Container Ship Struck Key Bridge in Baltimore, Bridge has Collapsed

[alfaeric]

12 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

I would love it, although we like to experience small ship once out of 5 a year cruises.

I don't disagree, but I also know that the top appeal to the small ships is actually the price.  At least to us.  Less often the top appeal is the itinerary- which it was for an Eastern Med cruise and recently a cruise to Columbia and Panama.  And when we finally do a Panama Canal- it will certainly be a small ship.

 

But none of the ports out of Baltimore are unique.  Some of them even suck- I really hate being in Port Canaveral when another RCI ship is in the port because you have no choice but to use transportation to even go for a short walk.  And now that we've been to Freeport- don't need to do that again.  Even going north, you can do the same from NJ or Boston.  

[Tatka]

4 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

I don't disagree, but I also know that the top appeal to the small ships is actually the price.  At least to us.  Less often the top appeal is the itinerary- which it was for an Eastern Med cruise and recently a cruise to Columbia and Panama.  And when we finally do a Panama Canal- it will certainly be a small ship.

 

But none of the ports out of Baltimore are unique.  Some of them even suck- I really hate being in Port Canaveral when another RCI ship is in the port because you have no choice but to use transportation to even go for a short walk.  And now that we've been to Freeport- don't need to do that again.  Even going north, you can do the same from NJ or Boston.  

 

Well... we are there several times a year on other ships. Quantum, Oasis, Voyager classes. We won't drive to Baltimore for this. Only 12 dayers to South Car. However if we won't change our minds we will be on 8 days Thanksgiving cruise on Vision to Charleston, Miami, Bimini.

 

[alfaeric]

7 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

Well... we are there several times a year on other ships. Quantum, Oasis, Voyager classes. We won't drive to Baltimore for this. Only 12 dayers to South Car. However if we won't change our minds we will be on 8 days Thanksgiving cruise on Vision to Charleston, Miami, Bimini.

 

So the discussion is about getting a bigger ship into Baltimore, right?  That would eliminate Charleston and Bimini.  

Basically, if the bridges are lifted to even fit the Voyager ships, the itineraries would shift to be the same as out of NJ.  And the ultra low cost east coast cruises would go away.

 

No real advantage, really, to NJ.  The only think that makes Baltimore unique is the small ships.  

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

 

No real advantage, really, to NJ.  The only think that makes Baltimore unique is the small ships.  

It makes more sense for Royal to build or obtain some smaller ships than expect the taxpayers to rebuild multiple bridges. Can it be even be certain that the Oasis and Icon class ships will remain popular. One big disaster and evacuation of thousands and poof goes the market. None thought the Titanic would happen or that the Key bridge would collapse. These super sized ships have been lucky. 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, alfaeric said:

No real advantage, really, to NJ.  The only think that makes Baltimore unique is the small ships.  

The big advantage for me is less traffic, minimal tolls, and half price parking.  I prefer Baltimore over Cape Liberty.  YMMV.

[Ocean Boy]

58 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It makes more sense for Royal to build or obtain some smaller ships than expect the taxpayers to rebuild multiple bridges. Can it be even be certain that the Oasis and Icon class ships will remain popular. One big disaster and evacuation of thousands and poof goes the market. None thought the Titanic would happen or that the Key bridge would collapse. These super sized ships have been lucky. 

I don't think the O class ships are going away for a very, very long time, accident or not.

[Ocean Boy]

10 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

The big advantage for me is less traffic, minimal tolls, and half price parking.  I prefer Baltimore over Cape Liberty.  YMMV.

I prefer NYC over both of the others. 

[Tatka]

2 hours ago, alfaeric said:

So the discussion is about getting a bigger ship into Baltimore, right?  That would eliminate Charleston and Bimini.  

Basically, if the bridges are lifted to even fit the Voyager ships, the itineraries would shift to be the same as out of NJ.  And the ultra low cost east coast cruises would go away.

 

No real advantage, really, to NJ.  The only think that makes Baltimore unique is the small ships.  

 

It really depends... For example our balconies on  Anthem were way cheaper than what was offered on Vision class (more balconies - cheaper price)

 

For us if Royal adds more Southern Caribbean cruises we won't have a need to sail from Baltimore. Our drive to NJ is way better too.

[alfaeric]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

The big advantage for me is less traffic, minimal tolls, and half price parking.  I prefer Baltimore over Cape Liberty.  YMMV.

If they expanded the port to accept large ships, there's a 100% chance the parking price will go up.  There's barely enough parking for the ships right now.

[alfaeric]

8 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

It really depends... For example our balconies on  Anthem were way cheaper than what was offered on Vision class (more balconies - cheaper price)

 

For us if Royal adds more Southern Caribbean cruises we won't have a need to sail from Baltimore. Our drive to NJ is way better too.

Everything depends.  Timing, class of cabin, etc.  For OUR cruising- Anthem was more expensive than Vision.  

But compare Tampa vs. Port Canaveral- Tampa has small ships with lower costs than Port Canaveral, in general.  

 

BTW, which cruises out of Baltimore have ever gone to Aruba?  I've never seen one, and if it did, it would be closer to 16 nights instead of 12.

