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Least Favorite Port

CozGurl

By CozGurl,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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cloud_nine

cloud_nine

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

 

Military with machine guns greeted us getting out of the port, they had barriers to keep the locals away from you. Rickety transportation. People recommended a bar/restaurant near the port. I never saw so many flies in my life, I ordered a soda and the bartender placed a napkin over it....I did not drink it after seeing that. In all fairness I went to a rainforest cave type thing and that was nice.....but not nice enough for me to ever go back there. 

To be fair, you can get loads of flies wherever you go. I remember on a cruise out of Barcelona in 2017 - everywhere in Italy was absolutely bombarded with flies! I was sitting in a restaurant in Civitavecchia having a pizza and they were absolutely everywhere! Really put us off our food! Naples was the same, I think it was just the heat and the time of year. It doesn't automatically make it a bad or dirty place.

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Itchy&Scratchy Great Review Rare

Itchy&Scratchy

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, doxiegal said:

My least favorite port Costa Maya. Nothing much to do unless you book a excursion IMO

we were very pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago by Costa Maya and the port area.

We went to the Blue Kay bar beach and for $10 per adult had a nice, relaxing beach time, which included 2 alcoholic drinks. Everything (except for the bathroom at that bar) was nice. 

The port had a nice dolphin viewing area and we even caught part of a show. Free.

We were in Costa Maya in 2009 and there was nothing there at the time at the port. It has grown and changed tremendously.

 

Our least favorite ports are Cozumel (although you could find a nice beach area for $$) and Falmouth, Jamaica.

We have recently added Harvest Caye to the list of underwhelming locations.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Peachypooh said:

I would have to say anywhere you have to tender. The last time we tendered the ferry was bobbing up

and down so much when we were waiting to disembark that I almost fell over. And of course the

waiting to get on and off really uses up port time.

Peachy we just don't even get off the ship anymore if it requires tendering. 

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CRZR58

CRZR58

Posted
Posted

St Thomas - Crown bay. Nothing to do there, not even shop. Gotta take some sort of excursion and every one starts with a bus ride to the other port.

 

Progreso - Dirty. Loud. Poor food. Take an excursion to Merida or to Mayan ruins and you'll have a good time.

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Itchy&Scratchy Great Review Rare

Itchy&Scratchy

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, kayteecat said:

@victory2020 apparently I can't PM you but if you Google "rum and food tasting tour Nassau" it will be one of the first results. It cost us about $70 per person and for the amount of booze, food, and entertainment we considered it well worth the money.

I believe that it's allowed to name tour operators.

Travel agents selling cruises are no-no.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Our friends cruised to a lot more places than we have, and Dominica is by far their most favorite one.

The only problem we had with Dominica the last time: our tour (private) was so lengthy we were afraid we were going to miss our ship. We made it back with about 15 or 20 minutes to spare. For Casinocompgal: I think you just had a really horrible experience. That is too bad. it really is a nice port. I have never heard anyone say they hated it. I guess we all see things differently. I hope you will give it another try. 

 For those who do not like ST Thomas: I have to agree; we used to love it, but not anymore. 

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Vyhanek

Vyhanek

Posted
Posted

I've found a nice hotel in Nassau that offers day passes.   Its a great alternative to Atlantis, expensive but nice.    That is no longer on my list of undesirable ports.

 

I really despise Jamaica.   Over and over we've had situations where we were nearly robbed (on NCL sponsored excursion, a guy actually pushed his way onto the bus going down the bus aisle asking for money, no one was giving him money and he was getting more and more agitated, thankfully someone ran off the bus and a police officer came on the bus and got him off).   Another time, we were shopping in the main shopping area, walking on the sidewalk and a guy snatched my daughters sunglasses off her neck, she was wearing the glasses on a band around her neck.    I think Dunes River is absolutely disgusting, I feel like prey, I don't feel safe.    Ocho Rios sucks, so does the new port which I have forgotten the name.     

 

GSC is also on my dislike list.   Not that I don't feel safe, just that I think it's an awful beach experience now that they've gated off most of the island and confining cruisers to the one end of the island.   Ive been cruising NCL a long time, it used to be you could roam the whole island.   You could walk to the other end of the island, find a quiet beach cove and hang out as if you are on a deserted island.   Now they've fenced that end of the island all off.    I don't like beaching with thousands of cruisers.   I don't like that the sand where the cruisers are confined has all been washed away leaving hard, sharp coral.   You an't walk far without your beach shoes or your feet will be cut to shreds.   I'm not a fan of the food situation or the drink lines.   This is one of the last places that I would ever consider renting a cabana and would go to any other island for a better beach experience.

 

If I can find a nice excursion it makes all the difference.   There are a lot of really bad island destinations though.

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kayteecat

kayteecat

Posted
Posted

Thanks everyone, I checked the guidelines and wasn't sure whether it was kosher or not. The tour operator was Islandz Tours and we had Julio as our guide and he was wonderful. We found them on Viator since they have the worry-free cruise excursion guarantee about getting you back to your ship on time, and we paid about $72 but it looks like you can book directly on their site for $64.95. We were in port from 8 AM with onboard time of 5:30, but we did the 11 AM tour which ended around 2 with plenty of time to spare so booking directly with them may be the way to go.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Nextcruise42 said:

St.Johns New Brunswich. We also didn`t care for Antiqua port area.  We should have planned an excursion.

 

We did not like Antigua at all the first time like you. The port area was just yucky and not a good vibe. Our cruise in a few weeks will stop there and we do have a tour planned. It sounds like a great way to see the island. 

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erdoran

erdoran

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

We did not like Antigua at all the first time like you. The port area was just yucky and not a good vibe. Our cruise in a few weeks will stop there and we do have a tour planned. It sounds like a great way to see the island. 

Antigua is BEAUTIFUL, at least the ocean portion is.  I sailed it a couple of times with Tradewinds Cruise Club on a 55' shared catamaran charter.  The water is as lovely as Nassau!  We went to some island where there is a species of lizard that looks like snakes.  I don't remember a lot more of the land stuff.  The snorkeling and scuba were also excellent.

 

Of course, Nassau would be MY least favorite port and I'd say exactly the same about it as far as ocean, scuba and snorkeling about that - in fact, one of my absolute favorite dives was with Stuart's Cove in Nassau.  Landside though - yuk you can keep it!

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we'll be there for the first time in 2 months, and I booked a stingray encounter at the Blue Lagoon. I hope we enjoy it.

If you do something like that or if you love a baach outing, then Nassau can ;be  fine.  We live next to the beach and don't do beach outings, and have done enough encounters in the past.

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Itchy&Scratchy Great Review Rare

Itchy&Scratchy

Posted
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31 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

If you do something like that or if you love a beach outing, then Nassau can ;be  fine.  We live next to the beach and don't do beach outings, and have done enough encounters in the past.

thanks! Yes, due to having a 7 yo beach junky we only do beachy things on the cruise. :)

The nearest white sand beach is a 6 hour drive away from here, however, I do find Panhandle beaches to be wonderful and much better than some beaches we have visited while cruising.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, bostonfred said:

Agree with Tortola, Nassau, and Jamaica.....also, it is a beautiful island, but had sketchy experience on St. Lucia our past 2 visits

Interesting your comment about St Lucia. We have only been there once, had a problem and decided we would never get off the ship there again. I have heard so many good reports that I wonder if we are being unfair. But with that comment I am thinking we will follow through with our plan to stay on the ship in Feb 

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