Cruises That Leave From Philadelphia

While you may not think of landlocked Philadelphia as cruise ship central, it is so central to major departure ports that you may find yourself bewildered by the array of floating holidays at your convenience. Depending on the season, how much time you have and whether you are thirsty for knowledge, beaches, rest or unusual scenery, Philly is a gateway to a destination--and a stylish journey--for everyone.

Cruises Departing from Philadelphia

• In June and July, American Cruise Lines offers eight-day sailing trips through the canals and rivers that connect Philadelphia and Washington, DC and Alexandria, Virginia. With six day-stops along the way, you will see landmarks in American history that span the early British settlement of St. Mary's City, Maryland, to the galleries and boutiques of Chestertown, Maryland, and Alexandria. Your stay on the 100-passenger ship will also feature lectures and performances that bring history to life and dining inspired by the crops and fish of the Central Atlantic coastal region.

Cruises Departing from Cape Liberty/Bayonne, New Jersey

• Like those travelers across the New York harbor, your trip will begin and end with the sight of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. Ninety-five miles from downtown Philadelphia, Bayonne, New Jersey, is situated on Cape Liberty across from southern Brooklyn, New York. If you want to travel by Royal Caribbean Cruises or Celebrity Cruise, Bayonne is your closest northeast destination because neither cruise line docks in New York City. Both companies offer comprehensive, year-round trips to the Caribbean and some trips include stops in Charleston, North Carolina and Key West, Florida. From June to October there are cruises to New England and Canada. As of 2010, parking at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port was $19 a day and there is room for every guest car in the cruise parking lot.

Cruises Departing from New York, New York

• New York's Manhattan Cruise Terminal and the Brooklyn Terminal are 100 miles from downtown Philadelphia. New York could be called "cruise heaven," with voyages available to every continent except the poles and a price tag for every adventurer. You can even take Carnival Cruise Lines' two-day "Cruise to Nowhere". Manhattan serves as homeport to ocean liners from five major cruise lines. Parking is not guaranteed at Manhattan's piers, although there are parking lots nearby, and more than twice the cost of parking in Bayonne. Brooklyn Terminal, which is home to two more major cruise lines, has more parking and, as of 2010, costs $18 a day. Additionally, from late September to late October, American Cruise Lines sets sail from New York City's Chelsea Piers for a week of foliage amid the remnants of the Gilded Age of the Hudson River Valley.

Cruises Departing from Baltimore, Maryland

• Like New York, the Port of Baltimore is 100 miles from midtown Philadelphia. Port Baltimore is home base for ships from Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises and together they offer a comprehensive, year-round selection of Caribbean sailings, some with ports of call in Charleston, South Carolina and Key West, Florida. From June through August, Port Baltimore is a cruise departure for a mid-month trip to New England and Canada, and bi-weekly voyages during the fall foliage in September and October. Parking at Cruise Maryland Terminal is convenient, secure and commodious. As of 2010, the cost is $15 a day.

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Parades In Philadelphia

William Penn in the late 17th century selected Philadelphia to serve as capital of his Pennsylvania colony. Over the next century, the city played a pivotal role in America's early history. The country’s founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, which for a short time also served as the new nation’s capital. Ethnically and culturally diverse, Philadelphia today is America’s fifth largest city. On holidays and other special occasions throughout the year, colorful floats and marching bands fill the streets as Philadelphians celebrate their city’s rich and colorful heritage. Of the city’s many parades, several draw the biggest crowds each year.

Mummers Parade

• The Mummers Parade welcoming in the New Year has been an official Philadelphia tradition since the beginning of the 20th century. Unofficially, such celebrations date back to the city’s earliest days. Elaborately costumed entertainers -- some playing instruments and other acting as clowns -- fill the streets, carrying on customs that originated in the days of ancient Egypt and Rome. These customs, brought to the New World from Europe, have evolved through the years to take on a spirit that is distinctively Philadelphian. The parade consists of five divisions, of which the most famous is undoubtedly String Bands. Other divisions include the Fancy and Wench brigades and the Comic and Fancy divisions. The parade’s line of march originates in South Philadelphia and proceeds up Broad Street to City Hall in midtown Philadelphia.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

• Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade may not be the biggest such parade in the country, but it proudly lays claim to the title of oldest. Spectacular floats, giant balloons, clowns, marching bands, choirs, ranks of tap dancers and big-name entertainers make up the line of march, which travels from 20th Street and JFK Boulevard east to 16th Street where it turns left for a block before turning west on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The parade ends after passing in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Independence Day Parade

• Part of the weeklong Welcome America! Festival celebrating America’s birthday, the Independence Day Parade moves through the heart of Philadelphia’s most historic neighborhood. More than 5,000 marchers join in the July 4th festivities that pass close to such historic landmarks as Independence Hall, Liberty Bell Center, Congress Hall and the Free Quaker Meeting House. Preceding the parade is a reading of excerpts from the Declaration of Independence on the steps of Independence Hall. Shortly after the parade, a ceremony in Independence Square commemorates the 13 original colonies with a gentle tapping of the Liberty Bell for each colony.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

• Traditionally held on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), Philadelphia’s parade to honor Ireland’s patron saint is the city’s largest parade in terms of total marching participants -- roughly 20,000 representing 150 groups. It is also one of the city’s oldest parades, having first been held in 1771. The parade begins at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard and proceeds along Benjamin Franklin Parkway past the Philadelphia Museum of Art and along Kelly Drive to Lemon Hill Drive. A performing area is set up at Eakins Oval, adjacent to the art museum.

Puerto Rican Day Parade

• A Philadelphia tradition for more than half a century, the Puerto Rican Day Parade celebrates the cultural contributions of the city’s residents of Latino heritage. Philadelphia’s Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations, also known as Concilio, sponsors the annual parade, which is held in late September. Roughly 1,500 marchers participate in the parade, which travels along Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Eakins Oval, where marchers disband.

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Civil War Landmarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The City of Brotherly Love did not escape the war that divided a nation. Soldiers from both sides of the Civil War are buried in historical Philadelphia cemeteries and remembered with monuments in Pennsylvania’s largest city. Even Independence Hall, most well known for the signing of the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution, would become would another sort of landmark for the Civil War. It’s where President Abraham Lincoln made a speech to raise funds for war hospitals, and where he would temporarily lie in state following his assassination. After the war was over, Independence Hall’s iconic Liberty Bell was sent from city to city to remind Americans what had first united them.

Memorials to See

• Marking one entrance to Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial includes two separate structures, one with sculptures of sailors and the other with soldiers. At another entrance to the park stands the Smith Memorial Arch, comprising two arches adorned with sculptures and busts of Pennsylvania’s Civil War heroes. Statues of two Union generals, Major General George Gordon Meade and Major General John F. Reynolds, stand atop columns beside the arches. At Aviator Park, the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors has sculptures commemorating the Civil War’s African-American troops.

Civil War Statues

• Outside City Hall, see another statue of Union General John F. Reynolds, astride his horse. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg. A statue of Union General George McClellan astride a horse also stands outside City Hall. At Fairmount Park, see a statue of Union General Ulysses S. Grant astride his horse and a statue of Union General Meade, who defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. A statue of Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation was erected in 1871. Outside the Union League of Philadelphia, a city club formed to support the Union cause, are two statues depicting unnamed Union soldiers. A statue of Union General Galusha Pennypacker stands next to Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

At Landmark Cemeteries

• Hundreds of Civil War soldiers and veterans are buried at Laurel Hill, a national historic landmark that offers regularly scheduled tours of the cemetery built in 1836. Meade is buried there, and so is Confederate General John C. Pemberton, who surrendered to Grant at Vicksburg. At Philadelphia National Cemetery, where the Union’s Pennypacker is buried, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument was built to remember Confederate soldiers buried there.

Museums Decicated to the War

• The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, chartered in 1888, houses 3,000 Civil War artifacts, including weapons, uniforms, battle flags, military band instruments and battlefield surgical instruments. An elaborately crafted sword given to Grant after his capture of Vicksburg is part of the collection. The Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, located in the Ruan House, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has a smaller collection of Civil War artifacts. Among its holdings are battlefield tree stumps embedded with cannonballs. Fort Mifflin, the site of battles against the British during the American Revolution, became a lesser landmark during the Civil War when it was converted into a prison to hold Union, Confederate and civilian wrongdoers.

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