Thread: Why do you choose an embarkation port?

What factors influence your choice of embarkation port?

It’s where the cruise I want leaves from... just that simple..

Since we have embarked from England, Spain, Italy and East and West USA it has to be where the cruise we are going on begins.

We prefer a port where we can drive ... not fly!

Ft. Lauderdale works for us (one night's drive away) because there are a good variety of ships and itineraries from there.

Unfortunately, our really close ports of Charleston and JAX (at this point) only have older Carnival ships and intineraries that are not what we want.

We book the cruise we want and that is what determines which port we sail from. We don't a pick cruise just because of the port it sails from.

In fact, lots of our sailings have required long plane flights to get to the port!

We prefer not to fly if possible so that does somewhat influence the cruises we take. NY/NJ, Boston, Quebec City, Baltimore are drivable in a day. Otherwise it is the itinerary that determines the port.

If the ship is not at the port, then it is impossible to embark from that port. (Our cab driver told us the funny story of a passenger who wanted to get to a specific port only to find out when he got there that his ship was at a different port......)

Ok so seems most of us agree it's the cruise that matters more than where it leaves from

Originally Posted by Lanky Lad

Ok so seems most of us agree it's the cruise that matters more than where it leaves from

The departure port may matter more to those who live driving distance. They can book many cruises at the last minute and get great deals. For those of us who are inland, we have to fly, no matter where. However we would not choose a port whcih involves 28 hours of travelling such as Singapore (as much as I would love to, it is overwhelming to travel so far)

Most of our cruises have started at the Port of Los Angeles as we live about an hour's drive from there. I don't care for flying. Unfortunately many of the cruises on our wish list would entitle a major flight.