Oasis in port, next time I'll check where the mega ships will be

[alli]

Okay,

I'm posting this thread here and hopefully the mods won't find the need to move it because I think it might be very helpful to others.

 

Just returned from a mini Millenium cruise to the Western Caribbean. Great cruise. No complaints for Celebrity. My husband and I are experienced cruisers ( 14 cruises, 5 on Celebrity) and we know to roll with the punches. Our experience in Cozumel had nothing to do with Celebrity, but everything to do with the fact that Oasis was there.

 

The ship certainly is impressive ( we were docked next to her). And her 6,250 passengers running around Cozumel was certainly impressive as well. Town was so over crowded that we left and returned to Millie.

 

Years ago I lived and worked in St. Thomas and I remember Wednesdays as being the 'big money maker' day as we had several cruiseships in port and the average # of passengers in town was around 10,000. 10,000---that was the biggest day of the week.

 

These days you arrive in Cozumel with Millie and you have Oasis with 6k+, two other baby carnival ships with probably 2k each and the Millie with 2k. That's 12 thousand passengers. It was horrible. I don't want to even think about high season with Allure and Oasis running around.

 

Anyway, we're in post cruise blues and looking at our spring cruise plans and I'll be looking at where these mega ships are before I pick my next cruise!! I just hope that Oasis and Allure aren't the trend of the future.........cause I don't think the current ports can handle the crowds.

[warmwinds]

I know there is a website where you can check and see what other ships are in port, can you please post it?

[DiaryofNDJ]

http://www.cruisecal.com has a listing by day.

[denisey]

we were on a land vacation in May in St Maarten. The Oasis and the Carnival Dream (4,000+ passengers) were in port the same day.

 

We took a trip to St Barth's that day, we didn't need 10,000 extra people on "our" beach!

 

I think the ships are going to keep getting bigger....

[mesamarie]

We will be on a mini also and wondering if there is a sea day brunch on the 4 and 5 day Millennium. Do you know the price for the Persian Gardens on the 4and 5 day cruises?

[ORV]

http://www.cruisecal.com has a listing by day.

 

 

That appears to be a pay site.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

That appears to be a pay site.

 

Try http://cruisett.com/ports.php?

[The Big Booper]

Carnival Dream and it's sisters hold up to 4,500 pax. The new Princess class will hold 3,600 each plus 3/4s. The two new Disney Ships hold 4,000 each. And RCI's Project Sunshine will hold 4,000+ each.

 

We did a B2B on Allure this May and most of the time we were in port ourselves or with a smaller ship. So the lines are trying to coordinate the big ship schedules to keep from total overcrowding.

[c-legs]

http://www.cruisecal.com has a listing by day.

Also by ship ,, by port, by lines, etc...

Very useful site, with a pretty high degree of up todate accuracy. ( not quite 100% however....)

Some lines are not listed there, i-e; Aida

Cheers

C

[c-legs]

That appears to be a pay site.

it IS....but very low....~~ $23-24/year

[c-legs]

Carnival Dream and it's sisters hold up to 4,500 pax. The new Princess class will hold 3,600 each plus 3/4s. The two new Disney Ships hold 4,000 each. And RCI's Project Sunshine will hold 4,000+ each.

 

We did a B2B on Allure this May and most of the time we were in port ourselves or with a smaller ship. So the lines are trying to coordinate the big ship schedules to keep from total overcrowding.

didn't quite work out in Cozumel.....

That's the problem everyone with a sense of looking beyond the WOW factor when these behemoths were launched, was anticipating....when it shows up somewhere ( and there are not that many ports that can berth them....), better be on their own.....AND this would be for their guests' best interests as well as everybody else's in the industry.

Cheers

[dmwnc1959]

That appears to be a pay site.

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryLookup/tabid/2918/Default.aspx

 

This part is free; find your ship in the drop down list and then click on Find Dates. Locate your sailing and it will give you a handy calendar of your ports and the ships that will be there with you.

