Kotor wind limits to enter

[Swettenham]

Currently sat onboard Crown Princess anchored in the harbour, just like Santorini , the Captain has decided conditions are too unfavourable to visit the port.I accept I know nothing about sailing a cruise ship but the weather is stunning and the various wind apps show about 8kts from the North. In normal circumstances this is perfect sailing conditions.

So does anyone know what the wind limit is to enter Kotor? I suspect today’s wind is normal for here so does that mean most attempts are cancelled.

After missing Santorini I’m very disappointed that a more in depth explanation wasn’t given. I know it’s a big boat , but if there is a ban at a certain wind limit then tell us! If that’s the case the cruise company should say ‘unless it’s flat calm we might not be able to enter’.

Anyone else feel the same or just me?

Steve

[celcruiser]

So sorry to hear that...

We were on the same cruise 3 weeks ago and the captain cancelled santorini as he felt that winds were not favorable for a tender operation (hopefully they realized it early, just after leaving Piraeus so we headed To Corfu instead, still a major disappointment for all of us)

8kts winds should be no problem for any type of cruise ship (let alone a 110.000 tons one)

Maybe they are afraid of local conditions especially after the incident they had back in May?

Kotor is beautiful. I hope you make it finally to the port

[Belle]

Sorry Were you all the way into Kotor? It's a tender port, maybe he thought would

get worse later.

1st time I went to Santorini it was cancelled because of winds too. Next time we

made it but very windy in town.

Mykonos can be very windy too. 1st time I went it was wonderful weather. Next time

so windy it wasn't enjoyable.

 

That's the chances we take with cruises, the weather. Wind, rain, heat. fog, whatever!

So disappointing but the captain has the last word.

 

I'm sorry that Santorini was missed twice and now Kotor. Taking this cruise at the

end of Oct. Will just have to wait and see what our weather will be.

 

Please enjoy the rest of your cruise. Don't let this spoil your cruise even with being

such a disappointment with missed ports.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Belle

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's highly likely the weather forecast is for increasing winds during the day, which would make it unsafe for the tenders to return passengers to the ship. Apparently the wind can get quite fierce in the fjord in the afternoons.

[chengkp75]

The Adriatic coast is well known for katabatic winds that swoop down the mountains, and can reach near hurricane force, which generally crop up in the late afternoon and evening. I believe this was the cause of the near grounding in Kotor mentioned before. Generally, these winds cannot be predicted, but the conditions that lead to their formation can be predicted, and therefore in cases where the probability of katabatic winds is high, they will not enter a narrow fjord like Kotor.

[Swettenham]

Thanks I think you are correct , unfortunately the winds died down after the initial decision to cancel , which didn’t make it any easier!

 

I certainly will be very cautious with booking a Kotor visit again, I’d love to know which part of this mornings attempt was deemed too unsafe though. Judging by the incident in May the wind looked double what it was today.

 

Maybe it was a good call , maybe a bad one but the crew and Captain should have explained with a little more detail.

 

Steve

[flamomo]

Since safety of the passengers, as well as the cruise line's multimillion investment in every ship, are of extreme importance to every cruise line, potential risks due to weather cannot be ignored in the interest of pleasing passengers.

I've had longer cruises where 3 or more port stops have been cancelled on what appear to passenger's eyes to be great weather days because of wind concerns occurring either at the time of arrival or indicated that it might become a problem by the time of departure from a port. Sometimes they have been replaced by other ports, when berthing spots are available, and others have become extra sea days.

Cruising does require the ability to be flexible!!

[chengkp75]

Thanks I think you are correct , unfortunately the winds died down after the initial decision to cancel , which didn’t make it any easier!

 

I certainly will be very cautious with booking a Kotor visit again, I’d love to know which part of this mornings attempt was deemed too unsafe though. Judging by the incident in May the wind looked double what it was today.

 

Maybe it was a good call , maybe a bad one but the crew and Captain should have explained with a little more detail.

 

Steve

 

The dying down of the wind may have been a precursor of a katabatic wind (I'm not enough of a meteorological expert to know). The wind in the Adriatic is known as the "bora", while in the Pacific Northwest it is the "williwaw" and in California it is the "Santa Ana". And it may not have been the wind at the time of arrival that was the troubling factor, but the forecast for possible bora later that day.

