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Did Carnival Drop Norfolk?

A&Jfamily

By A&Jfamily,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

Posted
Posted

I'm afraid so.

 

Normally, Norfolk gets Spring / Autumn sailings on whatever ship is repositioning between NYC and Florida.

 

With the Horizon making her debut in 2018, they are doing a similar thing to what they did with the Vista: First cruises in Europe, then a transatlantic, then showcase the ship in NYC before moving to Florida.

 

However, the Horizon is doing a full Summer season in NYC, so they aren't moving one of the Florida ships up there next year.

 

As a result, Norfolk was dropped from the schedule.

 

As a Norfolk native, I'm SUUUUUPER bummed. I've asked my travel agent to follow up with Carnival to see what their reasoning was. I know Norfolk isn't a year-round homeport for them, but we always fill the ships. I hope they come back the following year!

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tidecat

tidecat

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John Heald told me two weeks ago on the glory that the Splendor will be doing the cruise out of Norfolk in 2018. He said three of them will be to Bermuda.

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

 

 

Splendor will be sailing out of Long Beach in 2018 to the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, and Hawaii.

 

 

Sent from my eye phone using Forums FFS

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

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John Heald told me two weeks ago on the glory that the Splendor will be doing the cruise out of Norfolk in 2018. He said three of them will be to Bermuda.

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

 

As others noted, the Splendor is already scheduled to be cruising out of Long Beach (Los Angeles) for 2018, so that can't be right.

 

You did briefly get my hopes up, thinking that maybe JH misspoke, and meant a similar sounding ship. But I double checked, and the entire fleet is scheduled for all of 2018. There just aren't any ships left that haven't been committed.

 

I wonder why JH would get something like this wrong though. Maybe at some point in the past, they planned on Norfolk getting a ship in 2018 and then changed plans and he got mixed up?

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

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By the way, if the Norfolk cruises being dropped is important to you, I'd suggest contacting the office of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

 

A couple of years ago in his State of the Commonwealth address he touted Carnival's return to Norfolk for seasonal sailings as a big deal, and stated it as a goal of his administration to bring year-round homeport service to Virginia.

 

The cruise line ultimately decides where to send their ships, of course! But the state and city governments can do a lot to incentivize them to come and do business. It can't hurt to try!

 

His contact page is https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office

 

(Just remember to be polite and respectful! Whatever your politics, this doesn't need to be a 'hot button' issue when writing state leaders.)

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

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Never too early to start planning for 2020 - hopefully Norfolk can get a ship when the new "XL" ship enters the fleet.

 

 

Sent from my eye phone using Forums FFS

 

Yeah, I keep hoping that as Carnival expands their fleet with these new mega ships that Norfolk will get one of the smaller ships either year-round or for a longer season (Maybe March - October).

 

After all, if Charleston and Mobile rate a Fantasy class ship, Norfolk could easily support either a Fantasy or Spirit class ship.

 

I think a Spirit class ship would be ideal, due to their sleeker profile and higher cruising speed. Norfolk is a little farther from ports than Charleston or Mobile. But we could easily offer better itineraries than Baltimore.

 

My dream would be a year-round ship alternating between Bahamas, Bermuda, Eastern Caribbean, and Canada/New England.

 

Norfolk could actually offer more variety than any other port currently in operation.

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Eng23

Eng23

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John Heald told me two weeks ago on the glory that the Splendor will be doing the cruise out of Norfolk in 2018. He said three of them will be to Bermuda.

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

 

That will be difficult for the Splendor to do as it will be going to the west coast next year.

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Eng23

Eng23

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I'm afraid so.

 

Normally, Norfolk gets Spring / Autumn sailings on whatever ship is repositioning between NYC and Florida.

 

With the Horizon making her debut in 2018, they are doing a similar thing to what they did with the Vista: First cruises in Europe, then a transatlantic, then showcase the ship in NYC before moving to Florida.

 

However, the Horizon is doing a full Summer season in NYC, so they aren't moving one of the Florida ships up there next year.

 

As a result, Norfolk was dropped from the schedule.

