HAL Moving to Port Canaveral?

[jtl513]

jtl513 -- I do not remember when the Zaandam left Port Canaveral but it was this century. The three or more cruises we took from there were also 2000 or later -- I do know the Zaandam was gone from there by October 2005 when our Volendam cruise ended at Port Canaveral since everything was closed in South Florida by Hurricane Wilma.

Thanks! Posts 8 & 12 indicate it was around Apr '05 that it left.

 

After having researched a bit, I'm convincing myself that the informant of the OP was possibly thinking about the recent announcement that the NCL Sun will be home-ported at Canaveral.

[sail7seas]

jtl513 -- <snip> ..... when our Volendam cruise ended at Port Canaveral since everything was closed in South Florida by Hurricane Wilma.

 

 

:) We were on the Volendam cruise that boarded in Canaveral as the ship could not come to FLL. You disembarked and we boarded. Ship sailed at about 11 P.M. that night to allow as many to get there as possible.

 

It was terrific how well HAL adapted and took care of those of us who had travel nightmares getting flights changed etc Was a wonderful cruise!

[esther e]

HAL in Canaveral would be a dream come true. We also don't fly to ports and the drive to FLL is do-able, but......

 

And I disagree about MCO. It's one of the nicest airports we have even flown in and out from. As far as being difficult for crew, not true. We'd have to go from MCO and just transfer.

[AirGorilla]

I sailed the Zaandam out of Port Canaveral in December of 2004. I think it's fine if HAL puts 1 or 2 ships there, but not all of them. For those of us who have to fly to the port, it's not that convenient, and adds the expense of transportation to and from the port, assuming one flies into Orlando.

 

Orlando has the noisiest airport in the world, with the whiney, shrill cries of children piercing the air, their parents having dragged (or drug?) them around Disneyworld for a week. :D

 

Roz

 

 

Not to mention the gawd-awful security lines, full of people who are taking the second flight of their lives!!!

[jhannah]

Port Canaveral is very nice. Many of the hotels there (and Cocoa Beach) have beach access, so going early and enjoying the surf is nice. Lots of good eating places, too. Most of the car rental places in Orlando will do one-way rentals, and their prices are very good. Makes it easy to fly into Orlando and then drive one hour out to the Cape. We did this for our Disney cruise, and really had a nice time.

[auntibe49]

We took a cruise about Zaandam in April 05. Whenever we have sailed out of Port Canaveral we stayed at the Radisson at the Port. We usually drive to ports so Canaveral would be a few hours closer than FLL. I do hope they move a ship back to Port Canaveral.

[Roz]

Air Gorilla,

 

I forgot about the eternal security lines at MCO and all the people flying for the first time that don't know what they're doing. Families with carts piled high with diapers, car seats, cases of baby food, etc. thinking they can just walk up to the counter and be on their way.

 

Roz

[Roz]

When I sailed from Port Canaveral, the Zaandam and and one of the Disney ships embarked the same day. The port could not have handled another ship. Don't see how this rumor could be true, since I don't think Canaveral could handle all the HAL ships that currently homeport at FLL.

 

Roz

[sail7seas]

The number of flights going into FLL way surpasses Orlando, No?

 

Choices. For those of us who fly, we did availability and choices.

For those who drive, that is of no import.

 

[jtl513]

When I sailed from Port Canaveral, the Zaandam and and one of the Disney ships embarked the same day. The port could not have handled another ship. Don't see how this rumor could be true, since I don't think Canaveral could handle all the HAL ships that currently homeport at FLL.

It's pretty common to see 3 ships come in/out on one day, but that's about all that they can handle. When RCI's Freedom OTS, Monarch OTS, and Carnival Pride all leave on the same day (early May) there'll be close to 9800 pax coming and going. I'll stay off the 528 Beach Line (formerly Bee Line) to/from Orlando on those days!

[Twickenham]

The number of flights going into FLL way surpasses Orlando, No?

 

No.

MCO: 305,000 flights

FLL: 270,400 flights

(taken from each airport's website)

However, factoring in the proximity of MIA to Port Everglades and the proximity of both to the port, as well as the wealth of surrounding infrastructure, still makes it unlikely that HAL will make a move to Port Canaveral.

[gatour]

Think how inconvenient that would be for crew flying home to Netherlands, Phillipines, Indonesia and all over the world. Add another connection, a longer ride to the airport, more travel hours.

 

There are far fewer flights available to Orlando than to FLL.

 

I think this is someone's wishful thinking :) but we shall see.

 

 

Excuse me. Orlando is the 22nd busiest airport in the WORLD. Ft Lauderdale is not even mentioned in the link below.

 

http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/busiestairports.htm

 

If you are talking about International flights, I imagine Orlando has more semi direcit international flights than Ft Lauderdale does. I think in most cases if you fly from either Ft Lauderdale or Orlando you will still be flying through Atl, Dallas, Chicago, LA, SFO, so the total number of hops for crew members would be the same.

 

Having said that while I would sail HAL out of Port Canaveral again (we sailed on the Zaandam around 2001-2003) keep in mind the Port is gearing up for the Freedom (RCCL) and Disney's new Panamax ships. Unless Carnival pulls out or decreases their CCL departures, any HAL ships will be most likely temporary deployed to PC.

[jbhcw]

Even a HAL ship in PC on a temporary basis would be okay with me:D Our first HAL cruise was the Maasdam out of Norfolk, but would actually rather sail out of Florida, especially PC!

[pms4104]

The number of flights going into FLL way surpasses Orlando, No?

