Where would you live to cruise ?

[Can I Cruise]

I'm starting on a 2-year plan (of research) to move closer to a cruise port, so I can spend at least half the year cruising. Florida appeals to me because of the number of ports, though the weather is a worry, unless I'm sitting in a pool, lol.. 

Has anyone moved for that reason or have any thoughts on what might or what might not work ?

Thank you,

Aunt Lydia

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Can I Cruise said:

I'm starting on a 2-year plan (of research) to move closer to a cruise port, so I can spend at least half the year cruising. Florida appeals to me because of the number of ports, though the weather is a worry, unless I'm sitting in a pool, lol.. 

Has anyone moved for that reason or have any thoughts on what might or what might not work ?

Thank you,

Aunt Lydia

Wouldn’t move just to cruise (though we can see the occasional cruise ship from our deck facing south across SF Bay).

But, living next to the Pacific Ocean is a must for us. That said, SF (and SFO) is ideal for cruising embarkation to spots throughout the Pacific Rim.

I know some folks think the world of South Florida. But, it does zip for us. The weather (particularly in summer), the geography, the dominant politics,  the list goes on...

 

Might I suggest an alternative (on the US east coast if you don’t want to move west)? NYC!!!

Anything you could ever want/need in culture/arts/etc and a great base for cruising the Atlantic et al. (Even if you have to occasionally do the short hop to/from MIA)

[Pyrate13]

We moved back to FL for many of the reasons the above doesn't like so... NYC, NEVER, for those same reasons and more.

[Keksie]

There are a lot of reasons to live in Florida.  We don't live that close to a cruise port but close enough if we decide to cruise again.  We enjoy being 45 minutes from a beautiful beach, low taxes, small town, and the last 2+ years the freedom to make our own decisions. 

[cruisemom42]

Somewhat like the OP, I started thinking a few years ago whether it would make sense for me to move somewhere upon retirement that would facilitate travel (cruising but also other types).  My parents and grandparents both retired to Fort Lauderdale and I know it well.  It would certainly be easy to cruise from there and there is a decent if not huge airport nearby (as well as Miami).

 

On the minus side, I've seen people retire and, unless they are very outgoing or move to a community geared toward retirees, they can end up feeling disconnected and isolated. It seems to be harder to "plug in" to a new place as you get older.

 

I also sat down and thought about the future. The truth is that I enjoy cruising less, and there are fewer small ships that I can cruise on (and not all that many of them have regular departures from Port Everglades).  On the other hand, I've always wanted to travel to Italy and spend 2-3 months there at a time.  With the occasional cruise, when I find one that is tempting enough.....

 

So for me it ultimately makes more sense to stay where I am and downsize. I really like where I currently live. The weather's not bad, I'm close to a major airport and to the East Coast for trips to Europe. And I have my own small community here, built up over years.

 

IMO these are all things that should be weighted against the simple desire to cruise more.

[Joebucks]

Florida has always been a dream. To be in warm weather year-round, with access to beaches, and cruise ports is something I definitely aspire to.

 

Unfortunately, it has gotten too expensive. We need some kind of housing market correction. Even then, I fear the damage is done with all of the investment rental properties down there.

[SbbquilterUT]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

Somewhat like the OP, I started thinking a few years ago whether it would make sense for me to move somewhere upon retirement that would facilitate travel (cruising but also other types).  My parents and grandparents both retired to Fort Lauderdale and I know it well.  It would certainly be easy to cruise from there and there is a decent if not huge airport nearby (as well as Miami).

 

On the minus side, I've seen people retire and, unless they are very outgoing or move to a community geared toward retirees, they can end up feeling disconnected and isolated. It seems to be harder to "plug in" to a new place as you get older.

 

I also sat down and thought about the future. The truth is that I enjoy cruising less, and there are fewer small ships that I can cruise on (and not all that many of them have regular departures from Port Everglades).  On the other hand, I've always wanted to travel to Italy and spend 2-3 months there at a time.  With the occasional cruise, when I find one that is tempting enough.....

 

So for me it ultimately makes more sense to stay where I am and downsize. I really like where I currently live. The weather's not bad, I'm close to a major airport and to the East Coast for trips to Europe. And I have my own small community here, built up over years.

 

IMO these are all things that should be weighted against the simple desire to cruise more.