 

As a Norfolk native, I'm SUUUUUPER bummed. I've asked my travel agent to follow up with Carnival to see what their reasoning was. I know Norfolk isn't a year-round homeport for them, but we always fill the ships. I hope they come back the following year!

 

I agree with your assessment. I had friends on the Magic last week and were told Norfolk will not be on the 2018 schedule. They were looking to book in 2018 and the Next Cruise folks told them it would be impossible to do. So they booked for this June out of Norfolk and so did I.

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tidecat

tidecat

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If I were putting a Carnival ship in Norfolk, I actually would go for a Conquest-class ship.

 

2019:

Splendor - Long Beach to P&O Australia

Magic - Miami to Long Beach

Vista 3 - Miami

 

2020:

XL Class 1 - Miami

Horizon - Miami to Port Canaveral

Sunshine - Port Canaveral to Port Everglades

Conquest - Port Everglades to Norfolk

 

It's not a huge jump for Port Everglades (32 lower berths) but it allows everyone to get a raise. It would make sense to put the ships with the sliding domes further north.

 

There's also the possibility Horizon and Vista 3 stay put in Miami but Carnival relocates both Sensation and Victory. Miami would still get about 400 extra lower berths, but it would allow for up to two new potential home ports.

 

 

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

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Good luck but dont think Norfolk is going to get a new ship full time.

 

You're probably right about that. They have some pretty sad itineraries at too high of prices anyway. Now if they started dong real 7 day Caribbean cruises, I would be all about it. But there are only so many times I can take the same pitiful 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for more money than a 7 day from Miami.

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

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You're probably right about that. They have some pretty sad itineraries at too high of prices anyway. Now if they started dong real 7 day Caribbean cruises, I would be all about it. But there are only so many times I can take the same pitiful 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for more money than a 7 day from Miami.

 

 

Norfolk usually has higher prices and limited itineraries because it has only been a seasonal home port. If a ship was here year round or at least for a longer season, they could offer more options and prices might be more typical compared to other home ports.

 

 

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auscgguysgirl

auscgguysgirl

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We were originally scheduled to sail out of Norfolk in October 2017, it was a 5 day. We changed this booking to a Charleston port in November 2017 so we could sail w/ family. Finding a Norfolk itinerary was VERY limited when we originally booked this cruise in 2016 - being there were ONLY 2 that year and we were already booked for early 2017 so ...

 

We live in northeastern NC and Norfolk is only about 30 minutes from where we live. We thought it would be easy to take as the port is close.

 

I have heard (no personal experience) that the port was not as nice and the cruise overall wasn't as nice for various reasons. Maybe there just isn't a lot of interest to keep a boat from this port?

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EdmundXXIII

EdmundXXIII

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We were originally scheduled to sail out of Norfolk in October 2017, it was a 5 day. We changed this booking to a Charleston port in November 2017 so we could sail w/ family. Finding a Norfolk itinerary was VERY limited when we originally booked this cruise in 2016 - being there were ONLY 2 that year and we were already booked for early 2017 so ...

 

We live in northeastern NC and Norfolk is only about 30 minutes from where we live. We thought it would be easy to take as the port is close.

 

I have heard (no personal experience) that the port was not as nice and the cruise overall wasn't as nice for various reasons. Maybe there just isn't a lot of interest to keep a boat from this port?

 

 

I've sailed out of about 6 or 7 ports. I think Norfolk is one of the nicer ones.

 

It's right in downtown, so lots of hotels and restaurants and tourism available within walking distance. Plus the cruise terminal itself is really nice.

 

Here's a couple pics:479c50cee4e51776ccd77c42417683aa.jpg

 

5e7f7a1b15410021ce9419c9a4e09431.jpg

 

 

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auscgguysgirl

auscgguysgirl

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I've sailed out of about 6 or 7 ports. I think Norfolk is one of the nicer ones.

 

It's right in downtown, so lots of hotels and restaurants and tourism available within walking distance. Plus the cruise terminal itself is really

nice.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We know exactly where it is. Been by it. Never took a cruise from there. My DH works in downtown Norfolk. I'm only relating what we heard from some others who have. Can't speak from personal experience.

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