Harmony Forced to Cancel Roatan Today

[Nolefan95]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

Missed ports for us due to high winds (cancelled due to local port authority...not RCI):

 

Labadee

Coco Cay

Key West

Grand Cayman 

 

Some of which were several times.  

 

"Poop" happens...you just can't predict Mother Nature.  Now...how about those hurricanes??  😮 And the ships that have been on the news that came slamming into the piers when they actually allowed them to come in?  Crunch...crunch.  

I disagree.  3 day forecasts have become rather accurate over the last several years.  If they are forecasting 25-35 mile per hour winds, the ship should adjust it's itinerary. 

[travelplus]

 I am sorry that you are not going to Roatan.   What a Captain told me is that while your Weather app may have said the winds were 25-30 now that could change throughout the course of the day so exiting Roatan may be impossible and the tides do change.   If you have 1000 on tour how would you account for the non ship and ship sponsored tours and get them all back on the ship on a short notice?

 

The Weather Advisory in Miami looks not only at the current conditions but hour by hour conditions throughout the time the ship is docked or tendered. Tender ports have more stringent requirements due to the tender operations.  Your safety and the safety of the employees is number one.

 

Think of a ship like an airplane and a port like an airport. If the port has poor weather they will cancel it and try to substitute it but sometimes that is impossible as the ship makes a reservation to dock at the time when they decide the itinerary and this is subject to change. A nearby port may not have space or the means to get extra crew there for your ship hence an extra sea day for you.

 

I do hope you will be able to see Roatan on another cruise!  I missed Dublin last year due to weather and this gives me reason to go there on a land tour sooner than later. So take it as a reason to book your next cruise and hope that you can visit Roatan.
 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by travelplus

[island lady]

2 hours ago, Nolefan95 said:

I disagree.  3 day forecasts have become rather accurate over the last several years.  If they are forecasting 25-35 mile per hour winds, the ship should adjust it's itinerary. 

 

Three days???  Are you kidding me?  Tropical thunderstorm systems can pop up quite quickly in the tropics (and Florida as well), with barely hours to take cover.  Weather forecast can change overnight or just hours.  Even hurricanes like to change course.  

 

We were on at Coco Cay one day a couple of years ago, walked to the end of the island to sit on the little "bluff"...saw what looked like a squall popping up on the horizon.  Quickly walked back to grab a tender just before they announced closing the island and getting pax back to the ship just after lunch.  The winds that came up broke gang planks, they had a devil of a time getting pax back on the ship. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by island lady

[Nolefan95]

14 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Three days???  Are you kidding me?  Tropical thunderstorm systems can pop up quite quickly in the tropics (and Florida as well), with barely hours to take cover.  Weather forecast can change overnight or just hours.  Even hurricanes like to change course.  

 

We were on at Coco Cay one day a couple of years ago, walked to the end of the island to sit on the little "bluff"...saw what looked like a squall popping up on the horizon.  Quickly walked back to grab a tender just before they announced closing the island and getting pax back to the ship just after lunch.  The winds that came up broke gang planks, they had a devil of a time getting pax back on the ship. 

 

 

 

I actually live in Miami so I am very well versed in tropical weather.  A typically summer thunderstorm that pops up is usually not going to have sustained winds greater than 25mph for more than 30min to 1hr.  In those cases, the ship can delay docking for an hour.  I am talking about sustained winds of >25mph lasting more than 2-3 hours (which legitimately could stop a cruise ship from docking). This is usually due to tropical waves or being along the boundaries of high and low pressure or fronts (these situations are most definitely forecasted).  Take a look at the forecast for Roatan on weather.com.  They are expecting sustained winds of 25mph for the next several days.  If RCCL knows they can’t dock in these conditions, their ships should most definitely change course (or reverse the itinerary).  

[rt1092]

To all those that think this must be a Royal Caribbean conspiracy.

If Royal passes up a port. It is for a very good reason.

Just read the contract you signed to print your set sail pass. Royal (or any other cruise line) has no obligation to take you to any port. Whether you booked it specifically for that port or not. 

And you agreed to it or you wouldn't have a set sail pass.

 

 

[KmomChicago]

8 hours ago, Nolefan95 said:

I disagree.  3 day forecasts have become rather accurate over the last several years.  If they are forecasting 25-35 mile per hour winds, the ship should adjust it's itinerary. 

 

Ha! What 3 day forecasts are you looking at?

 

Anyway, they never ever seem to cancel Nassau. All cruises should just go there and then no one will ever have to endure the indignity of a canceled port again.

Edited June 22, 2019 by KmomChicago

[OCSC Mike]

Hope you guys are enjoying whatever you’ve turned this thread into, lol.

 

I was just sharing some info & venting my disappointment.  Nothing more.  SMH.

[island lady]

10 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Hope you guys are enjoying whatever you’ve turned this thread into, lol.

 

I was just sharing some info & venting my disappointment.  Nothing more.  SMH.

 

No problem...vent on if you need to.  But once you have been on a lot of cruises...you will find that occasionally missing a port is just part of the cruising life.  It is what it is...blame mother nature...she can be very unpredictable.  

Edited June 22, 2019 by island lady

[OCSC Mike]

I was done venting with my original post & never blamed anyone except Mother Nature.   I fully understood it was part of cruising.  That was kinda my point.

[ONECRUISER]

18 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Three days???  Are you kidding me?  Tropical thunderstorm systems can pop up quite quickly in the tropics (and Florida as well), with barely hours to take cover.  Weather forecast can change overnight or just hours.  Even hurricanes like to change course.  

