Any reason for fewer NCL cruises from NYC?

[stinkyharriet]

2 hours ago, mugtech said:

     Who wants to go to Bermuda in February?

I went last month!  5 days on the Getaway, one overnight in Bermuda.  First day there was overcast, some drizzly rain, cooler.  Next day was absolutely beautiful.  Weather app said it was 66 but it felt much warmer.

[mugtech]

1 hour ago, FPMoosally said:

 

Heheh. Yeah, northern Minnesota is the place to be!

 

 

Philippines slightly warmer.

[dexddd]

NCL has supplied ships at Port Canaveral stop for years.  MSC on their Canadian runs has had trucks supposedly come up from Florida.

[PartyLikeIts1990]

NCL is not the only cruise line slowing reducing the number of NYC cruises. Carnival is no longer doing their year-round cruises out of NYC this year and next year. In 2025 they are returning back to only being in NYC for only 5 months from May to October.  

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, Menocchio said:

Timing matters a lot, but I'm seeing round trip direct flights from New York to Miami for less than half that. And that's main cabin. If you're willing to forgo a carryon and the ability to choose seats, you can do half that again. 

 

And that's me screwing around on Hopper for one minute. Someone who actually knows the tricks of the trade, or a TA or cruise line buying at group rates, or someone cashing in miles can do even better than that I'm sure. 

Yeah, I was a little surprised at that poster's figures. Just for kicks I looked on Google Flights and found a round-trip for $86. This was for March 16-23, but looking at the price graph for the next 8 months, the maximum was still less than $300. I think the $600 figure was an extreme outlier. the average was still around $175 (for economy). Now if you insist on first class, then yeah, that costs closer to $600.

 

10 hours ago, geegee1 said:

If you want to fly during busy times, late in the week, over the weekend, etc.  It's pretty ridiculous how high fares have been

That doesn't seem to be the case. Where/when were you searching?

[tsahall01]

13 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

Thanks Jim! That might be close to the timeframe we would be looking at so I will very much keep this one in mind. I really need to study more what they have and we made sapphire on our last cruise on the Getaway so it will be fun to see what they offer as a match.

I just did a status match with MSC.  I am also Sapphire with NCL.  I got Gold with MSC.  Other than a 5% discount on the cruise and a 1 hour Spa pass, not much more comes with Gold status.  No free laundry or Specialty dining.  I had a wonderful cruise on Meravigilia and wouldn't hesitate to go again--in fact we were so happy with MSC that we booked another cruise with them (MSC Fantasia, r/t Trieste)  Their drink package is much better than NCL--specialty coffees, waters, and better wines included!  I did pay for their specialty dining .  Was not happy with the package--you order off a limited menu, have no choice with which restaurants and the venues did not carry the same wines and liquors that the MDR did, so we had to do an upcharge on the drinks.  I would not order the package again unless they change the terms.

Edited February 27 by tsahall01

[DuckTollerFans]

11 hours ago, mugtech said:

     Who wants to go to Bermuda in February?

So, my phone app says it's getting up to 65-67 here in Rochester, NY today and only 63 in Bermuda.  Crazy.

[UKstages]

12 hours ago, mugtech said:

Who wants to go to Bermuda in February?

 

lots of people want to go. few make it, as the port call is frequently canceled.

[Red-Sol]

20 minutes ago, DuckTollerFans said:

So, my phone app says it's getting up to 65-67 here in Rochester, NY today and only 63 in Bermuda.  Crazy.

If this keeps up I will need to make sure my lawn mower runs and put the snowblower away!

[EllieinNJ]

2 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

lots of people want to go. few make it, as the port call is frequently canceled.

As was our Getaway to Bermuda in February 2023 that turned into a cruise to nowhere.  The ship was packed, especially with 20 somethings.

[Red-Sol]

OK I appreciate very much everyone's comments on this thread. It really seems like the longer Winter NYC cruises on NCL will not be coming back 😢 However it does seem like it is MSC to the rescue. 🙂 We are about 75% there to make a booking on the cruise @JIMESOPUS Jim is on and hopefully a few others here can join us on that one. Sounds like fun!

