Best CCL Sailaways?

[havanadaydreaming]

Whats your favorite CCL sailaway? 

 

If memory serves ive been to 6 departure ports.  

 

1. Miami

2. NYC

3. Tampa 

4. Canaveral

 

5. Lauderdale

6. San Juan (was ncl) 

 

Tampa almost bumped NYC due to A) drink package immediate B) better bridge underpass but the spectacular skyscrapers take the cake. 

 

Miami wins, surprisingly. Love the seaplane airport across the port. View of South Beach and Downtown skysscrapers. Plus, usually 3-5 other ships in port. 

 

Bonus points if a Disney ship blares its distinctive musical horn at us when leaving. 

[stobe1]

My best sailaway is which ever one I happen to be on at the time.

[hard_eight]

4 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

My best sailaway is which ever one I happen to be on at the time.

Agreed

 

But, Miami wins for me though only ever left from the three East Coast FL Ports. They're all unique. Miami has South Beach and the skyline, Canveral has the space stuff, and Jax has the bridge that limits the size of ships that can sail from there.

[pe4all]

May be a bit prejudiced, but NY sail-away is amazing- especially passing by Lady Liberty.  Miami not bad - love if/when the ship has to do the turn-around before sailing out and passing everyone waving.

[Butterbean1000]

I've only sailed out of 6 ports.  As far as my favorite sail away, I would have to say Miami.  As far as a convenient port, it would be Charleston.

[cyntil8ing]

Baltimore is fun too; two bridges instead of just one. I think NYC is definitely a "must do". San Juan is great too, especially since most departures are in the dark, a different experience than most.

 

No rankings from me. They're all good!

[mz-s]

I actually really enjoyed the Norfolk VA sailaway a few months ago on Magic. Only downside? It took a long time to get out to sea and open the casino etc - longer than I expected. Still love sailing out of Miami the best though. Beautiful scenery and then you're at sea and underway in no time.

Edited December 6, 2023 by mz-s

[Saint Greg]

1. New York

2. New Orleans (bonus if you pass the other CCL ship on the river)

3. Miami

4. Seattle

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Saint Greg

[TxTeach79]

This is tough. I'll do my top 5 - Embark ports only. 

 

1. San Fran - passing right by Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate? I'll never forget it. My one and only time there makes it special. So far.

2. Miami - Just the quintessential cruise sailaway from day one. Especially if you get to do the spin. Great skyline, South Beach, tons of cool ships to look at.

3. NYC - obvious reasons. The skyline. Lady Liberty. The bridges. Only reason it's not higher is on me, i've been there a bunch. 

4. NOLA - just the unique nature of it all. Leaving from the heart of downtown. I usually walk from my hotel to the ship. The vibe. The music. Sailing down the river all night. 

5. Ft. Lauderdale - Underrated. Carnival doesn't do this much, but it's got a smaller Miami vibe to it. You pass the beach, beautiful waterfront homes, and the people on the condo balconies go nuts, flying cruise line flags, blowing air horns, etc.

 

Hon Mentions: Barcelona, Tampa, Seattle. 

[Jamman54]

Even though we've done it a couple dozen times, AND it is our homeport, in our humble opinion New York sail away is the best HANDS DOWN!!! 😀

[surfone]

Love NYC...#1     Norfolk was awesome especially if you like military ships like the aircraft carriers, battleships, etc.,  fun to see and different. 

[sid_9169]

Although not an official embarkation day sail away, leaving Tortola is my all time #1... 

[nydney1]

It’s hard to beat Miami, the classic cruise city.

 

New Orleans, man what a great city, 8 hours to sail down the Mississippi.   What a unique experience.

[grimpil]

10 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

This is tough. I'll do my top 5 - Embark ports only. 

 

1. San Fran - passing right by Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate? I'll never forget it. My one and only time there makes it special. So far.

2. Miami - Just the quintessential cruise sailaway from day one. Especially if you get to do the spin. Great skyline, South Beach, tons of cool ships to look at.

3. NYC - obvious reasons. The skyline. Lady Liberty. The bridges. Only reason it's not higher is on me, i've been there a bunch. 

4. NOLA - just the unique nature of it all. Leaving from the heart of downtown. I usually walk from my hotel to the ship. The vibe. The music. Sailing down the river all night. 

5. Ft. Lauderdale - Underrated. Carnival doesn't do this much, but it's got a smaller Miami vibe to it. You pass the beach, beautiful waterfront homes, and the people on the condo balconies go nuts, flying cruise line flags, blowing air horns, etc.

 

Hon Mentions: Barcelona, Tampa, Seattle. 

