Miami port is cheaper than Cape Canaveral?

[lynnfitz]

Hi, first time cruisers, looking into the DCL for 4 night cruise. Miami pricing is quite a bit lower than PC? Just curios the reasoning behind it? Is that port much more difficult to manage (especially for first timers!) Being our first time, should we just stick with Port Canaveral? I think thought the difference was around $1,000, which is quite a bit.
Thank you!

 

[Cheburashka]

Hi, first time cruisers, looking into the DCL for 4 night cruise. Miami pricing is quite a bit lower than PC? Just curios the reasoning behind it? Is that port much more difficult to manage (especially for first timers!) Being our first time, should we just stick with Port Canaveral? I think thought the difference was around $1,000, which is quite a bit.
Thank you!

The only reason sailing from Miami is cheaper than sailing from Port Canaveral right now is that the Wish is a brand new ship and is thus more expensive due to the hype. And she sails from Port Canaveral.

Miami is no harder to sail from than Port Canaveral. The opposite imo, because it's a lot closer to the Miami airport than Port Canaveral is to the Orlando airport.

From what I've read and seen online about the Wish, it looks like the Dream & Magic are better ships, so I'm glad it's less expensive to sail them.

 

[dcassetta]

The Wish, Disney's newest ship, is sailing from PC, while the Dream is sailing from Miami. As there is huge interest in the Wish right now, its fares are higher.

 

[lanejudy]

Probably a 2-fold reason -- the Wish is the new ship, sailing out of Port Canaveral, high demand. Plus many vacationers like to do a "land and sea" combining WDW with a cruise, and that's much easier to do out of Port Canaveral rather than Miami. Even before the Wish, Miami cruises were less expensive for this reason.

 

[emmabelle]

the land and sea vacay is why we are cruising out of PC. We’ve done the drive from Miami to WDW a few times but would rather not.

 

[lynnfitz]

Ok thanks everyone!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Price has won out for us. We changed Wish Merrytime to Dream Merrytime. More days, less money, and yes, we will go to WDW afterwards.

 

[Intr3pid]

Probably a 2-fold reason -- the Wish is the new ship, sailing out of Port Canaveral, high demand. Plus many vacationers like to do a "land and sea" combining WDW with a cruise, and that's much easier to do out of Port Canaveral rather than Miami. Even before the Wish, Miami cruises were less expensive for this reason.

This second reason is the most consistent. Wish may have a premium for now, but PC cruises have always been more expensive. And not just Disney - RCL and others too.

Miami has tons of ships sailing out - and the competition shows in prices.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Even without the Wish.... Miami tends to be cheaper and offers more discounts than PC.

Part of that might have been about the ships... Magic or Wonder have fewer balconies and those tend to be a premium, but lot more inside and "port hole" rooms that have to be filled as well. With the Dream being there it will be interesting to see how this evolves as the Wish gets broken in.
I think there is something to the advantage of being near Orlando and Disney World along with the other "attractions". So a win for PC.
And then there is the advantage of location.... Miami is about 125 miles closer to Nassau (rest the Caribbean East or West), that's about 5 Hours of cruising time (10 hours if you figure both directions) and nearly 12K gallons of fuel (or 24K gallons both ways). Miami make a lot of cents...

*Fuel consumption based on Wonder Engineering Technical Information - 24K Cruising Speed she burns about 100 gallon/mile. Not sure about the newer ships.

 

[auntlynne]

If you go with Miami, you will have two good options for flights - MIA and Fort Lauderdale (FLL). FLL is no farther to Port of Miami than Orlando (MCO) is to Port Canaveral - maybe closer.

We have started using the Brightline train to get from FLL to Miami. Not a direct trip, but the FLL will have an on-site station in the future (as will MCO).

Passenger volume might contribute to Miami’s cost. They are the largest passenger port in the world.

Hope you find a cruise you like.

 

[Brett Wyman]

The only reason sailing from Miami is cheaper than sailing from Port Canaveral right now is that the Wish is a brand new ship and is thus more expensive due to the hype. And she sails from Port Canaveral.

Miami is no harder to sail from than Port Canaveral. The opposite imo, because it's a lot closer to the Miami airport than Port Canaveral is to the Orlando airport.

From what I've read and seen online about the Wish, it looks like the Dream & Magic are better ships, so I'm glad it's less expensive to sail them.

I personally think a lot of people like to stop at Disney for a day, even if it's just for a resort stay, before their cruise. Im curious to see how the Miami thing shakes out, but Im guessing it will always be a slightly less appealing port for Disney Cruise fans.