Fall and Holiday Cruises from New York

Now is the perfect time to start planning and thinking about a fall, winter or holiday cruise vacation.

The New York / New Jersey Cruises season really picks-up in the fall when additional cruise ships reposition from Europe to the US for the Winter months, Enroute to warmer climates, these cruise ships usually conduct as series of New England / Canada Cruises before finding their permanent winter home in the Caribbean or Florida.

There is a full array of New England / Canada cruises from New York and New Jersey ranging from 7 day round-trip cruises to the Northeast United States and Canada. There are longer cruises sailing from New York to Montreal or Quebec. Some of these cruises end in these ports and cruise passengers can take additional days ashore seeing the sites before either flying or taking the train home. These cruises give passengers a feel for the New England / Canada seaport lifestyle as well as exposure to the changing of the fall leaves to the rusts, yellow and oranges of the season.

Caribbean, Florida / Bahamas and Bermuda cruises also extend into the fall months and into the winter. New York has established itself as a Year-round embarkation port to these warmer ports. The Bermuda Cruise season is April though early November while the Caribbean and Bahamas/Florida sailing season is year round.

Many Holiday cruises are already filling up - usually booked up to a year in advance. If you are looking for prices to go down or for sales or discounts they are less likely to happen during the holidays, The supply-in-demand model favors the cruise lines for cruises from December 20th though early January. With children being out of school and some businesses closing for the holidays, there are more prospective cruise passengers than ships and berths.

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On the flip side, the first 2 weeks of December are traditionally light weeks for cruise travelers and the cruise lines usually offer great deals - some as low as $399 for an inside stateroom for an entire week.

If you are looking for the ultimate getaway, in early January, Cunard Line offers their traditional World Cruise - lasting 90+ days visiting fascinating ports on almost every continent. This cruise, which starts at about $27,000 per person is also available in shorter segments if a particular range of ports are more interesting than others. Again a great vacation but due to the duration and cost - only suitable for a select portion of the cruising population.

Now that we have discussed the ports and regions, there also is a wide variety of cruise lines sailing from New York which offer varying levels of service, food and quality.

I categorize the cruise lines into the Luxury, Premium and Mass Market cruise sectors,

At the top end of the cruise experience is the Luxury Cruise Lines such as Crystal, SilverSea and Regent to name a few. These cruise lines offer high-end cruise experience, fine food, superior service and high crew to passenger ratio. The cruise experiences prices start at about $2,500 for a week cruise / per person.

Next is the premium market. The Premium Markets consist of Oceana and Celebrity, Premium cruise lines offer an upscale experience, great food, sophisticated entertainment and a refined experience. Cruise prices range between $1,500- $2,500 per week./ per person.

Mass Market - Carnival Cruises (Family Friendly), Norwegian Cruise Line (Family Friendly), Princess Cruises (Mature/Older), Royal Caribbean (Family Friendly), Holland America (Mature/Older). Royal Caribbean is actually on the cusp between the premium and Mass Market categories.

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