Cruises from Baltimore

[ace2542]

46 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I would call Royal to ask about their protocol for this situation.

Do they have one? Considering on at upcoming vision sailings for however many weeks people have paid the final balance? Any change of port will ergo include change of flights/accomodation for many people.

Edited March 27 by ace2542

[ace2542]

42 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I don’t know what Reno they were doing at Norfolk. But we have sailed out of the Norfolk terminal many years ago and our son lives in Virginia Beach. The Norfolk cruise ship terminal is absolutely beautiful. It has an entire wall of windows that overlook the Hampton roads. They rented out for wedding receptions. It’s so nice

 

my only issue with Norfolk is the traffic because it’s in a highly congested area of the city and there is no immediate parking. The city has several garages, but there are a couple blocks away. You either have to park and push your luggage for a couple blocks or take their shuttle 

What about flying people in from wherever? Especially overseas? I highly doubt there are many direct flights. Far more to NYC/NJ area.

[firefly333]

53 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I would call Royal to ask about their protocol for this situation.

All these people calling seems like just tying up the lines. The phone people dont know and if they did cant tell you the plans for this. 

 

People are calling before there is a plan announced. Waste of time imo.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

10 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

What about flying people in from wherever? Especially overseas? I highly doubt there are many direct flights. Far more to NYC/NJ area.

oh, most of the flights are not dressed, but there are some that are from certain places.

 

but I will tell you that a lot of the people that I know that cruise out of Baltimore are not going to drive to the New Jersey New York area.

 

we have tried to get them to go on a cruise that we thought was good out of Bayonne and they wouldn’t do it. 
 

I will drive there either.DH and I take the train. And they could do that, but for some reason they don’t do that either.

 

not saying that this is Royal Caribbean’s fault. This is a disaster not of their making. But there will be a number of people who would not drive to New Jersey.

Edited March 27 by DragonOfTheSeas

[blondie from arizona]

I don't know if I want to leave my car in New Jersey. Plus, we picked this cruise just for the convenience. It may no longer be convenient and then I am not on a preferred ship and have to drive further. I am not going to call RCL about it though. My cruise is a ways off. I will wait and see. It is all GOOD. I love RCL and I am sad for the people that lost loved ones and sad for America. It is a big deal that the bridge was destroyed. Not a big deal about my vacation. 

[LB_NJ]

6 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

oh, most of the flights are not dressed, but there are some that are from certain places.

 

but I will tell you that a lot of the people that I know that cruise out of Baltimore are not going to drive to the New Jersey New York area.

 

we have tried to get them to go on a cruise that we thought was good out of Bayonne and they wouldn’t do it. 
 

I will drive there either.DH and I take the train. And they could do that, but for some reason they don’t do that either.

 

not saying that this is Royal Caribbean’s fault. This is a disaster not of their making. But there will be a number of people who would not drive to New Jersey.

I have a cruise booked on Vision ONLY because it left out of Baltimore.

 

If they move it to Bayonne I'm OK.  If they move it to Norfolk I hope they give me an option to cancel and get my money back.

[BND]

3 minutes ago, blondie from arizona said:

I don't know if I want to leave my car in New Jersey. Plus, we picked this cruise just for the convenience. It may no longer be convenient and then I am not on a preferred ship and have to drive further. I am not going to call RCL about it though. My cruise is a ways off. I will wait and see. It is all GOOD. I love RCL and I am sad for the people that lost loved ones and sad for America. It is a big deal that the bridge was destroyed. Not a big deal about my vacation. 

NJ port is just as secure as any other port.  I know lots of people who have parked there. The only issue we've seen/heard was when TS Sandy slammed NY/NJ.  We were on the next cruise after and a lot of cars had been flooded with salty water. A lot wouldn't start. We use Amtrak to Newark and stay in a hotel the night before and get a car service to the port.

[Charles4515]

5 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Good to know they can't take any cruising slots then. Once is the channel is clear it can reopen problem they have is constructing the bridge in the centre.