[dmwnc1959]

OP - being that I have never seen Oasis of the Seas, being a ship buff, and that I'll be in Cozumel on Dec. 1st, I was hoping we would get to park next to it. Several sources have indicated that the downtown pier is used instead? I guess this wasn't the case when you were there?

[beachlovergirl]

we were on a land vacation in May in St Maarten. The Oasis and the Carnival Dream (4,000+ passengers) were in port the same day.

 

We took a trip to St Barth's that day, we didn't need 10,000 extra people on "our" beach!

 

I think the ships are going to keep getting bigger....

 

 

We'll be on Celebrity Silhouette in November and the day we'll be in St. Maarten there will be six ships including the Oasis, Carnival Dream, Ruby Princess, Adventure of the Seas, and the Mein Shiff 2. Its going to be crazy....I've never been there with that many ships. Think its going to be a ship day for us!!

[Essiesmom]

http://www.cruisetimetables.com is an excellent for finding who is in port with you. EM

[FrankinPA]

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryLookup/tabid/2918/Default.aspx

 

This part is free; find your ship in the drop down list and then click on Find Dates. Locate your sailing and it will give you a handy calendar of your ports and the ships that will be there with you.

 

Wish I had not looked. Am on Infinity when it arrives at 7:00 am Nov 12 in Ft Lauderdale. Also arriving at the same time is Crown Princess, Eurodam, Oasis of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. Glad our plane is not until 6:30 that evening.

[The Big Booper]

didn't quite work out in Cozumel.....

That's the problem everyone with a sense of looking beyond the WOW factor when these behemoths were launched, was anticipating....when it shows up somewhere ( and there are not that many ports that can berth them....), better be on their own.....AND this would be for their guests' best interests as well as everybody else's in the industry.

Cheers

 

When the Allure ported in Cozumel (in May 2011) we had two Carnival ships with us. It didn't seem that bad as we were at different piers.

 

And in St. Thomas the Oasis/Allure uses Crown Bay because Havensite dredging has been held up by the usual suspects; that is one crappy pier, nowhere near the ambiance or convenience of Havensite.

 

I will have to check on our Dec Silhouette cruise to see who is with us. When many ships are in port at St. Martin we never go near Maho/Marigot, just head to Orient as early as possible to get loungers at Club O.

 

 

<edit>

 

Wow, 6 ships on Dec 20th at SXM

 

12/20/2011 Tuesday 07:00 19:00 DISNEY MAGIC

12/20/2011 Tuesday 08:00 17:00 CELEBRITY ECLIPSE

12/20/2011 Tuesday 08:00 17:00 CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE

12/20/2011 Tuesday 08:00 17:00 MAASDAM

12/20/2011 Tuesday 08:00 18:00 NORWEGIAN EPIC

12/20/2011 Tuesday 08:00 17:00 ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS

[alli]

OP - being that I have never seen Oasis of the Seas, being a ship buff, and that I'll be in Cozumel on Dec. 1st, I was hoping we would get to park next to it. Several sources have indicated that the downtown pier is used instead? I guess this wasn't the case when you were there?

 

I think we were at the International Pier...but then again I'm female so don't ask me for directions.

 

I don't think the big ports like Miami or Fort Lauderdale will have a problem handling the debarking passengers from these large ships. They are large cities and have the infrastructure to handle large crowds.

 

Thanks to all who posted those sites that tell what ships will be in port on what day. A great planning tool for my next cruise.

[patty1955]

On our last cruise, there were 4 ships pacing each other up the coast of Alaska. Sept. 13 there were all 4 ships in Skagway at the same time. It was so crowded, we went back to the ship

[MaryKP]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information! I just discovered there will be two Carnival ships in Cozumel on October 29, the same day I'm there on the Millennium. That's a total of 8,000 passengers in port, which seems like a lot. Then again, there will be 18,000 (!!) passengers in Cozumel on October 21st, so I'm not complaining!

[saatuk]

I'd like to echo 'thanks' to those who posted the links for cruise ports and ships; I've wanted to know that for a long time. I'm looking forward to my Nov cruise on Equinox even more - only on departure day is there another ship in port; and it's Seabourn Spirit! - we'll have all the others to ourselves!