NCL intinerary change - Banana Coast (trujillo), Honduras

Just received noticed that my cruise has had an itinerary change from Roatan, Honduras to Banana Coast (Trujillo), Honduras. Anyone have any information on this new port? Has anyone visited this port? I searched on the port forum, and there was no tab for this location either. Any help with this would be awesome!

Not sure if you're interested but this is an article I found on the internet about why Trujillo became a cruise port:

http://www.hondurasliving.com/trujillo-honduras-became-worlds-newest-cruise-ship-terminal/

Not sure if you're interested but this is an article I found on the internet about why Trujillo became a cruise port:

 

http://www.hondurasliving.com/trujillo-honduras-became-worlds-newest-cruise-ship-terminal/

Thank You! Very interesting.

Check out www.bananacoast.com for info. Has a link to excursions etc... Site says that the port is located 32 miles from Roatan.

Neil

Curious: which itinerary has changed? Ship? Date?

Curious: which itinerary has changed? Ship? Date?

My question too....

The cruise is for March 7, 2015 out of Houston on the jewel. It basically said that due to overscheduling they were changing roatan to banana coast. I looked at the website that tells you how many ships are in port, and it did say 4 for roatan, but I also read that some ships tender, so I just figured we were going to tender. Guess not. but im open to change, just wanted to know if anyone had any previous experience with this new port.

We are also on the Jewel out of Houston - October 11, 2014. Trujillo looks beautiful but doesn't seem to have much going on in terms of non-cruise line excursions. We are bummed because we had a fun day booked for Roatan, but it will be interesting to explore Trujillo.

I just got the news of the itinerary change for my Jewel cruise on Nov. 15, 2014. I was really looking forward to Roatan, so I'm not sure yet if we're going to change cruises.

We are also on the Jewel out of Houston - October 11, 2014. Trujillo looks beautiful but doesn't seem to have much going on in terms of non-cruise line excursions. We are bummed because we had a fun day booked for Roatan, but it will be interesting to explore Trujillo.

Our first trip to Roatan was when no one except NCL used the port and there wasn't much to do except the ships excursions which were pretty much beach things. I loved every minute of it and have never enjoy Roatan quite as much since then. Let's hope the new port is one NCL returns to over and over.

Roatan has had some recent shootings of cruise passengers going off on their own along dirt roads.

Supposedly the crime is really bad on the mainland and there is a travel warning for all of Honduras. I would be cautious about leaving the boat in Trujillo.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html

Does anyone know if that is just the ships leaving from Houston or is it more itiniraries? We are leaving out of NOL and the main reason I love that one is because of Roatan:(

We were on a beach excursion to Roatan a couple of years ago so this sure seems like something to consider. We have (Roatan) Honduras on our next Itinerary as well on the Sun from Tampa.... will be watching to see what transpires...

Roatan has had some recent shootings of cruise passengers going off on their own along dirt roads.

 

Supposedly the crime is really bad on the mainland and there is a travel warning for all of Honduras. I would be cautious about leaving the boat in Trujillo.

 

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html

could be good advise, but I think if you are with a cruise tour you are safer. Honduras has always had a huge drug problem, so it makes sense crime would be high as well. I don't think any cruise line is going to put their passengers at undue risk.

My TA is telling me that the new port will not be open to cruise ships until November. My cruise is in November. I'm not sure I want to be on one of the first ships at a new port. I like knowing what I'm getting into. The lack of reviews of different excursions and such worries me.

Here is an iteresting article. I wonder if NCL is testing the water in Trujillo and only committing to a couple of dates in 2014 and 2015.

http://www.honduras.com/banana-coast-cruise-port-praised/

I got the same email and our cruise is in April 2015 sort of hard for me to believe that a berthing conflict is affecting this many cruises ?

"Due to a berthing conflict, Norwegian Jewel will now call Banana Coast (Trujillo), Honduras on Wednesday instead of Roatán,

Honduras. Please review the revised itinerary information below."

My TA is telling me that the new port will not be open to cruise ships until November. My cruise is in November. I'm not sure I want to be on one of the first ships at a new port. I like knowing what I'm getting into. The lack of reviews of different excursions and such worries me.

We are going in October and we got the same email as you. It looks like HAL has used this port already. Based on everything I've read, they are trying to establish this as a new port option, so it is not a popular choice yet but it IS open.

I am going to call a lawyer and sue for 10,000,000 dollars !!

Just kidding I don't really care if we just sail around the Gulf for 7 days, we are in our 1st suite, just wish they offered the UBP during this time !

I have a friend who just spent the past few years on Roatan running scuba trips for people. He recently left the island and moved back to the US because of the crime issues on the island.

The US State Department warning used to actually exclude Roatan. Not sure if it still does.

As always, when in a foreign country, be aware of your surroundings.

On the funny side, he's in Michigan right now freezing because he's lived on the island for years and doesn't have anything but shorts. :) What a tough life.

We're on the October 18th sailing out of Houston and some members of our roll call have been notified by their TAs that we'll be going to Trujillo as well.

I got the same email and our cruise is in April 2015 sort of hard for me to believe that a berthing conflict is affecting this many cruises ?

 

"Due to a berthing conflict, Norwegian Jewel will now call Banana Coast (Trujillo), Honduras on Wednesday instead of Roatán,

Honduras. Please review the revised itinerary information below."

I would agree, but I think it could be something to consider. Remember, April is spring break season and a lot of ships are now doing Roaton. That being said, a better guess is, what has been mentioned: NCL wants to give the new port a shot. If it is anything like Roatan it should be a great move on their part. I would look forward to a new port truthfully. I am tired of the same ole, same ole.

I like that they are trying new ports.

more ports on the western is more choices of cruises

The crime rate in Belize is only slightly less than that of Honduras, and the ships tender quite close to the area hit with the highest crime rates (i.e., Belize City, specifically the south side). Teh cruise industry is comfortable enough there.

One of the advantages of Trujillo is that it's quite far from the urban areas of Honduras - specifically San Pedro and Tegucigalpa - that are the hardest hit crime areas. While one would be a fool not to expect *some* crime to exist in - and perhaps migrate to - Trujillo, it is far from the center of criminals' attention. Common sense should prevail. Book in group excursions, and if someone attempts to rob you, don't resist. Toss him a bill or two and move on.

If Trujillo succeeds as a tourist spot, I would expect it to attract a few more criminals, but only at about the rate of general population growth - i.e., if population doubles due to economic growth, number of criminals would double as well, but the actual rate of criminal activity *per capita* would remain about the same - perhaps a *slight* uptick. (Still a long way from San Pedro.)

The cruise is for March 7, 2015 out of Houston on the jewel. It basically said that due to overscheduling they were changing roatan to banana coast. I looked at the website that tells you how many ships are in port, and it did say 4 for roatan, but I also read that some ships tender, so I just figured we were going to tender. Guess not. but im open to change, just wanted to know if anyone had any previous experience with this new port.

Not sure how true that information is ... our itinerary is changed as well and our cruise isn't until October 11. So I'm more inclined to believe it's a permanent change rather than due to overcrowding of the port. It is good for them to change ports every once in a while. From what I've read on line the Banana Coast looks beautiful and it appears they are looking forward to hosting cruisers.