[Red-Sol]

7 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

If this keeps up I will need to make sure my lawn mower runs and put the snowblower away!

FWIW we actually cracked 70 degrees here today...Unbelievable...but high winds and thunderstorms are on the way along with 1 to 3 inches of snow tomorrow night.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

FWIW we actually cracked 70 degrees here today...Unbelievable...but high winds and thunderstorms are on the way along with 1 to 3 inches of snow tomorrow night.

🤦‍♂️, and I thought we had unseasonable weather when it got to 50 today. Raining now, and cooler weather is supposed to be on the way.

[TheAdventureSeeker]

On 2/27/2024 at 4:46 PM, Red-Sol said:

OK I appreciate very much everyone's comments on this thread. It really seems like the longer Winter NYC cruises on NCL will not be coming back 😢 However it does seem like it is MSC to the rescue. 🙂 We are about 75% there to make a booking on the cruise @JIMESOPUS Jim is on and hopefully a few others here can join us on that one. Sounds like fun!

It's really sad what is happening with the NCL NYC cruises, back before covid I loved doing the 14-15 day round trip cruises to the West Caribbean and East Caribbean. Did not have to waste tons of money on airlines and took us back home it's crazy how expensive now. What I noticed this year in 2024 I cannot book any NCL cruises out of NYC because they are all sold out, first time in years I have seen such low inventory to the point where there is noting even to book last minute. NCL also used to have nice 7 day bahamas / Florida crusies which they also took away for some reason and they were a nice week long escape and they are all gone now and replaced with Bermuda. Every year the NCL NYC cruises keep getting worse and worse and less. NCL used to be my favorite company sad that now I have to look for a replacement. 

Edited March 1 by TheAdventureSeeker

[FPMoosally]

4 minutes ago, TheAdventureSeeker said:

What I noticed this year in 2024 I cannot book any NCL cruise because they are all sold out

 

4 minutes ago, TheAdventureSeeker said:

NCL used to be my favorite company sad that now I have to looks for a replacement. 

 

Yes, when late to the party, you need to find another one.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1 by FPMoosally

[njkate]

Have any of you wanting to cruise from NYC checked out RCCL from Bayonne NJ right across the river? 
I do think NYC itself is part of the problem, not sure which lines sail from Red Hook in Bklyn, only sailed from there once on NCL, was supposed to be Manhattan but it was cruise ship congested and they switched us to Red Hook

Edited March 1 by njkate

[Laszlo]

4 hours ago, njkate said:

Have any of you wanting to cruise from NYC checked out RCCL from Bayonne NJ right across the river? 
I do think NYC itself is part of the problem, not sure which lines sail from Red Hook in Bklyn, only sailed from there once on NCL, was supposed to be Manhattan but it was cruise ship congested and they switched us to Red Hook

Why do you think NYC is part of the problem? Other than the parking is more expensive than going out of NJ. Wife and I have cruise out of NYC 5 times and love it. Its a very convenient drive for us from PA. Easy (but expensive) parking right next to the ship. Great view of the skyline going down the river. I have looked at RC, prices are pretty much the same

Edited March 1 by Laszlo

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/26/2024 at 1:55 PM, FLAHAM said:

Who wants 2+ days of cold weather and uninteresting ports when a week out of Florida offers 7 days of warm weather and better ports?

 

Some people actually cruise just for the ship, and not the destinations. I’ve traveled several times out of New York and Baltimore in December simply because I wanted to be on that ship in off-season. Once a long time ago on Celebrity Mercury out of Baltimore we didn’t hit warm weather until Key West. 😁

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/27/2024 at 8:56 AM, tsahall01 said:

I just did a status match with MSC.  Their drink package is much better than NCL--specialty coffees, waters, and better wines included!  I did pay for their specialty dining. Was not happy with the package--you order off a limited menu, have no choice with which restaurants and the venues did not carry the same wines and liquors that the MDR did, so we had to do an upcharge on the drinks.  I would not order the package again unless they change the terms.

