3-5 days Cruise trip from Toronto

Toronto is next to Ontario Lake, there is no Ocean near by,

If you want to take a big cruise, you can drive to NYC or New Jersey and start the cruise from there.
NYC is like 8 hours drive from Toronto and which takes you almost 1 days out of your 5 and coming back is the same.

it will be difficult if you want to take a good cruise within 3-5 days and not flying.

DavidWatson wrote: ↑ I want to go 3-5 days cruise trip from Toronto. Can we go cruise in Toronto or near by. I checked online and cruise starts from Orlando (USA) etc. It will be expensive because I will have to go USA through Air then go to Cruise. If we can go to cruise from Toronto then we can save air fair. I have 2 adults and two kids (11 and 9). Please recommend best and economical cruise trip. Thanks,

There is no cruise from Orlando. It is at least one hr from the ocean to start a cruise.

Some cruises start from NYC or Baltimore. You can drive there, but parking is expensive near the pier. If cruising the US and Canadian east coast, that's not a bad option, but they may not be interesting for kids. If cruising to the Caribbeans, those cruises are not very good as you'll spend 2-3 days in the ocean to get to some place(s), and 2 sea days back. If the first place is Bermuda, there'll be more sea days to get to the next island(s). Those cruises are also more expensive when you compare the costs per day.

The more popular and cheaper Caribbean cruises are from Florida (Miami, FLL, Tampa, etc.) You can drive 2 days to FL, or fly.

Surprisingly there are some cruises that come as far up the St Lawrence as Montreal, but they're not necessarily cheap. The bigger ships stop at Quebec City.

Examples:
https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/vacations/?de ... 4294953359

You can take a train to Quebec City and cruise to Boston (7-days) or New York (9-10 days). 3-5 days doesn't get you very far.
If you want to do a Caribbean-area cruise, and don't want to fly, your best bets are probably driving to or taking a train to NYC, and taking a cruise from there. Again though, 3-5 days gets you either a round trip from New York to Bermuda, or a one-way where you disembark in Florida and fly back.

Cruises out of Florida are often so cheap that it's less expensive to fly can cruise from MIA/FTL/MCO/TPA/Etc, as opposed to drive to NYC and depart from there.

Mike15 wrote: ↑ Surprisingly there are some cruises that come as far up the St Lawrence as Montreal, but they're not necessarily cheap. The bigger ships stop at Quebec City.

Examples:
https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/vacations/?de ... 4294953359

You can take a train to Quebec City and cruise to Boston (7-days) or New York (9-10 days). 3-5 days doesn't get you very far.
If you want to do a Caribbean-area cruise, and don't want to fly, your best bets are probably driving to or taking a train to NYC, and taking a cruise from there. Again though, 3-5 days gets you either a round trip from New York to Bermuda, or a one-way where you disembark in Florida and fly back.

Good post.

There are also at least 3 cruise lines that sail on the Great Lakes

Victory Cruises with MS Victor I
Pearl Seas Cruises with Pearl Mist
And
Ponant with Le Champlain

But, these are in the “Sightseeing River Cruises” category more than anything else, so are CONSIDERABLY MORE EXPENSIVE than the ocean going cruises most know of to places in the Caribbean by Mainstream Cruise Lines

Examples:
* Victory Cruises - Various Itineraries = from $ 2,499 US per person ... although most Itineraries are more than $ 4,000 US per person

* Pearl Sea Cruises - 8 Days / 7 Nights - Sails between Midland ON & Milwaukee WI = from $ 5,515 US per person

* Ponant Cruises - 11 Days / 10 Nights - Sails between Quebec City QC & Milwaukee WI = from £ 5,461 per person

DavidWatson wrote: ↑ Hi,
I want to go 3-5 days cruise trip from Toronto. Can we go cruise in Toronto or near by. I checked online and cruise starts from Orlando (USA) etc. It will be expensive because I will have to go USA through Air then go to Cruise. If we can go to cruise from Toronto then we can save air fair. I have 2 adults and two kids (11 and 9). Please recommend best and economical cruise trip. Thanks,

Sometimes you can find “cruise packages” that bundle in the airfare/ airport transfers/ checked luggage & the cruise (and include a guarantee to get you to the ship) . Seen it before with Transat and Sunwing but easily still $1400+ per adult depending on the cabin.

You can cruise out of NYC / New Jersey / Baltimore and drive to the port. Most cruises are longer 5-7 days. I find the cruises there more $$ given the area is heavily populated. If you are going to cruise out of Florida it’s probably better to cruise for a week as airfare pricing doesn’t really matter if you are staying 4 days or 1 week.

