Does this happen alot?

[mctennismom]

This questions is to all you seasoned cruisers out there. We just returned today from the Carnival Dream. We were suppose to stop in 4 ports, we went to Cozumel on Monday, Belize on Tuesday, were suppose to be in Roatan on Wednesday, but we just got to look at the island from the ship because they said it was to dangerous to dock because of the winds, and to be honest, I (and probably about 75% of the passengers) were all about to jump ship and swim since we were so close. Sadly we sailed away (by the way it was a beautiful, bright sunny day) So ok, next stop Costa Maya, NOT, said they closed the port, so our cruise director comes on and is all excited because guess what we are now going back to Cozumel!!!! I relize that you cannot control mother nature, but as we watched Roatan from the ship, another Carnival ship proceeded to dock. Bigger is not always better I guess, and I will probably not go on the Dream again if this is what happens. We were so excited about this itineary no offense, but Cozumel, been there done that!! :(

[cruisinlawn]

what you can't see are the under currents, plays a huge role in getting massive ship docked. We were on RCCL Freedom last year in St Marteen, water appeared smooth as glass on the surface but they could not get her docked. After 45 minutes of trying, they gave up and we returned to a day at sea. Captain was very informative of what was taking place so that helped in our situation. We've also had this occur in year's past on smaller vessels.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes -- we have missed ports -- on various cruise lines.

 

Costa Maya is one of the hardest ports for a ship to dock. Back in 2005 an RCI (I think) ship was battling the winds there -- hit the dock and got a huge hole in her side. She was stuck there for several days.

[Sheffie]

Yes -- we have missed ports -- on various cruise lines.

 

Costa Maya is one of the hardest ports for a ship to dock. Back in 2005 an RCI (I think) ship was battling the winds there -- hit the dock and got a huge hole in her side. She was stuck there for several days.

 

Grandeur of the Seas, if I am not mistaken. Do a search for pictures of her and you will find pictures. It was a LONG scrape and a big hole.

[Happy ks]

Cruiselines are not in the business of disappointing customers. Believe them when they state it is not safe to dock a ship, or tender passengers to shore.

 

It happens, sometimes a lot during certain times of the year. But I believe the Captain make those choices with the passenger/ship safety in mind.

[mctennismom]

Communication was part of the problem, we were all on deck watching the island and trying to figure out why we were not going into port like the other Carnival Ship was and then all of a sudden we noticed that we were heading away from the island. It was only then that they made an anouncement that we couldn't dock. I feel that they should have been keeping all of the people on board informed as to what was happening. Very poorly done. I have cruise before, just not as much as some of the people we met on board. Can you belive, one person was on his 90th cruise and he only started in 2003, they introduced him at the cocktail party!!!

[paul929207]

I guess we have just been lucky. With 21 cruises, we have only missed one port and at was because of pirate activity in the area. We knew we would skip it a couple of days in advance.

[1025cruise]

Its also possible that after the first ship went in, they advised against the second ship. Do you know if that first ship made it out?

Mahogany Bay is a bit tricky. The channel is very narrow. The ships have to back in, and be extremely precise. The Dream is a large ship. Eventhough the first ship made it in, it may have been more difficult for the dream to do so.

 

That being said, there is another dock on Roatan. Unfortunately, I doubt you will ever see a Carnival Corp ship dock there since they built Mahogany Bay.

[navybaby1113]

Mahogany Bay is a tough area to dock at. Like another poster said, it's quite narrow and if I remember correctly, also quite shallow. The captain was doing it for the safety of the passengers and the safety of the ship.

[Hlitner]

Cruise passengers want lots of balconies and that is what you get with newer ships. Because of the boxy design of the top structure (this allows for more balconies) these ships are like huge weathervanes. And to compound the felony they have less power because they are designed to cruise, not to be ocean liners. Put all this together and its easy to understand how difficult it is to maneuver a ship in high winds when in tight spaces. Its like trying to dock a sailboat with the sails up. Hence, ports get cancelled because the safety risk is a bit too high and the Captain's first responsiblity is the safety of passengers and his ship.

 

Hank

[saveurfish]

Cruise passengers want lots of balconies and that is what you get with newer ships. Because of the boxy design of the top structure (this allows for more balconies) these ships are like huge weathervanes. And to compound the felony they have less power because they are designed to cruise, not to be ocean liners. Put all this together and its easy to understand how difficult it is to maneuver a ship in high winds when in tight spaces. Its like trying to dock a sailboat with the sails up. Hence, ports get cancelled because the safety risk is a bit too high and the Captain's first responsiblity is the safety of passengers and his ship.

 

Hank

 

I was on the 3 October 2009 sailing of the Carnival Dream and the Ship could not make Monaco. As it was reported, a fairly steady 20kt wind and wind gusts meant the ship, if docked, risked damage acting like a giant sail potentially dislodging Monaco's floating dock. For some perspective, the floating pier weighs 160,000 tonnes and is 350 metres long.

 

I agree with your comments completely, There is some irony in how good these ships can catch the wind! I am booked to go on the Dream again on the 5th of February. So all I can say to my fellow Dream's....May your voyage be in the 'doldrums'

[Capt_BJ]

Yes -- we have missed ports -- on various cruise lines.

 

Costa Maya is one of the hardest ports for a ship to dock. Back in 2005 an RCI (I think) ship was battling the winds there -- hit the dock and got a huge hole in her side. She was stuck there for several days.

 

[STARFISH*4]

out of a 11 cruises-7 times we have had ship probs, missed ports or bad weather...it HAPPENS!!!

our first cruise to Alaska probably the BIGGEST disappointment of all we missed Hubbard Glacier--we really were upset but we were NEW to all of it and as the cruises went on and things happened we were disappointed but just learn to handle it better and go with the flow~~

last month we had major ship problems and missed 2 ports but we dealt with it...makes for a HAPPIER more ENJOYABLE time!!!