 

Choices. For those of us who fly, we did availability and choices.

For those who drive, that is of no import.

 

While FLL may not have more flites than MCO (as pointed out by subsequent posters), many of us fly in/out of MIA for sailings from Port Everglades. Better lift and prices, or at least out of ORD. If one were to consider FLL and MIA statistics combined, I'm guessing it's way more than MCO.

[innlady1]

actually, we prefer the Orlando airport. At least they have a selection of restaurants and shops beyond security--the one at FLL leaves a lot to be desired. It's a pretty boring place to spend a delay, which seems to happen with every flight these days.

 

I couldn't agree more. We were stuck there from 8:45 AM to 3:45 PM recently when we disembarked the Noordam. Ugh.

[Essiesmom]

As far as Port Canaveral goes, don't forget this winter, Carnival Dream will be homeported there...EM

[sail7seas]

[quote name='camp637']While FLL may not have more flites than MCO (as pointed out by subsequent posters), many of us fly in/out of MIA for sailings from Port Everglades. Better lift and prices, or at least out of ORD. If one were to consider FLL and MIA statistics combined, I'm guessing it's way more than MCO.[/quote]


[B]Some folks also use West Palm Airport. It's about as convenient to Port Everglades as Orlando is to Canaveral. Maybe a little slower depending upon traffic.[/B]

[Himself]

I have gone out of FLL for most Caribbean cruises. Once I went out of Tampa on the Veendam on a Western Caribbean cruise. In the the 90's HAL had the NIEUW AMSTERDAM going out of New Orleans. That would have been in the 1995-96 Season and the 1996-97 Season. I went out on the Nieuw Amsterdam. We went Montigo Bay, Jamaica, Grand Caymen and Cosomel. It was a seven day cruise. I would like to see a HAL ship return to New Orleans or to go out of Galveston, Texas. I think either of these places would be as good an alternative as would Port Canaveral. Any Thoughts? If the DAM Fleet gets much bigger we will have have Alternative ports just to get all the Dam ships moorings.

[kryos]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]The number of flights going into FLL way surpasses Orlando, No?

Choices. For those of us who fly, we did availability and choices.
For those who drive, that is of no import.

[/B][/QUOTE]No.

Orlando is a mecca for families. There's a lot more in Orlando ... first and foremost, of course, being the Disney World Resort complex, thus more people use that airport. FLL pretty much has as its main attraction the cruise ships. So, most of the airport traffic is gonna be people bound for cruises. No way could Fort Lauderdale have more flights than Orlando.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

[quote name='arzz'] Somehow I cannot imagine that HAL would stage all of their Caribbean itinerary from there -- especially Western Caribbean -- as it would cost much more fuel as well as sailing time. I can, however, imagine that they might deploy one ship to sail from Port Canaveral.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with you. I can't see them basing all of their Caribbean sailings there, but can well imagine one or two ships. I doubt Port Carnaveral could handle more than one HAL ship, given their other commitments. But I think basing one ship there would be a great move for HAL. They would get people who maybe wanted to combine a WDW vacation or a couple of days at the Space Center Complex with a cruise.

Again, I'm all for the idea.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[jtl513]

[quote name='camp637']If one were to consider FLL and MIA statistics combined, I'm guessing it's way more than MCO.[/quote]When you look at the list of 30 busiest airports that gatour posted (#37) the link to, Miami comes in at #29, about a million behind Orlando at #22, so I'm sure MIA + FLL would top Orlando. But there's one big difference with Orlando: there are relatively few in-transit passengers included in their totals. I personally don't know of [U]anyone[/U] who has [U]ever[/U] changed planes in Orlando! So in Orlando there are always big crowds going through the Security checkpoints, baggage claim, etc, etc, compared to other very busy airports (e.g. ATL) where a good percentage of the total stay entirely inside the secure area. I guess that's probably true of FLL too, although I've only ever flown [U]in[/U]to FLL, and can't say from experience.

[RuthC]

[quote name='jtl513']But there's one big difference with Orlando: there are relatively few in-transit passengers included in their totals. I personally don't know of [U]anyone[/U] who has [U]ever[/U] changed planes in Orlando! [/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=royalblue]I have. Landed in Miami from South America. Flew to Orlando, changed planes to Providence. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1]Met a friend in Ft. Lauderdale airport recently. She was coming off a Celebrity cruise as I was leaving the Noordam. She was flying to Orlando to change to Providence, while I was heading to Baltimore to change for the same destination. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=#4169e1](and just a little sore point: the "Providence" airport isn't in Providence; it's in Warwick. if I gotta hear all those planes over my head, I want the credit.)[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Roz]

Add me to the list of people who've changed planes at MCO. Sometimes Southwest does that. I think I had to go FLL to MCO and then BNA (don't you love the alphabet soup!).

Roz

[AirGorilla]

[quote name='Roz']Add me to the list of people who've changed planes at MCO. Sometimes Southwest does that. I think I had to go FLL to MCO and then BNA (don't you love the alphabet soup!).

Roz[/QUOTE]

Yes. Delta used to have a mini-hub there. It has been de-emphsized now.

[AirGorilla]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]Some folks also use West Palm Airport. It's about as convenient to Port Everglades as Orlando is to Canaveral. Maybe a little slower depending upon traffic.[/B][/QUOTE]

Interesting point. Roughly 50 miles away in both cases. But, the traffic on I-95 between West Palm and Port Everglades can be just gawd-awful, especially during tourist season.

If I had my choice of the two drives (and I've made both, multiple times), MCO to Port C wins easily!!

AG