as prices for just about anything out of PC went up, I did find some good deals out of Tampa and asked about the port here on CC not too long ago. I pretty much got the response you gave... easy to deal with.

 

It doesn't really fit our schedule and likely won't happen, but we do have a "bonus cruise" in mind if certain things shake out the right way. We rationalized taking a smaller ship by planning to do longer excursions in nearly every port. As evidenced by my cruise history, we're content bouncing around the Caribbean enjoying the ship and love CocoCay but that's always on a larger ship. The other bonus would be that we'll be exactly 7 points away from D+ in 3 weeks so I certainly wouldn't mind getting there before the Wonder cruises we have on the books. 😁

 

Different strokes as usual. Maybe later in life we'll care more about seeing new ports.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I shared a uber with ken and his wife. 3 of us some thought we needed a SUV size. Later he said there was a sign on the car saying 30% extra because it was larger. I didnt see the sign but ken was observant. I asked the driver about the cost and he never mentioned the extra. Just the price. Kinda sneaky I thought.  

 

I also saw a post by twangster who flew into Galveston and showed there were times of day uber charges extra for surge times. I wasnt aware of so many prices before. Twangster took lyft uber was so inflated when he wanted to go. 

 

We just jumped into the next uber in line at the miami port. 

 

Huh, I thought you had a $100+ cab ride to airport after B1. Must have been someone else

[John&LaLa]

Dbl post, apologies 

Edited May 22, 2023 by John&LaLa

[molly361]

35 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

@Ourusualbeach drives down from Ontario😱

He has the 500 mile x 5 limit😇

[molly361]

8 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I haven't seen any kind of luggage policy for Brightline yet

Not sure I would want to lug anything more than a weekender on there IF even that

[firefly333]

10 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Huh, I thought you had a $100+ cab ride to airport after B1. Must have been someone else

Yes we paid $150 for that suv. .. not sure what you mean. I just didnt post what I paid... but yes it was still that much. Ken and his wife got out a terminal earlier than me at the airport. I'd bet they also tipped when they got out in addition to the $150 at the terminal I got out at. So way above $100 changed hands. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by firefly333

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Not sure I would want to lug anything more than a weekender on there IF even that

 

I initially thought Brightline would make me look at South Florida, and of course I will, but once I saw some general details (price, length of the train ride, etc.) and thought about the other details like luggage, I started thinking it's only slightly less of a pain in the ass than driving myself to Ft. Lauderdale, which I have no interest in doing.

[coaster]

9 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

That's funny, I've always ignored Tampa b/c I'm really not a fan of anything below Voyager class. That said, as prices for just about anything out of PC went up, I did find some good deals out of Tampa and asked about the port here on CC not too long ago. I pretty much got the response you gave... easy to deal with.

 

Prices even on Celebrity have been good from Tampa. Their 12 night cruises on Constellation have priced close to 9 night sailings on Serenade from Tampa. We prefer the 2 hour happy hour and morning bloody marrys during Elite breakfast over the vouchers thanks for being Diamond on Royal.

[molly361]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I initially thought Brightline would make me look at South Florida, and of course I will, but once I saw some general details (price, length of the train ride, etc.) and thought about the other details like luggage, I started thinking it's only slightly less of a pain in the ass than driving myself to Ft. Lauderdale, which I have no interest in doing.

I think you and I have similar cruising styles, only out of PC and don't really care too much where it goes.  The bigger the ship the better.  That said who knows how much walking with your luggage these Brightline trips are going to entail but I imagine it's going to be quite a bit