Key West dropping from March 19 Apex Sailing

[Mark.Jules]

Our visit to Key West is now showing as Bimini, Bahamas.  Not a surprise with the ongoing issues around cruise ships in Key West.  What suggestions do you have for excursions in Bimini? 

[bozman2112]

I noticed last night they had changed our March 12th sailing on Reflection.  Nothing was added yet for excursions through Celebrity but I checked what they offer through the excursions link on the left side of their website.  Not much listed but my TA's site had nothing listed. 

[deliver42]

Who would want to cruise to KW now? You're met with angry people at the pier, and a flotilly surrounding the ship, like what happened to the Dawn.

[tert333]

I am on the Summit on March 14 and it is still showing key west.  Maybe it is going because it is a smaller ship.

[nocl]

39 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

Who would want to cruise to KW now? You're met with angry people at the pier, and a flotilly surrounding the ship, like what happened to the Dawn.

As well as pictures showing the mud stirred up by the ship coming into port getting splashed onto the internet.

[kathynorth]

My Feb 19, 2022 cruise on the Apex has now dropped Key West and shows Nassau instead.

[mikkelhansen]

Our April 2, 2022 Apex sailing changed to Bimini on Day 2 as well. Still has Grand Cayman (George Town) on Day 6 though, but that could change before the sailing.

I think the change may have been processed just hours ago, as the PCP still shows all the previous Key West shore excursions, but shown as Bimini tours:

Edited December 12, 2021 by mikkelhansen

[cruisinsusin]

March Constellation also has Key West replaced, but with Nassau 

[mahdnc]

9 hours ago, Mark.Jules said:

Our visit to Key West is now showing as Bimini, Bahamas.  Not a surprise with the ongoing issues around cruise ships in Key West.  What suggestions do you have for excursions in Bimini? 

 

We are on the Western Caribbean sailing before yours  (Apex Mar 5).  Someone on our roll call this morning noted that Key West was dropped and replaced with Costa Maya.  It also means our first sea day is now Day 2 instead of Day 3.

[hiccups]

We received notification this week that our 2/26/22 Reflection sailing will stop at Bimini instead of Key West as well.  I was surprised it took this long for it to become official.

[Oville]

I think the Bimini stop is the Virgin private club.  Can anyone confirm this?

[LGW59]

38 minutes ago, hiccups said:

We received notification this week that our 2/26/22 Reflection sailing will stop at Bimini instead of Key West as well.  I was surprised it took this long for it to become official.

Key West is lovely but I am glad the cruise lines are respecting their wishes.

[terrydtx]

19 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Who would want to cruise to KW now? You're met with angry people at the pier, and a flotilly surrounding the ship, like what happened to the Dawn.

The same thing is now happening if you sail into Venice, Italy. 

[BennyBrun]

8 hours ago, Oville said:

I think the Bimini stop is the Virgin private club.  Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, when other cruise lines stop there they remove the signage and remove most of the Virgin reference.  That’s what I was told by a fellow cruiser.

[Mark.Jules]

10 hours ago, Oville said:

I think the Bimini stop is the Virgin private club.  Can anyone confirm this?

Correct, Bimini began receiving ships in July of this year with Virgin treating the stop as their private island.  Carnival is now making stops, with X following suit.  Several YouTube reviews of Bimini are available with a quick search.  Small island, that looks eager to become a viable cruise port, by expanding excursion offerings; this will take time but a solid foundation is in place. 

[sbrown5816]

On the Apex on 3/19.  Was disappointed to see the change from Key West as we were looking forward to going there for the first time.  Curious, can others share what the apparent issues are with cruise ships stopping there that is resulting in all these itinery changes?  Also, has anyone ever been to Bimini?  If so, how is tht Virgin Beach Club and has anyone experienced fishing there?  Thanks...SB

[neverlaysup]

Key West is limiting the size of the ships for now as I understand. We are on a Regents cruise after we get off the Millie next month and they added Key West and took away Grand Cayman. Our ship only has a max passenger count of 450 or so versus 2500 or so for the smaller X ships.

Edited December 13, 2021 by neverlaysup

[LGW59]

38 minutes ago, sbrown5816 said:

On the Apex on 3/19.  Was disappointed to see the change from Key West as we were looking forward to going there for the first time.  Curious, can others share what the apparent issues are with cruise ships stopping there that is resulting in all these itinery changes?  Also, has anyone ever been to Bimini?  If so, how is tht Virgin Beach Club and has anyone experienced fishing there?  Thanks...SB

The ships for the most part are to darn big and they don’t want or need them there.

[nocl]

41 minutes ago, sbrown5816 said:

On the Apex on 3/19.  Was disappointed to see the change from Key West as we were looking forward to going there for the first time.  Curious, can others share what the apparent issues are with cruise ships stopping there that is resulting in all these itinery changes?  Also, has anyone ever been to Bimini?  If so, how is tht Virgin Beach Club and has anyone experienced fishing there?  Thanks...SB

Key west voted to limit cruise ship size as well as the total number of passengers per day.

 

The reasons generally come down to 3 issues, put them in whatever order you want.

 

1. Quality of life of the residents - Key West is a relatively small area and when multiple ships, especially large ones it can get very very crowded.  Many of the local stores that served the local community are being replaced by the same stores that tend to show up in cruise ship ports.

