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Will Carnival ever come back to Baltimore

REGINA

By REGINA,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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MarylandLady

MarylandLady

Posted
Posted

Everyone get out of my way -- I'll be the first in line!!!! :D

 

I was so disappointed when the Miracle or any other CCL ship didn't come back to Baltimore! :( It was great to leave the house and in 20 minutes be pulling up to that big old dock!! We went on the Miracle when she was here and loved cruising under the bridges (Key and Bay) and down the Chesapeake!

 

And no airline fares are a BIG plus!

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sallyb

sallyb

Posted
Posted

I think Baltimore does want Carnival back. When you drive into the city, you can now see signs saying "Cruise Maryland" directing you to the port. They have been trying to promote this. Wait til after the election, we'll see. Everything is politically motivated here lately.

I'll meet ya'll at the docks, OK?

Sally

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BigDoug

BigDoug

Posted
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Does anyone know if Carnival ever plans to sail from Baltimore again. The Miracle was here a few years ago.

What ship would Carnival use? The Legend is sailing from NY and Ft. Lauderdale. The Miracle is in Tampa. The Pride and Spirit are on the left coast. Carnival doesn't have a fast ship to sail out of Baltimore.:mad: I am not sure if the bigger ships, such as a Conquest or Triumph class could even go under the Key bridge. The market is definitely here but I don't think Carnival can take advantage of it yet. If Carnival were to leave from Phillie, that could open up some possibilities...

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Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim

Posted
Posted

What were the issues that made them move the Miracle from Baltimore to Tampa in the first place?

 

The only problem I can recall reading about for sailing out of Baltimore was that they overbooked the ship a couple of times and some groups got their cruise bumped. I seem to remember hearing the cancellation rate for the Baltimore cruises was lower than other ports for some reason. So when Carnival overbooked by their normal amount, they didn't have enough cabins to go around at times.

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zebra36

zebra36

Posted
Posted
I don't see it happening anytime soon... I believe it was Baltimore that didn't want them there. Perhaps they will revisit the idea down the road? Who knows... I would love it too!!

 

Not sure what is meant here. I do know that the state authorities did a study re: new facilities for cruise ships and decided that they weren' going to spend the $'s without commitments from the cruise industy and the cruise industry seems to look upon the lack of modern faciliies as a drawback, sort of a catch 22. Baltimore may be a tougher sell to the cruise lines because of the long trek up the bay. Though the Grandeur is sailing out of Baltimore this year the 9 day sailings have a really uninspired itinerary with 3 of the 5 port calls at Florida ports.

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kcslim

kcslim

Posted
Posted

I cruised out of Baltimore in 2003. My comments at the time were that the port really did not know how to handle customs, and the luggage retrieval was horrible. I would love to have cruise ships travel from there, as it is just an hour away.

 

I agree with a previous poster saying it is all politically motivated. Come on.. get the politicians to understand that is TOURIST MONEY for people flying/driving in day before, and cruise lines need to realize they would target a larger market!

 

But, who are we? Just the cruisers! :-)

 

K

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MarylandLady

MarylandLady

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I don't recall having problems getting my luggage after our Miracle cruise, but what I do remember is the LONG wait after we docked to get off of the ship. It was several hours of waiting on the Lido Deck. We told our DD not to pick us up, but that we would call when we were cleared to leave. It didn't happen until after 12:00 noon. So I think Customs/Immigration was the problem -- not CCL. My sister had the same problem getting off of the Galaxy after an 11 day cruise. Their ship was late (around 11ish) getting into Baltimore and she wasn't cleared to get off of the ship until after 4:00. Those are the two instances that I've had first-hand experience with, don't know about anyone else.

 

I heard that Baltimore did build a new cruise terminal, but I haven't really checked out whether RCCL or Celebrity or someone else helped build it or who is using it.

 

I agree with the political issues in Maryland though! Maybe today will forecast a change for us!

 

As for the issue of taking a long trip down the Chesapeake -- when we left at 4:00 pm we were out of the bay and into the Atlantic when we awoke the next morning. I also remember going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel late the evening before we docked. So I don't think it was that much longer than going down the Mississippi from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. If I remember correctly, we left New Orleans around 2:00 pm (another story) and we were entering the Gulf around 11 or 12 at night. Feel free to help me with the hours, if I'm really off-base here!:)

 

Oh - one other thing, I think I remember Carnival saying that they were "test-marketing" Baltimore the year that the Miracle sailed from here. Maybe because they don't have a ship at this point in time could be the reason they haven't come back. Oh well -- maybe some day!

