What happens when ship skips a port?

We are doing the British Isles cruise on the Queen Victoria and read that some ports could be missed due to rough seas or weather.

What would happen in such a case? Would we visit another port?

One of the ports more often missed is Guensey, which is our last stop. Would we return to Southampton early?

We've had a few missed ports for various reasons over our cruises. We've had change of port, an overnight stay in port (Amsterdam - too windy) together with a missed port (Zeebrugge) and missed Amsterdam on an earlier cruise (too windy) and missed Zeebrugge on another cruise (too windy) and on one cruise no port at all but just sailing up and down the Channel (too windy).

If a port needs to be missed because of weather/sea conditions and the cruise line is able to make arrangements at another suitable port, then you may be able to call at that substitute port instead. That is somewhat unusual though. The more typical outcome is that there will be an extra sea day in place of the missed port.

If you have to miss the call at Guernsey, you will most likely spend that day cruising the English Channel. You won't return early to Southampton unless the captain determines the conditions are so bad that it would be safest to return to port early.

When we missed a port (South Africa), we had an extra sea day. There also have been some itineraries that were altered shortly before boarding due to various circumstances.

As others have said they try to find another port.

The challenge for some of the ports has a lot to do if it is a tender port.

Keith

When Guernsey was missed (rough seas making tendering unsafe) we were diverted to Cherbourg on QM2.

When Zeebrugge was missed (high winds making docking unsafe) on QV we spent the day slowly crawling along the English Channel.

Such things happen; the surprise day "at sea" on QV was one of the very best days on board a ship I can remember. Made new friends, had a great time in the Commodore Club :D

When there is an unexpected sea day, or you have to leave a port early, extra activities are put on. One of the Entertainment Directors, whose name I'm afraid I've forgotten, is an astronomer and gave a very interesting talk when we couldn't get into Gib until a lot later then scheduled. Sally Sagoe also has a back up lecture" My Life in EastEnders."

On our recent cruise we were supposed to be going to Bermuda but conditions were so rough the captain didn't even get close, he simply diverted to The Azores.

Have to say most people couldn't get off the ship quick enough onto land that wasn't moving!!

On a trip to Amsterdam on QV last year we had a sea day moved to the beginning of the trip then went to Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam which pushed our call to Zeebrugge back a day to avoid bad weather. Depends on the captain and the availability in other ports as to what is done. If a berth in Rotterdam/Zeebrugge wasn't available on the right days we might have ended up just going to Cherbourg and back with a few days bobbing around the English Channel!

Not always an extra sea day.

Twice we've had unscheduled overnight stays because of missed ports. Once in Amsterdam and once in Naples.

It all depends on what is available.

Stewart

It all depends on availability and practicality if they can reach another port within the timescale for the cruise. More often than not we have just missed the port and had an extra sea day and cruised slowly to the next scheduled port. This happened to us in the past where ports cancelled have included Guernsey, Dublin, Orkney Islands and Gibraltar and had extra sea days and once we should have stopped at a port but because of bad weather the captain didnt want to go in and get stuck not being able to get out so missed the port and had an overnight stay in Halifax instead.

In 2012 we were due to visit Rhodes but the sea was so rough that the pilot's boat could not even leave the harbour to come out to us. Lots of other activities were planned for the day. About a week later at a cocktail party one of my acquaintances spoke to the captain and told him she had almost forgiven him for skipping Rhodes. He pointed out that if he had managed to take us into the harbour, we would still be there! The captain has to look a bit further ahead than getting into port; he also has to get us out again.

Sometimes the decision to skip a port isn't made until tenders are lowered. We missed Antigua over Christmas because the tenders were bobbing up and down a meter in the waves and couldn't safely come alongside the ship's tender docks.

Any cruise line hate missing a port, a lot of money is lost on trips alone, they always try to find another port to call in. After all the safety of passengers, crew and ship are top priority.

We have just returned from 75 nights Around South America in Queen Victoria. On the outward crossing we called in Praia da Vittoria for respite and missed Bermuda. However on the return by juggling the ports timings in Charleston we were able to call into Bermuda.

I have been on cruises to Guernsey and missed the port twice. It is a tender port and the sea height can be a problem. As a result we diverted to Le Havre once and the other time to Cherbourg. I think it depends on the ship obtaining a spot to berth in at the relevant port. Guernsey is a 50% miss port in my experience.

Regards John

We are doing the British Isles cruise on the Queen Victoria and read that some ports could be missed due to rough seas or weather.

 

What would happen in such a case? Would we visit another port?

 

One of the ports more often missed is Guensey, which is our last stop. Would we return to Southampton early?

Another day at sea, and slower to the next port. Extra entertainment on board. It happens and a replacement port can seldom be scheduled last minute unless the seas are very heavy and you have to find a port for safely.