Cruise Ports

PENNINGTON, N.J., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ - The "usual" cruise jumping off ports are getting quite a bit of competition from regional ports, according to Sharon Dodd, Editor of Cruise Critic.

Driving proximity for airline avoiders is one obvious appeal. These ports are in some of America's most exotic and interesting cities. They offer a great excuse for an add-on vacation. See http://www.cruisecritic.com.

"Some of the hot new cruise ports include Baltimore, Port Canaveral and San Diego," she says. "New York and San Francisco have significant growth in cruises beyond their traditional transatlantic voyages."

Cruise Critic, one of the Industry's best known cruise sites takes on the year's hottest cruises:

New Orleans' Year-Round Mardi Gras

"It's a fun city -- and cruise lines are assigning bigger and newer ships there on a year-round basis," says Dodd. Carnival will homeport the 110,000- ton Carnival Conquest to sail year-round seven-day itineraries. Royal Caribbean is incorporating all sorts of Louisiana-themed elements into Grandeur of the Seas. Norwegian Cruise Line is adding roundtrip service as well with a series of seasonal itineraries.

New York

"Manhattan, once limited to transatlantic and seasonal Bermuda and maritime Canada itineraries, has greatly expanded its homeport offerings," she says. "For the first time in a long time, mass-market cruise lines are offering New York-based summer trips to the Bahamas and beyond.

"Norwegian Cruise Lines' brand new Norwegian Dawn will offer weeklong trips to Nassau and Miami while Carnival's Legend will sail an eight-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Cunard's QE2 will continue, at least for this year, anyway, with its occasional longer southern voyages out of the Big Apple."

Baltimore

Baltimore's easy geographic proximity to major metro areas ranging from Richmond to Washington, D.C. and from Philadelphia to most of New Jersey is attracting not just airline-weary cruise regulars but also enticing quite a notable number of first-timers.

The hot new news is that Carnival's coming to town with a seasonal series of six-day trips to Bermuda on Carnival Legend. Celebrity Galaxy, the real star here, returns with a menu that includes 10- and 11-day Caribbean and 11-day Canada/New England voyages.

Port Canaveral

Long dominated by Disney and 3- and 4-day voyages on other lines, Port Canaveral, just 45 minutes from Orlando, gets new life now that other major lines are committing to year-round home porting there.

San Francisco

San Francisco has long enjoyed hosting Crystal and Norwegian Cruise Line. In 2003, San Francisco comes into its own as the "new" Pacific Princess will be sailing a series of 10-day Alaska itineraries throughout the summer. And Holland America's recently repositioned its revamped Prinsendam to sail 14-day trips Alaska/Northwest Canada. Equally interesting is Celebrity's deployment of Mercury to San Francisco for Mexican Riviera itineraries.

San Diego's Mexican Adventure

As a relatively new alternative to the Mexican Riviera, Sea of Cortez cruises offer Alaskan-style whale watching (in warmer surrounds, naturally) along with calls at more offbeat Mexican towns and villages.

Holland America is the sole cruise line with regular sailings to the Sea of Cortez. Aboard Ryndam and Statendam, seven- to eight-day itineraries bypass the usual Puerto Vallarta-Mazatlan scene, heading up-river instead to historic towns and cities such as Santa Rosalia, Loreto and La Paz.

Frommer's Caribbean 2008