Missed Port Thread

Starting a thread when you missed a port.

Port:

Ship:

Date:

Reason:

Falmouth, Jamaica

Carnival Freedom

December 20, 2016

High winds

Side note: RC ship was docked at the port but our captain said he couldn't make it with the high winds.

4 Carnival cruises and we missed a port on 2 of them.

Sunshine... missed Grand Turk, huge disappointment. There was a medical emergency after we left Bahamas and we had to go back

Glory... missed Rotan due to high winds

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have cruised a total of seven times starting in 1992 and so far (knock on wood), we've only missed a port once, on our sixth cruise. I see it does happen fairly often, especially with the tender ports, so I think we've lucked out so far.

Port: Grand Cayman

Ship: Carnival Liberty

Date: April 10, 2014

Reason: High winds/large swells. Port Authority closed both the main port in George Town and the alternate at Spott's Bay due to the weather conditions.

We came close to missing Grand Turk (Carnival Glory, May 14, 2010, high winds), but thankfully our captain was able to get her docked on the third try. We were down in the stairwell leading to Deck 0 waiting to get off, but it was taking for ever. The announcement by our cruise director was finally made that we were docked and just waiting to clear customs. He also asked everyone to give a big round of applause to our Captain...apparently two attempts were made to get Glory docked, without success, but were finally able to on the third attempt. The CD said that they will make three attempts and if they can't get the ship docked on the third try, then they abandon the port and add a sea day. I don't know if he was just saying that or if that's their policy.

10 Carnival cruises missed ports 2 times

HMC

Fascination

Oct 2015

High wind

Freeport and HMC

Valor

Oct 2016

Hurricane Matthew left destruction behind:(

24 cruises, have missed 2 ports.

Missed Costa Maya in December 2016 due to weather; strong winds and couldn't dock (sea day instead)

Missed Half Moon Cay in August 2012 due to a hurricane (stopped in Freeport instead)

We are always prepared to miss ports, thankfully it rarely happens.

Starting a thread when you missed a port.

Port:

Ship:

Date:

Reason:

 

Falmouth, Jamaica

Carnival Freedom

December 20, 2016

High winds

 

Side note: RC ship was docked at the port but our captain said he couldn't make it with the high winds.

You sound like you doubt him.....

11 cruises and no missed ports--- I must be lucky and I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

14 Cruises. One miss to HMC. Replaced with Key West.

How about getting to go to an extra port? It was Sept 2005, left Galveston on the Carnival Conquest. On our last sea day the Captain comes on and tells us that Hurricane Rita closed the Port of Galveston and we were headed to Costa Maya for the day. A 7 day cruise with 3 ports of call turned into a 9 day cruise with 4 ports of call instead of 3. This was our first cruise and this is when we knew we became hooked on cruising.

So if you paid for an excursion and the port gets skipped, do they refund you that money? We've only done one cruise and didn't have a problem. Really, I'm ok if we miss 2 of our 3 ports this next cruise, but seriously if we miss Grand Cayman and the sea turtle farm, I think I'd cry!

So if you paid for an excursion and the port gets skipped, do they refund you that money? We've only done one cruise and didn't have a problem. Really, I'm ok if we miss 2 of our 3 ports this next cruise, but seriously if we miss Grand Cayman and the sea turtle farm, I think I'd cry!

If it's a Carnival excursion, yes. If it's a third party vendor, it depends on what their terms are.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

We missed Kona on our Hawaii cruise due to it being too rough to tender. This was January 2014.

We had our port order rearranged in the Eastern Caribbean due to a Hurricane. We didn't miss any, just a different order. It wasn't a big deal. We even had some non-Carnival excursions booked and they knew about it ahead of time and had it taken care of before we even contacted them. August 2014.

So if you paid for an excursion and the port gets skipped, do they refund you that money? We've only done one cruise and didn't have a problem. Really, I'm ok if we miss 2 of our 3 ports this next cruise, but seriously if we miss Grand Cayman and the sea turtle farm, I think I'd cry!

If it's a ship excursion - Yes

If private almost certainly Yes. Imagine how much business they would get if word got out that they didn't.

I'm not sure of the purpose of this thread.