All in all even for a 3-4 night Bahamas cruise you are probably looking at 2K (for 4 with taxes / gratuities). They tend to be on the oldest ships tho. Then of course the cost of physically getting there.

So I think I should plan for 5-7 days with kids. Can I go NYC through Amtrak's train directly from Toronto to pick the cruise for 5-7 days. Which Cruise I should select for 5-7 days and can I pick cruise from NYC or nearby.

DavidWatson wrote: ↑ So I think I should plan for 5-7 days with kids. Can I go NYC through Amtrak's train directly from Toronto to pick the cruise for 5-7 days. Which Cruise I should select for 5-7 days and can I pick cruise from NYC or nearby.

Really depends on what’s available / your price range. I would do Bermuda personally but I don’t know what the prices are like. NCL should be your best bet.

Just for comparisons sake- just saw a package (airfare to Miami- airport transfers- 7 nights cruise interior stateroom with free drink packages on MSC Seaside / Eastern Caribbean) for August at $1395 pp (even if you had to get 2 staterooms if they don’t have quad occupancy available it would be around $5k) which is what you will pay out of NYC likely said and done after all expenses.

DavidWatson wrote: ↑ So I think I should plan for 5-7 days with kids. Can I go NYC through Amtrak's train directly from Toronto to pick the cruise for 5-7 days. Which Cruise I should select for 5-7 days and can I pick cruise from NYC or nearby.

The Maple Leaf train does indeed run TO to NYC
It’s a slow go tho
https://www.amtrak.com/maple-leaf-train

Even driving would be a better option IMO (less time)

And if you can afford it flying would be best
Especially as the NYC Airports of La Guardia & JFK (plus Newark NJ)
Are closer to Several of the Cruise ports than Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan
(Although this Station still is convenient for commuting by rail out to Brooklyn & NJ ... just another added layer though IMO)

Cruises out of New England run out of the likes of Boston, Baltimore and NY City AREA *
Itineraries can differ
Summer thru Fall gonna be mostly focussed on Bermuda, Canada & New England
Fall thru Spring... they’ll be cruises to The Bahamas mostly

Which as others have mentioned, I too think are a waste of time & money... it takes days to get south, so much of the Cruise is in cold winter temps ... and even then, The Bahamas which are off of Florida, just ain’t that hot as a destination ... you need to be in the true Caribbean to see good temps consistently in the Winter ... so SOUTH of the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, ... over in the Caribbean Sea which is past Espanola (Haiti & DR)

* Different Cruise lines are set up at different ports in the NY City area.
Carnival - Holland America - Norwegian - Royal Caribbean - Celebrity etc they all use different places
Manhattan Cruise Terminal - Brooklyn Cruise Terminal - Cape Liberty (which is actually across the river in New Jersey )

My best advice
If you have never cruised before take a look at Cruise Critic the # 1 Website for cruises
(It’s the sister website to TripAdvisor)

And as a newbie to cruising, this might be the one situation where I recommend working with a Travel Agent
As they can help you as a first timer understand all the variables / choices
Look for an agent / agency that specializes in cruises ... such as Expedia Cruise Ship Centres
They are both online, and have actual store fronts in most cities

PS... as a first timer to cruising
Still think your best bet (and pricing) is to just plan a cruise out of Florida
Be it a 3 day to the Bahamas
Or a longer cruise to the Eastern or Western Caribbean
TONS of choices & options
And most importantly price points
It’s a case of volume / berths & beds to fill that drives the costs down out of the likes of Fort Lauderdale & Miami
But all in ... I would not call a cruise a cheap vacation
Even when you get a good price on it & airfare

OP, I think flying to Miami and taking a cruise there is both more economical and more fun than anything you can find close to Toronto. I've been with Carnival twice and they are cheap as hell and great value. I can't picture any Canadian company having the economy of scale to offer such prices. I was joking that cruising with Carnival year round is actually cheaper than living your life paying mortgage and other living expenses lol.

BananaHunter wrote: ↑ OP, I think flying to Miami and taking a cruise there is both more economical and more fun than anything you can find close to Toronto. I've been with Carnival twice and they are cheap as hell and great value. I can't picture any Canadian company having the economy of scale to offer such prices. I was joking that cruising with Carnival year round is actually cheaper than living your life paying mortgage and other living expenses lol.

There is a woman who lives on a Carnival ship and pays something like 100k/year. Which isn't that crazy when you consider that's lodging, food, and entertainment. #retirementgoals