Nieuw Amsterdam/Cozumel

[sunshine100]

Nieuw Amsterdam was to be in Cozumel today from 11 am to 11 pm. Does anyone know why it is not there? It looks like from the marine traffic website that it approached Cozumel, then left and it is now going like 9 knots and going away from there?

[jtl513]

I don't know why in this case, but the most common reason for skipping a port is water too rough to dock or tender.

Edited March 10, 2016 by jtl513

[sunshine100]

Several other ships are there today....:confused:

[joepeka]

Several other ships are there today....:confused:

 

Yes, there were four other ships in Coz today and the fact that ND pretty much did a drive-by and is continuing on to Key West at a pretty leisurely pace is curious.

Edited March 11, 2016 by joepeka

[Cruizann]

We were on a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam at the beginning of February and missed Grand Cayman even though 4 other ships tendered their passengers to shore (Celebrity, Carnival and 2 Royal Caribbean). The captain announced that weather conditions prevented safe tendering. It should be noted that we arrived in Grand Cayman and the tender boats were launched and shortly after that, the ship suffered a "significant" power failure. By the time the ship was back at full power about 20 minutes later, we were much further offshore. At this point the captain announced that we would be sailing to Cozumel. I do hope that the ship is not suffering periodic power issues that is preventing it from docking. This is a beautiful cruise ship and we have had many happy holidays on her.

[sunshine100]

I hope that is not what happened....my dad is on the current cruise and he is a new cruiser and I was hoping that they would have a good experience. We were on the ship the week of New Years and had a great time, great service, had no complaints at all!! We will find out tomorrow while they are in Key West or Sunday when they arrive back in Ft. Lauderdale!

[CruisinHarvey]

I hope that is not what happened....my dad is on the current cruise and he is a new cruiser and I was hoping that they would have a good experience. We were on the ship the week of New Years and had a great time, great service, had no complaints at all!! We will find out tomorrow while they are in Key West or Sunday when they arrive back in Ft. Lauderdale!

 

Interesting. Keep us posted please.

[JennysUncle]

According to the track on MarineTraffic, from about 11:30 pm until 3 am before arriving at Key West the ship did a big loop off western Cuba. Presumably that was to kill time to arrive when the dock would be ready, but it seems odd that they didn't just sail slower. The speed was about 7-8 kn before the loop, and then 10-11 kn after. Maybe sea conditions in the Gulf made going slower undesirable.

[coldinerie]

Currently on NA. We missed Cozumel because the captain said it was too windy to dock. Yes other ships made it in but not us. Crew said captain is a bit of a rookie because the usual captain is on vacation. Not fun, crawled to key west and even pulled in here late. This captain really needs to get it togather.

[JennysUncle]

On the Oosterdam, Jan 18 returning to Fort Lauderdale, the ship was asked to help with a search for a vessel in distress north of Cuba. We apparently circled for five hours, then got to port at 11. Maybe that's what caused the loop in the N.A. track. Still, that ship can go faster than 11 kn, so getting in late seems like a decision to save fuel.

[cruise_tyme_2016]

Currently on NA. We missed Cozumel because the captain said it was too windy to dock. Yes other ships made it in but not us. Crew said captain is a bit of a rookie because the usual captain is on vacation. Not fun, crawled to key west and even pulled in here late. This captain really needs to get it togather.

 

Thank you for that information.

[joepeka]

Currently on NA. We missed Cozumel because the captain said it was too windy to dock. Yes other ships made it in but not us. Crew said captain is a bit of a rookie because the usual captain is on vacation. Not fun, crawled to key west and even pulled in here late. This captain really needs to get it togather.

 

That does make sense even though other ships (who docked earlier) were able to stop. We've missed ports due to high winds when the weather was decent so this isn't a surprise, although we've never had a problem docking in Coz. The captain has to make the final decision for ship's safety however.

[cl.klink]

Currently on NA. We missed Cozumel because the captain said it was too windy to dock. Yes other ships made it in but not us. Crew said captain is a bit of a rookie because the usual captain is on vacation. Not fun, crawled to key west and even pulled in here late. This captain really needs to get it togather.

 

The crew actually told you this about the Captain? Surprised that they would be this candid. How long is the "real" captain on vacation for?

 

- Joel

[catl331]

That does make sense even though other ships (who docked earlier) were able to stop.

Conditions change continuously. We once waited 1/2 hour at a port hoping for the winds and water to calm down before deciding to skip the port.

[sail7seas]

The crew actually told you this about the Captain? Surprised that they would be this candid. How long is the "real" captain on vacation for?

 

- Joel

 

With some exception, HAL Captains are three months on, then three months off.

 

HAL did not put a Captain on the Bridge of a many million dollar ship, carrying thousands of lives, who does not know his business. We think we know why the bridge/Seattle Office makes all sorts of decisions but we don't . One thing I learned during all my years of cruising is never second guess a Captain. The buck stops with him and he answers for all decisions he makes.

 

If you cannot or do not trust that HAL puts great Captains on their ships, why are you booking and sailing with them?!!

 

[silvercruiser]

sail7seas, I agree with you. I've never tried to second guess a captain.