Sometimes I wish I lived in Florida!

[4merlurker]

Here in NJ we have only one choice of ship - The Explorer. Not that thats a bad thing but we've already "been there, done that". DH LOVES the convenience of a local port and doesn't want "waste" a day flying to a different port. I want to cruise again and again but I don't want to be bored with the same ship. We did sail NCL out of NY last time but definetely prefer RCCL, besides I have oodles of RCCL visa points just itching to be used!

 

Will we ever have another choice of ship here? I envy you lucky florida people (not to mention that the fares are cheaper).....

~C

[crusinmama06]

Well rumor has it that in 2010, the Explorer is moving to Florida and being replaced by another ship. That's why the "Mystery Cruise" in my signature is a mystery, we don't know what ship we will be sailing on in Christmas 2010 out of NJ.

[SAAdds1]

Here in NJ we have only one choice of ship - The Explorer. Not that thats a bad thing but we've already "been there, done that". DH LOVES the convenience of a local port and doesn't want "waste" a day flying to a different port. I want to cruise again and again but I don't want to be bored with the same ship. We did sail NCL out of NY last time but definetely prefer RCCL, besides I have oodles of RCCL visa points just itching to be used!

 

Will we ever have another choice of ship here? I envy you lucky florida people (not to mention that the fares are cheaper).....

~C

 

I understand the convenience of having a local port. We live in Jacksonville, FL. I also understand the "been there, done that" part. The cruises out of Jax are very limited, and I don't want to go to Nassau again.

 

We're going to try Ft. Lauderdale this summer. I hate to drive, so I may stick to JAXPort after this cruse. :-)

 

RE: the cheaper fares comment. Do you mean the cruise fares are cheaper to FL residents? I have not experienced that at all.

[ski ninja]

Many times I have thought it would be nice to live closer, much closer to a port! The closest port to where I live it a 2 hour drive to the airport and then a 2 hourish flight to California. I definately envy all of you that live w/in driving distance to a port! I guess it might have it's downfalls, like I might be even more tempted to go on a cruise every weekend.:D

[njmomof2]

I would like more of a selection out of the NY/NJ ports. With the Explorer being the only RCI ship, that's all there is and the prices are high. If I hit a decent airfare to FL, with a decent cruise fare, it can be cheaper than cruising out of our home port.

 

But the reason it's so expensive is because there is only 1 ship. If they increase the number of berths, the price, they believe, would go down. I think that it would just give more people the opportunity to not have to fly.

 

Of course, I will not cruise out of NY/NJ in the winter, since I would spend 1-2 days both ways in the crappy weather and I won't waste that much of my vacation that way. I'd rather fly and get my choice of itineraries.

[checkard]

4merlurker - You can always drive to Baltimore and go on Grandeur.

 

We're from Central PA and both ports are within a couple hours driving - Baltimore is 1-1/2 hrs and Bayonne is about 4-1/2 hours. We've gone out of both ports but prefer Grandeur to Explorer so we usually go from Baltimore.

[yogimax]

We may be the only ones able to travel by subway to the port. Unfortunately, RCCL doesn't sail from Manhattan, so we've only been on Carnival and NCL.

[Loucat]

We live on the West Coast of Florida and do have the convenience of driving to Miami or Fort Lauderdale and it is always tempting:p I LOVE Explorer. It was our first cruise and have never recovered from the experience. I would be a happy camper if she returned from NJ. What about Philly? Boston? Baltimore? I lived in NJ most of my life and loved Amtrak. You could take a train to any of these spots. In NJ, you have so much more than just a cruise port. I love that state:)

[firefly333]

RE: the cheaper fares comment. Do you mean the cruise fares are cheaper to FL residents? I have not experienced that at all.

 

I think what they meant is the cruises out of NJ cost more in general than similar cruises out of Florida. Not because you might or might not get a further discount, just that when its the only ship to book, prices are higher.

[masterbaker]

Here in NJ we have only one choice of ship - The Explorer. Not that thats a bad thing but we've already "been there, done that". DH LOVES the convenience of a local port and doesn't want "waste" a day flying to a different port. I want to cruise again and again but I don't want to be bored with the same ship. We did sail NCL out of NY last time but definetely prefer RCCL, besides I have oodles of RCCL visa points just itching to be used!

 

Will we ever have another choice of ship here? I envy you lucky florida people (not to mention that the fares are cheaper).....

~C

 

I guess it's just a matter of perspective. As a Floridian, I would love to see one of the ships sailing from here doing the southern caribbean itinerary you get on Explorer. So in that case I envy you. ;)

[firefly333]

We may be the only ones able to travel by subway to the port. Unfortunately, RCCL doesn't sail from Manhattan, so we've only been on Carnival and NCL.

 

Im not that familiar with NY ports, but doesnt the QM2 sail from NY? Is it the same port as Carnival and NCL?

[Loucat]

I think what they meant is the cruises out of NJ cost more in general than similar cruises out of Florida. Not because you might or might not get a further discount, just that when its the only ship to book, prices are higher.

I do not understand why you think cruises are cheaper in Florida. RCC site has specials for all states. If I book through and on-line TA, the cruise price is the same. Getting here is a cost for sure:)

[yogimax]

Im not that familiar with NY ports, but doesnt the QM2 sail from NY? Is it the same port as Carnival and NCL?

