Taino Bay, DR, port schedule for Jan. 2023 has been posted

[Turtles06]

4 minutes ago, Southerngal410 said:

Is the stop getting canceled because of it being grounded last year in that area? 

Yes, it would appear that NCL has at times been avoiding Taino Bay because of that incident 

[mking8288]

7 minutes ago, Southerngal410 said:

We will be on the Escape ... Is the stop getting canceled because of it being grounded last year in that area? 

None of us here works for NCL and/or acting as their agent(s) ... I believe, however

The most often official storyline cited is - and I quote 

As part of our global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, we are continually seeking opportunities to reduce our overall carbon footprint, and recently committed to pursuing net zero greenhouse gas emissions across our operations and value chain by 2050. To support this mission, we have optimized our arrival and departure times. We appreciate your understanding and support on this important sustainability initiative. The revised itinerary is as follows

 

Whether you choose to believe and accept is most certainly open for friendly debate & disagreement ..

perhaps, a mix of maritime safety with billion dollars invested in these vessels, fuel AND money savings, and not just sustaining ... 

 

(Footnote #1)  Folks impacted directly onboard had tried, without success, to ask the questions of the GM ...  Feel free to ask if you are attending the CC Meet & Greet gathering on your upcoming Escape, or ask for a "private meeting" as they do prefer not to be on the spot with a diverse audience.  

[Turtles06]

52 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

None of us here works for NCL and/or acting as their agent(s) ... I believe, however

The most often official storyline cited is - and I quote 

As part of our global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, we are continually seeking opportunities to reduce our overall carbon footprint, and recently committed to pursuing net zero greenhouse gas emissions across our operations and value chain by 2050. To support this mission, we have optimized our arrival and departure times. We appreciate your understanding and support on this important sustainability initiative. The revised itinerary is as follows

 

 

You crack me up. 😂😂😂

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

None of us here works for NCL and/or acting as their agent(s) ... I believe, however

The most often official storyline cited is - and I quote 

As part of our global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, we are continually seeking opportunities to reduce our overall carbon footprint, and recently committed to pursuing net zero greenhouse gas emissions across our operations and value chain by 2050. To support this mission, we have optimized our arrival and departure times. We appreciate your understanding and support on this important sustainability initiative. The revised itinerary is as follows

 

Whether you choose to believe and accept is most certainly open for friendly debate & disagreement ..

perhaps, a mix of maritime safety with billion dollars invested in these vessels, fuel AND money savings, and not just sustaining ... 

 

(Footnote #1)  Folks impacted directly onboard had tried, without success, to ask the questions of the GM ...  Feel free to ask if you are attending the CC Meet & Greet gathering on your upcoming Escape, or ask for a "private meeting" as they do prefer not to be on the spot with a diverse audience.  

 

I was advised it was due to El Niño effect.

 

[kaprin02]

FYI, this week's Escape sailing has officially switched from Puerto Plata, DR on the 9th to Nassau on the 8th, as was suspected.  My mom and sister are onboard now.

[lfdemt]

5 hours ago, Southerngal410 said:

We will be on the Escape next weekend and scheduled for the DR on the 16th. Guess we will see. 
 

Is the stop getting canceled because of it being grounded last year in that area? 

I think you might be good to go to DR for your cruise.  Amber Cove only has one ship in port that day so NCL could possibly use that dock.  The Amber Cove dock doesn't have room for the Escape on 1-9 or 1-30.  They just announced the current sailing will not go to Taino Bay and instead go to Nassau tomorrow.  I will be be paying close attention to the rest of the month.  IF any large NCL ship docks at Taino Bay then it would indicate future sailings to DR will be unaffected, until a Large ship docks there it will remain a mystery,

[Turtles06]

8 minutes ago, lfdemt said:

 IF any large NCL ship docks at Taino Bay then it would indicate future sailings to DR will be unaffected, until a Large ship docks there it will remain a mystery,

 

I'm not sure that's true, since it's been reported here on CC that one of the larger ships (I forget which) has docked at Taino Bay since the grounding.  So perhaps the decision is dependent on the tides, weather/wind forecast, etc.  

[lfdemt]

5 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I'm not sure that's true, since it's been reported here on CC that one of the larger ships (I forget which) has docked at Taino Bay since the grounding.  So perhaps the decision is dependent on the tides, weather/wind forecast, etc.  

