When did cruise ships start visiting Roatan?

[Sysdeath]

I know Roatan is a newer port of call for cruise ships. When did cruise ships start visiting Roatan? Thanks in advance!

[crewsweeper]

Well, I know they were stopping there in 2007/2008 when we first looked at cruises there. We first visited there in 2009. I had a feeling that the Coxen Hole port shopping was fairly new then, but I recall people in reviews talking about getting off the pier and walking into the town.

[cruisemainiac]

We were there on the Spirit in Nov. 2004. Not much there other than the straw market accross from the pier. We did a non NCL, but recommended by NCL, beach lunch day with none other than Peter Gabriel's brother, who was running this little tour thing at the beach. He was quite the character and we had a great day.

[travelerblue]

We went there in 2002 and there was nothing to see but the kids being swatted by the "policeman" as they begged for money from the cruise passengers. We are going back next year so I am happy to hear that it has changed a lot.

[Sanddiver]

We went there in 2002 and there was nothing to see but the kids being swatted by the "policeman" as they begged for money from the cruise passengers. We are going back next year so I am happy to hear that it has changed a lot.

 

I assure you, the beaches were there in 2002 even if you did not see them. As for the police and the kids, There has and still is a big problem with kids skipping school to beg and unfortunately many visitors encourage this by handing money to kids in the street when quite often they should be in school

[Random Acts]

I know Roatan is a newer port of call for cruise ships. When did cruise ships start visiting Roatan? Thanks in advance!

 

We were booked on a carnival cruise in September 2007 that was supposed to go to Costa Maya as a stop. Shortly before the cruise, a hurricane destroyed the pier there and Roatan was substituted as the new port for that cruise. We went scuba diving there and loved it. 6 months later, we returned to Roatan for a week at one of the scuba diving resorts and got to see most of the island- it was so unspoiled and non-touristy. We fell in love with the place. At the time they were building their first shopping center with a Pizza Hut- first American chain there.

[Sanddiver]

. At the time they were building their first shopping center with a Pizza Hut- first American chain there.

Bojangles chicken and Pizza Inn, Both US chains, have been on Roatan for many years, long before 2007, there is no Pizza hut but there is now a Wendy's and Applebee's

[crewsweeper]

We were booked on a carnival cruise in September 2007 that was supposed to go to Costa Maya as a stop. Shortly before the cruise, a hurricane destroyed the pier there and Roatan was substituted as the new port for that cruise. We went scuba diving there and loved it. 6 months later, we returned to Roatan for a week at one of the scuba diving resorts and got to see most of the island- it was so unspoiled and non-touristy. We fell in love with the place. At the time they were building their first shopping center with a Pizza Hut- first American chain there.

 

 

Hurricane Dean might have been the biggest influence on Carnival increasing stops to Roatan. Costa Maya is still recovering a bit from Dean, but doing so rapidly.

[SeaPA1]

Wife & I started traveling to Roatan in the early 90s & bought a place there in 1995. I don't remember exactly when the cruiseships first started coming there, but I think it was in the late 1990s or right around the turn of the century. Initially, it was very limited - smaller ships & less than one stop a week.

 

Back then it was a sleepy little island that wasn't really known outside of the scuba diving community. Shoot, the first few years we went there were hardly any TVs on the island (I only remember one bar/restaurant in West End that had a TV & satellite dish). When you went, you completely escaped from the world at home.

 

I miss those times.

[Guest 2000]

My first visit to the island was in 2000. At that time there was one cruise ship once a week. My but how things have changed.

 

I too miss the quiet.

[DebJ14]

Our first cruise that stopped in Roatan was the NCL Star out of Houston in 1997. We did the Tabyana beach excursion with the kids. The ride to the beach was an adventure over mostly unpaved roads. The most disturbing thing were the outhouses at the end of piers in the ocean. Thankfully, a hurricane wiped them out. It has come a long, long way since thern.

[lovevacadays]

Wife & I started traveling to Roatan in the early 90s & bought a place there in 1995. I don't remember exactly when the cruiseships first started coming there, but I think it was in the late 1990s or right around the turn of the century. Initially, it was very limited - smaller ships & less than one stop a week.

 

Back then it was a sleepy little island that wasn't really known outside of the scuba diving community. Shoot, the first few years we went there were hardly any TVs on the island (I only remember one bar/restaurant in West End that had a TV & satellite dish). When you went, you completely escaped from the world at home.

 

I miss those times.

 

Do you still own a place in Roatan? If so, how wonderful. I think it's such a beautiful island.

[evandbob]

I believe I stopped at the Coxen's Hole pier on one of my first cruises on the Paradise early 2000's The CD was all apologetic and warning PAX that the welcome band on the pier had topless women dancing!

[c-leg5]

Our first visit to Roatan was in 2006 and we have seen many changes even in the few years since then.

 

The information about Arch Iguana Farm states that the farm was open to the public in 1991, "the year of the first cruise ships to Roatan".

[Friscorays]

First thread on this section of the forum dates back to 2004 (and is still waiting on a reply).

[Will in sunny FL]

We looked back thru our old cruise pics & it looks like we were there at Coxen's Hole before the large cement dock was built & there was only small shacks for shops as you walked up the muddy pathway toward the road. The time was early 1990's, like 1992 & we were on the Regency Cruise Lines & the ship was either the Sun, the Sea, or the Star. We took an older school bus to Tayabana Beach as the local schools were closed when there was a cruise ship in town, so the busses could be used to transport the ship's passengers to their destination. Most of the road to Tabayana Beach was not paved & it you arrived on a rainy day, the roads were a bit slick going up & down those hills !

Things there have certainly improved there.

[c-leg5]

We looked back thru our old cruise pics & it looks like we were there at Coxen's Hole before the large cement dock was built & there was only small shacks for shops as you walked up the muddy pathway toward the road. The time was early 1990's, like 1992 & we were on the Regency Cruise Lines & the ship was either the Sun, the Sea, or the Star. We took an older school bus to Tayabana Beach as the local schools were closed when there was a cruise ship in town, so the busses could be used to transport the ship's passengers to their destination. Most of the road to Tabayana Beach was not paved & it you arrived on a rainy day, the roads were a bit slick going up & down those hills !

Things there have certainly improved there.

 

Looks like the claaim on the Iguana Farm site quoted above is probably correct then. You must have been one of the very early visitors!

[Jimnbigd]

My Norwegian Sea cruise from Houston stopped here in 1999 and 2000.

[CRUISERTN]

I think my first stop in Roatan was around 1996 on NCL.