Transatlantic HAL Sailings- Departure Ports

[MaisonRose]

20 hours ago, RD64 said:

@MaisonRose I was also booked on the NYC crossing and literally had to cancel at the last minute. It truly broke my heart. I have sailed HAL from NYC to Rotterdam and from Lisbon to Boston, and would welcome more of these East Coast crossings as well.

 

At present I am looking at a November Lisbon to NYC crossing on Norwegian. Although I have no desire to go with Norwegian - the NYC disembarkation suits me for a variety of reasons. Sadly the HAL Barcelona to Florida - leaving a few days later is not as convenient for me.

 

I would personally like to see a crossing to /from NYC  / Boston with the possibility of the Florida pre / post option. 

My husband nixed Rome-NYC on NCL GEM on Dec 4 since we sail Nov 9 to Egypt and finish that trip NOV 29. I hate the 12 hr flight back to DC, but he does have a point.

[0106]

22 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

I see that Carnival Legend is doing a TA from Baltimore to Barcelona in April but dare I take that ship?

I am reluctant to sail on Carnival.  Just looked at that sailing.  Seems expensive for a balcony. I have heard that their TAs are very different than the usual cruises.  I enjoy the service on HAL.  We are not “party” people.  

[sambamama]

If you can come in on the day for a NYC sailing and don't have to worry about hotel costs, then NY is OK. But Fort Lauderdale hotels are cheap compared to NYC ones!!!  But you must also think about what time of year it is.  I've sailed from the NJ port in March, and you lose a good day and 1/2 of good weather each way.  I would rather fly to FL and have the 3 days of good weather, thank you very much. It's actually easier for me to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Miami than to get to NYC or Boston as my town has a bus tyrant that has locked up mass transit and it is very difficult to easily get to Boston or NYC with luggage.  The local airport is only 30 minutes away.  I can actually get to JFK via mass transit much easily than Logan, which is almost impossible.  That's crazy -considering Logan is 90 minutes away.  I used to do Park and Fly hotels for Boston, but they have priced those out of the market if you are gone more than a week, and I don't have friends willing to drive me and pick me up.  The long term parking is outrageous.  I can find friends to take me to the local train station, so I take the train to NYC because I can't take the train to Boston.  (ridiculous, I know!)

[sailawayward]

deleted.

Edited September 22, 2023 by sailawayward

[cruiseaholic78]

This is not about a transatlantic but a different possibility.
We wanted to do a Caribbean cruise next year and I was pleased to be able to book one with a return departure from Boston. For us that is a much shorter (and hopefully cheaper!) flight than to FLL.

 

When looking for a cruise I originally had put departure FLL into my searches so I only saw this by mistake!

Not sure if the link works properly it could all be double dutch!
happy planning 

Rosalyn

https://www.hollandamerica.com/nl_NL/find-a-cruise.html#soldOut=&start=0&{!tag=destinationTag}destinationIds=C&{!tag=departTag}departDate=2024-10-01T00:00:00Z,2024-11-01T00:00:00Z&{!tag=durationTag}duration=&{!tag=embarkTag}embarkPortCode=BOS&{!tag=portsTag}portsOfCall=&{!tag=shipsTag}shipId=&{!tag=regionTag}regions=&{!tag=cruisetypeTag}cruiseType=

 

just checked it is in Dutch but you can see the cruises  I meant.

Edited September 22, 2023 by cruiseaholic78

[rafinmd]

4 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

This is not about a transatlantic but a different possibility.
We wanted to do a Caribbean cruise next year and I was pleased to be able to book one with a return departure from Boston. For us that is a much shorter (and hopefully cheaper!) flight than to FLL.

 

When looking for a cruise I originally had put departure FLL into my searches so I only saw this by mistake!