[Another_Critic]

2 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

BTW, which cruises out of Baltimore have ever gone to Aruba?  I've never seen one, and if it did, it would be closer to 16 nights instead of 12.

Which cruises out of Cape Liberty have gone to Aruba?

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Which cruises out of Cape Liberty have gone to Aruba?

I did a cruise on Summit that went from Cape Liberty to Miami. It was a repositioning cruise so it had to do an ABC to be legal. 

[Another_Critic]

Just now, Charles4515 said:

I did a cruise on Summit that went from Cape Liberty to Miami. It was a repositioning cruise so it had to do an ABC to be legal. 

And last fall, Vision repositioned from FLL to BWI with stops in ABC.

[alfaeric]

23 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Which cruises out of Cape Liberty have gone to Aruba?

Tataka was talking about Southern Caribbean cruises.  I've never seen one out of Baltimore or New Jersey.  The long cruises from both go to the Eastern Caribbean.

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

And last fall, Vision repositioned from FLL to BWI with stops in ABC.

You mean they repostioned from Fort Lauderdale  to Baltimore 😀  BWI is not a port, is not in Baltimore or Baltimore County. I believe Carnival has had sailings from Baltimore that did Aruba. 

Edited April 5 by Charles4515

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Tataka was talking about Southern Caribbean cruises.  I've never seen one out of Baltimore or New Jersey.  The long cruises from both go to the Eastern Caribbean.

Barbados and St. Lucia are Southern Caribbean.  And I've been to both on Grandeur from Baltimore.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Caribbean

[Another_Critic]

6 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

You mean they repostioned to Baltimore 😀  BWI is not a port, is not in Baltimore or Baltimore County. 

Luggage tags:

 

 

 

 

[Charles4515]

14 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Luggage tags:

 

 

 

 

Did you fly in or out? Why does it have FRI and SAT on the tags. BWI is an airport or train station. They are in Anne Arundel County. It is not a port. 

Edited April 5 by Charles4515

[mo&fran]

55 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Which cruises out of Cape Liberty have gone to Aruba?

Explorer repo to PC to make room for Quantum.

[Another_Critic]

9 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Did you fly in or out? Why does it have FRI and SAT on the tags. BWI is  an airport or train station. It is not a port. 

Drove and parked.  FRI and SAT are the sail dates.

 

Why do you care what RCI calls the port????

 

Make sure you correct all the people that call Cape Liberty -> Port Liberty.  BTW, RCI luggage tag is BYE.

 

Edited April 5 by Another_Critic

[Biker19]

9 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It is not a port.

RCI sometimes uses the same airport code for the port nearby - that’s normal. 

[alfaeric]

33 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Barbados and St. Lucia are Southern Caribbean.  And I've been to both on Grandeur from Baltimore.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Caribbean

But those are considered Eastern Caribbean cruises, not Southern.  We were just on both of those islands on the Vision, so I'm well aware that they are out of Baltimore.  Again, those islands are reachable from NJ on the Anthem- so they are far from unique to Baltimore.

 

Royal markets the ABC's as Southern Caribbean.  I've gotten there mostly from San Juan, but recently out of FLL on Harmony.

 

If you want to insist that Eastern Caribbean cruises are Southern, that's fine, just not how they are marketed.  And it's confusing when people mix terminology.  

 

Anyway, given how long it's going to take to get all of the bridges high enough to get anything bigger than the current ships- it's more likely that Royal will build a totally new class of ships decades before all of the required bridges are raised.

 

And for now, the focus should be around cleaning the shipping channel so that Vision can get back when she's done with dry dock.

[shipgeeks]

40 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Barbados and St. Lucia are Southern Caribbean.  And I've been to both on Grandeur from Baltimore.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Caribbean

Domenica is being added to St. Lucia and Barbados on Vision next year.

[Charles4515]

15 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Drove and parked.  FRI and SAT are the sail dates.

 

Why do you care what RCI calls the port????

 

Make sure you correct all the people that call Cape Liberty -> Port Liberty.  BTW, RCI luggage tag is BYE.

 

Because BWI is not a port. There are no cruise ships there. If you tell a taxi driver you want to go to BWI they are going to take you to an airport 10 miles from the Port of Baltimore. If you are driving and enter BWI you will end up at an airport 10 miles from the cruise port.

[Tatka]

42 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

But those are considered Eastern Caribbean cruises, not Southern.  We were just on both of those islands on the Vision, so I'm well aware that they are out of Baltimore.  Again, those islands are reachable from NJ on the Anthem- so they are far from unique to Baltimore.

 

Royal markets the ABC's as Southern Caribbean.  I've gotten there mostly from San Juan, but recently out of FLL on Harmony.

 

If you want to insist that Eastern Caribbean cruises are Southern, that's fine, just not how they are marketed.  And it's confusing when people mix terminology.  

 

Anyway, given how long it's going to take to get all of the bridges high enough to get anything bigger than the current ships- it's more likely that Royal will build a totally new class of ships decades before all of the required bridges are raised.

 

And for now, the focus should be around cleaning the shipping channel so that Vision can get back when she's done with dry dock.

 

Seriously? 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Caribbean

 

And all cruise lines call itineraries with Barbados & St Lucia Southern Caribbean itun.