Very nice, thoughtful response.  We have lived in Florida (never again), Tennessee but retired to a 55+ community in S. Utah - has been great for us.  It has opened up the half of the US that we had not visited before so plenty of new adventures.  I do wish every cruise trip was not a full day of travel but worth it.  While I wish there were more interesting cruises from the West coast though we do enjoy Alaska and Canada nearly every summer, we love our community and most of our travel plans now are Europe or Australia/Pacific which involve long flights anyway.  

[Nebr.cruiser]

Probably not, because they are almost all in city locations.  I can't stand the traffic and general business, although I'd love warm weather and being near the water.

 

Very spoiled living in a peaceful rural location!  A few days in, say, Florida is more than enough.  Or any city.

 

It would be nice to be in driving distance to a major cruise port though.  Sigh.

[bonsai3s]

16 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

Probably not, because they are almost all in city locations.  I can't stand the traffic and general business, although I'd love warm weather and being near the water.

T

Very spoiled living in a peaceful rural location!  A few days in, say, Florida is more than enough.  Or any city.

 

It would be nice to be in driving distance to a major cruise port though.  Sigh.

Nebr.cruiser...I read all the previous post...all of them were good responses...but we feel exactly the same as you...we are also "spoiled living in a peaceful and rural location".  * We see cows from our backyard and can fish for trout down the river.

 

OP, "can I cruise,"...Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

We seriously thought about this question years ago...

* We started donating all of our "stuff"...so we'll have very little to move.

* Our goal was cruising...but we had to be near a hospital, an airport, and Costco. 😁

* After extensive research...we had it down to 4 locations in Florida.

 

Just before making the move, the pandemic hit.  It gave us time to reflect and re-assess our choices and situation. Ultimately, we realized we are already "where we're suppose to be".  Having to fly everywhere has been and will be costly...but being surrounded by acres upon acres of vineyards, oranges, and blueberries is not so bad.

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, Can I Cruise said:

I'm starting on a 2-year plan (of research) to move closer to a cruise port, so I can spend at least half the year cruising. Florida appeals to me because of the number of ports, though the weather is a worry, unless I'm sitting in a pool, lol.. 

Has anyone moved for that reason or have any thoughts on what might or what might not work ?

Thank you,

Aunt Lydia

 

Personally, Florida wouldn't work for me, as few of the cruises from those ports are of any interest.

 

If I moved close to a cruise port, Sydney would be the first choice, with Southampton a close 2nd, as it has some great cruises and has ready access to many great European ports.

[evandbob]

We moved to Ft Myers  over 4 yrs ago.  Now I can drive to Tampa or Ft Lauderdale in 2 hrs or so and Miami in less then 2 and 1/2.  But that's not why we moved.  We've probably done over 40 Caribbean cruises along with 30 land based vacays in the isles (mostly from when we lived in NY).

 

So where do we want to cruise?  Norway fjords, Iceland,  around Cape Horn, So. Amer., and down the Nile.  We had these sailings booked and then COVID happened and all were cancelled.

[jsn55]

I love Florida ... in the winter.  I think your major criteria should be living near a port served by cruise lines that sail where you want to cruise.  For us, the Caribbean is great the first ten cruises, then it's 'all the same'.  Southampton UK is a great idea for summer cruises to get you out of the Florida summer weather.  I'd also look at anything under a 3-hour drive from NYC. Keep an open mind on location when it comes to a long drive or a short flight ... either might be just fine for you.  And, yes, do think about the ease of making friends and being happy in a new area when you're not cruising. 

[lenquixote66]

11 hours ago, Can I Cruise said:

I'm starting on a 2-year plan (of research) to move closer to a cruise port, so I can spend at least half the year cruising. Florida appeals to me because of the number of ports, though the weather is a worry, unless I'm sitting in a pool, lol.. 

Has anyone moved for that reason or have any thoughts on what might or what might not work ?

Thank you,

Aunt Lydia

A friend of mine moved to Fla six years ago.He has been on a lot of cruises but misses NYC and he is moving back later this month.

[Can I Cruise]

5 hours ago, Keksie said:

There are a lot of reasons to live in Florida.  We don't live that close to a cruise port but close enough if we decide to cruise again.  We enjoy being 45 minutes from a beautiful beach, low taxes, small town, and the last 2+ years the freedom to make our own decisions. 

I like the fact that one doesn't have to fly for every cruise. 

