Missing Ports

[njkate]

Ok I've only ever cruised NCL and never have we not docked at a port of call listed, at least the cruises i was on.

Friends have talked us into cruising Carnival with them in Oct and I'm reading over there that Roatan & Grand Cayman they skip a lot, supposedly due to wind..

Anyone else here in NCl ....have you missed ports

 

I'm about ready to cancel, not fond of Western Carib and it wouldn't take much at this point to cancel.

 

I do enjoy sea days but that said I do enjoy getting off the ship for a bit as well

[Elationismyship]

I have been on a few different cruise lines and ports can be cancelled for many reasons (Key West once because a Navy Ship had made an unexpected stop) - non tendered port, Grand Cayman due to high winds - tendered port.

 

Some ports are more difficult to get into or have extra issues due to tendering, etc. such as Grand Cayman but you have that on NCL (or any other lines) private islands too (tendered)

 

If I were going to cancel, it would be because I truly didn't want to see the Western Caribbean, not on the possible chance a port could be cancelled -- because it can happen anywhere. But, I can say, having been to the Western Caribbean several time -- I wouldn't miss it. I urge you to reconsider. There are some beautiful areas to visit on those islands.

 

Oh, and by the way, if an NCL ship and a Carnival ship were both due to be in Grand Cayman and it was too dangerous to dock or tender -- they both wouldn't stop. It's not a specific Carnival thing.

[pumpkin228]

Two years ago the NCL Dream was taking over the Boston to Bermuda (St. George's) cruise. If you have ever sailed into St. George you know the cut to get into port is quite small and a small boat (like the majesty) could do it with no problem. However, the dream couldn't get through that cut with high winds. I believe it was the first 3 weeks of the season they were diverted to to docking in hamilton. The week I went we were able to get through that cut into St. George's.

 

You never know what mother nature is going to do and you can't let it dictate your own good time!

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[EmmasNana]

Last year on the Sky we had a jumper so we missed a port looking for him.

[johnql]

Missing a port can be very disappointing. However, if a specific port is an essential element of a trip, my advice is to not cruise because there is no guarantee that every port will be successfully visited. Book a land vacation instead.

[MikeandAmy]

Ok I've only ever cruised NCL and never have we not docked at a port of call listed, at least the cruises i was on.

Friends have talked us into cruising Carnival with them in Oct and I'm reading over there that Roatan & Grand Cayman they skip a lot, supposedly due to wind..

Anyone else here in NCl ....have you missed ports

 

I'm about ready to cancel, not fond of Western Carib and it wouldn't take much at this point to cancel.

 

I do enjoy sea days but that said I do enjoy getting off the ship for a bit as well

 

My wife and I were worried about the same thing. We went there in January and it was windy. But they had no problems. They have 2 places where the can dock. From what I understand winds have to be above 30 mph out of a certai direction, sorry I dont remember, before they will skip the port. Thats what I was told on the ship, but who knows.

[fin]

I am guessing here, but my suspicion is that given the grumbling and bad press which evolve from a missed port, the decision to skip one is not taken lightly.

[STARFISH*4]

when we did the Spirit in 2008 we MISSED Martha's Vineyard (they dont go there anymore)

in January we MISSED GSC but went to Nassau instead

[2inTul]

We have only missed 3 ports on all of our cruises.

 

1. Enchantment of the Seas - Missed Grand Cayman due to rough seas that prevented the ship from setting the anchor. Spent the day at sea.

 

2. Norwegian Jewel - TA - Missed St. John's Newfoundland due to storms and rough seas prevented docking (Narrow channel into St. John's harbor-Canadian Coast Guard closed the port). Spent the day at sea.

 

3. Norwegian Jewel - Repo - Missed Roatan due to safety issues - civil unrest on the island burning tires in the roads shutting down the port. Went to Cozumel instead.

 

As you can see they usually have very good reasons to skip a port. 3 missed ports out of all of the ports on all of our cruises is not bad. :)

[mbisson]

I'm about ready to cancel, not fond of Western Carib and it wouldn't take much at this point to cancel.

 

We've missed ports in Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean. If anything less than unconditional certainty of making all ports will cause you to cancel, I think you should do so soon. We've made our ports the vast majority of the time, but there is no guarantee

[newmexicoNita]

Ok I've only ever cruised NCL and never have we not docked at a port of call listed, at least the cruises i was on.

Friends have talked us into cruising Carnival with them in Oct and I'm reading over there that Roatan & Grand Cayman they skip a lot, supposedly due to wind..

Anyone else here in NCl ....have you missed ports

 

I'm about ready to cancel, not fond of Western Carib and it wouldn't take much at this point to cancel.

