Nieuw Statendam Carribean ports

[VitaminSea53]

Currently on board. Lots of folks have given reviews of ship. She is nice and new!  I will focus on ports of call. 

 

1) Half Moon Cay - very nice. Easy tendering - no wait. We were the only ship there. :-)

 

2) Ocho Rios - ugly industrial port. 10 min walk to shops: restaurants. Be prepared to be bombarded by locals trying to get you to take tours. Most start by trying to shake your hand ( I don’t shake ANYONE’s hand-fist pump for me). They are offended if you refuse and call you racist. Then they start yelling at you. There is nothing within the industrial port so don’t bother to get off ship. 

 

Tomorrow is Cayman Islands. I will report back. 

[rkacruiser]

Montego Bay was the Jamaican port we visited on the Nieuw Statendam.  Based upon my past visits, I did not get off the ship.  I was among others, when first time visitors asked us our opinion of Montego Bay, who recommended the same.  It's a pity.  Jamaica is a beautiful island.  Too many of their citizens who come into contact with their visitors, however, are not "beautiful people".

[Crew News]

I totally agree on Ocho Rios being not tourist friendly. 

 

Whle at the falls, Security requires departing visitors to depart on a narrow path through the vendor area even though the excursion bus is just a short distance away.  Lots of free gifts are pressed into your hands and if you walk away iwthout purchasing anything, they shout that you are stealing and call you nasty names. 

 

Being forewarned here on CC and after making sure that there was nobody wearing a red dress running the vendor gauntlet, I told each pushy vendor that my spouse in the red dress had all of the money.  Other Ocho Rios excursions may leave a better impression but I will never return to the falls.

[rothbury]

Don't want to go off topic but I was talking to a postal inspector last week.  You know those scam robocalls we've all gotten?  They originate from Jamaica.  Not a nice island to visit.  IF I go back I'd stay on the ship, too.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL has been docking at the old industrial pier for many, many years.  Once we walked over to the shops and Margaritaville.  Thankfully we got there and back without too much trouble.

 

Another time we docked in Montego Bay -- another bad port with a lot of hassling people.  We walked only a little ways and then turned around and went back to the ship.

 

Our last visit to Jamaica we stopped at Falmouth -- the new gated port there.  Weren't impressed with the shops and RCI had reserved Margaritaville for a private party.  We looked outside the gates and you could see the people hassling the passengers.  After walking around a few minutes we returned to the ship.

 

Really don't like that island.  Thankfully many years ago we did all the tours we wanted to do there.

[ASIWISH]

We would never get off the boat in Jamaica again... dirty place, no real attractions... We didnt feel safe.

 

The port building looks like a horror movie.

[Judyrem]

We were in Sandals Ocho Rios for a week and once tried to walk into their "shopping" area.  My husband was horrified by the guys hawking women and weed.  Never left the compound after that.   He said he would never return even if it was free!

 

BTW, it was gated and guarded.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Judyrem
More info

[Essiesmom]

Please return and tell us why you left Grand Cayman early.  I am stalking a friend on Regal Princess, and saw you leave before 1000 local time.  I saw that NS was using her own tenders, too.  EM

[Krazy Kruizers]

4 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Please return and tell us why you left Grand Cayman early.  I am stalking a friend on Regal Princess, and saw you leave before 1000 local time.  I saw that NS was using her own tenders, too.  EM

 

 

About the tenders --- we have stopped at Grand Cayman many times on HAL and have always used their tenders.

 

 

[Caribbean Chris]

25 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Please return and tell us why you left Grand Cayman early.  I am stalking a friend on Regal Princess, and saw you leave before 1000 local time.  I saw that NS was using her own tenders, too.  EM

 

Until the OP replies, I can advise that tendering had begun but Capt. O’driscoll discontinued it and called the other tenders back due to swells causing unsafe conditions to passengers and crew, as well as potential damage to the ship’s tenders. The port could not provide their large tenders. Other lines in today besides Princess were  Carnival and Celebrity.

 

We are en route to Cozumel and hope to arrive tomorrow at 8 a.m. instead of mid-day as originally scheduled.

[Caribbean Chris]

By the way, we were in Grand Cayman in January on the Edge, and the swells were causing about 4 feet of rising and dropping, so I turned around after approaching the boarding point and went back into the ship rather than risk injury. I know this situation is very common at Cayman.

[Essiesmom]

Two years ago on Carnival Pride, the swells were to much to tender into Georgetown, so we went to the south side to Spotts Bay and tendered there, using the big tenders, as did Coral Princess.  EM

Edited April 11, 2019 by Essiesmom

[Caribbean Chris]

5 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Two years ago on Carnival Pride, the swells were to much to tender into Georgetown, so we went to the south side to Spotts Bay and tendered there, using the big tenders, as did Coral Princess.  EM

 

Yes, I was expecting to hear that we would do that today, but instead we departed. On winter land-based visits, we’ve seen ships tendering down on the south side several times.

[Crew News]

The last time I was in Grand Caymon the swells didn't develop until it was time to retrieve all of the passengers.  On my tender there was a broken arm and a lady in a wheelchair tossed to the floor.   Lots of bumps and bruises were being discussed at dinner that evening.  The tenders were rising and falling about four feet as the crew tried to help us back onto the ship.

[VitaminSea53]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:37 AM, Caribbean Chris said:

 

Until the OP replies, I can advise that tendering had begun but Capt. O’driscoll discontinued it and called the other tenders back due to swells causing unsafe conditions to passengers and crew, as well as potential damage to the ship’s tenders. The port could not provide their large tenders. Other lines in today besides Princess were  Carnival and Celebrity.

 

We are en route to Cozumel and hope to arrive tomorrow at 8 a.m. instead of mid-day as originally scheduled.

Thanks Caribbean Chris. That is exactly correct. But at least we all got $100 OBC / cabin to compensate. 

[VitaminSea53]

Cozumel was an easy port to walk off the ship. I can’t comment on the island as we took the ferry across to the mainland and toured Rio Secreto. Those caves were awesome!

[VitaminSea53]

A fun activity for a Sea day is the ‘blend’. We were traveling as a group of six and 3 of us participated in blending our own custom wine. Then at dinner the sommelier set up 3 wine glasses at each place setting and we had a blind taste test. It was fun trying to decide who had made each one. I recommend it. 

[Caribbean Chris]

1 minute ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Cozumel was an easy port to walk off the ship. I can’t comment on the island as we took the ferry across to the mainland and toured Rio Secreto. Those caves were awesome!

 

You made a smart move. We waited until mid-morning to take my service dog off for an hour or so - she wanted to visit some grass and we wanted margaritas. Just trying to get through the crowds on the dock was a challenge with all the ships docked at Cozumel yesterday.