 

I take it there is no chance they would construct the bridge higher to possibly open the city up to more cruising? I ask this question with no knowledge of any other bridges in the area.

The main priority will be constructing a bridge ASAP. Building it higher for cruising is not going to be a high priority. If they can use the current approaches, I don't think they would build it higher. If they have to completely rebuild the bridge and approaches then then they might. 

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, BND said:

NJ port is just as secure as any other port.  I know lots of people who have parked there. The only issue we've seen/heard was when TS Sandy slammed NY/NJ.  We were on the next cruise after and a lot of cars had been flooded with salty water. A lot wouldn't start. We use Amtrak to Newark and stay in a hotel the night before and get a car service to the port.

The cars parked there used to get a free unwanted paint job....

[TwoMisfits]

17 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

oh, most of the flights are not dressed, but there are some that are from certain places.

 

but I will tell you that a lot of the people that I know that cruise out of Baltimore are not going to drive to the New Jersey New York area.

 

we have tried to get them to go on a cruise that we thought was good out of Bayonne and they wouldn’t do it. 
 

I will drive there either.DH and I take the train. And they could do that, but for some reason they don’t do that either.

 

not saying that this is Royal Caribbean’s fault. This is a disaster not of their making. But there will be a number of people who would not drive to New Jersey.

 

I think anyone driving south and west of Baltimore won't go north now b/c traffic through Baltimore is now gonna be horrific for awhile.  So I understand why Carnival went south and took getting through Baltimore out of the way for a lot of their cruisers (who, when driving, I expect come more from the south and west of Baltimore vs the north, b/c if you were north, you'd probably go to Bayonne/NY for the larger ships and more varied itineraries to start with)...

Edited March 27 by TwoMisfits

[Chloe8259m]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

They'll be back in May after Vision's drydock.

I would also like to know what RCLs protocol is if you don’t want to dry 3 or 4 hours to another port.

[BND]

2 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

The cars parked there used to get a free unwanted paint job....

That hasn't been reported in several years.  Especially since they rebuilt the port and moved the parking areas and built the garage.

[teddie]

20 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

oh, most of the flights are not dressed, but there are some that are from certain places.

 

but I will tell you that a lot of the people that I know that cruise out of Baltimore are not going to drive to the New Jersey New York area.

 

we have tried to get them to go on a cruise that we thought was good out of Bayonne and they wouldn’t do it. 
 

I will drive there either.DH and I take the train. And they could do that, but for some reason they don’t do that either.

 

not saying that this is Royal Caribbean’s fault. This is a disaster not of their making. But there will be a number of people who would not drive to New Jersey.

Jeeze.  Cape Liberty in NJ is fine.  It's our home port and we sail out of there 98% of the time.

 

Teddie

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, teddie said:

Jeeze.  Cape Liberty in NJ is fine.  It's our home port and we sail out of there 98% of the time.

It's not the NJ port, it's the NJ traffic (and drivers! 😛 ).

[LB_NJ]

7 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

 b/c if you were north, you'd probably go to Bayonne/NY for the larger ships and more varied itineraries to start with)...

That is not true.  I live much closer to Bayonne than Baltimore however, I just booked a cruise out of Baltimore because I wanted a smaller ship and the Vision had a great 12 day itinerary.  

 

For me Baltimore is also leave my house in the morning and arrive in time for a late lunch on the ship.   Norfolk does not work for me.

[pghflyer]

8 minutes ago, Chloe8259m said:

I would also like to know what RCLs protocol is if you don’t want to dry 3 or 4 hours to another port.

Yup, it isn't RCL's fault and this is a tragedy, but that doesn't mean it becomes my problem to drive 3+ hours to a place I never agreed to leave/ return from.  I have a reservation to/from Baltimore and if this incident means RCL/ Carnival can't deliver that, then I should be offered an option to get a refund.  I guarantee you if my family had a tragedy and I had to move to another city, they wouldn't swing by and pick me up for free.

