Failure to Dock (Ocean Cay)

[Morgsmom]

For anyone watching the Divina hasn’t docked yet at Ocean Cay today.  They are blaming it on the wind but I’m pretty sure it was the line that snapped in the tug 🤫

[Homosassa]

Wind speed this morning at Ocean cay is 22 mph out of the northeast.

 

I imagine that the wind blowing against the sides of the ship could have caused a line to snap during an attempt at docking.

 

I have been on cruises where, even with tug assistance, the docking was called off because of wind conditions.

[Cruisergal1208]

Ocean Cay is missed lots of time due to winds.  The channel is so narrow there is little room for deviation.  We have missed it twice for this reason.  Weather looked great but very windy.  It was so disappointing to be so close yet so far!!   

[styles27]

Oh no ☹️

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, Couple-Somerset said:

Perhaps the wind caused the line to snap ? - they're not thin ropes.

 

I admit I don't know a thing about the mechanisms on board a tug boat such as emergency hawser release in difficult docking situations.

 

Maybe CC's resident chief, chengkp75, will stop by with the technical information.

[Morgsmom]

35 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Oh no ☹️

Oh yes ☹️
however i can report that the food is 100000x better than in September.   Crew is happy, but weary, not having been out for four months 

[Cruising4me]

6 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Oh yes ☹️
however i can report that the food is 100000x better than in September.   Crew is happy, but weary, not having been out for four months 

Getting on Thursday... how full is the ship this voyage?  Did you haver any issues boarding at Port Canaveral?

[styles27]

15 minutes ago, Cruising4me said:

Getting on Thursday... how full is the ship this voyage?  Did you haver any issues boarding at Port Canaveral?

I asked someone on their roll call and they said approx 890 

[Dbox]

What happens if you cannot dock at Ocean Cay? Does it just turn into another sea day?

[ChattTenn]

13 minutes ago, Dbox said:

What happens if you cannot dock at Ocean Cay? Does it just turn into another sea day?

On our 10/17 sailing Divina skipped Ocean Day due to the wind (?) so it took 2 sea days to go to Cozumel then stopped Ocean Cay on Saturday (last day) but did not stay over night.

 

[shipgeeks]

We were fortunate to visit Ocean Cay both times that we were scheduled (back in 2020).

RC's Coco Cay is another matter.  Over the years we've been scheduled there maybe 6 times; we actually got there once.

[Native Floridian 26]

2 hours ago, Dbox said:

What happens if you cannot dock at Ocean Cay? Does it just turn into another sea day?

Lots of zigging and zagging today.

[mscdivina2016]

4 hours ago, Dbox said:

What happens if you cannot dock at Ocean Cay? Does it just turn into another sea day?

Yes, have never made it there. 0 for 3 now.

[Dbox]

4 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Yes, have never made it there. 0 for 3 now.

That would be really disappointing since Grand Cayman turned into a sea day on our cruise next week as well. 

[mscdivina2016]

5 minutes ago, Dbox said:

That would be really disappointing since Grand Cayman turned into a sea day on our cruise next week as well. 

As long as its not Tuesday thru Friday, you might be ok. Winds look bad for those 4 days 30-50kmh winds expected

[Seadweller001]

On our 10/31 cruise we spent 2 days in Ocean Cay.  An amazing experience, beautiful island and two great lunches in the YC Ocean Restaurant. The Butlers and Le Muse Waiters handle it all on Ocean Cay for YC guests.

 

If you are nice you may even get some freebies, like floats, snorkeling gear and some time in the coveted bungalows.   

[phissy]

4 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

As long as its not Tuesday thru Friday, you might be ok. Winds look bad for those 4 days 30-50kmh winds expected

YEA!!
I have been stressing  out about this. 
Good news .  We are at OC Sunday and Monday. Meraviglia sails on Saturday.  Of course, there are no guarantees.

 The other ports do look like thundershowers. 
 

[kidless]

8 hours ago, ChattTenn said:

On our 10/17 sailing Divina skipped Ocean Day due to the wind (?) so it took 2 sea days to go to Cozumel then stopped Ocean Cay on Saturday (last day) but did not stay over night.

 

I was on that sailing! So sad we missed the overnight we loved Ocean Cay staying overnight would have been awesome! We cruise again in few weeks same itinerary hopefully we will make it! 

[alwysonvctn]

Made it to the dock about 6PM, will stay later than planned tomorrow. Was originally 12 now 6PM. What a great island, can't wait to see it in the daytime.

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, Dbox said:

That would be really disappointing since Grand Cayman turned into a sea day on our cruise next week as well. 

Were they ever going to GC?  I read report mid last year GC was not allowing ships all of 2021 as they really didn't want the hassle and not worth it to them.  Did that change?

[Markanddonna]

Is missing Ocean Cay sort of a hurricane seasonal problem?  I wonder what the stats are for seasons other than fall?  We were at Ocean Cay twice in winter with no problems.

 

[mscdivina2016]

53 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Were they ever going to GC?  I read report mid last year GC was not allowing ships all of 2021 as they really didn't want the hassle and not worth it to them.  Did that change?

They were never going. You are right about no ships and they still don't want then in 2022 but claiming covid may be tough now. There is no official date for ships to return yet.

 

[KennyFla]

7 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

Is missing Ocean Cay sort of a hurricane seasonal problem?  I wonder what the stats are for seasons other than fall?  We were at Ocean Cay twice in winter with no problems.

 

We watched the docking on the Oct 17 cruise (the second attempt).  The ship pulls forward into the channel, goes past the dock where a circle has been cutout.  It then does a stationary 180 degree turn and docks facing outward.

 

I think any significant wind scares them off, because there is no room to spare in the channel.   Which to me is not great planning, because there is always wind in the Atlantic.

[Dbox]

14 hours ago, dexddd said:

Were they ever going to GC?  I read report mid last year GC was not allowing ships all of 2021 as they really didn't want the hassle and not worth it to them.  Did that change?

It was on the original itinerary for our Seashore sailing on 11/20. I knew we weren’t going to GC but they only changed it to a sea day last week. I was hoping they would have replaced it with another port but they made it a sea day instead. 
 

 

[dexddd]

23 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Is missing Ocean Cay sort of a hurricane seasonal problem?  I wonder what the stats are for seasons other than fall?  We were at Ocean Cay twice in winter with no problems.

 

Don't think enough data points.  First arrivals were Nov 2019 until March 2020.  Then Aug 2021 to now.