I did the same this morning, a status-match with MSC against my Princess Cruises loyalty level (which is just Platinum) and also got their Gold Level. Mostly I want to cruise non-holidays and off-season Dec/Jan, and out of NYC or Baltimore. I’ve been researching Odyssey of the Seas and Norwegian Breakaway for Dec. 2025/Jan. 2026. The Odyssey of the Seas has a really nice 12-night from Bayonne on Jan. 26, 2026 and that one is catching my eye, but the multitude of dining options on NCL has me hooked. Decisions, decisions. 😁

 

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:04 PM, nordicacres said:

Agreed. I would never fly to NYC to hop on a cruise ship when there are cheaper flights to FL ports, not to mention less time spent at sea.

 
But wow do I 🥰 LOVE 🥰 sea days. They could have a cruise sail out of New York City, driving in giant circles off the coast for a week then come back and I’d be pretty happy.

 

😁

[shof515]

 

5 hours ago, njkate said:

Have any of you wanting to cruise from NYC checked out RCCL from Bayonne NJ right across the river? 

 

i have cruise out of Cape Liberty in Bayonne. the only thing i hate about that terminal is about a mile away from the main road/light rail station and it is similar to the NY terminals with only one entrance to the terminal/parking lot area

 

Last year i got stuck in traffic on that one and only one road leading into the terminal. I could see the ship in the distance and it took like 45 minutes to finally get to the terminal. sooo much traffic

 

 

[TheAdventureSeeker]

16 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I did the same this morning, a status-match with MSC against my Princess Cruises loyalty level (which is just Platinum) and also got their Gold Level. Mostly I want to cruise non-holidays and off-season Dec/Jan, and out of NYC or Baltimore. I’ve been researching Odyssey of the Seas and Norwegian Breakaway for Dec. 2025/Jan. 2026. The Odyssey of the Seas has a really nice 12-night from Bayonne on Jan. 26, 2026 and that one is catching my eye, but the multitude of dining options on NCL has me hooked. Decisions, decisions. 😁

 

I would love to go on RCL and only done it once, but they are very unfriendly to Solo cruisers they charge crazy amounts of money in double occupancy fees if you go solo compared to NCL which is my go to for solo cruising. This is one reason I am very disappointed in NCL having such a bad inventory issues in the NYC area with almost no cruises because they are the only line here that are solo friendly price wise. I never done MSC before will definitly need to check them out, anyone know if they are solo friendly?

Edited March 1 by TheAdventureSeeker

[dmwnc1959]

23 minutes ago, TheAdventureSeeker said:

I would love to go on RCL and only done it once, but they are very unfriendly to Solo cruisers they charge crazy amounts of money in double occupancy fees if you go solo compared to NCL which is my go to for solo cruising. This is one reason I am very disappointed in NCL having such a bad inventory issues in the NYC area with almost no cruises because they are the only line here that are solo friendly price wise. I never done MSC before will definitly need to check them out, anyone know if they are solo friendly?

If you look at one of the newer class ships from the Quantum-class they have Solo Balcony cabins which seem to be very popular.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum-class_cruise_ship

 

“With single staterooms, there is no single supplement fee. When Royal Caribbean added these rooms, they designed them to be respective of the ship's business model and this means solo cruisers do not have to pay double the cost of what the cruise should be” 

Some of the other Royal Caribbean ships actually have different types of cabins specially for solo cruisers. Hear a screenshot that might help. 

 

[njkate]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Why do you think NYC is part of the problem? Other than the parking is more expensive than going out of NJ. Wife and I have cruise out of NYC 5 times and love it. Its a very convenient drive for us from PA. Easy (but expensive) parking right next to the ship. Great view of the skyline going down the river. I have looked at RC, prices are pretty much the same

Just guesses on my part but NYC May charge an arm and a leg to dock there. Cruises from there were always pretty booked so there must be a reason NCL is cutting back on departures from there

[Laszlo]

1 minute ago, njkate said:

Just guesses on my part but NYC May charge an arm and a leg to dock there. Cruises from there were always pretty booked so there must be a reason NCL is cutting back on departures from there

Every cruise we have taken from there as far back as 2011 has been sold out