True but that is always a possibility at any dock.  The fact that they made the change to itinerary before even sailing anywhere close to it indicates to me that the change is not due to tides, weather/wind.  They have been on the Nassau schedule for several days ahead of the sailing.  Weather/wind is always a factor, I think there is more to this dock than that.  SO perhaps I shouldn't have said unaffected.  And instead say If the larger ships start using Taino bay then it is much more likely that future sailings will as well.

[dexddd]

On 1/2/2023 at 3:45 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

Yup.  As with so many things, the port schedule must be wrong.  The Escape's itinerary shows Jan. 23 for Puerto Plata. 

 

(I've been reading the Jan. port calendar in Spanish  [Enero], but just noticed that Google's English language translation of that page shows that the NCL Exhaust will be calling at Taino Bay on Jan. 22.  😁)

They got rid of the NCL Exhaust as part of the ...Sail and Sustain... program to reduce their carbon footprint.

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

You crack me up. 😂😂😂

18 minutes ago, dexddd said:

They got rid of the NCL Exhaust as part of the ...Sail and Sustain... program to reduce their carbon footprint.

dexddd - I am sending you the cleaning bill for spilling coffee all over my desktop while catching up on CC gossips.  Do you need a Sapphire pin, got an extra one - shall I mail it to you c/o MSC  😄 😉 😆  Have almost zero faith that we will be going to Amber Cove, none - and even less for Taino Bay, but Turtles is on it with tides, weather/wind forecasts.  We'll see ...  Nowadays, a good sense of humor is needed when one cruise with NCL.  BTW, belated Happy New Year 2023.  

 

Nassau has 3 berths available for cruise ships on the 29th and only 4 other smaller ships scheduled ... and, it's much easier to make a stop there en route back to NY, instead of attempting GSC - 100% vs 50:50 for tendering at the private island.  All pure speculation as IMHO for now. 

[wil e coyote]

On 1/6/2023 at 6:20 PM, welove2cruise* said:

We are scheduled to stop in Puerto Plata on the 30th on the Escape from Port Canaveral. Is it common this port is canceled? 

We're on the same sailing. I would say it looks doubtful that we will actually stop at PP. Escape has only used Amber Cove for several months, and AC will be full on the 30th with two Carnival ships. When there are two Carnival ships at AC, Escape has been taking a sea day instead.

Of course, things could always change...

[dexddd]

18 hours ago, mking8288 said:

dexddd - I am sending you the cleaning bill for spilling coffee all over my desktop while catching up on CC gossips.  Do you need a Sapphire pin, got an extra one - shall I mail it to you c/o MSC  😄 😉 😆  Have almost zero faith that we will be going to Amber Cove, none - and even less for Taino Bay, but Turtles is on it with tides, weather/wind forecasts.  We'll see ...  Nowadays, a good sense of humor is needed when one cruise with NCL.  BTW, belated Happy New Year 2023.  

 

Nassau has 3 berths available for cruise ships on the 29th and only 4 other smaller ships scheduled ... and, it's much easier to make a stop there en route back to NY, instead of attempting GSC - 100% vs 50:50 for tendering at the private island.  All pure speculation as IMHO for now. 

Sorry about the spill and Happy New Year to all.

 

No need for pin as we are Diamond from get go on MSC using NCL as base.

 

Hope you get some of trip you paid for.  Let us know how it goes.

 

Our Feb MSC trip is a b2b with one stop at Nassau and two at OC with a pier.  Will be a collective three days on their private island.  DB and SIL going and very excited with last trip for them on Gem in 2006 to Med when she was new.

[AK Dreaming]

I''m on the Escape 1/21 and was hoping we would get rerouted like they did this week.  Since this schedule has us on the right day I feel like my chances are increasing!

[Figg1437]

What website are you all using? Looking for the February docking plans to see if we will likely miss or make it on the Escape Feb 11th sailing (13th currently scheduled for Puerto Plato)

[Southerngal410]

What is the link to the Nassau calendar? 

[lfdemt]

2 hours ago, Figg1437 said:

What website are you all using? Looking for the February docking plans to see if we will likely miss or make it on the Escape Feb 11th sailing (13th currently scheduled for Puerto Plato)

https://www.ambercove.com/Port-Schedule.aspx  

 

Right not there is only one carnival ship at amber cove the 13th.  The Taino Bay schedule doesn't go out that far but as of right now there is room at Amber cove for the Escape if needed.  

