Number of ships in port at same time

Our itinerary was one of many that was changed from Eastern Caribbean to Western (sigh)...

Who has checked to see how many ships are in port/s with you? I checked 2 of our ports, and we have EIGHT other ships with us in Belize City, and Roatán (if I’m remembering the right ports I checked after my shock). We’ll stay on ship at Belize, it’s a tender port anyway, and we’ve been there, done that....Roatan is a great beach day port, but not sure with so many other ships....

After seeing this, I did not look at our other 2 ports as I am confused as to how this is even possible! We have been in these ports with 1 or 2 ships, and it was busy, doable, but busy.

Just curious as to how many others have checked their ports to see what ships are sharing the port with you? If so, please share your thoughts...

I always check for the other ship in port when we are there. It is not unusual for many ships to be in port at Grand Cayman and Belize, both tender ports and Cozumel. In Roatan CCL usually uses Mahogany Bay, a port built by Carnival Corp and it holds only two ships. RCCL, NCL and others use Coxen Hole. However that does not lessen the number of pax on Roatan at any one time.

With the closure of several ports in the eastern Caribbean due to the hurricanes, one has to expect crowding in the ports left open particularly if they shift to the western Caribbean.

Yes, I just checked and Cozumel has anywhere from 8 to 11 ships in port the days leading up to our port day. But, only 2 when we are there. 11 ships in port? That's nearly 30,000 people! Not sure how an island that small can accommodate that many!

I will be on the Carnival Magic in November.

Our most crowded port will be Nassau - four ships all in by 1100hrs.

We will hang out around the Port for that one - too many chances for overcrowded transport that may make one miss the boat

I always check for the other ship in port when we are there. It is not unusual for many ships to be in port at Grand Cayman and Belize, both tender ports and Cozumel. In Roatan CCL usually uses Mahogany Bay, a port built by Carnival Corp and it holds only two ships. RCCL, NCL and others use Coxen Hole. However that does not lessen the number of pax on Roatan at any one time.

 

With the closure of several ports in the eastern Caribbean due to the hurricanes, one has to expect crowding in the ports left open particularly if they shift to the western Caribbean.

Thanks for the info...I checked Roatan and including the Magic, there are 8 other ships! Like you mentioned, some of them will port at Coxen Hole. And again as you mentioned, that’s a lot of folks on an island at once!

I will be on the Carnival Magic in November.

 

Our most crowded port will be Nassau - four ships all in by 1100hrs.

 

We will hang out around the Port for that one - too many chances for overcrowded transport that may make one miss the boat

I agree with hanging around the port...not worth missing the boat :o

Yes, I just checked and Cozumel has anywhere from 8 to 11 ships in port the days leading up to our port day. But, only 2 when we are there. 11 ships in port? That's nearly 30,000 people! Not sure how an island that small can accommodate that many!

That’s a lot of folks, for sure!

Thanks for the info...I checked Roatan and including the Magic, there are 8 other ships! Like you mentioned, some of them will port at Coxen Hole. And again as you mentioned, that’s a lot of folks on an island at once!

Roatan can only accommodate 4 ships a day, so there are no more than that. You have to check every cruise lines web sites to see what changes they made. A number of cruises that were originally western shuffled thier schedules to free up port space.

I use cruisett.com to see how many ships are in a port. You can either check by the ship's name and cruise date or by the port and cruise date.

I have looked at that, and some other websites, and find that they are not always accurate, or updated...

For example, that shows my cruise on the Anthem of the Seas calling at Castries, St. Lucia on 7 December, when in fact, that port was changed months ago (due to construction, not hurricanes), to Martinique...

Other sites I have checked sometimes neglected to list all of the ships that were going to be in port on other cruises I have been on, nothing to do with weather related diversion's.

Even though none of the sites are 100% accurate, I do check cruisetimetables and the ports themselves.

Thanks for the info!

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I will be on the Carnival Magic in November.

 

Our most crowded port will be Nassau - four ships all in by 1100hrs.

 

We will hang out around the Port for that one - too many chances for overcrowded transport that may make one miss the boat

Four ships in Nassau is hardly unusual - so it should be as OK as Nassau ever can be. Some of the other ports, however, which may be getting double their normal passenger load could be overwhelmed.

The sad fact is that, even in normal times, most Caribbean ports are over-taxed: if you are one of twenty thousand passengers swarming into an island like St. Maarten on a busy day (as often happened) you will not get any real feel for the place.

The "success" of cruising is destroying much of its value.

I do always check sites to get an idea of how many ships or scheduled to be in port. I've been in port when our ship was the only ship in port and then when it was packed, so packed our ship had to be tender. There may be more ships in port then were scheduled. Also you should check how many ships will be in your home port when you return. Returned to Miami once the port was full. 25000 people, give or take trying to get to MIA. There was a line outside the AA terminal just to get in. 85 degrees in the sun, not fun. Just a heads up.

I will be on the Carnival Magic in November.

 

Our most crowded port will be Nassau - four ships all in by 1100hrs.

 

We will hang out around the Port for that one - too many chances for overcrowded transport that may make one miss the boat

I’ve been there when 7 ships were docked, it wasn’t an issue.

That's one of the reasons I've liked taking cruises that terminated at Caribbean islands rather than from Florida. Especially the 7 day ones that leave from Florida on the weekend are hitting the popular ports on a small set of mid week days. By leaving from, say, San Juan, there are few if any other ships in port and has a sea day or less common port for the crowded mid week time. Of course, with the hurricanes this year, that hasn't been simple, but if I went back to the Caribbean, it is still the way I'd do it. Taking longer cruises might also allow for that.