 

We were on at Coco Cay one day a couple of years ago, walked to the end of the island to sit on the little "bluff"...saw what looked like a squall popping up on the horizon.  Quickly walked back to grab a tender just before they announced closing the island and getting pax back to the ship just after lunch.  The winds that came up broke gang planks, they had a devil of a time getting pax back on the ship. 

 

 

Agree, where I live 20 Degrees off can happen in 3 day prediction. Ships, have had dozen Weather Port changes AFTER we sailed...

Edited June 22, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[Mason9]

Tough break. Have experienced this on a few different cruises. Sometimes they will arrange a stop at a different port to help make up for it.  

[CruiseWendy]

I feel for you. We had Hubbard Glacier cancelled on our Alaskan cruise years ago due to high waves. It was the only reason we booked the cruise. Have a drink and enjoy the rest of your amazing vacation!

[14Terry]

I’m certain it’s disappointing. Roatan is a beautiful island! Great reason to go to Next Cruise and book another cruise with Roatan on the itinerary! 

[grandgeezer]

4 hours ago, thtalks said:

I’m certain it’s disappointing. Roatan is a beautiful island! Great reason to go to Next Cruise and book another cruise with Roatan on the itinerary! 

Hope you have better luck than us with Turks and Caicos. Tried three times with no luck. I don’t know if there will be a fourth try. Been to the Caribbean so many times it’s getting boring.

[Maverick61]

On 6/21/2019 at 1:52 AM, Maverick61 said:

 

Happens more often than you think

 

We missed NCL's private Island near Belize last year due to winds

Previously missed Costa Maya on a Carnival cruise due to winds

Missed either Antigua or Dominica (can't recall which) due to winds on a Princess cruise

 

I forgot the one that truly sucked.  Missing a partial transit of the Panama Canal - but not due to weather.  Rather on a Carnival cruise lost power the evening before and were adrift until they got the problem fixed.  Problem was it took them too long and by the time we arrived near the locks, we had lost our place in line for the locks.  Now that one sucked because the partial transit was the selling point of that cruise.

 

We did end up several years later doing a coast to coast, NY to LA full transit of the Canal

Edited June 23, 2019 by Maverick61

[CruisingMarch2016]

Cruising as always can be hard, lol. We love our port stops but HOS does provide so much to do.

 

Travel Insurance--another great benefit it pays like $ 1,200 per person for any ports/times changed. That would help 🙂

 

 

[BillB48]

5 hours ago, Maverick61 said:

 

I forgot the one that truly sucked.  Missing a partial transit of the Panama Canal - but not due to weather.  Rather on a Carnival cruise lost power the evening before and were adrift until they got the problem fixed.  Problem was it took them too long and by the time we arrived near the locks, we had lost our place in line for the locks.  Now that one sucked because the partial transit was the selling point of that cruise.

 

We did end up several years later doing a coast to coast, NY to LA full transit of the Canal

 

If you were disappointed, think about how disappointed Carnival would have been.  They lost the amount of tolls by  not showing up.  You can't just call by 6 and cancel your reservation at the Canal🤑!  They probably forfeited somewhere between $200-300K.

Edited June 23, 2019 by BillB48

[Iamcruzin]

2010 on the Caribbean Princess returning to Brooklyn the wind was so bad that we slammed into the dock and took out the gangway. We didn't disembark until 1:00. By that time the port was a mess with traffic backed up from passengers being picked up a and dropped off. I wish they would have canceled  that port a gave us an extra day.

[keywest1]

We had our visit to Labadee cut short by 3-4 hours due to escalating winds.  Disappointing for sure, but at least we got to spend a few hours there.  

[cruisecaz]

I was just following, as we are supposed to hit Roatan next week, but 25-35 mph winds are predicted....  I was wondering how much is too much wind.  It’s our first port after a day at sea, too.😢

[mugtech]

On 6/21/2019 at 4:02 PM, rt1092 said:

To all those that think this must be a Royal Caribbean conspiracy.

If Royal passes up a port. It is for a very good reason.

Just read the contract you signed to print your set sail pass. Royal (or any other cruise line) has no obligation to take you to any port. Whether you booked it specifically for that port or not. 

And you agreed to it or you wouldn't have a set sail pass.

 

 

Wow, took until #30 For someone to mention the terms of the cruise contract.  Time to shut down this thread.

[OCSC Mike]

9 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Wow, took until #30 For someone to mention the terms of the cruise contract.  Time to shut down this thread.

 

Not sure why anyone needed to mention anything about a cruise contract.  I certainly didn't blame anyone (other than Mother Nature) or insinuate that we should have docked.  But hey, I only started the thread, what it turned into after that is beyond my control.

 

Time to recover now that we're back home...

 

 

[island lady]

2 hours ago, keywest1 said:

We had our visit to Labadee cut short by 3-4 hours due to escalating winds.  Disappointing for sure, but at least we got to spend a few hours there.  

 

Docked up in Labadee one day, as we were exiting the ship, the waves frothed up by the high winds snapped one of the bow lines.  They stopped traffic on the pier until they could replace it.  

[grandgeezer]

We were docked in Venice, on an over nighter, and the wind and waves got so bad the gangway broke away and ended up in the drink. Or maybe it wasn't secured properly.

[Iamcruzin]

On 6/21/2019 at 4:02 PM, rt1092 said:

To all those that think this must be a Royal Caribbean conspiracy.

If Royal passes up a port. It is for a very good reason.

Just read the contract you signed to print your set sail pass. Royal (or any other cruise line) has no obligation to take you to any port. Whether you booked it specifically for that port or not. 

And you agreed to it or you wouldn't have a set sail pass.

 

 

Welcome to cruise critic.