Only ship in the port, do you care?

[Lovely other]

would prefer to be the only ship in port. once the tourists outnumber the population it ruins the atmosphere i think

[Love.II.Cruise]

It depends on the port... you need to consider the itinerary. Why aren't there ships in port? Is it a time of year with bad weather or near end of season when things are closed or excursions are running? Is it because there is a holiday or a day of the week when shops close?

 

For us, many things factor into whether it is a good or bad thing to have only one cruise ship in port. But we do pay attention to it.

[voyager89]

It depends on the port... you need to consider the itinerary. Why aren't there ships in port? Is it a time of year with bad weather or near end of season when things are closed or excursions are running? Is it because there is a holiday or a day of the week when shops close?

 

For us, many things factor into whether it is a good or bad thing to have only one cruise ship in port. But we do pay attention to it.

 

It is the Jewel out of San Juan in January 11 2014.

 

We will only have a Celebrity ship in St. Kitts, Queen Victoria in Barbados and P&O's Azura in Dominica. On our own in Tortola and St. Maarten.

 

Funny that the Adventure that sails next day will be at ports with more ships everyday

[voyager89]

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!!!!

 

Thanks :)

[sail7seas]

I've never felt there is a disadvantage to being only ship in port. We've also never sensed some stores are closed or anything of that sort. A jeweler only needs to sell one or two great pieces to make his day. A small ship can well have those one or two customers the jeweler is hoping for. :)

[bob brown]

To me, it really doesn't make much difference, except in one instance....sometimes there are not enough berths to accommodate all ships, so some must use tender's...I would not want to be on one that required tender's to get to port. Also, sometimes you get a 'choice' berth, and sometimes you may get a 'remote' berth at a distance from 'town', perhaps even requiring a shuttle to and fro.....

So generally it is better to have less ships in port....

[mitsugirly]

Although I don't mind other ships in port, when there's a bunch, it can get real crowded on an excursion, in the port, and using a taxi. We have never had a problem yet, but you never know. I kinda start to freak out a little when there's like 7 or so ships in port (like our upcoming cruise that has a lot of ships in Cozumel on our last port stop :eek:).

 

I have never noticed any of the stores being closed because of being the only ship in port. :)

 

One other thing I did find out on our last cruise (back in May) that we were the only ship in Cozumel that day and the place we went to (Playa Mia) was indeed more expensive that other cruise dates. I imagine they are making up for lost income from having only 1 ship in port. :(

[jamesr3939]

I too vote for being the only ship in port. Prices will not be any lower. As pointed out, we were in San Juan for a few days before sailing and I did notice prices dropped when there were no ships in port.

[Firefighterhoop]

I like seeing the other ships in port, watching others sail in and leave, etc.

 

So I am slightly let down when I see we will be the only one in port.

[dorisis]

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

 

Me too!

[xxoocruiser]

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!

 

Having one cruise ship in port can impact pricing. However whether or not the vendors will drop prices depends many variables. Unless your just shopping for local handicrafts there generally are the deals found on jewelry, electronics , leather goods and high priced goods in general regardless if there's 1 or 5 ships in port. So it's always best to do comparison shopping at home prior to the cruise to help determine if it's a deal or not.

 

Something that many cruisers don't realize about port pricing is that a commission is added for the Port Shopping Lecturer on any purchases that he/she recommended. The sales clerk will ask for you ship's name and cabin number , reason being this is how the store tracks the commissions that have to be paid to the Port Shopping Lecturers for that ship. The Ship's Port Shopping Lecturer's salary is dependent on the commissions received from the local shops that he'she has recommended.

 

My brother and his family were on one of the popular island ports for a land vacation. While reading the menu in the window of restaurant, the manager can and pulled it out to place one with higher prices which prompted my brother to turn around only to see a cruise ship was coming into port.

[beachchick]

The fewer the better.

 

beachchick

[mrsd912]

On our September cruise we were the only ship in each port, except in Grand Cayman, we shared with one other ship then.

 

On our April cruise we'll be sharing ports with other ships and I'm kind of looking forward to the sight! To see four or five ships in port I think will be fairly impressive.

[lady_cruiser]

Is there a way to find out which pier a ship will dock at when in a certain port-of-call?

[sail7seas]

Is there a way to find out which pier a ship will dock at when in a certain port-of-call?

 

 

For St. Thomas, some people use vinow. com to find our where their ship will dock.

 

I believe there's a Cozumel site that will tell which dock. I'll look for it.

[lady_cruiser]

For St. Thomas, some people use vinow. com to find our where their ship will dock.

 

I believe there's a Cozumel site that will tell which dock. I'll look for it.

Thanks. Our have to sign off for about 30 minutes but I'll be back later to give you time, I'm sure you have other things to do too.

[lady_cruiser]

I was able to find what I was looking for. In case someone needs the schedule for Cozumel, here is the link.

 

http://www.puertamaya.com/Port-Schedule.aspx

 

Thanks for letting me high-jack this thread.

[Lerin]

One of my favorite cruise ports ever was Mayreau in The Grenadines. It's an island with only 1 dirt road and 6 cars...

Needless to say, I hate crowds.

 

If you're a big city, extroverted type person, then a full port is probably quite energizing.

 

I guess the question is: would you rather be in New York City, or a cabin in the woods? :cool:

[Karysa]

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!

 

 

I think less people means more competition and more tour choices available except in the summer in the Caribbean because often during slow cruising season the local tour operators go on vacation themselves.

[Bear-n-Babe]

Our stop at Nassau, there was already five other ships docked when we docked. It was insanely crowded. Fortunately, I had researched an out of the way beach resort, and we escaped the crowds for the afternoon. At the resort, I talked to another couple that was at the resort to also escape the crowds in town. We did get back into the crowds when we stopped at Senor Frogs on the way back to the ship.

[donaldsc]

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!

 

I am not sure why I should care - it is what it is. That said, having lots of large ships in a small port can be a pain.

 

DON

[vacation luvver]

I was on the Norwegian Dawn in 2006 when it stopped at Grand Cayman Island on a Sunday. People who went to the shopping talk on the ship were assured that all of the jewelry stores on the island would be open, even though it was a Sunday, because our ship was there. I didn't go to the talk, because I didn't care to buy any jewelry. I heard afterwards that none of the jewelry stores were open, and passengers were angry because they had been promised by the crew that they would be open, and they had wasted their time at the shopping talk.

 

After we got back on the ship, the CD announced three times that we had been the only ship at Grand Cayman Island that day, and wasn't that absolutely wonderful! I just figured that other ships didn't call there because it was a Sunday. So, if you asked the passengers who had been told that the jewelry stores would be open, "Would you like it if you went to an island and were the only cruiseship there?" they might say, "Not necessarily."

[port msp]

I much prefer being on the only ship in port. After I've determined the dates we have available, I check the cruise lines we like and see what they have on offer. I always check the cruise port calendar for each cruise we're considering. I've found that being in port with one other ship isn't too bad, but more than that makes the day pretty frenetic. I've never been in port with Allure or Oasis and have actively avoided both when planning a trip.