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Overload in St. Maarten today

tteettimes

By tteettimes,
in Celebrity Cruises

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tteettimes

tteettimes

Posted
Posted

eight cruise ships there today.....over 28,000 passengers...WOW!!

Seems like there could certainly be some way for coordinating better scheduling than this. I would be so disappointed as we love this island.

Bet the ships are crowded today too because of it.

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CaroleSS

CaroleSS

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Posted

I just don't understand why this type of thing is allowed to happen. The locals (more than likely) can't handle THAT number of passengers. While it is a boon for their economy, passengers will find crowds and long waits for food/tours/taxis/etc.

 

WHY would a cruise line do that to it's passengers???? :confused:

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wwcruisers

wwcruisers

Posted
Posted
I've never seen St. Maarten with fewer than 6 ships in. If they were smaller ships, it wouldn't be so bad, but when you get one or two of the mega ships together with regular ships, it's a problem. I've been there and done that enough times that St. Maarten becomes a nice sea day for me.

 

Linda -- the biggest crowd I've ever seen was when we were there on Solstice -- one of seven ships in port, that day. Oh, and did I mention that we were docked next to Oasis? :rolleyes:

 

You couldn't even escape the crowds by going over to the French Side of the island. We waited until just before departure to venture into Philipsburg (I always have to visit the Belgian Chocolate Shop). Well, the whole town looked a horde of locusts had descended upon it! :eek: Tired, grumpy shopkeepers and empty shelves in most of the stores we went into -- not a single bottle of DelSol nail polish left, in either store. We got to the Chocolate Shop right before closing. Fortunately, they still had some product in stock, but the poor owner was on her last good nerve! ;)

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
I just don't understand why this type of thing is allowed to happen. The locals (more than likely) can't handle THAT number of passengers. While it is a boon for their economy, passengers will find crowds and long waits for food/tours/taxis/etc.

 

The islands allow it for the very reason you cite: it's an enormous benefit for their economies.

 

WHY would a cruise line do that to it's passengers???? :confused:

 

An industry-wide scheduling authority empowered to coordinate and govern which ships go where and when does not and will never exist. Individual lines do their best to schedule on their own, wanting to be the only ship in port on any given day but recognizing that it's simply beyond their control. So I don't think that they are "doing it" it to their passengers. Rather, they are operating in a highly competitive industry that has already outgrown the limited ports available to them. As long as passengers continue to pack the ships headed to the crowded Caribbean, the multi-ship port days will continue.

 

Maybe some astute line will start offering sea-day only cruises for passengers who have "been there and done that" previously and already stay aboard rather than face the mobs ashore.

 

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Kim in CA

Kim in CA

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if the website cruisetimetables.com is accurate? This thread prompted me to check how many ships will be at each of our ports of call for our April 12th Summit sailing, and unless I am reading it wrong or it is not yet up to date, we will be the only ship in port at every stop. Could we be so lucky?

 

Kim :confused:

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
Does anyone know if the website cruisetimetables.com is accurate? This thread prompted me to check how many ships will be at each of our ports of call for our April 12th Summit sailing, and unless I am reading it wrong or it is not yet up to date, we will be the only ship in port at every stop. Could we be so lucky?

 

Kim :confused:

That website is quite accurate. Your mid-April departure is beyond the peak season, so you have a better chance of being alone.

 

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lcmslady

lcmslady

Posted
Posted
That website is quite accurate. Your mid-April departure is beyond the peak season, so you have a better chance of being alone.

 

 

Not only that but the Summit tends to go farther south than many of the other ships and there just aren't that many sailings that go that way.

 

I love the Southern Caribbean itineraries that the Summit does - have done them 4 times.

Enjoy!

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boogs

boogs

Posted
Posted (edited)

The cruise lines decide their itineraries years in advance. They don't plan port stops on the fly. It is impossible for each cruise line to know how crowded a port will be until all lines publish their schedules, which they typically do to about 1-1/2 to 2 years in the future. And then it is too late to change them since there has been scheduling and publishing costs associated with the final itineraries. After the itineraries are published, it is too complicated to adjust them. It is what it is.

 

If you want to avoid crowds, book at a time of the year when the crowds don't go - off season.

Edited by boogs
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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
According to the Phillipsburg, St. Maarten port website, there were 6 cruise ships in port today.

Whether 6 or 8, as the OP indicated, that's still a lot of ships and passengers for a small island with an overburdened infrastructure.

 

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Happy Cruiser 6143

Happy Cruiser 6143

Posted
Posted
i double scanned web site at noon......was EIGHT......evidently two had left when above poster looked

Are they now all going to SST ?? :D:D

 

Probably. :D Frankly, I don't see the need to do both St. Thomas and St. Maarten on the same cruise. They're both shopping stops. Pick one or the other. Or, better yet--skip them both!

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Happy Cruiser 6143

Happy Cruiser 6143

Posted
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Linda -- the biggest crowd I've ever seen was when we were there on Solstice -- one of seven ships in port, that day. Oh, and did I mention that we were docked next to Oasis? :rolleyes:

 

You couldn't even escape the crowds by going over to the French Side of the island. We waited until just before departure to venture into Philipsburg (I always have to visit the Belgian Chocolate Shop). Well, the whole town looked a horde of locusts had descended upon it! :eek: Tired, grumpy shopkeepers and empty shelves in most of the stores we went into -- not a single bottle of DelSol nail polish left, in either store. We got to the Chocolate Shop right before closing. Fortunately, they still had some product in stock, but the poor owner was on her last good nerve! ;)

 

Don't know that I've ever been to the Belgian Chocolate Shop in St. Maarten. What particular brand of Belgian chocolates do they carry? I've been fortunate enough to have visited Belgium a couple of times recently and I get my chocolates at Leonidas.

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wwcruisers

wwcruisers

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Posted
Don't know that I've ever been to the Belgian Chocolate Shop in St. Maarten. What particular brand of Belgian chocolates do they carry? I've been fortunate enough to have visited Belgium a couple of times recently and I get my chocolates at Leonidas.

 

Actually, they make them on the premises -- and, they are very good! :p

The owner/confectioner is Belgian, I think. Next time you do get off the ship in Philipsburg, you should check it out. It's in one of those little alleys off the main street -- right before you get to the Guavaberry place, if memory serves.

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lineman

lineman

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Posted
Actually, they make them on the premises -- and, they are very good! :p

The owner/confectioner is Belgian, I think. Next time you do get off the ship in Philipsburg, you should check it out. It's in one of those little alleys off the main street -- right before you get to the Guavaberry place, if memory serves.

 

they also have shop at the shopping area at the end of the cruise dock,picked up a load in Mar.:)

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