All lines miss ports at times, my current record is at least ne missed on half of all my cruises.

I doubt that's going to change.

You sound like you doubt him.....

I don't doubt his abilities so much as he was working with what he had. This is obviously speculative, but I think the much larger RC ship was better equipped to navigate the narrow channel at the RC made Falmouth port. Either way, I understand the need to skip ports when safety is concerned.

I'm not sure of the purpose of this thread.

 

All lines miss ports at times, my current record is at least ne missed on half of all my cruises.

 

I doubt that's going to change.

I was only curious as to which ports are more likely to be skipped than others

I don't doubt his abilities so much as he was working with what he had. This is obviously speculative, but I think the much larger RC ship was better equipped to navigate the narrow channel at the RC made Falmouth port. Either way, I understand the need to skip ports when safety is concerned.

Well, I can comment on it this way. Every captain, of every cruise ship has two primary thoughts under these circumstances, the safety of all souls on board, and the vessel. There are many circumstances of why one ship could get into a port and another turn away (some of which have nothing to do with the ship). Some of these are change in wind, tide changes, more narrow opening since another ship at the pier etc etc. Some ship have Azipod's which assist in docking. Our local expert Chengkp75 might way in on the plus and minus of certain ships added ability.

On our Mexican Riv cruise a few years back we skipped Mazatlan. The cartels had just hung about 30 dudes from the bridges the week before. So, yeah.

Last week on The Costa Mediterranea we had to cancel our Malta stop but the seas were rough and it was understandable. Extra Day in Palermo and now we have an excuse to go back and pick up Malta on our next Cruise. Dissapointed but that's Cruising, The Sea and Mother Nature. Loved the Cruise just the same. My 5th Wife's 4th

8 cruises and only Grand Turk missed on the Breeze in February of 2016. I could see the waves crashing on the beach as we were approaching and having been there before, I was not surprised when the announcement of another sea day was made.

We also missed Mazatlan in February of 2011 for violence but knew in advance and had 2 nights in Cabo instead.

Total of 21 cruises.

Missed Grand Cayman twice (once due to high winds and once due to reduced speed necessary as the ship was having a propulsion issue). First time was replaced by a second day in Cozumel, second time by a sea day.

Missed Costa Maya once (just last month) due to sea conditions. We could actually see the waves crashing over the dock. Was replaced by a sea day.

Very late to Grand Turk (ended up with only a about 4 hours there) due to sea conditions.

Several hours late to Colon, Panama due to sea conditions.

Missed HCM once due to sea conditions making tendering impossible. Replaced with a sea day.

Port: St. Thomas and Amber Cove

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Date: 3/2/17 and 3/3/17

Reason: Lost port engine in the middle of the night on 3/1/17

We had two extra sea days. The weather was fantastic. The crew was amazing-they all worked so hard, considering most lost their only days off when we were supposed to be in port. MarQ, the cruise director, was the epitome of grace under pressure.

Total of 21 cruises.

 

Missed Grand Cayman twice (once due to high winds and once due to reduced speed necessary as the ship was having a propulsion issue). First time was replaced by a second day in Cozumel, second time by a sea day.

 

Missed Costa Maya once (just last month) due to sea conditions. We could actually see the waves crashing over the dock. Was replaced by a sea day.

 

Very late to Grand Turk (ended up with only a about 4 hours there) due to sea conditions.

 

Several hours late to Colon, Panama due to sea conditions.

 

Missed HCM once due to sea conditions making tendering impossible. Replaced with a sea day.

It seems like Costa Maya is impacted by weather on occasion.

9 cruises to date...1 missed port. St. Kitts on Carnival Liberty in April 2015 due to high winds. We docked in Dominca instead and it was wonderful. As soon as we pulled away from previous port (St. Lucia) they announced it, so I went to get in line at shore excursions desk (we had the sugar train booked..was looking forward to that). Within an hour or less they had refunded our money and I had booked an excursion in Dominca. Considering that is not a typical port, I thought they did a super job doing it so quickly and smoothly!

Question for those who have missed ports because of bad weather: Are announcements made about this at the last minute, or are passengers given a warning (perhaps the evening before) that bad weather may impact docking?

My signature