I'm on the west coast and have done the west coast cruises and Alaska, still having to fly. 

 

[Can I Cruise]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Somewhat like the OP, I started thinking a few years ago whether it would make sense for me to move somewhere upon retirement that would facilitate travel (cruising but also other types).  My parents and grandparents both retired to Fort Lauderdale and I know it well.  It would certainly be easy to cruise from there and there is a decent if not huge airport nearby (as well as Miami).

 

On the minus side, I've seen people retire and, unless they are very outgoing or move to a community geared toward retirees, they can end up feeling disconnected and isolated. It seems to be harder to "plug in" to a new place as you get older.

 

I also sat down and thought about the future. The truth is that I enjoy cruising less, and there are fewer small ships that I can cruise on (and not all that many of them have regular departures from Port Everglades).  On the other hand, I've always wanted to travel to Italy and spend 2-3 months there at a time.  With the occasional cruise, when I find one that is tempting enough.....

 

So for me it ultimately makes more sense to stay where I am and downsize. I really like where I currently live. The weather's not bad, I'm close to a major airport and to the East Coast for trips to Europe. And I have my own small community here, built up over years.

 

IMO these are all things that should be weighted against the simple desire to cruise more.

Thank you !   I've flown to Barcelona and stayed for a month prior to doing a transatlantic back to the States. I was planning to do the same thing with flying to Portugal and then Covid hit. 

 

I'm also hoping to read how people leave their homes and spend time cruising- specifically on how they plan the cruise itinerary.

I'm fairly organized & spent up to 12 weeks away from my residence while working, so I feel confident in that regard.

Thank you for your insight !

[Can I Cruise]

3 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Nebr.cruiser...I read all the previous post...all of them were good responses...but we feel exactly the same as you...we are also "spoiled living in a peaceful and rural location".  * We see cows from our backyard and can fish for trout down the river.

 

OP, "can I cruise,"...Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

We seriously thought about this question years ago...

* We started donating all of our "stuff"...so we'll have very little to move.

* Our goal was cruising...but we had to be near a hospital, an airport, and Costco. 😁

* After extensive research...we had it down to 4 locations in Florida.

 

Just before making the move, the pandemic hit.  It gave us time to reflect and re-assess our choices and situation. Ultimately, we realized we are already "where we're suppose to be".  Having to fly everywhere has been and will be costly...but being surrounded by acres upon acres of vineyards, oranges, and blueberries is not so bad.

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I agree with being close to a good hospital, airport and Costco, lol. 

 

 

 

[cruizergal70]

Even if one lives near a cruise port,  you will be limited by the itineraries served by that port. Going back and forth to the same Caribbean Islands would be a waste of time after a while. You can't cruise the Greek Isles or Iceland or Asia or many other cruise destinations from FL. So, being in FL would be useless.

[Can I Cruise]

9 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

Even if one lives near a cruise port,  you will be limited by the itineraries served by that port. Going back and forth to the same Caribbean Islands would be a waste of time after a while. You can't cruise the Greek Isles or Iceland or Asia or many other cruise destinations from FL. So, being in FL would be useless.

Excellent point- and as many others suggested, being close to one geographic area (to cruise) also limits you as to where you end up cruising. Thank you. 

[Hlitner]

When one gets addicted to international travel and cruising, it is like being an artist where the entire world is your palette.  Like a majority of US cruisers, we started out taking the basic Caribbean cruises from Florida ports.  But as time moved on, we grew older, and had more means, our embarkation/debarkation ports started to spread all over the world.  For us, being near a particular cruise port is not as important as our relatively easy access to airports both regional and major.  Living in the Northeast puts us within a few hours' drive of the major airports of NYC, Phila, and Washington, DC.  This makes it possible for us to take advantage of more direct flights and look for the best prices.  Our next few cruises involve embarkation from Florida, Argentina, and possibly Yokohama (assuming that Japan ever reopens their country).  

 

Hank

 

 

[Essiesmom]

I think the most important item is to be relatively close to a hub airport.  I like where I live, and can drive to three ports in FL, fly from JAX or SAV, but cruises from another coast involve circuitous flight routes.  We had a real bargain cruise on Windstar booked from San Jose  Costa Rica that had almost reasonable flights to San Jose.  But flights returning from .Tahiti were ridiculous.  It would have meant a layover in SFO so solution was to spend a few days there with my sister’s youngest daughter.  But the following flight back to SAV was so difficult that it would have meant little sleep and two changes.  Almost fortunately, Covid cancelled the cruise.    You just can’t get anywhere reasonably from where we are.  EM

[ReneeFLL]

14 hours ago, Can I Cruise said:

I'm starting on a 2-year plan (of research) to move closer to a cruise port, so I can spend at least half the year cruising. Florida appeals to me because of the number of ports, though the weather is a worry, unless I'm sitting in a pool, lol.. 

