How to find out how many ships in port?

[Joebucks]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

We spend two weeks on St. Maarten every January.  On most days more than 10,000 cruise passengers come in - and there are a few with 20,000+.  We make it a point to know the heavy days so we just shelter in place: the roads are clogged, many of the beaches are crowded, and towns like Philipsburg and Marigot are swarming.

 

The “average cruiser” who wants to research ports before booking will see that crowding as a significant topic in deciding on itinerary.

 

Well then maybe I learned something here. St Maarten looks pretty busy in January. I went May of last year, and we were the only ship there. May seems to be less congested.

 

Date Port Load  Ships in port 01-Jan-19  3959 MSC Preziosa 02-Jan-19  6088 Royal Princess, Allure Of The Seas 03-Jan-19  10819 Jewel Of The Seas, Oasis Of The Seas, Celebrity Edge 04-Jan-19      05-Jan-19  6580 Carnival Fascination, Wind Surf, Freedom Of The Seas 06-Jan-19  7531 Jewel Of The Seas, Costa Pacifica, Riviera 07-Jan-19  2162 Celebrity Summit, Star Pride 08-Jan-19  2650 Koningsdam 09-Jan-19  13493 Adventure Of The Seas, Harmony of the Seas, MSC Seaside 10-Jan-19  7780 Regal Princess, Anthem of the Seas 11-Jan-19      12-Jan-19  6580 Carnival Fascination, Wind Surf, Freedom Of The Seas 13-Jan-19  3780 Costa Pacifica 14-Jan-19  4000 Costa Magica, Seven Seas Voyager 15-Jan-19  14442 Norwegian Dawn, Carnival Pride, Disney Wonder, Ventura, MSC Preziosa 16-Jan-19  6088 Royal Princess, Allure Of The Seas 17-Jan-19  18562 Jewel Of The Seas, Veendam, MSC Magnifica, Oasis Of The Seas, MSC Divina, Celebrity Edge 18-Jan-19  2501 Serenade Of The Seas 19-Jan-19  2946 Carnival Fascination, Wind Surf 20-Jan-19  9232 Grandeur Of The Seas, Costa Pacifica, Carnival Sunshine 21-Jan-19  212 Star Pride 22-Jan-19  4950 Carnival Conquest, Riviera 23-Jan-19  15887 Norwegian Pearl, Adventure Of The Seas, Harmony of the Seas, MSC Seaside 24-Jan-19  13187 Jewel Of The Seas, Celebrity Silhouette, Regal Princess, Norwegian Escape 25-Jan-19  3030 Celebrity Reflection 26-Jan-19  9230 Carnival Fascination, Wind Surf, Freedom Of The Seas, Koningsdam 27-Jan-19  3780 Costa Pacifica 28-Jan-19  3300 Costa Magica 29-Jan-19  3959 MSC Preziosa 30-Jan-19  7222 Oriana, Allure Of The Seas 31-Jan-19  16703 Jewel Of The Seas, Celebrity Summit, Oasis Of The Seas, Carnival Horizon, Celebrity Edge

 

Date Port Load  Ships in port 01-May-19  13493 Adventure Of The Seas, Harmony of the Seas, MSC Seaside 02-May-19  3006 Carnival Sunshine 03-May-19      04-May-19  2634 Carnival Fascination 05-May-19      06-May-19      07-May-19  8169 Carnival Fascination, Symphony of the Seas 08-May-19  5400 Allure Of The Seas 09-May-19  4375 Independence of the Seas 10-May-19      11-May-19  3634 Freedom Of The Seas 12-May-19      13-May-19  7814 Freedom Of The Seas, Anthem of the Seas 14-May-19  6286 Carnival Fascination, Carnival Magic 15-May-19  5179 MSC Seaside 16-May-19  5200 Harmony of the Seas 17-May-19      18-May-19      19-May-19      20-May-19      21-May-19  2634 Carnival Fascination 22-May-19  3120 Caribbean Princess 23-May-19  5200 Harmony of the Seas 24-May-19      25-May-19  3634 Freedom Of The Seas 26-May-19      27-May-19  4180 Anthem of the Seas 28-May-19  2634 Carnival Fascination 29-May-19  10579 Allure Of The Seas, MSC Seaside 30-May-19      31-May-19

[navybankerteacher]

Helpful post - the schedule for January 17 showed six ships - carrying a possible 19,725 passengers -(one of our “shelter in place days”) - a big difference from the one-ship days in May.   Yes, everybody “fits” on the island- same as all the ships “fit” at the piers, but the traffic and crowding takes a lot away from the point of being there.

[georgiavol]

For St Thomas, it's more a function of "too many".  Megan's Bay receives the brunt of beach going cruisers due to it's beauty, ease of access and excellent amenities. With more than two ships in port, it quickly gets crushed with people. Even with two, it can quickly become overcrowded. 

[Luckiestmanonearth]

On 5/16/2019 at 5:26 PM, Shaded Lady said:

Here's another site that I use... http://ports.cruisett.com/ I find it the easiest site to use to determine which ships will be in a particular port on any given day.

This is the site I always use and it’s very accurate

[JanDay]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:11 PM, ldubs said:

 

Gotcha.  I was wondering if it would influence things like going with an excursion instead of on-your-own, or maybe a ship's excursion instead of a private tour.   Not saying it would, just thinking out loud.  

 

 

We use the info sometimes in choosing between itineraries and dates. If St Thomas has potential 14,000 passengers one day, and onlu two ships with 5000 potential on another day, go low. Also, when already booked, we use the info as you said, to think about impact on excursions. Our St Thomas day in January has the 14,000 potential, so we booked a smaller independent kayak and turtle snorkel. Otherwise, the usual turtle snorkel sites could be like a sporting event.