I agree with San Fran, large fog bank rolling in under the Golden Gate bridge while the sun was setting...Magical. Our first NYC sailaway this Feb so i may change my mind lol

[jemrtt]

We’ve sailed out of five port cities. I listed them below in order of how much we loved sailaway.
1. NYC 🥳

2. Miami 🥰

3. San Juan 😊

4. Seattle 😏

5. Long Beach 🫤

[ninjacat123]

So many great sailaways...

1. Miami (love the beach as we cruise out to sea)

2. San Juan (at night, with the lights of the city and other ships)

3. Port Canaveral (we were on Magic and a horn battle with MG was happening 👏)

4. Mykonos (we had an aft balcony and, it's Mykonos)

5. Curacao (also a night sailaway)

Someday we will experience a NYC sailaway.  Sounds fantastic!!

[WLHyatt]

Vancouver and New Orleans for the scenery.

Canaveral for the whole area seemingly made to support cruise guests.

[reeinaz]

I tend to not see much past the bottom of my cup during sailaway. LOL

[shortyjoesmith]

Although the port itself is not attractive, I have a soft spot for Galveston. On my first cruise, my sister and I saw dolphins taking the boat out. We were on a secret deck (after plenty of pre-cruise research in CC), they were having fun leaping and crossing in front of the ship. My sister called it our "boatercade." We still laugh about that. 

[thenexus2k]

23 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

This is tough. I'll do my top 5 - Embark ports only. 

 

1. San Fran - passing right by Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate? I'll never forget it. My one and only time there makes it special. So far.

2. Miami - Just the quintessential cruise sailaway from day one. Especially if you get to do the spin. Great skyline, South Beach, tons of cool ships to look at.

3. NYC - obvious reasons. The skyline. Lady Liberty. The bridges. Only reason it's not higher is on me, i've been there a bunch. 

4. NOLA - just the unique nature of it all. Leaving from the heart of downtown. I usually walk from my hotel to the ship. The vibe. The music. Sailing down the river all night. 

5. Ft. Lauderdale - Underrated. Carnival doesn't do this much, but it's got a smaller Miami vibe to it. You pass the beach, beautiful waterfront homes, and the people on the condo balconies go nuts, flying cruise line flags, blowing air horns, etc.

 

Hon Mentions: Barcelona, Tampa, Seattle. 

This. 
San Fran is awesome. Coming back was pretty cool too. Early morning, fog everywhere. Listening to the various fog horns was very eery. Golden Gate just kind of comes out of the fog out of nowhere. 

[five.]

3 hours ago, WLHyatt said:

Vancouver

Earlier I almost posted Vancouver, but no Carnival cruises have it listed as a port right now. But HAL does and it's under the CCL umbrella.

[csm5986142]

1 hour ago, five. said:

I almost posted Vancouver, but no Carnival cruises have it listed as a port right now. But HAL does and it's under the CCL umbrella.

 

No, not right now, but they used to.  Vancouver to Hawaii was one of my favorite itineraries (we did it twice on Carnival before the pandemic).  Going under the Lions Gate Bridge and past Stanley Park was amazing.  I so wish Carnival would start using the Port of Vancouver again.

And another vote for San Francisco, my second favorite, but I haven't done New York yet - it's on the list for next summer.

 

[WLHyatt]

30 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

 

No, not right now, but they used to.  Vancouver to Hawaii was one of my favorite itineraries (we did it twice on Carnival before the pandemic).  Going under the Lions Gate Bridge and past Stanley Park was amazing.  I so wish Carnival would start using the Port of Vancouver again.

And another vote for San Francisco, my second favorite, but I haven't done New York yet - it's on the list for next summer.

 

We did it on a Legend repositioning cruise for Alaska in 2015, before starting her season in Seattle. The other time we did it was on a Princess one way Alaska. Hands down the most scenic port when you sail out with land visible most of the night.

[jimbo5544]

Number one - New York. Easily the most iconic sail away out there.

Number two - Miami.  Sailing out the there is what  cruising is all about.

Number three - Galveston. Simply a one of a kind, unlike any other.

Number four - San Juan. Sailing out in into this port is always amazing.  Wish they still sailed from there.

Number five - Tie between Tampa and Vancouver.  Again wish they still sailed from there (Vancouver).

 

Made me ruminate on how many home ports we have sailed out of (All lines).  NYC, (Manhatten, Brooklyn, Jersey),Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Port Canaveral, Galveston, New Orleans, Tampa, San Juan, Long Beach, Dover, Rome, Venice, Copenhagen and Barcelona.  Sailed on the Pride out of an amazing 6 home ports, Baltimore, PC, Long Beach, Tampa, Dover and Rome.

 

 

 

[PC 462]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:23 AM, cyntil8ing said:

Baltimore is fun too; two bridges instead of just one. I think NYC is definitely a "must do". San Juan is great too, especially since most departures are in the dark, a different experience than most.

 

No rankings from me. They're all good!

Leaving Baltimore there is a wonderful view of Fort McHenry as well as NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship.