Only ship in the port, do you care?

[voyager89]

Maybe I'm a huge freak, but I go to cruisetimetables.com to see which other ships will be at port on each island we go. On the itinerary we will do in January out of 5 ports, we are alone in 3.

 

Is it better not to have a lot of people in the island? Does that affect any prices on shopping items, tours etc meaning less people / less chances for locals to get money so they drop prices?

 

Would like to know what you guys think!

[Clarea]

Just a personal preference, but I'd rather have less crowding in the port.

[fpcruiser]

I would much rather have my ship be the only one in port. Not as many crowds.

[joepeka]

The fewer ships in port the better simply because it's less crowded. I cringe when, like the OP, I look at a port schedule and see we're one of 3-4 (or more :eek: ) ships scheduled. Yuk.

[leaveitallbehind]

I think the only advantage would be less crowds which may make independent transportation more readily available, less crowded beaches, less crowded stores, etc. Not sure if pricing in general would be affected necessarily but maybe competing vendors might come into play more.

[bigque]

I would much rather have my ship be the only one in port. Not as many crowds.

This is especially true when one of the ships is Oasis or Allure! When two or more cruiise ships are in one port it is like dropping a small US city on some of these small islands! :eek:

[Rufferto]

I like the idea of less crowds, but it can be a detriment too.

Some people may not bother to show up for work (less taxis, shops close early). Vendors will harass you more, since you can't hide in the crowd to get away from them. Probably the biggest one is that tours can get cancelled due to a lack of people.

[gcvt]

We would prefer to be the only ship in port. The last time we were in St. Thomas, there were three ships tied up and one tendering. It was so crowded that we just headed straight for St. John...not that that's a bad thing ;)

[GOUSFBULLS44]

personally I prefer to be only ship due to alot less crowded. I have been in ports with 4 or 5 ships and you couldnt even fall down due to wall to wall people.:)

[wmp.dll]

For me its a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, I love seeing other ships in port because I just like looking at cruise ships, and spotting the maitenance people doing their thing, life boat drills...etc

 

But I also like it when its not crowded. Like on our Freedom cruise in St Thomas we were the third ship into port that day behind Carnival Glory and Disney Fantasy. But it wasn't really that crowded, I believe St Thomas can have sometimes as many as 6 ships in port. But in St Maarten we were the only ship in port, no lines to buy things in port, the taxi's weren't busy, etc etc.

 

There is good and bad. I love looking at other ships, but I love ports being not crowded. On our Allure cruise the only other ship we will see is Carnival Dream in Cozumel. Other wise its just Allure + 6000 people for a week.

[mrsfuzzmo]

For me its a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, I love seeing other ships in port because I just like looking at cruise ships, and spotting the maitenance people doing their thing, life boat drills...etc

 

But I also like it when its not crowded. Like on our Freedom cruise in St Thomas we were the third ship into port that day behind Carnival Glory and Disney Fantasy. But it wasn't really that crowded, I believe St Thomas can have sometimes as many as 6 ships in port. But in St Maarten we were the only ship in port, no lines to buy things in port, the taxi's weren't busy, etc etc.

 

There is good and bad. I love looking at other ships, but I love ports being not crowded. On our Allure cruise the only other ship we will see is Carnival Dream in Cozumel. Other wise its just Allure + 6000 people for a week.

 

I agree completely! Love to see the other ships, and nothing beats a battle of the horns at sailaway. If you experience one you'll be lucky. You have not chance of that if you are the only ship in port. :)

[2004corvette]

I also prefer to be the only ship.....for me less is best.....also I can say that when shopping/bartering for goods I have received cheaper prices when less crowded.....IMO when ports are crowded merchants will not discount as much knowing with larger crowds they will eventually get their price...no crowds means fewer customers and prices do drop to make a sale...:)

[Keith1010]

It is far better to have fewer than more ships in port.

 

Keith

[paul929207]

While it is nice to have fewer people, the one place it really matters to me is Santorini.

[voyager89]

I agree completely! Love to see the other ships, and nothing beats a battle of the horns at sailaway. If you experience one you'll be lucky. You have not chance of that if you are the only ship in port. :)

 

This! I love looking at other ships, taking pictures and all. When on the Oasis, there were at least 3 more ships in each port and it was great to see mine was the biggest ship lol. This time I will go on the Jewel, and it will feel weird since its a small one. If I go on the adventure like I was supposed to, I will see a lot of ships more.

[NoobCruise]

I would much rather have less crowding. I hate crowds.

 

In most ports, prices go up when the cruise ships are in port. We stayed for a week in Cozumel at an all-inclusive. They told us not to shop on the days the cruise ships were in port because the prices go up. They said if we did shop on those days, to show the store clerks our resort wristbands because they would give us the lower price for staying on the island.

[cb at sea]

I don't really care....so far, it's never affected me in any way! They only allow as many ships as they can handle, anyway!

[zacc]

I like the idea of less crowds, but it can be a detriment too.

Some people may not bother to show up for work (less taxis, shops close early). Vendors will harass you more, since you can't hide in the crowd to get away from them. Probably the biggest one is that tours can get cancelled due to a lack of people.

 

 

I have had the pleasure of being the only ship in port a number of times and must tell you I have never experienced any of the negatives you have reported. All of the vendors know exactly how many ships will be in port each and every day of the cruise season and plan accordingly. Their main goal is to make as much money as possible each and every day and as a result it is business as usual.

[nathuhbelle]

I much prefer being the only ship in port (and preferably on a small ship).

[busmech]

Santorini was great being the only ship. I think it depends on the ports and how many and which ships are in ports. Some can handle more than one ship at a time.

[sjcruiser]

I prefer less ships, and crowds in port, but even where there have been 4+ ships in port the itinerary times are usually staggered. Either way, the crowds don't bother me.

 

Happy Sailing!!!!

[OCruisers]

We really don't care how many ships are in port! Many ships/Few ships has never been a problem for us! :)

 

LuLu

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[navybankerteacher]

It's great to be on the only ship in port - less crowds is a huge benefit - and I doubt that there are any negatives such as closed stores, fewer taxis, etc.

 

There are days at St. Maarten when six or so ships, including one of the 4,000 plus monsters, are in - imagine a town of about 18,000 being inundated by 25,000 "out of towners". Yuck!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would much love to be alone in ports without other ships.

Not crowded!!

[Ehpride]

For me it depends on the port. I think Cozumel is fun when there's another ship there. Last time, it was like a big party between the two ships. But I'd prefer to be the only ship in Belize. The port area is too crowded otherwise.