 

It actually sails from Red Hook in Brooklyn. Carnival and NCL sail from the west side of Manhattan

[chickaroonie]

If you envy my Fl residency...you should also envy my advanced years!lol

We took Celebrity Constellation out of Bayonne in her repo cruise in Oct. It was great! Ended in Ft Lauderdale. Of course you could not use RCCL Visa pts on that....We did decide to take an extra kind of last minute Grandeur cruise come Jan to celebrate our 37th & DD's 24th bd.Since she has never cruised...& wants to move back to NJ...we hope this will entice her to think twice.:rolleyes:

[gizzy15@iowatelecom.net]

Here in NJ we have only one choice of ship - The Explorer. Not that thats a bad thing but we've already "been there, done that". DH LOVES the convenience of a local port and doesn't want "waste" a day flying to a different port. I want to cruise again and again but I don't want to be bored with the same ship. We did sail NCL out of NY last time but definetely prefer RCCL, besides I have oodles of RCCL visa points just itching to be used!

 

Will we ever have another choice of ship here? I envy you lucky florida people (not to mention that the fares are cheaper).....

~C

 

Okay no whining:) I live in IOWA-NO Cruises. few lakes even! Lots of miles and $$$ to any port.

[KarinaGW]

It actually sails from Red Hook in Brooklyn. Carnival and NCL sail from the west side of Manhattan

 

Subway goes there. For that matter you can take the subway to Grand Central and catch the commuter train to Newark and get a shuttle to the port. Not a huge deal. Probably shorter than when I lived in Brooklyn (near Brighton Beach) and subwayed to the Bronx

[peabody99]

"I envy you lucky florida people "

 

We used to be Florida people. We were paid in sunshine (that means poorly :)), and had pretty bad vacation benifits. It was torture to see all the specials.

 

Now, further along in are careers, and living elsewhere, we could more easily afford those great deals- but the last minute flight tickets erase any savings.

[caribbeanboy]

Well rumor has it that in 2010, the Explorer is moving to Florida and being replaced by another ship. That's why the "Mystery Cruise" in my signature is a mystery, we don't know what ship we will be sailing on in Christmas 2010 out of NJ.

 

Wild guess:Liberty of the Seas:rolleyes:

[TennisLover]

I think we will be typical Long Islanders and move to Florida in our senior years (I see lots of cruises in my future!). We fly to FL or SJU for our cruises for now, although we are thinking about a cruise from a NYC area port in 2010. Will be nice not to deal with airports and get right on the ship. Liberty of the Seas sounds nice........:D

[bajathree]

Got to love the Sunshine State:cool:

[firefly333]

I do not understand why you think cruises are cheaper in Florida. RCC site has specials for all states. If I book through and on-line TA, the cruise price is the same. Getting here is a cost for sure:)

 

I think I came up with a way to explain what they are saying. Take the cruise out of NJ and figure it out on a per day basis. Now take a similar # of day cruise out of Fl, you will see more often than not the cruise which leaves from a FL port is cheaper PER DAY.

 

Nothing to do with all the other things you are mentioning. We are saying cruises that leave from FL are cheaper than ones leaving from other ports more often than not.

[megr1125]

Wild guess:Liberty of the Seas:rolleyes:

 

 

Not even that wild of a guess!;):p:D sign me up!

 

i'd like 2 ships! i'd like a different itinerary too....BUT i love being an hour from the port.

 

i won't give up FLA for different itineraries, but it's getting to the point where i don't even care where the ship goes, just so it GOES!

[want2seaitall]

I feel that same way...and I live in FL...lol. Living near Tampa, it seems the only itinerary available is Western Caribbean...been there, done that. Yes, it is true I'm looking at 3 hour drive to Port Canaveral...and about a 5 hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami...but we just did the 5 hour drive last week and it wasn't all that fun. So, I wish, wish, wish Tampa had a lot more RC ships with a variety of itineraries because it is only 45 minutes away.

[Tanker4]

I feel that same way...and I live in FL...lol. Living near Tampa, it seems the only itinerary available is Western Caribbean...been there, done that. Yes, it is true I'm looking at 3 hour drive to Port Canaveral...and about a 5 hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami...but we just did the 5 hour drive last week and it wasn't all that fun. So, I wish, wish, wish Tampa had a lot more RC ships with a variety of itineraries because it is only 45 minutes away.

 

Haven't checked Grandeur's forward itinerary since we got back week before last but we were on a 10 day Eastern on her out of Tampa. As for RCL having more ships out of Tampa, the problem is the Sunshine Skyway. The Grandeur and her class along with the Sovereign class are the only Rcl ships low enough to get under the bridge. :(

[want2seaitall]

Haven't checked Grandeur's forward itinerary since we got back week before last but we were on a 10 day Eastern on her out of Tampa. As for RCL having more ships out of Tampa, the problem is the Sunshine Skyway. The Grandeur and her class along with the Sovereign class are the only Rcl ships low enough to get under the bridge. :(

 

Tanker....I never even thought about the Sunshine Skyway...true, very true. The trouble is we usually can't get away for more than a week...and that is usually pushing with our kids and their activities...and work. I have a feeling we'll be trying the Grandeur though as she seems to be the only ship out of Tampa these days with RC. Whats another Western route...right?