Anyone else getting turned off by the port crowds?

My husband and I have been cruising for over 25 years and have been to a lot of ports. We are now seriously considering putting a stop to our cruising. Why? With so many mega-ships in port, the crowds of people can be overwhelming. Traveling independently on land in the US or abroad seems to allow more flexibility and crowd avoidance and can be just as cheap as a cruise. Does anyone else share this opinion?

Never encountered a problem with too many people in a port.

We've never been bothered by "crowds" in ports, either! But, a land vacation certainly gives you more options of what to do and when you can do them than a cruise offers..you have much more "in depth" time in any given place!

Tend to agree,we did a TA last year, and end in Nassau for the day. There was a massive pinchpoint at the port as there were 3 or 4 ships in at the same time. These weren’tthe mega ship either.

If it wasn’tfor the fact we’d done 7 days at sea we might have stayed on the ship, andenjoyed the P&Q. We ended up only being on shore for a few short hours thenheaded back, knowing the queues to get back on the ships would only get worseas the day wore on.

Saying allthis we still enjoy cruising, and hunt out the most sea day avoiding more andmore ports. To be honest one port is very much like another these days.

Honestly, the growth of the cruise industry has killed the feel of a lot of the Caribbean ports. Beautiful beaches, yes, but these are not the destinations they used to be. We have been visiting the USVI and surrounding islands on land based trips for 20+ years. I would never go to St. Thomas for a land based vacation these days- it is a completely different place from when the ships were fewer and smaller.

Years ago, a cruise was a way of visiting the islands and getting a true feel of the island for a day. Now a lot of these large ports (Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, etc.) have become large tourist destinations catering to the cruise industry... losing their identity in a way. St. Barths, St. Johns, Barbados have a more natural feeling and haven't been transformed by the cruise industry and mega-ships.

Basically, we enjoy the beaches and views we get sailing on the mega ships to the Caribbean, but yes, the crowds have really diminished some of the great destinations that used to be more tropical paradises than commercial money traps. I recommend straying off the beaten path and avoiding the areas that the cruise lines advertise (Magens Bay, Orient Beach, etc.)

We were on Allure in March - and where I really felt the crowds was in St. Thomas. We had taken the Abi Beach Escape excursion (through RCCL) and we had to wait in a huge line for groups of us to be taken in an open air bus to Abi. Then - once we got there - the beach was PACKED - as there were a lot of people there from a Disney ship. One of the employees at the beach bar there apologized and told us that the Disney groups would be leaving in an hour or two - and then it would be nicer. It was better when they left - but they really shouldn't book large groups to go places like this if other cruise lines are doing the same thing on the same day.

I think it depends on when and where you sail. If you go to the basic, run of the mill islands every time (Nassau, st Maarten, Cozumel, etc) then you're probably gonna be bombarded with all the big ships. If you go to some of the less traveled places on smaller ships, you can avoid the crowds. In fact, we even stopped at St Maarten last time and were the only ship in port (on a Sunday in July) and there weren't even crowds on Orient Beach.

I do a lot more land vacations than cruises and I do like them, but they have never been cheaper than a cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My husband and I have been cruising for over 25 years and have been to a lot of ports. We are now seriously considering putting a stop to our cruising. Why? With so many mega-ships in port, the crowds of people can be overwhelming. Traveling independently on land in the US or abroad seems to allow more flexibility and crowd avoidance and can be just as cheap as a cruise. Does anyone else share this opinion?

Having watched the port webcams I can see your concern,. I'll stick around and see what others say but the time of year I most frequently cruise it hasn't been a problem. I just got back from a cruise where we were the only ship in port for all but one port and in Curacao Pullmantur Zenith was in port with us. I did experience some crowding getting off Allure with 3 other ships in port in Nassua once, but once out of the port area on our excursion it wasn't bad. I did have to plan on enough time to get through Security coming back into the port.

H St. Barths, St. Johns, Barbados have a more natural feeling and haven't been transformed by the cruise industry and mega-ships.

 

FYI, I was in Curacao Thursday and the construction material for that pier expansion is in place.

When I am tired of large crowds I will look into cruising on smaller ships that go places the larger ships can't, or look into ships that go to places that don't have dock space for more than one or two ships. It will mean embarking from places other than Florida. There are a lot of large ships with a Florida home port and there is only so far they can travel on a seven night cruise, so they all end up at the same places.

For these reasons I have enjoyed sailing from Puerto Rico, because the ships there get to islands further south, and smaller islands such as Dominica which doesn't seem to get much cruise ship traffic.

Been to Shanghai port.....22 million people. Guess if you are looking for only quaint Caribbean islands, you will have more "foreigners" than "local" people in the port area.

