Princess Cays, Bahamas No of Times Port Gets Cancelled? Lets Have Some Data?

[Relax Cruiser]

We were on the Emerald Princess last week and Princess Cays got cancelled due to "weather". And from what I heard from a couple of people on board this seems to be a reoccurring thing. 2 couples I talked to told that this was their 3rd cruise which included Cays and not once were they able to go. I know there might be some who will be ok with the cancellation, but we were highly disappointed as it was one of the main attraction since we had booked all kinds of water activities and were looking forward to it.

 

If weather is too rough for tenders then they should think about building a docking terminal. If Princess Cays is owned by Princess then this shouldn't be a problem? I wouldn't mind paying extra fare if they can do this and will guarantee a visit to port. If this keeps on happening I will be hesitant to book another cruise with Princess and go with someone who does go to Bahamas, although I love Princess.

 

Im sorry if this post comes across as a complaint (I loved every single thing about Princess except this) but we need to try to make this a less occurring thing in future.

 

Please post here on how many times have you visited or how many times port has got cancelled. I have written them and email and wrote it in the survey as well but not expecting anything to come from it.

 

Vent over!:(

[csk]

I have cruised 17 times with Princess and this is was the first time we had the port cancelled, I am not sure out of those cruises how many went to Princess Cays.

 

Princess can not control the weather, and it was very windy that day, in fact after my ordeal at Grand Cayman, I had no intentions of tendering over there, just too risky with the wind.

 

Yes, maybe some day they will build a pier, like Royal did for the Oasis and Allure to there private island, but it is a long, long walk there.

[Colo Cruiser]

I know its frustrating but even having a dock does not stop cancelation if the weather does not cooperate. I am sure the Captain and staff are frustrated as well.

[Pam in CA]

What data is needed and why? The only thing that matters is the day the ship you're scheduled to be in port. Quite a few ports, mostly tender ports, are sometimes canceled or bypassed due to weather and safety concerns. They include Princess Cays, Grand Cayman, Lahaina, Reykjavik, etc.

 

I've taken quite a few Caribbean cruises and missed Grand Cayman due to safety concerns but haven't missed Princess Cays. No port is guaranteed, even ports where the ship is scheduled to dock.

[Northender]

The Captain will never put the passengers or his/her ship in harms way.

 

That being said, if you continue to cruise on Princess and do the Caribbean type cruises, you will end up there more times that you want. :rolleyes: It has become a SOTS day for us.:D:D

 

Now I would say in my experience it is 50/50. It can get pretty rough out there.

[OutSyder]

In all my Princess cruises (19) I have never missed Princess Cays when we were scheduled to stop there. I have however missed St Kitts due to it being to windy and that's not a tender port.

 

Just the luck of the draw I think.

[Mom33]

We have never missed Princess Cays on our Caribbean cruises. We have missed only 3 ports in 9 years of cruising with Princess. They were Edinburgh, Liverpool and Christchurch in New Zealand. One miss was caused by poor tender weather. It was unsafe to board the tenders.

One was caused by high winds, trapping the ship in port for a night. The third was a mechanical issue that needed repair and delayed our departure. This caused a change in itinerary.

 

No Captain misses a port without good reason. You may be disappointed because you missed Princess Cays, but you arrived back home safely and you should thank the Captain for putting your safety first.

[jt58203]

On our very first cruise ever, Caribbean Princess March of 2008, we had to miss Princess Cays. The ship had anchored and after the first tender was dropped the captain deemed it unsafe to bring the passengers ashore. Seas were too rough. :(

[Mainiac85]

We were on the Emerald Princess last week and Princess Cays got cancelled due to "weather". And from what I heard from a couple of people on board this seems to be a reoccurring thing. 2 couples I talked to told that this was their 3rd cruise which included Cays and not once were they able to go. I know there might be some who will be ok with the cancellation, but we were highly disappointed as it was one of the main attraction since we had booked all kinds of water activities and were looking forward to it.

 

If weather is too rough for tenders then they should think about building a docking terminal. If Princess Cays is owned by Princess then this shouldn't be a problem? I wouldn't mind paying extra fare if they can do this and will guarantee a visit to port. If this keeps on happening I will be hesitant to book another cruise with Princess and go with someone who does go to Bahamas, although I love Princess.

 

Im sorry if this post comes across as a complaint (I loved every single thing about Princess except this) but we need to try to make this a less occurring thing in future.

 

Please post here on how many times have you visited or how many times port has got cancelled. I have written them and email and wrote it in the survey as well but not expecting anything to come from it.

 

Vent over!:(

Well I'm with you "relaxed cruiser", We have sailed twice with Princess and both times have not made it to Princess Cays, which is very disappointing!!!

Yes, I understand it's for everyone's safety, but you'd also like to be able to make it to a port that you were planning on going to!!!

 

Oh well...maybe someday we will get to see Princess Cays!! :(

[FawnRiver]

We've never missed Princess Cays. There were sometimes when we might have wanted to. There really isn't much there, so it's pretty much just a beach day, which isn't really our cup of tea.

Building a dock wouldn't be easy, it's pretty shallow there, so they'd have to dredge or build a really long dock, it's not worth the investment.

[ar1950]

We were on the Emerald Princess last week and Princess Cays got cancelled due to "weather". And from what I heard from a couple of people on board this seems to be a reoccurring thing. 2 couples I talked to told that this was their 3rd cruise which included Cays and not once were they able to go. I know there might be some who will be ok with the cancellation, but we were highly disappointed as it was one of the main attraction since we had booked all kinds of water activities and were looking forward to it.

 

If the weather were bad enough that tenders couldn't be used I suspect that the water activities might not have been too much fun. If you have never been then you might not be aware that the beach area is not in a closed, protected harbor.