Not sure if the link works properly it could all be double dutch!
happy planning 

Rosalyn

https://www.hollandamerica.com/nl_NL/find-a-cruise.html#soldOut=&start=0&{!tag=destinationTag}destinationIds=C&{!tag=departTag}departDate=2024-10-01T00:00:00Z,2024-11-01T00:00:00Z&{!tag=durationTag}duration=&{!tag=embarkTag}embarkPortCode=BOS&{!tag=portsTag}portsOfCall=&{!tag=shipsTag}shipId=&{!tag=regionTag}regions=&{!tag=cruisetypeTag}cruiseType=

 

just checked it is in Dutch but you can see the cruises  I meant.

Clicking on the link from a US computer brings  up the English search results.

 

3  of them are to FTL but there is a nice 21-day Boston round trip.

 

Roy

[Heartgrove]

10 hours ago, 0106 said:

I am reluctant to sail on Carnival.  Just looked at that sailing.  Seems expensive for a balcony. I have heard that their TAs are very different than the usual cruises.  I enjoy the service on HAL.  We are not “party” people.  

 

@0106 We cruised on the Legend in January to see what it was like as we had booked this past August's Greenland cruise. Cancelled it and switched the booking to the Venezia this November. Not sure about this one as well?

 

- Jack

[rodndonna]

48 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 

@0106 We cruised on the Legend in January to see what it was like as we had booked this past August's Greenland cruise. Cancelled it and switched the booking to the Venezia this November. Not sure about this one as well?

 

- Jack

 

There is a HAL regular currently on the Venezia (NE/Canada) doing a live from thread (I would post the poster info but don't know how ..) Have been lurking on that a thread a bit as considering Carnival from New York on the Venezia but have not sailed with Carnival for a few years.

[Heartgrove]

Just now, rodndonna said:

 

There is a HAL regular currently on the Venezia (NE/Canada) doing a live from thread (I would post the poster info but don't know how ..) Have been lurking on that a thread a bit as considering Carnival from New York on the Venezia but have not sailed with Carnival for a few years.

 

Yes, I have been following and thanks for pointing it out. We are doing an 11 night to the  Eastern Caribbean, so probably more a party cruise. Not that we do.

[sambamama]

My friends only sail on Carnival and swear by it. Me, I don't think I would sail on a Carnival cruise if I was given one for free. I would try Costa, and I am sailing on Celystal  on the old Ryndam. 

[rodndonna]

38 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Yes, I have been following and thanks for pointing it out. We are doing an 11 night to the  Eastern Caribbean, so probably more a party cruise. Not that we do.

 

I would think "11" nights would be a little too long for the party crowd, but you never know. Actually our 1st Carnival was out of Long Beach - a 4 nighter which we only learned later should be a booze cruise. We didn't really notice, but then again, we tend to avoid crowds and are to bed early so they were probably out there partying .. while we slept....

[rodndonna]

39 minutes ago, sambamama said:

My friends only sail on Carnival and swear by it. Me, I don't think I would sail on a Carnival cruise if I was given one for free. I would try Costa, and I am sailing on Celystal  on the old Ryndam. 

 

Full disclosure. I keep lurking on Carnival because they often offer us "free" last minute cruises ... so trying to capitalize on that. We've only done 2 Carnival, (pre Covid) but we enjoyed both.

[Hlitner]

Once upon a time we embarked, out of NYC, on a Prinsendam cruise (to the Baltic).  HAL actually started that cruise at Port Everglades, but then moved it up to NYC to embark more passengers (about 60 of us boarded in Manhattan).  It has been a few years, but I believe they also tossed in a couple of Canadian ports on that voyage.

 

Hank

[St Pete Cruiser]

1 hour ago, sambamama said:

My friends only sail on Carnival and swear by it. Me, I don't think I would sail on a Carnival cruise if I was given one for free. I would try Costa, and I am sailing on Celystal  on the old Ryndam. 

Many of us would like to hear about your experiences on our old Ryndam.  I had read that the MDR has been completely refigured as well as some other substantial changes.

[cruiseaholic78]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Clicking on the link from a US computer brings  up the English search results.