Yes tend to agree. We were in Halifax Canada in the fall . When we got off boat it was organised chaos. Excursions reps did,nt seem to know what was going on either. Too many people let off all at once.:mad:

Me, I would rather be in a busy cruise port....than a long line at a crowded airport. How about that middle seat??!! :o

I'd rather be in a crowded caribbean port than a crappy mid atlantic beach with no palm trees, freezing and dirty water and no room to even put an umbrella. All for about the same price.

I'd rather be in a crowded caribbean port than a crappy mid atlantic beach with no palm trees, freezing and dirty water and no room to even put an umbrella. All for about the same price.

LOL!! Ditto to that! :p

Depends on when you cruise, and where you go. If you cruise from Jan - May, or September - November, there are fewer crowds, except during Spring Break. If you cruise on mega-ships, you are automatically populating each port with an extra 6,000 people.

The Mexican and Hawaiian cruises from the West Coast usually are smaller ships, and the ports are less crowded (with Lahaina being the exception).

You want to be the only ship in port? Save up and go on a Tahiti and South Pacific cruise from Los Angeles.

Take a transatlantic: they are usually the only ship in port, too. They also sail in late Spring or early Fall. Repositioning cruises are usually by themselves, too.

Use this web site to see how many other ships are in port when you are: http://ports.cruisett.com/

I do this before I book.

You know, it's a lemon situation with the crowds: make lemonade.

There is a quite easy way to avoid these crowds:Just don`t cruise at the peak season to the most popular destinations. ;)

Also there are several sites on the internet where you can easily check how many and which shipes will be docked on the specific day and so you can choose your cruise based on these data if the crowds are really annyoing you.

I personally almost never had the feeling there there are too many peolpe due to too much cruise ships.

Only on my Baltic cruise in 2014 when we docked in Tallinn it was too much. 5 ships with approx. 12000 peolpe where simply too much for this smal city.

LOL!! Ditto to that! :p

That's what most of our family and friends do for their vacation each and every year. Can't change them, they think it's paradise. I don't even argue with them anymore, it's no use.

That's what most of our family and friends do for their vacation each and every year. Can't change them, they think it's paradise. I don't even argue with them anymore, it's no use.

Oh well...to each their own. ;)

As long as they are happy, that is just one more cabin available for me to book. :D

Bermuda is a classic case. There might have been two ships - each with about a thousand passengers alongside Front Street in Hamilton - and possibly one other at St. George. Now Dockyard can have three mega-ships and over 12,000 passengers flooding the island - it is a totally different experience.

St. Maarten on a six-ship, 20,000+ passenger day is overrun and close to impassable.

A good thing when taken too far may no longer be a good thing.

Only noticed it in the Caribbean and Montenegro.

Sail more in Europe for less crowds or take small premium ships that got o slightly more obcscure ports.

Better still, check out that cruise timetable website to book a cruise where you are only ship in port (mostly).

I think a road trip is only less expensive if you only sail in balconies or suites. Five years ago we did an unscripted road trip of 33 days (2 people) and I think it cost me in excess of $7000. That included gas, meals, motels. The intent was to stay off of the interstates, out of chain hotels and restaurants. We were almost perfect with the restaurants, only resorted to Denny's one Sunday morning when there was literally nothing else. Hotels were a bit harder. We did stay in some Mom and Pop places (or whatever Mom and Pop is in Pakistani) and several fancier historic places. It may rank as our best trip ever.

But I have to say that Caribbean and even Alaska ports have changed. Used to be you went for the climate and beaches, and some shopping. Now people are so involved in excursions such as zip lining, para-sailing...that have been created just for tourists/vacationers and are not part of the original culture. I'm kind of yearning for another road trip. I'd like to drive to Alaska. Or do a land tour in Europe. EM

Also I think a lot of people, especially new cruisers and those scared to be let off of their leash and do anything, stick around the cruise ports. Take Grand Turk for instance, how many people flock to Margaritaville and the beach right next to the pier? People don't actually get out and see and do things. If people would just go away from the crowds and do things on their own, it's not as bad. Sure different locations are more crowded than before but you can help ease that even if just a little by getting away.

We have been in ports with 5 and 6 ships.

And now that I have to use a walker, crowds make it difficult for me to get around.

Yes -- we are put off by the crowds from the all the mega ships out there.

Bermuda is a classic case. There might have been two ships - each with about a thousand passengers alongside Front Street in Hamilton - and possibly one other at St. George. Now Dockyard can have three mega-ships and over 12,000 passengers flooding the island - it is a totally different experience.

 

St. Maarten on a six-ship, 20,000+ passenger day is overrun and close to impassable.

 

A good thing when taken too far may no longer be a good thing.

We were in Cozumel over Christmas at an AI. One day there were 25,000 cruise passengers in port. The port area was insanely crowded that day.