 

...........................

If weather is too rough for tenders then they should think about building a docking terminal. If Princess Cays is owned by Princess then this shouldn't be a problem? I wouldn't mind paying extra fare if they can do this and will guarantee a visit to port. If this keeps on happening I will be hesitant to book another cruise with Princess and go with someone who does go to Bahamas, although I love Princess.

 

A docking facility/terminal would not only be unjustifiably costly, but, also would not solve many problems. If the sea conditions are that rough then the facilities available for water activities are not going to be very usable. And, that is assuming that they would even be able to dock. Also, not sure how they would man the docking area. Have you checked out the population centers on Eleuthera? Where would the land support come from to do that?

 

As far as paying extra, you would likely be in a very small minority who would. Once you do get to visit Princess Cays then you will understand better.:cool:

 

...............................

Im sorry if this post comes across as a complaint (I loved every single thing about Princess except this) but we need to try to make this a less occurring thing in future.

 

Please post here on how many times have you visited or how many times port has got cancelled. I have written them and email and wrote it in the survey as well but not expecting anything to come from it.

 

Vent over!:(

 

My only comment here is read your CC handle over and over again (with calming music playing in the background): "Relax Cruiser, Relax Cruiser,.........".:)

Edited February 5, 2016 by ar1950

[Daisyloo]

We missed Princess Cays once in 5 cruises.

[Pam in CA]

Yes, I understand it's for everyone's safety, but you'd also like to be able to make it to a port that you were planning on going to!!!

Of course it's disappointing but then no one's expectation should be that a port is guaranteed because that's just not feasible. A few years ago, I was on a trans-Atlantic and we were docked in Dublin for the day and the next day were scheduled to dock in Belfast. The tour operator I'd booked with assured me that ships never miss Belfast. Well, the Irish Sea had a different opinion and two massive storms that had gone up the east coast of the US converged there, with waves of over 70' for hours on end. HAL's Prinsendam was out to sea during the storm and passengers wound up sitting on the floor for over 12 hours. That same cruise we missed Reykjavik... very disappointing since I'd wanted to go there but the ship wasn't able to navigate the narrow channel into the harbor due to wind gusts of over 35mph.

 

I can't tell you how many tender and docked ports I've missed and the number of people who whine, complain, call the Captain a wimp, demand compensation, claim it was due to the ship wanting to make more money in the casino (really?), etc. is mind-blowing. Obviously, these people have no clue. If a port is that important, then fly there for a vacation. Princess and the Captain aren't going to put the ship and passengers in danger no matter how disappointed passengers are.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Pam in CA

[hllwdcruiser]

We never missed it once in the 4 cruises that had it on the itinerary.

 

I hope I didn't just jinx us :eek:

[KruzPrincess]

I think I've done about 15 Caribbean cruises on Princess and, of course, not all of them included Princess Cays. Of the ones that did go there, I only recall missing it only once.

[RDC1]

I missed Princess Cays once out of 7 times. On that cruise the Captain indicated that while the wave did not look to be very high, the problem is that the entrance to the little cove where the tenders dock is not very deep. So when you get waves going into the cove it does not take much before the tenders can bottom out at the entrance and create a situation where it is unsafe.

[mmckm]

Been there at least 6 times. Got off the ship the first time and that was the last time on shore there. I don't get the hype over it. There's nothing there, just a beach. There's beaches at every port they stop in, with a lot of other activities to do. We don't go on a cruise to sit on a beach all day. I prefer them to stop there as the ship is empty and can enjoy a relaxing hot tub and lunch without any lines. Not our cup of tea.

[Paula_MacFan]

We don't go on a cruise to sit on a beach all day.

 

Well......lots of people DO go on cruises for this very thing.

 

We have a cruise in 2 weeks that's scheduled to go to Princess Cays. We didn't book specifically for that port, but it's part of a special Eastern Caribbean itinerary only offered 2X from Houston this year. As such, those sailings are getting higher fares than the typical Western Caribbean itineraries, due to higher demand. So since we are paying more than usual to go to 'new to us' ports, I will be very disappointed if we don't get to see them all. It has nothing to do with disputing the Captain's competency or Princess' intentions......but I can still be 'disappointed' if we don't get to stop at the places scheduled.

[geoherb]

We've missed Princess Cays twice out of about a dozen Caribbean cruises on Princess. Once was due to a hurricane that had damaged the island. We knew a few weeks beforehand that the ship was going to go to Nassau instead. The second time was due to rough seas. It was disappointing because we could see a Holland America ship tendering its passengers at Half Moon Cay.

[pablo222]

If weather is too rough for tenders then they should think about building a docking terminal. If Princess Cays is owned by Princess then this shouldn't be a problem?

 

This is not practical there, as the water is shallow for a long

distance from shore.

[TNTLAMB]

In 12 times we have never missed. But I'll let you in on a secret, we also have rarely gotten off the ship. Its a great day to use the sanctuary... The spa runs incredible specials. Princess Cays can be one of the most expensive days on the cruise, for what you spend on "water stuff" that you can get for 10 cents on the dollar at other "beach stops"(4 bucks to rent a noodle fo heaven sakes) You can have an board experience that really can't be topped. No crowds, no bugs, and no sand in bad places.... We normally do a couples massage have great food on board (better drinks) and really full relax..... There is plenty going on. Of course we have been to the other ports enough they are all beach days now. Once you have seen the sites, you have seen them

 

If we have the grands with us of course its a different deal....

Edited February 6, 2016 by TNTLAMB

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have missed Princess Cays 10-20% of the time (out of just over 50 scheduled stops). It's probably second only to Kauai for weather-related misses.