Cruise ships strike a pose in New York
Two cops, standing on a corner, represent all New Yorkers. My son and I are lost trying to find our hotel. Mention the hotel name and the cops gruffly advise they’ve never heard of it. Turn away and … “Hey wait!” They quickly make a call on their cellphone and all of a sudden we’re on our way, heading in the right direction. That’s New York — gruff but friendly. I know that’s a contradiction, but that’s the way it is. New York is my favourite home port. The cruise is always great, but the three or four days I spend there before getting on the ship is perfect.
Cruise lines are recognizing its big growth potential and are starting to home-port their latest, greatest ships in The Big Apple. Norwegian started the ball rolling with a new class of ship, the Breakaway. And Royal Caribbean will call New York home for its groundbreaking Quantum of the Seas, scheduled for launch late next year.
Breakaway’s Peter Max-designed hull is a familiar sight on New York’s waterfront, after a summer sailing to Bermuda and now wintering south from New York to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian’s president and CEO, is a born-and-bred New Yorker and he spiced up the title “godmother” by naming the Radio City Rockettes as godmothers en masse. Sabrett New York hotdogs are served from carts aboard Breakaway, and Cake Boss master baker Buddy Valastro has an Italian bakery on the 4,000-passenger ship. And recently, Norwegian became the official cruise line of the New York Knicks.
Quantum of the Seas, the latest and greatest from Royal Caribbean, will be a New York area ship when she arrives in the fall of 2014. Meanwhile, her campaign to capture the hearts of New Yorkers will be underway this month, with a float in Macy’s Nov. 28 Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Royal Princess, the newest and biggest ship from Princess, will leave New York for trips to Canada, with several departures next September and October. Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are currently home-porting in New York or across the Hudson River in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Carnival’s Splendor has staked out the Bahamas this winter with eight-day cruises from New York that include stopping at Port Canaveral, allowing passengers to spend a day at Disney World.
Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas will cruise all this winter from Cape Liberty to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, the trips ranging from seven to 10 days. Cunard’s iconic Queen Mary 2 continues her alternating journeys between Southampton and New York for a portion of the year. Expect others like the Celebrity Summit to arrive in the spring.
When it comes to the number of ships serving New York, it’s a pittance compared to Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. However, The Big Apple is slowly becoming “the port” when cruise lines want to show off their biggest, newest, shiniest and best.
For airport, ground transportation and other New York information, go to my portsandbows.com Blog on Saturday.