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12 Cruises and Never Missed a Port - Just Lucky?

Dr. Jack Daniels

By Dr. Jack Daniels,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Dr. Jack Daniels

Dr. Jack Daniels

Posted
Posted

With all the talk about the Dawn's engine issues. It got me thinking about the fact that we have never missed a port for any reason in any of our 12 cruises. No mechanical problems, no tender issues, no rough water that prevented a ship from docking. Nothing.

 

Am I just lucky? Or is my experience closer to the norm?

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tiggerfan616

tiggerfan616

Posted
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The only port we ever missed was GSC, no big loss had been there twice prior. The good news was we got to go to Key West instead which was great since we had never been there.

 

To answer your question I think your experience is closer to the norm, you notice we dont get any threads started that say "Warning I made all my Ports".

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RedFlavoredJellybeans

RedFlavoredJellybeans

Posted
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I feel that with all the technical advances in systems... there really arent many failures. I've been on 8 cruises and have never had any problems with the ships. Except for some rough waters going to Alaska once.

 

During my first cruise ever on the NCL Sky last year, the power system didn't work right for a few hours while docked. Sure does get toasty in an enclosed ship without air conditioning. Saw a lady faint at the buffet.:(

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halos

halos

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We had changes on two cruises...once on our Panama Canal cruise we were supposed to leave out of San Diego and the switched to Los Angeles (after I had purchased air, but that was OK anyway...I prefer San Diego and wanted to spend a couple pre-crusie days there anyway)

Also there was one cruise that was supposed to go to Costa Maya but a hurricane went through there and they told us at least a month in advance of the cruise that port would be switched (don't recall where we went instead)

While on a ship we have never missed ports though. We once or twice had excursions cancelled because of bad weather (seas too choppy) but that's it.

We have sailed in the summer..literally between 2 or 3 hurricanes and have had seas like glass...

Sometimes I feel REALLY as if I have this bubble of luck around me. The kicker is that I would be one who didn't care if I missed a port.

go figure....

 

Like with what is going on with the Dawn right now, I had a cruise booked on Celebrity Infinity when the ship was having major azipod issues. The cruises in the weeks prior to mine were problematic and the cruise the very sailing after I got off the ship also had issues but when we sailed, everything was perfect.

Just very lucky/blessed, I guess.....

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NMLady

NMLady

Posted
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17 cruises:

 

one itinerary was changed from Key West and Belize to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

 

One departure port was changed from New Orleans to Miami after Katrina.

 

Our most recent ta skipped Azores because of storm conditions there.

 

I figure that when I look at the total ports for 18 cruises, missing the ones that we did is a tiny percentage.

 

So, I'd say that not missing ports is closer to the norm.

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tkportersat

tkportersat

Posted
Posted

I think lucky :) Out of my 11 I have had 3 cruises affected by either port cancellation or changes and 1 cruise cut short by a hurricane.

 

With all the talk about the Dawn's engine issues. It got me thinking about the fact that we have never missed a port for any reason in any of our 12 cruises. No mechanical problems, no tender issues, no rough water that prevented a ship from docking. Nothing.

 

Am I just lucky? Or is my experience closer to the norm?

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bcakes

bcakes

Posted
Posted

In 5 cruises, I've missed one port because a crew member jumped over board. She was rescued, but the time we spent circling to find her caused us to miss a port.

 

I think the fact that most people are unaware that you can miss a port (and therefore have their vacation "ruined" if it happens) shows that it doesn't happen that frequently.

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craig-n-carol

craig-n-carol

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In 5 cruises, I've missed one port because a crew member jumped over board. She was rescued, but the time we spent circling to find her caused us to miss a port.

 

I think the fact that most people are unaware that you can miss a port (and therefore have their vacation "ruined" if it happens) shows that it doesn't happen that frequently.

 

She's lucky she was rescued. I was told by the Captain of the Dawn Princess in 2006 (his name escapes me) that the survival rate of a person going overboard was less than 10%.

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BahamaMama247

BahamaMama247

Posted
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On the Dawn in 2009 they changed itineary (engine problem, had to reduce speed) instead of GSC we went to Freeport, Bahamas. Love GSC but was excited to see a new port.. faded upon arrival. It was so small and crowded I wish we had never gotten off the ship.

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sparks1093 Great Review Rare

sparks1093

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It's hard to say, I don't think the cruise lines track the percentage of time they have to miss a port for whatever reason (or if they do the information appears to be not readily available)(but the person posting right after me may post just such a study;)). I would hazard a guess that ports are hit about 80% of the time, with most of the misses being due to weather and most of those misses being for tendered ports like GSC. I think that to an extent you can control your own destiny in this regard to a point by chosing itineraries with a reduced chance of missing a port because of the time of year, etc. Of course no one can predict mechanical issues.

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Dr. Jack Daniels

Dr. Jack Daniels

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I would hazard a guess that ports are hit about 80% of the time, with most of the misses being due to weather and most of those misses being for tendered ports like GSC.

 

I’d say it is north of 90%.

 

I kind of figured my experience was the norm. Thanks to all who shared their experiences.

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sparks1093 Great Review Rare

sparks1093

Posted
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I’d say it is north of 90%.

 

I kind of figured my experience was the norm. Thanks to all who shared their experiences.

 

I wouldn't disagree, I was being cautious just in case someone did post a chart of port success rates:D. I do recall missing one port while I was in the Navy. It was extraordinarily rough but that wasn't why we missed the port, not directly anyway. The port authority had misread our berth request and reserved a berth half the size we needed. A berth large enough was going to become available that morning when a Russian cruise ship got underway. When the captain of that ship found out an American warship was waiting for his berth he decided it was too rough to get underway and he stayed put.

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RichNY

RichNY

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With all the talk about the Dawn's engine issues. It got me thinking about the fact that we have never missed a port for any reason in any of our 12 cruises. No mechanical problems, no tender issues, no rough water that prevented a ship from docking. Nothing.

 

Am I just lucky? Or is my experience closer to the norm?

 

For our experience you have been lucky...:D

 

We have missed 10 stops either because of weather or mechanical failure ..POOP happens..;)

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halos

halos

Posted
Posted
Well......we almost missed one port, our departure port :mad: !

 

Due to a flight delay of several hours, we just made it to the ship with maybe 10 minutes to spare BEFORE the boarding cut-off time...Whew...! After that nail biting experience, we now fly in the day before the cruise.

 

 

:eek: The best lessons are always learned the hard way!!! Must have been EXTREMELY stressful, but happy that you made it :)

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