Ecstasy so expensive!

Elation from Jacksonville is just as bad as Charleston. No other ships to compete with. My brother booked the Elation for a 7 day in an OV and paid the same price I did to sail in a Balcony on the Oasis for the same amount of days. Oasis class with RC or a 20+ year old worn out CCL ship for same price? Shouldn't be a hard decision.

Fully agree with you if you're just talking cruise. But some people are real tight with their budget and your brother may have been able to drive whereas you would have had to fly for your RCI cruise

Being curious, expensive for a how many day cruise? I'm only guessing, but, shorter cruises seem to cost more per day than others.

If this isn't the case, my point is null!;)

 

 

Most are 5 days from Charleston

We drive past Charleston and head right to Jaxport or Port Canaveral.

 

I can't bring myself to pay the higher price to sail from Charleston.

 

I'd rather drive to the warm Florida coast and then cruise from there.

Supply and Demand! You can drive about 3.5 hours more to Jacksonville and save several hundred dollar...

Supply and Demand! You can drive about 3.5 hours more to Jacksonville and save several hundred dollar...

 

Its not nearly that far....Jax is only 90 mins south of Charleston on I95

Its not nearly that far....Jax is only 90 mins south of Charleston on I95

Then you must have a flying car! We are in Summerville, SC, 20 minutes north of downtown Charleston. It takes us about 30 minutes to get to I95 and then another 3.5 hours to Jacksonville.

To the OP: Charleston as a pre or post-cruise destination is very attractive (Charleston consistently ranks at the very top of places to visit and not just ion the US, but globally). I live 20 or so minutes from the port of Charleston but have no desire to sail on Ecstasy as that class of ships does nothing for me (worst cruise ever was on Fantasy when she was in Charleston, just blah) and I certainly would not pay a premium for it, but I do understand why it sails full and at higher fares than Elation.

Then you must have a flying car! We are in Summerville, SC, 20 minutes north of downtown Charleston. It takes us about 30 minutes to get to I95 and then another 3.5 hours to Jacksonville.

To the OP: Charleston as a pre or post-cruise destination is very attractive (Charleston consistently ranks at the very top of places to visit and not just ion the US, but globally). I live 20 or so minutes from the port of Charleston but have no desire to sail on Ecstasy as that class of ships does nothing for me (worst cruise ever was on Fantasy when she was in Charleston, just blah) and I certainly would not pay a premium for it, but I do understand why it sails full and at higher fares than Elation.

 

From Charlotte, i make the Jax port in 5.5 hrs, door to door....To get to Charleston, it takes me about 4 hrs....Ergo, 90 more minutes for me coming down I95....that is without the wings extended ;p

Edited April 3, 2018 by Oh Not Him Again

Its not nearly that far....Jax is only 90 mins south of Charleston on I95

 

 

Umm... maybe running NASCAR style! lol

Its not nearly that far....Jax is only 90 mins south of Charleston on I95

 

I've personally never made this drive but, Charleston to Jacksonville is 239 miles. I admit I have a lead foot and drive fast. I typically drive 10-15mph over the posted speed limit and even I couldn't make it in 90 minutes.

 

Maybe you're thinking about Savannah? Savannah and Charleston are a lot alike I think.

I've personally never made this drive but, Charleston to Jacksonville is 239 miles. I admit I have a lead foot and drive fast. I typically drive 10-15mph over the posted speed limit and even I couldn't make it in 90 minutes.

 

Maybe you're thinking about Savannah? Savannah and Charleston are a lot alike I think.

 

That could be it. Charleston to Savannah in 90 minutes would be tight but possible if you were hauling some serious butt (takes us 2 hours going around 80) but Charleston to Jacksonville is not possible in 90 minutes in any vehicle.

As thread starter, just to update y’all...I’m sailing out of Charleston in October 2019. I always cruise then for my birthday and the Sunshine out of Charleston was the only option that hit my criteria of date, ship and interesting ports. So I guess I’ll see what’s going on there!

Supply and Demand. Charleston is a popular vacation destination, it's an easy drive for people who live in NC/SC/GA/VA/TN. The cruises from there always fill up quickly. That's probably one of the reasons the Sunshine is heading there in 2019.

 

What a waste of a great ship being used for 4-5 day trips. Throw the clunkers on that the sunshine is way to move for that

Its not nearly that far....Jax is only 90 mins south of Charleston on I95

 

 

 

It’s no 90 minutes to Jax. Did you forget Georgia?

 

 

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From Charlotte, i make the Jax port in 5.5 hrs, door to door....To get to Charleston, it takes me about 4 hrs....Ergo, 90 more minutes for me coming down I95....that is without the wings extended ;p

 

 

 

Calling you out on that one.

 

 

But in all seriousness, we are BEGGING you to keep on traveling down 95. The citizens of the state do not need or want another 7000-8000 tourists here on embarkation/disembarkation days. We’re saturated with them already. Thank goodness we’ll never see mega ships here. That’s what they drained Florida for!!! [emoji78]

Edited April 4, 2018 by ElaineKeagy

We live in Fl. and have gone out of Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa and Port Canaveral. We are turning Platinum this Sept. on the Sunshine and will continue to go out of Port Canaveral because it is easiest for parking. We checked out Jacksonville but the parking didn't look like it would work for us.

We live in Fl. and have gone out of Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa and Port Canaveral. We are turning Platinum this Sept. on the Sunshine and will continue to go out of Port Canaveral because it is easiest for parking. We checked out Jacksonville but the parking didn't look like it would work for us.

 

Jacksonville Parking is a breeze. They also had golf cart shuttles to take you from your vehicle to the terminal if you needed it when we cruised from there several years ago.

The Ecstacy was my very first cruise in 1995. It was a beautiful ship back then I prefer not to book that size ship now. It would probably be great for a 3 or 4 day trip to the Bahamas though.

Legit question....what makes a ship good for 3-4 days but not 6-7 days? It would be ok for the Bahamas but not other places? :confused:

All you need to do is look at Carnival and Royal and you have your answer. Both lines put their older, smaller ships on the 3-4 day itineraries and put their larger, newer ships on the 6-8 day itineraries. Oasis class, Quantum class, Dream class and Vista class ships all sail 6-8 day itineraries and none of them do 3-4 day trips. The 3-4 day trips are for the older ships to give people a taste of cruising and if they like it, they will go on the longer itineraries that feature larger, newer ships with more amenities.

Legit question....what makes a ship good for 3-4 days but not 6-7 days? It would be ok for the Bahamas but not other places? :confused:

 

 

 

There’s less to see and do on the smaller and older ships so after 4 days some people get to feeling that they’ve covered all the territory. Conversely the ships built in the last 10 years at a larger scale are packed with enough entertainment and dining options that you can do something different each day for a whole week.

 

There are plenty of people though who mostly want to sit out on their balcony or up in a deck chair for days on end, with or without some adult beverages, and really don’t need all that extra razzle dazzle.

 

The connection to the port is simply that it’s a short journey to The Bahamas and back to Florida, easy to cover in 3 days. You can’t get to Aruba and back in 3 days.

 

 

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