[teddie]

5 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

It's not the NJ port, it's the NJ traffic (and drivers! 😛 ).

I guess I'm used to it; but coming from the south, it's a straight shot on the turnpike for the entire state to the port.  Just don't do the speed limit in the left lane and you'll be fine 🙂

 

 

Teddie

 

 

Edited March 27 by teddie

[TwoMisfits]

2 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

That is not true.  I live much closer to Bayonne than Baltimore however, I just booked a cruise out of Baltimore because I wanted a smaller ship and the Vision had a great 12 day itinerary.  

 

For me Baltimore is also leave my house in the morning and arrive in time for a late lunch on the ship.   Norfolk does not work for me.

 

But you're rare...I'm betting Carnival looked at their passenger location stats, and that's why they made such a quick call, while Royal is still deciding...

[BND]

2 minutes ago, pghflyer said:

Yup, it isn't RCL's fault and this is a tragedy, but that doesn't mean it becomes my problem to drive 3+ hours to a place I never agreed to leave/ return from.  I have a reservation to/from Baltimore and if this incident means RCL/ Carnival can't deliver that, then I should be offered an option to get a refund.  I guarantee you if my family had a tragedy and I had to move to another city, they wouldn't swing by and pick me up for free.

That's why you buy insurance.

[Mangrove Snapper]

14 minutes ago, blondie from arizona said:

I don't know if I want to leave my car in New Jersey.

 

Parking at Cape Liberty is fine.  We've sailed out of there with Celebrity a bunch of times (most recently in July 2023) and have never had any issues with parking - both in the deck and out in the lot.  We like the price for parking better in Baltimore, though.  We paid the same to park in Baltimore for a 14 night cruise as we did in Bayonne for a 7 night cruise - $210. 

 

3 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

It's not the NJ port, it's the NJ traffic (and drivers! 😛 ).

 

Now that's a fair point.  We always go early to try to avoid this.  I'd rather sit at the port and wait than sit in traffic and wait. 

[Charles4515]

Just now, teddie said:

Jeeze.  Cape Liberty in NJ is fine.  It's our home port and we sail out of there 98% of the time.

 

Teddie

I lived 35 minutes drive. from the Baltimore cruise port for 30 years and only took 3 cruises out of the port of Baltimore. Two on Celebrity, yes, they used to cruise out of Baltimore and one on Carnival.  I did 11 cruises from Cape Liberty. I took Amtrak, easy peasy. The Baltimore ships used by Royal and Carnival did not appeal to me and neither did their itinerarys. I also preferred flying to Florida for better ships and itinerarey. 

[goofy810]

1 hour ago, blondie from arizona said:

Would anyone like to take an educated guess as to how long it will be before Vision is back in port at BWI? And, for those that do not want to change embarkation ports, what is RCLs standard protocol for this?

I would bet no more then 6 weeks prob closer to 4 weeks. 

[smokeybandit]

Just now, Charles4515 said:

I lived 35 minutes drive. from the Baltimore cruise port for 30 years and only took 3 cruises out of the port of Baltimore. Two on Celebrity, yes, they used to cruise out of Baltimore and one on Carnival.  I did 11 cruises from Cape Liberty. I took Amtrak, easy peasy. The Baltimore ships used by Royal and Carnival did not appeal to me and neither did their itinerarys. I also preferred flying to Florida for better ships and itinerarey. 

I lived near Baltimore for 14 years and never even thought about cruising out of Baltimore.

Now, living 1600 miles from Baltimore, we booked a Baltimore cruise.

[LB_NJ]

3 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

But you're rare...I'm betting Carnival looked at their passenger location stats, and that's why they made such a quick call, while Royal is still deciding...

I am OK with that as long as they let me cancel and give me a full refund.

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

But you're rare...I'm betting Carnival looked at their passenger location stats, and that's why they made such a quick call, while Royal is still deciding...

Carnival also does not have the Bayonne option although if there were docking space I think Royal would let them use it.