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Littlegoo75

Littlegoo75

Posted
Posted

You would think they would realize after over selling by so many that they definitely have a good market in Baltimore. I would LOVE not to have to fly anywhere just to catch the ship.

 

I'm hoping to relocate to Houston within the next couple of years, that will be nice as there are quite a few ships there.

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zebra36

zebra36

Posted
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MarylandLady,

 

The cruise facilities were just moved to a less used commercial facility accross the harbor, simply spruced up what was there and did not spend any major bucks on new construction. Also, as for New Orleans port I believe the run to get out into open water from Baltimore is close to twice as long and when you are restricted to doing 6 knots at some points it does make for a slow trip.

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MarylandLady

MarylandLady

Posted
Posted
MarylandLady,

 

The cruise facilities were just moved to a less used commercial facility accross the harbor, simply spruced up what was there and did not spend any major bucks on new construction. Also, as for New Orleans port I believe the run to get out into open water from Baltimore is close to twice as long and when you are restricted to doing 6 knots at some points it does make for a slow trip.

 

Wow -- that's really interesting! I really thought it was a new one! I need to get out and about more!! I hope they improved the customs and immigration stuff when they spruced it up!

 

I also didn't know about the 6 knots limit. I'm sure it's that way until you pass under Key Bridge but there are other places in the open bay, too?

 

You can learn so much on these boards! Thanks for the info!!:)

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ocean angel

ocean angel

Posted
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I can help!!! MarylandLady, where in Maryland are you from?

Anyway, I work for the Port of Baltimore. We do currently have RCCL again for the remainder of this cruise season, and on the schedule for 2007. Our marketing folks are in discussion with other cruise lines (Carnival is one of them) so hopefully there will be some word soon on at least one other cruise line, but probably not until the 2008 season since the berth assignments are done at least a year in advance. The State (with no help from RCCL or anyone else) spent $13 million dollars on a new, dedicated cruise terminal just of interstate 95 which is so much easier to reach and the passengers are no longer mixed with cargo as was the case when ships sailed out of our Dundalk Marine Terminal.

The new facility is great and the operations are very smooth. I sometimes read complaints about the ports' operations when disembarkation is slow, but what a lot of passengers don't realize is that the process of disembarkation is not controlled by the ports/terminal operators - it's control by customs border protection.

As far as the Key Bridge is concerned - if the QE2 can pass under it, there's no problem for Carnival, RCCL, or any other cruise ships.

And for 2007 RCCL is adding two new itineraries - a 9 night to Canada/New England and 9 night to the Caribbean to include San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana (Dominican Republic) and RCCL's private island, Labadee, Haiti.

Hope this helps.:)

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MarylandLady

MarylandLady

Posted
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More interesting information!! I do love these boards! I thought I read that there was a NEW terminal built! I'm going to have to drive up there this weekend and have a look. Been a while since I've been up that way!:D

 

And by the way -- we did realize that it wasn't the Port of Baltimore, but customs, etc., that delayed us from getting off the ship!

 

We live in Columbia. It is really good to know that negotiations are in progress with other cruise lines and we hope that Carnival gets it! Although we are realistic and know it might be someone else. But that's OK, too. The new itineraries sound interesting and I will take a closer look at them before I book again. It's just not fun to fly anymore -- that from someone who used to fly 1-2 times a week back in the 80's and 90's!

 

My sister and I are doing the Legend next month out of NY and are taking AMTRAK because of the air travel situation! So much faster!

 

If you have any input -- add our vote for Carnival! Looking forward to the final decision. Do you know when that is scheduled to happen? Even if the ships can't come until 2008 at least it is something to look forward to since I don't plan on moving!:)

 

Thanks for the info!!

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ParrotRob

ParrotRob

Posted
Posted
MarylandLady,

 

The cruise facilities were just moved to a less used commercial facility accross the harbor, simply spruced up what was there and did not spend any major bucks on new construction. Also, as for New Orleans port I believe the run to get out into open water from Baltimore is close to twice as long and when you are restricted to doing 6 knots at some points it does make for a slow trip.

 

I don't know where you get your information from, but it's utter nonsense. There's a brand new, passenger-only facility at South Locust Point. I don't know what you consider "major bucks", but close to $14 million dollars was spent on a brand new facility, not "sprucing up" an old "commercial facility".

 

You can easily verify this at the port of baltimore's web site, rather than making stuff up.

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