 

3  of them are to FTL but there is a nice 21-day Boston round trip.

 

Roy

Roy,

We have booked the 21day one a perfect cruise length and we also prefer a continuous one instead of two returns!

I thought I would also mention the ones also starting in Boston and ending in FTL.

Rosalyn

Edited September 22, 2023 by cruiseaholic78

[MaisonRose]

16 hours ago, sambamama said:

If you can come in on the day for a NYC sailing and don't have to worry about hotel costs, then NY is OK. But Fort Lauderdale hotels are cheap compared to NYC ones!!!  But you must also think about what time of year it is.  I've sailed from the NJ port in March, and you lose a good day and 1/2 of good weather each way.  I would rather fly to FL and have the 3 days of good weather, thank you very much. It's actually easier for me to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Miami than to get to NYC or Boston as my town has a bus tyrant that has locked up mass transit and it is very difficult to easily get to Boston or NYC with luggage.  The local airport is only 30 minutes away.  I can actually get to JFK via mass transit much easily than Logan, which is almost impossible.  That's crazy -considering Logan is 90 minutes away.  I used to do Park and Fly hotels for Boston, but they have priced those out of the market if you are gone more than a week, and I don't have friends willing to drive me and pick me up.  The long term parking is outrageous.  I can find friends to take me to the local train station, so I take the train to NYC because I can't take the train to Boston.  (ridiculous, I know!)

Amazing, isn’t it ! Each case is weird. I can fly from Marseille to Edinburgh for half the price of a car from my village to Marseille port, 60min drive. That car avoids a lift to RR, train to downtown & taxi to port.

It appears that once a cruise port is established all other services skyrocket.

I like the OP mentioning TAMPA which is more appealing than Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

[St Pete Cruiser]

1 hour ago, MaisonRose said:

Amazing, isn’t it ! Each case is weird. I can fly from Marseille to Edinburgh for half the price of a car from my village to Marseille port, 60min drive. That car avoids a lift to RR, train to downtown & taxi to port.

It appears that once a cruise port is established all other services skyrocket.

I like the OP mentioning TAMPA which is more appealing than Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

I'm partial to Tampa as it is 40 minutes from my condo in St Petersburg.  Regardless, it is an easier and less expensive port for many to use. Our friends just did the 7 day on the old Grandeur of the Seas from Tampa and remarked how easy embark and debate was.

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

Amazing, isn’t it ! Each case is weird. I can fly from Marseille to Edinburgh for half the price of a car from my village to Marseille port, 60min drive. That car avoids a lift to RR, train to downtown & taxi to port.

It appears that once a cruise port is established all other services skyrocket.

I like the OP mentioning TAMPA which is more appealing than Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Travel logistics is part of my world as an independent traveler.  We have a cruise embarking from NYC, next week.  If were to take Amtrak, it would cost $100 for two train tickets, about $30 for an Uber to the train station, and another $20 Uber from Penn Station to the cruise port.  So we simply did a one way rental car (Hertz) for $68.  We will need to pay another $20 for gas and about $15 in tolls which means that rental car costs us less than taking the train.  The other sad situation (with Amtrak) is I can drive to NYC faster than the train!  Go figure.

 

Hank

[sambamama]

Tampa was a lovely port for HAL when they offered it. My Celeystal cruise is a 7 night the end of August 2024 that I will post a review of. Single supplements were less than  150% and they include wine and beer free at lunch and dinner. The ship tours are reasonable, small and emphasis archaeology. I can't wait! I will admit my situation is skewed as not every town has a tyrant blocking mass transit. That being said, I've grown to enjoy going to NYC by train. Its about 3 1/2 hours, there is free wifi,and a quiet car. I figured out the cheap way to get to JFK from Penn Station. All my big international trips go from JFK as I simply can't get to Logan by mass transit yet. They are supposed to start a train in the future. Right now the bus isn't even an option as the Logan express only runs 9-5