EIGHT cruise ships in port same day would you cancel?

[woodofpine]

That what I'd do if the cruise deal and date was favorable.

 

I'd do an excusion over to St. Johns (or may hide on Water Island in the harbor). On St. Martaan I'd rent a car and hit a less known beach (putter around Marigot rather than Phillipsburg).

 

The poster who was in Barcelona with 11 ships... No comparison - Barcelona is a geography unlimited mainland city of 4-5 million people; St. Thomas, a small island of about 50,000.

 

This is the negative of cruising and the lines impact on 'nice' islands. The worst IMHO is Grand Cayman, which may see 4-6 ships but seems to have less space to accomodate them (its a bigger island - but mostly an interior marsh).

[johneeo]

Why do you have to leave the ship? St. Thomas is a lousy port with only one ship in

port. Stay on the ship, better food, better ambience, the food preparation is much

cleaner There is a possibility that

you won't even be docked, you might tender. Even more reason to stay on board.

The only good thing about the Carribean is the weather.

Just my opinion.

 

Greg

 

You could get a great sailing or snorkeling excursion right from the dock. Do not even have to go on the island.

[Host Faith]

If the port was crowded like that, I would book a day sail. Most of them are limited to 6 passengers, so it's a nice way to get away from the crowds and have your own relaxing day. Especially if you can find one that leaves right from the pier.

[ARcruisin2]

I agree with those who suggest to either book a ship's excursion or switch to the longer iterary.

 

Like woodofpine said, on a small island it can be a frustrating day.

 

We were on the Goldern in Grand Cayman with 7 other ships :eek:

We had not booked an excursion because everything we were interested in was booked(go figure :rolleyes: apparently everyone but me already knew about the site to check)

We just wanted to walk around and shop and go to the beach..but tendering took forever and the sidewalks were so crowded you had to wait to merge into foot traffic to get out of the shops. By the time we did a little shopping there were only 2hrs until departure...so we just gave up & got in line to tender back on board.

[letsgoplaces]

We were in St Thomas with 7 ships and didn't have an issue getting on the ferry to St John from downtown. Then skip the busy beach and take a cab to cinnamon beach, when we were there, there were only about 20 people on the entire beach even though the other beach closer to town was packed.

 

St Martin with 6 ships one day and it was busy, but not impossible.

 

mngolfer....you have given me hope if we stick with this cruise...thats the exact beach we were thinking of going to on St. Johns ....I didnt catch where you are from but my husband would gravitate toward your response I'm sure since we live in MN and he;s an avid golfer!!:)....however MY HEART is with the posters who said do the 10 day cruise instead ;)

I'm looking at the Emerald 10 day middle of January also...it IS more expensive so thats an issue and if we cant swing it then I really have to thank you all for your great suggestions in making this particular cruise work. The sail and snorkle from these islands is a GREAT suggestion....why didnt I think of that???....see thats why frazzled brains need support from friends on CC....I have come here for years now to get ideas and you've never failed me!!

[lovevacadays]

That is a normal day for these two ports, especially when one of the two of RCCL's Displacement of the Seas is there.

 

Not to highjack either but "Displacement of the Seas" made me laugh. I do wonder what it's like on those mega, mega ships.

[twinkletoes4445]

That is a normal day for these two ports, especially when one of the two of RCCL's Displacement of the Seas is there.

 

How funny ... and how true!! I just mentioned this to hubby and we both had a good laugh.

 

To the OP: We've been on cruises where the ports have been packed and it's a zoo, but, these were places we wanted to visit so we made the best of it. Whatever you decide to do, have a wonderful cruise!!

[Stevesan]

Hi There

 

If there a lot of ships in port we just book a ships tour that has a sail boat or similar, that way we know we will be with a small group, out at sea,

 

some times whale watching, others snorkle etc anything just to relax.

 

yours shogun

 

That depends on the tour company. I saw Red Sail at Aruba put 125 :eek: people on their cat. The cat had a large forward net which they covered with pads to squeeze in as many as possible. I know the number. The Princess rep collecting vouchers told me as I refunded my voucher.

 

Do your due diligence before booking a cruise ship snorkel trip. Some, a minority, are okay. Unfortunately, most of them load their boat shoulder to shoulder.

[sail7seas]

If you have either Oasis or Allure and one or two other very large ships with others totaling nine........ That is not a port call; it's an invasion.

 

Unless you plan to stay on the ship or just want to browse around and window shop or such, expect to be part of a mob scene.

 

You'll be struggling for a quiet spot on the beach, getting bumped and banged on Main Street in St. Thomas trying to walk downtown, and squeezing into jitneys as taxis. Forget getting a table at height of lunch time..... then again, lots of people lately are saying they won't pay for lunch ashore so maybe that won't be a problem.

 

 

 

[johneeo]

Would a person even be able to find a cab???

 

The answer is quite simple.

 

Book a sailing excursion that leaves directly from your dock.

 

Walk off your ship and hop on a sailboat or catamaran, go sailing, snorkeling, and have fun.

 

I would not consider going into town or getting on a cab.

 

In St. Thomas, we did the Fury to Buck Island, had a great time.

 

St. Martin, look at the Americas Cup Yacht race.

 

If you do something like that, you will not encounter any crowds.

[umieesa]

I just discovered we will have the same issure :(

 

I could still switch my booking to a different sail date where there will be less ships in port, but it'll cost me about $200 more, plus we will not have side-by-side staterooms :(. So confused now...not sure what to do?

 

Since it's my first cruise I don't want to be let down by not being able to do as much as I'd planned.

 

What would you all do? TIA!

[JLC@SD]

I concur with Shogun......I'd book a short morning ship tour.......and then get a great pool side lounge chair......for an afternoon at the ship's pool.

[umieesa]

I just discovered we will have the same issure :(

 

I could still switch my booking to a different sail date where there will be less ships in port, but it'll cost me about $200 more, plus we will not have side-by-side staterooms :(. So confused now...not sure what to do?

 

Since it's my first cruise I don't want to be let down by not being able to do as much as I'd planned.

 

What would you all do? TIA!

[njaloha]

That's a cool website. I found out the day before we are in St. Maarten and St. Thomas there will be 8 ships but not when we are there. Yeah! The most we'll have is a load of 12K in St. Thomas with Carnival Dream and OOTS.

Thanks for the information! That was very helpful.

[sail7seas]

Want to check number of ships in our ports

 

 

www.cruisett.com

www.cruisetimetables.com

www.cruisereport.com/portsofCallList.aspx

 

None are totally accurate but are helpful.

[johneeo]

Hi There

 

If there a lot of ships in port we just book a ships tour that has a sail boat or similar, that way we know we will be with a small group, out at sea,

 

some times whale watching, others snorkle etc anything just to relax.

 

yours shogun

 

Yep.

 

Book a sailboat, catamaran .... that leaves from the dock.

 

Go sailing, snorkeling, to a deserted island.

 

Avoid the island completely.

[kitty1]

We have the same issue and two of the ships are Allure and Epic. There will be over 17,000 cruise ship passengers that day. St Thomas is our first stop after being at sea for 3 days, so we will be going ashore. Otherwise, we would just stay on the ship and hang out. May just wind up doing that anyways. Will be kind of hard to get away from the crowds. We will probably book a day sail on a boat that only takes 6-8 passengers. Did that last time and it was wonderful.