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Ports Missed the Most


MidWestChill
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Where I live

the reason Barbados gets missed is not wind but swells.

Big winter swells.

 

Doesn't happen too often

but when cruise ships start popping 4 in. braided mooring lines

and when Captains of ships already heaving in port

start radioing other Captains just offshore, warning them not to try today

I'm sure there are  a lot of disappointed cruisers on board all the ships!

 

Captains have been known to un-dock and get outa Dodge

less than an hour after docking, because things were so bad!

 

26th. January 2010 was memorable.

A few ships were trying to get in, and they made it..

but the swells were noticeable along the waterline of Celebrity Millennium...

- that's when you know it's bad!

.

Popped-160.jpg

Mill-320.jpg

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14 hours ago, MidWestChill said:

 

Do you recall what months?  Wondering if some are known to be windier then others.  We are there in less then 2 weeks!  (hopefully)

We were just there on Thursday Feb. 7th and it was gorgeous. I hope you're able to make it!

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On 2/11/2019 at 9:26 AM, StrangeBrew said:

We have missed St. Marteen 3 times in row. First was after hurricane hit, other 2 were due to storms creating large swells, making it dangerous to dock. Oh Well, maybe next time.

oh no, that is one of our ports!

 

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  • 1 month later...

The only port we have missed was Costa Maya in March. It was a beautiful day, but the captain just couldn't get us close enough to the docks because of the winds. We were all refunded our port fees and the bar waiters passed out free drinks on the lido deck to everyone as an apology. It wasn't too bad!

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On 2/10/2019 at 9:06 PM, boomhower said:

Don't be mad when they miss a port.  We hit HMC last November and it was rough.  I was really surprised they sent the tenders, it was bad.  The afternoon back was a total mess with the rough waters.  Now my family wasn't bothered at all but many in the Facegroup were very very upset and I could easily see why.  If that was OK then I feel confident that when they cancel they are doing so with because it really is that bad. 

 

Sounds like typical cruiser mentality. If Carnival cancels a stop = Carnival ruined my vacation! Bait and switch! They're lying because they want Casino money! If they don't cancel it = Carnival put our lives in danger! Carnival just wants excursion money! They can never win.

 

Thankfully, I have yet to miss a cruise port. It wouldn't ruin my entire vacation experience like some people let it. Although, if I missed a port like HMC (which I absolutely love) due it not having a pier, that would be annoying.

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Out of 7 cruises, we've only missed one port, which was Grand Cayman in April 2014.  The Grand Cayman Port Authority closed the port and the back up tendering site.  We were disappointed but not upset, when we sailed past and saw the waves (it was also windy and raining a little), we realized it would NOT have been a very nice day anyway. 

 

We apparently came close to missing Grand Turk in May 2010 due to winds.  We were supposed to dock at 11AM and were in the line waiting to get off the ship.  At about 11:30, we were told by the ships CD that we were finally docked and he asked everyone to give a "big hand of applause to our captain" for getting us in then proceeded to tell us we needed to wait several more minutes before debarking so the ship could be cleared.  The CD went on to explain that they will try three times to dock and if not successful, they abandon port.  Our captain got the ship docked on that third & final attempt.

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We missed Grand Cayman once.   That was on Celebrity many years ago.  They had free open bar for one hour or maybe two (assigned by dining time).  It was crazy!   

 

We docked at Grand Turk last year and it was a crazy day.  The ocean was so rough all over the island.   I had never seen it like that.  

 

Our next cruise is at the end of the month and it includes Grand Cayman, Belize and Roatan.  Hoping to make it to all of them.  

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We cruised to Roatan 3 times last year, and we missed it each time.  We have decided that we were not meant to go there.  Twice we missed it because of high winds and one time another ship had run over the dock the day before so we weren't able to dock.

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On 2/10/2019 at 2:53 PM, xDisconnections said:

Haven’t missed Princess Cays in 8 port calls there.

 

Research is showing Stanley in the Falkland Islands is frequently missed... hopefully we are able to call there during our South America and Antarctica cruise.

We missed Princess Cays the one and only time we tried to go there. We have also missed Grand Turk. Have yet to miss Half Moon Cay or Grand Cayman *knock on wood*

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39 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We once would have missed Fort Lauderdale, but I guess they had to get the ship back. So they waited out the hurricane and our 5 day cruise became a 7 day cruise.

 

Thanks for posting this because it can and does happen from time to time.  

People are often saying not problem cruising in hurricane season because the ship will avoid and go elsewhere BUT NOT WHEN ONE IS HITTING THE EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION PORT! 

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10 hours ago, OCruisers said:

 

Thanks for posting this because it can and does happen from time to time.  

People are often saying not problem cruising in hurricane season because the ship will avoid and go elsewhere BUT NOT WHEN ONE IS HITTING THE EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION PORT! 

Right, we got two extra days, but those on the next cruise did not do so well. First, they were not getting their first two days. Next, their ports were totally changed because of the hurricane.

 

I remember talking to a person holding a Royal Caribbean sign at the airport as we were leaving, and asking how many they were expecting for the next cruise. She said she really did not know. I remember reading later that instead of two seatings (this was before anytime was established), there was only one seating as the ship was basically half full.

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My husband just reminded me that the only time we have had an issue with a port was in Roatan the first time we went. We did dock, but had to dock at the RC dock and not at the Carnival dock due to high winds. It didn’t matter to us very much because we had a private excursion booked.

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We've been pretty lucky and never missed a port.

 

I do know that if the seas are rough, Grand Cayman will not allow tenders to shore.

 

Last week, when we left Mahogany Bay in Roatan we experienced a lot of high winds on Wednesday evening.  Apparently the seas were too rough the next day for ships to enter the small channel to that port and had to skip it.

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