 

https://www.porttainobay.com/es/arrivals

[lfdemt]

41 minutes ago, Southerngal410 said:

What is the link to the Nassau calendar? 

https://www.nassaucruiseport.com/schedule?fromDate=01/08/2023&toDate=03/31/2023&cruiseLine=0&pageIndex=1&pageSize=10&pageLastDate=undefined

[welove2cruise*]

On 1/7/2023 at 7:55 PM, wil e coyote said:

We're on the same sailing. I would say it looks doubtful that we will actually stop at PP. Escape has only used Amber Cove for several months, and AC will be full on the 30th with two Carnival ships. When there are two Carnival ships at AC, Escape has been taking a sea day instead.

Of course, things could always change...

Thanks. This cruise is becoming such a disappointment after 3 years of waiting. They took my angle balcony away with no notice (booked 15 months in advance) and moved me to a regular balcony cabin without the extra room for a lounge chair. I just found out today. 😔

[mking8288]

FWIW - just check the Encore's live shipcam - she is docked this morning at Amber Cove, next to the Carnival Celebration - which matched one of the posted AC port schedule

https://www.cruisingearth.com/ship-webcams/norwegian-cruise-line/norwegian-encore/

 

No other NCL mega ships listed/shown on that schedule for AC this month, hmmm ... 😮  Of course, mid-sized ships can dock at Taino Bay.  

 

Maybe, Taino Bay's work is done and bigger ships from NCL can go there & safely use the pier, which is right next to downtown.   

Edited January 10, 2023 by mking8288

[Bluewake]

We've twice been to Taino Bay but have never docked at Amber Cove.  How do the two compare?  We liked Taino Bay for the shops and easy walk to the historic downtown area.  Is Amber Cove similar in size and layout?

[meyermtacmj]

So, how do they determine which ship gets bumped? We're due on the Dawn on January 20, from 7am-4pm, but the Encore and a Celebrity Ship are due in at 11am. 

[wil e coyote]

27 minutes ago, meyermtacmj said:

So, how do they determine which ship gets bumped? We're due on the Dawn on January 20, from 7am-4pm, but the Encore and a Celebrity Ship are due in at 11am. 

I'm not sure how priority calls are made between Celebrity (owned by RCL) and NCL. It seems pretty clear that any Carnival-group ships get first priority since CCL owns Amber Cove. After that, I don't know.

[Turtles06]

31 minutes ago, meyermtacmj said:

So, how do they determine which ship gets bumped? We're due on the Dawn on January 20, from 7am-4pm, but the Encore and a Celebrity Ship are due in at 11am. 

 

You are scheduled for Taino Bay, which can accommodate three ships.  

 

"The port has 3 berths for large cruise ships and has the capacity to receive up to 14,000 passengers."

 

https://www.porttainobay.com/es/home

 

It is Amber Cove that can only accommodate two ships, and where priority will be given to Carnival Corp brands

 

4 minutes ago, wil e coyote said:

I'm not sure how priority calls are made between Celebrity (owned by RCL) and NCL. It seems pretty clear that any Carnival-group ships get first priority since CCL owns Amber Cove. After that, I don't know.

 

You are confusing Amber Cove and Taino Bay.  @meyermtacmj, to whom you replied, is on the Dawn, scheduled to dock at Taino Bay, which can accommodate three ships as noted above.   (Yes, at Amber Cove, priority is given to Carnival Corp brands, but that's not where the Dawn, the Encore, and the Constellation are scheduled to dock on Jan. 20.)

[meyermtacmj]

Ah, yes!! I Did get the two confused! I was looking at the Amber Cove site, that has the three ships at Amber Cove that day (NCL isn't going to Taino Bay, correct?). 

[hillhouse]

On 1/6/2023 at 12:41 PM, mking8288 said:

Although, we certainly don't want ships to get stranded on the sandbar at low tide while trying to leave the Bay.  

 

We have the option of not booking or planning anything and to just wing it later this month, our stop in DR is short, almost as bad as the recently announced changes for Old San Juan, PR.  If the Escape and the Encore are going elsewhere next week, then we'll know a little better, regardless of the official stories told by NCL.   Our stop is on Sunday, 1/29 and no ships listed at all at Amber Cove - kind of odd & strange, as being a Carnival owned facility, local vendors & shore-based local folks aren't just going to show up to sell when they see nothing for that calendar day.  

This morning the Encore showed up on the Amber Cove schedule for January 20. This date was also previously empty, so this is still a possibility for your 1/29 date - and the local vendors now know we're coming on the 20th!