 

2. Economic - Cruise ship passengers comprise about 50 percent of Key West tourists, but contribute only about 20 percent of tourist spend.  The number of cruise ship passengers is impacting the town enough that it is starting to impact how attractive it is for the other tourists to come and stay.  Some recent reports indicate that sales tax revenue is actually been higher during recent months without cruise ships than in the months prior to Covid with cruise ships. 

 

3. Environmental - Key West is located such that the channel to the town goes through a marine  preserve.  This channel is fairly shallow and larger cruise ship create quite a mud trail stirring up the silt from the channel.  When Covid started and the cruise ships stopped coming the water quality and clarity in the area improved considerably.

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, nocl said:

Key west voted to limit cruise ship size as well as the total number of passengers per day.

 

The reasons generally come down to 3 issues, put them in whatever order you want.

 

1. Quality of life of the residents - Key West is a relatively small area and when multiple ships, especially large ones it can get very very crowded.  Many of the local stores that served the local community are being replaced by the same stores that tend to show up in cruise ship ports.

 

2. Economic - Cruise ship passengers comprise about 50 percent of Key West tourists, but contribute only about 20 percent of tourist spend.  The number of cruise ship passengers is impacting the town enough that it is starting to impact how attractive it is for the other tourists to come and stay.  Some recent reports indicate that sales tax revenue is actually been higher during recent months without cruise ships than in the months prior to Covid with cruise ships. 

 

3. Environmental - Key West is located such that the channel to the town goes through a marine  preserve.  This channel is fairly shallow and larger cruise ship create quite a mud trail stirring up the silt from the channel.  When Covid started and the cruise ships stopped coming the water quality and clarity in the area improved considerably.

Some of the same reasons Venice, Italy will not allow big cruise ships anymore.  During COVID the grand canal actually flowed with greater clarity not having cruise ships and tourists disturbing the waters. We have been to Key West on several cruises and were never impressed, too crowded and expensive compared to other Carib Ports.

Edited December 14, 2021 by terrydtx

[nocl]

38 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Some of the same reasons Venice, Italy will not allow big cruise ships anymore.  During COVID the grand canal actually flowed with greater clarity not having cruise ships and tourists disturbing the waters. We have been to Key West on several cruises and were never impressed, too crowded and expensive compared to other Carib Ports.

There is a substantial difference when a ship is in port and when there is not one.  If there is one I do not go anywhere close to down town.  The experience is much better without a ship in port.  Though not as noticeable if the ship is a small one

[capsplace]

How sad for Bimini.  Cruise ships and too many feet will ruin it.  Been there several times on our own boat, crossing from Jupiter.  Docked at Big Game Club.  Rustic, and just the laid back, friendly atmosphere you would want on a small Bahamian island. We loved it.  In fact, we named our dog Bimini.

Edited December 14, 2021 by capsplace

[dabear]

Just off the Millennium (12/9- 12/13)which substituted Bimini inlieu of KW. Actually we enjoyed the laid back & friendly stop. We took a free shuttle provided by Resort World that goes to beach 360 where you can rent chaises, umbrellas, has food & bar. There also was a large pool available. The shuttle also goes to RW's hotel & casino. It was a nice beach day .

BTW a security guard said that Virgin bought the complex & when their ship is in port, the area is closed to the public.

[bartnath]

1 hour ago, dabear said:

Just off the Millennium (12/9- 12/13)which substituted Bimini inlieu of KW. Actually we enjoyed the laid back & friendly stop. We took a free shuttle provided by Resort World that goes to beach 360 where you can rent chaises, umbrellas, has food & bar. There also was a large pool available. The shuttle also goes to RW's hotel & casino. It was a nice beach day .

BTW a security guard said that Virgin bought the complex & when their ship is in port, the area is closed to the public.

I'll second this - we just got off the Reflection and this was our last stop. We didn't do any excursions, but many of our new friends on the ship did the "beach day" excursions or charter fishing. All reported having a great time. Those free shuttles also can get you to the beach very easily and they pick up right on the pier. There will also be an opportunity to rent a golf cart if you stay on the shuttle long enough. Going rates were $60/day, but some were able to do $30/2 hours.

[D C]

16 hours ago, sbrown5816 said:

On the Apex on 3/19.  Was disappointed to see the change from Key West as we were looking forward to going there for the first time.  Curious, can others share what the apparent issues are with cruise ships stopping there that is resulting in all these itinery changes?  Also, has anyone ever been to Bimini?  If so, how is tht Virgin Beach Club and has anyone experienced fishing there?  Thanks...SB

A local referendum was passed in Nov 2020, limiting cruise ships to very small ones.

The state legislature and governor passed a law in July 2021 nullifying that referendum.

i.e. as of July, cruise ships are not legally prevented from calling on KW.

 

The city has direct control over 2 of the 3 piers (Mallory and Outer Mole/Navy Base)

The 3rd pier (Pier B) is privately owned, with a perpetual fee-sharing agreement with the city.  

 

While ships can legally call on KW, the city has allegedly been playing games with CDC paperwork, causing larger ships to go elsewhere instead of stopping without all of the CDC paperwork in place.  That has started to be relieved with some smaller large ships stopping.  It's unclear how/if those ships are getting around the CDC requirements, and the port agent is keeping the ship schedule private.