 

I do enjoy sea days but that said I do enjoy getting off the ship for a bit as well

 

Roatan? We have cruised the western Caribbean 3 times to Roatan and never had the port cancelled. Grand Cayman is a totally different thing: I guess we have been lucky enough to go there a couple of times and had one or two cancelled. One of the times we were able to tender to the island it rained so hard I wished we had never bothered, one time it was wonderful..

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

We have only missed 3 ports on all of our cruises.

 

1. Enchantment of the Seas - Missed Grand Cayman due to rough seas that prevented the ship from setting the anchor. Spent the day at sea.

 

2. Norwegian Jewel - TA - Missed St. John's Newfoundland due to storms and rough seas prevented docking (Narrow channel into St. John's harbor-Canadian Coast Guard closed the port). Spent the day at sea.

 

3. Norwegian Jewel - Repo - Missed Roatan due to safety issues - civil unrest on the island burning tires in the roads shutting down the port. Went to Cozumel instead.

 

As you can see they usually have very good reasons to skip a port. 3 missed ports out of all of the ports on all of our cruises is not bad. :)

 

Which year did you do the NA crossing on the Jewel. We too missed it on ours. What a disappointment that was, it was the port I was the most interested in, but it certainly didn't affect our enjoying that wonderful cruise...

 

Nita

[njhorseman]

Which year did you do the NA crossing on the Jewel. We too missed it on ours. What a disappointment that was, it was the port I was the most interested in, but it certainly didn't affect our enjoying that wonderful cruise...

 

Nita

 

Nita:

 

We missed Newfoundland on our Jewel cruise...which was its maiden TA in 2005.

[bar_20]

It's happened 3 times with me:

 

1. NCL Norway missed St. Martin due to NCL employee falling off ship.

 

2. HAL Zaandam missed Kona due to earthquake.

 

3. HAL Zaandam missed Ensenada due to fog.

[terrymtex01]

OP.. to my memory we have only missed two ports and that was on the Pearl. There was a tropical storm over Belieze when we were supposed to go there and we just could not tender in that weather. Sadly for us that was the port we had looked forward to the most, but what can you do. On Carnival we did have to miss Grand Caymen because of a hurricane, but what can you do? 8-)

[2inTul]

Which year did you do the NA crossing on the Jewel. We too missed it on ours. What a disappointment that was, it was the port I was the most interested in, but it certainly didn't affect our enjoying that wonderful cruise...

 

Nita

 

We were on the same cruise as you and apparently njhorseman too. :)

[johnql]

Seems like St. John's, Newfoundland is problematic, too. We missed it on the Jewel TA in Sept 2009. The harbormaster in St. John’s closed the port to traffic because of high winds.

[fin]

Seems like St. John's, Newfoundland is problematic, too. We missed it on the Jewel TA in Sept 2009. The harbormaster in St. John’s closed the port to traffic because of high winds.

 

On 9/24/08 the Jewel stopped at St Johns on the trans Atlantic crossing. The weather was superb and the people were delightful.

 

When the Jewel left the harbor, all the other ships there (perhaps a dozen or so) began blowing their ships horns continually. It went on for ten minutes or so as the Jewel powered away from the dock and swung her bow around toward the harbor opening, and then the Jewel answered with her own very long blast. Goosebumps.

 

Later it was explained that this was the first visit of the Jewel to that port. Obviously it was not the first time such a visit was scheduled!

[flashdog_1]

Missed two ports on an 11 nighter at the end of hurricane season. Grand Cayman had been damaged in a hurricane just before we arrived, so we went to Curacao, changing the order of the ports a little. Then in Panama, we docked okay, but there was a cab drivers' protest and they locked the gates to the pier (luckily 3 tour buses had left at 7:15 a.m. before the taxi people arrived and I was able to go into the canal on my tour), so only the brave left the ship (my husband, to make a liquor run) after the gates were closed. you never know.

[newmexicoNita]

Nita:

 

We missed Newfoundland on our Jewel cruise...which was its maiden TA in 2005.

 

Same cruise we were on and I would do it again tomorrow if it were offered. It was our favorite cruise out of about 25 now.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

We were on the same cruise as you and apparently njhorseman too. :)

 

so what do ya know? We were on the same cruise with you and now we live about 90 miles from you: small world isn't it?

 

Nita

[RichNY]

Seems like St. John's, Newfoundland is problematic, too. We missed it on the Jewel TA in Sept 2009. The harbormaster in St. John’s closed the port to traffic because of high winds.

 

 

I thought it was because Moammar Kadafi was going to be there.....;)

 

We still haven't been to Great Stirrup Cay...0 for 3..

 

Stuff Happens..thats cruising..