Which port is the worst?

[Saint Greg]

Easily Freeport. Just not much to do there. Hopefully Carnival still plans to build the huge port area there because that's one port that could use....something.

[atexsix]

Mazatlan, because we docked in a container port miles from anyplace interesting, but the taxi driver will take you on a mini tour past the cathedral.  Days later I realized how vulnerable I was and could have easily been taken advantage of.  Never again, from now on it's a ship tour or stay on ship. 

 

[IntrepidFromDC]

I think all the ports are worth visiting as long as you're willing to pay for an excursion.  If no excursion, and you're just talking about walking around the area where you get off the ship, I never want to visit Freeport or Belize again.

[Saint Greg]

34 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Mazatlan, because we docked in a container port miles from anyplace interesting, but the taxi driver will take you on a mini tour past the cathedral.  Days later I realized how vulnerable I was and could have easily been taken advantage of.  Never again, from now on it's a ship tour or stay on ship. 

 

Ah man Mazatlan was awesome. I walked from the port to here and back.Then I hired a random cab driver to take me to the cathedral and to see the cliff divers. Great time. Best port on that route IMO.

 

 

[atexsix]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

Ah man Mazatlan was awesome. I walked from the port to here and back.Then I hired a random cab driver to take me to the cathedral and to see the cliff divers. Great time. Best port on that route IMO.

 

 

If I had known that existed I might have done that but our ship was surrounded by stacks of ugly cargo containers.

[Saint Greg]

1 minute ago, atexsix said:

If I had known that existed I might have done that but our ship was surrounded by stacks of ugly cargo containers.

Yeah the same place I was. But I did research ahead of time and knew all of the places I wanted to go.

[atexsix]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

Yeah the same place I was. But I did research ahead of time and knew all of the places I wanted to go.

I didn't, and I was pretty naive.  It was a last minute booking, and I was still on the fence about going up to the day before my flight to San Diego.

[Saint Greg]

19 minutes ago, atexsix said:

I didn't, and I was pretty naive.  It was a last minute booking, and I was still on the fence about going up to the day before my flight to San Diego.

Sounds like my first cruise. I booked two weeks out and didn’t do anything outside of the port area.

[Heidi13]

Worst port - Cristobal. Recommended to go ashore in groups of at least 6 and to avoid all shadows and sidewalks. Departing the port gates, across the road on a balcony were 2 chaps staring at our group. One sharpening a knife and the other working a gun.

 

Next worst - Khorramshahr. Ridiculous heat and humidity, especially in August. Temp over 50 C and 100% humidity.

 

Lots of ports were almost as bad as Cristobal back in the 70's.

[atexsix]

20 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Sounds like my first cruise. I booked two weeks out and didn’t do anything outside of the port area.

We all go through that first time 😁

[gvre]

Worst port ever after 34 cruises was Isla de Margarita, Venezuela.

Filthy island littered with trash and we did a dolphin encounter that was horrible. Dolphins were horribly stressed in terrible conditions

[donaldsc]

I find it interesting that most of these bad ports are located in the Caribbean or places close to the Caribbean.  Aren't there bad ports on other continents?

 

DON

[Illbcruzn4life]

9 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

I agree.  We look for cruises that don't stop in Jamaica.

Oh great. Now I read this,after we just booked a week in Montego Bay for later this year.

[John Bull]

La Guaira, Venezuela (port for Caracas)

and

Colon, Panama (port for Panama Canal)

 

JB 🙂

Edited May 24, 2021 by John Bull

[Pyrate13]

Both Montego Bay and Isla de Margarita were horrible and made us feel very unsafe, even on a ships tour. Never again would I get off at either. On the other hand, we found the folks in Belize to be very friendly outside of the port compound area.

[Aplmac]

7 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

I think all the ports are worth visiting as long as you're willing to pay for an excursion.  If no excursion, and you're just talking about walking around the area where you get off the ship, I never want to visit Freeport or Belize again.

 

ALL Port/Dock areas are famously boring and un-interesting.

Sint Maarten is about the only one I can think of, that's not!

 

[Mary229]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I find it interesting that most of these bad ports are located in the Caribbean or places close to the Caribbean.  Aren't there bad ports on other continents?

 

DON

That is simply because that is where the vast majority of cruises occur, there and the Med.  CLIA publishes stats every year where you can see that the Carib is about 50% of all cruises, maybe more

[TNcruising02]

4 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Oh great. Now I read this,after we just booked a week in Montego Bay for later this year.

My advice is to research excursions and book one that is highly rated.  That should take you out of the trashy areas.

[ilikeanswers]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I find it interesting that most of these bad ports are located in the Caribbean or places close to the Caribbean.  Aren't there bad ports on other continents?

 

DON

 

Demographics, mostly Americans on this sub thread and most of their cruising is around the Caribbean, post this same question on one of the nationality specific sub threads and you will get very different results. In the Australian threads I have seen mostly Papua New Guinea ports and Vanuatu ports complained about but mostly because they are pretty undeveloped.

[Zach1213]

8 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Oh great. Now I read this,after we just booked a week in Montego Bay for later this year.

 

Like anywhere, Jamaica is what you make of it. I have been there a few times, both for work and for cruising, and had great times. I do...uh...blend in a bit more than most people on this board probably do, but my wife doesn't and she didn't feel uncomfortable (though we are adventurous travelers). But, do your research, find things you really want to do. Don't just hop off and wing it. 

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I find it interesting that most of these bad ports are located in the Caribbean or places close to the Caribbean.  Aren't there bad ports on other continents?

 

DON

 

Lots of not so nice ports around the world, but I suspect many on here have more experience in the Caribbean.

 

Also depends on the number of years cruising, or at sea, as many of the world's worst ports have been extensively gentrified. Some of the classics were Govan (Glasgow), London Dockland & Pyrmont Docks in Sydney. All now expensive condos, cafes, etc.

[navybankerteacher]

10 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Oh great. Now I read this,after we just booked a week in Montego Bay for later this year.

A week in Montego Bay pretty certainly involves staying at an AI - most probably gated —— which means you will not be experiencing Montego Bay (or even Jamaica) at all - except during your cab rides from and to the airport. When inside the resort you could as well be on St. Martin.

 

  On the other hand, if you grabbed some really cheap apartment in the center of town :  GOOD LUCK!

[neverbeenhere]

If a port area has a cheap beer available, it's a good port area.

[ontheweb]

42 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

A week in Montego Bay pretty certainly involves staying at an AI - most probably gated —— which means you will not be experiencing Montego Bay (or even Jamaica) at all - except during your cab rides from and to the airport. When inside the resort you could as well be on St. Martin.

 

  On the other hand, if you grabbed some really cheap apartment in the center of town :  GOOD LUCK!

We were in Ochos Rios when we had a cruise stop in Jamaica. We took the ship's Bob Marley bus tour. And in addition to the great music, I found it a positive experience that we saw a portion of Jamaica that few tourists saw as we headed out to the Bob Marley House.

[jocap]

I'm not a fan of Casablanca, although I've wandered around the (clean) centre and felt safe enough... also some of the Egyptian ports on the Red Sea. It's the general muck and flies that I don't like in the docks, not the people, who appear very friendly and helpful.