Has anyone moved for that reason or have any thoughts on what might or what might not work ?

Thank you,

Aunt Lydia

We moved around because of the Navy. We are both from states where we lived either on or very close to water so we were already ocean people. The military moved us to Key West for 3 years and then to Pennsylvania. We vowed to get back to Florida after the military so we could live on the water and have a boat again.
 

Our choice needed to be near a major airline hub. We chose Fort Lauderdale even though DH is based out of Miami. We have been here for 26 years and are so ready to leave. One of the major reasons is because of the heat and humidity. There are a couple of others, but the heat is the biggest reason. Be careful what you wish for or just don’t move to South Florida. We are thinking of Central Florida or a little more north. I also need to do more research but we still have 5 more years before DH retires so I have more time.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[rkacruiser]

When Publishers Clearing House really does make a house call, Fort Lauderdale:  here I come, buying a condo in one of those channel side buildings.  Don't care for Florida summers, so, then, I think I would return to my Ohio home.  Or, maybe a home along the shores of the Puget Sound to enjoy the Pacific Northwest and Alaskan cruises.

 

I visited friends in Fort Pierce for several years during different seasons and actually think that kind of a community could be good for year round living as long as your home was East of I-95.  Summers would be mostly indoors or on the beach on Hutchinson Island.  

 

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

On the minus side, I've seen people retire and, unless they are very outgoing or move to a community geared toward retirees, they can end up feeling disconnected and isolated. It seems to be harder to "plug in" to a new place as you get older.

 

My friends lived in a golfing community and they were avid (and good) golfers.  Easy to make connections; some of the late afternoons/evenings at the 19th hole and on New Year's Eve were memorable.  But, if one doesn't have some kind of an "affinity" with others living in your area, "plugging in" could be very difficult.  And, if your political point of view is different from the prevalent one......

[Mary229]

We made a choice in our 20s to live in an affordable region but in a major urban setting with two major airports.  It has allowed us to afford whatever whims, plans and travel we want as often as we want. 
 

I have seen many people move in retirement without proper research only to spend a lot of their retirement funds reversing their decision.  I had one friend from the northeast move to Arizona based on slick marketing only to sell the new house and try to buy back her old one after the first heat of summer.   If you go, rent for a while before making a decision.

[Can I Cruise]

3 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I have seen many people move in retirement without proper research only to spend a lot of their retirement funds reversing their decision.  I had one friend from the northeast move to Arizona based on slick marketing only to sell the new house and try to buy back her old one after the first heat of summer.   If you go, rent for a while before making a decision.

This is such a great idea. One poster had mentioned that after SO many Caribbean cruises, from FL, they were done, 

Renting in FL, though sounding expensive now) may be an option.

 

I've been fortunate to have lived and worked on the east coast (NYC), Midwest and the west coast (LA, SF, Seattle) and also in FL for 6 months during the winter months (many years ago) so I've had a sample of what it's like to live in certain areas. 

 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

We moved around because of the Navy. We are both from states where we lived either on or very close to water so we were already ocean people. The military moved us to Key West for 3 years and then to Pennsylvania. We vowed to get back to Florida after the military so we could live on the water and have a boat again.
 

Our choice needed to be near a major airline hub. We chose Fort Lauderdale even though DH is based out of Miami. We have been here for 26 years and are so ready to leave. One of the major reasons is because of the heat and humidity. There are a couple of others, but the heat is the biggest reason. Be careful what you wish for or just don’t move to South Florida. We are thinking of Central Florida or a little more north. I also need to do more research but we still have 5 more years before DH retires so I have more time.

 

 

Your post made me smile.  Some Floridians might know what I am talking about when I mention "half backs."  These are folks that more to Florida (usually after retirement) and within a few short years move out of Florida to somewhere further north...usually in the Carolinas.  Since the Carolinas are about half way between NY and Florida some call those folks "half backs."

 

Hank