[Mo_Cruising]

We were on a cruise that stopped in Kotor about three weeks ago. We did not tender but tied up and walked off. It was a charming walled town that took about

an hour to tour (we had arranged for a private guide). Sorry you missed it.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Passenger safety is #1.

No second guessing the Captains decision. :rolleyes:

[ksm77]

My sister & her DH are on this cruise. I know she was really disappointed in missing Santorini. It was one of the reasons they picked this cruise. It is disappointing to miss a place you are looking forward to seeing. The Captain has to be responsible for all souls on board and the ship. I would rather have a Captain error on the side of caution than put people in harms way. A few years ago we were supposed to visit Toulon, it would have been our first visit to the South of France. The Captain made the call it was to windy to dock. It appeared perfectly calm to us. We know nothing about ocean wind conditions. We found out later that day a large ferry trying to dock in Toulon was blown into the side of coast guard ship while trying to dock. Luckily no one was hurt but there was a large hole in the side of the ferry. So I am glad the Captain made the call he did. Since my sister & BIL are on this ship I am glad the Crown's captain made the call he did.

Hope the rest of your cruise goes well.

[Potstech]

Always keep in mind that the Captain has the responsibility of all its passengers to be aware of. He also has much more information on weather and sea conditions then any of the passengers that he uses in making decisions. Better to err on the side of caution then to go thru everything that would happen if just one person is hurt or worse.

[1965]

A few yrs ago our captain had to make the very difficult decision to change our course due to extremely dangerous conditions. We missed N. Ireland, Iceland, & Greenland, the 3 ports I wanted most to see. I could not believe the passenger outcry, the petitions against the captain, the conspiracy theories. I sent the captain a note thanking him for putting our safety first. We still had a 17 day cruise, with some itinerary changes. Princess even refunded every pax 1/2 the fare each had paid for the cruise, to be used on a future cruise.

 

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[Greg4502]

Wind is always a factor when docking and tendering. See the ship as a big sail. Entering a harbor and the wind is up, makes it a little more difficult to dock, depending on which way the wind is blowing. You would think that as big as this ship are no problem. But it is. With the wind up, tendering, very dangerous. The tender is bobbing up and down in the water. Plus if you are the first on the tender, you have to sit there until everyone else boards. You have seen how much it bobs on a calm day. Unsafe for passengers to transfer to the tender. I was on a cruise in Feb/Mar of this year. We were hit by some wind from the side. It make the ship list about 15 degrees, we were told.

[Wishing on a star]

See this thread, from earlier this year....

I believe that certain wind conditions and directions can prove to be difficult for navigating at Kotor!

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2633458&highlight=drags+anchor

[baggal]

My sister & her DH are on this cruise. I know she was really disappointed in missing Santorini. It was one of the reasons they picked this cruise. It is disappointing to miss a place you are looking forward to seeing. The Captain has to be responsible for all souls on board and the ship. I would rather have a Captain error on the side of caution than put people in harms way. A few years ago we were supposed to visit Toulon, it would have been our first visit to the South of France. The Captain made the call it was to windy to dock. It appeared perfectly calm to us. We know nothing about ocean wind conditions. We found out later that day a large ferry trying to dock in Toulon was blown into the side of coast guard ship while trying to dock. Luckily no one was hurt but there was a large hole in the side of the ferry. So I am glad the Captain made the call he did. Since my sister & BIL are on this ship I am glad the Crown's captain made the call he did.

 

Hope the rest of your cruise goes well.

 

 

 

As a rule of thumb, if there's a particular place that you really want to visit, you should take a land tour and not a cruise. People need to read their cruise contracts.

 

 

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[TracieABD]

As others have stated, safety first. I was on a cruise that ported in Casablanca... the captain decided to persist in docking- only to have to leave the port 4 hours earlier than expected after docking. It was quite the boondoggle to track down the passengers to let them know.

 

Some passengers did not make it back to the ship on time- not their fault- they had no way of knowing.

 

Better safe than sorry.

[Wishing on a star]

This is from a nearby port...

Just happened to see this, as I am curious about traveling there in Late Sept - early Oct.

 

Wind Advisory

https://weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/HRXX0001:1:HR?phenomena=TWA&significance=S&areaid=HR806&office=EUHR&etn=HR806:TWA:S:2018:09:12