How do people know how many cruise ships are in a particular port?

[archer77]

Would be nice to know how busy a particular port is when we swing by for planning purposes! Thanks in advance!

[crystalspin]

4 minutes ago, archer77 said:

Would be nice to know how busy a particular port is when we swing by for planning purposes!

cruisemapper.com and whatsinport.com are two sites. They don't always agree, so compare.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic, by the way!

[archer77]

1 minute ago, crystalspin said:

cruisemapper.com and whatsinport.com are two sites. They don't always agree, so compare.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic, by the way!

 

thanks for the answer, and the welcome 🙂

[mom says]

Cruisetimetables  is another site. Or Google the port calendar for the ports you are interested in.

[LHT28]

I usually check the port cruise schedule

port of (insert name)

They are usually  correct

[John Bull]

As per No 28's post, the ports' own websites are the most reliable, but sometimes they're difficult to track down or don't include the information.

The other websites - several have been mentioned in posts above - are second-best because as per crystalspin's post they are less-accurate.

 

Not all websites mention ships' hours in port - one which departs at 1pm isn't going to affect one which arrives at 2pm.

 

For some cities, like Barcelona or Naples or Athens or Venice or La Spezia, the number and size of cruise ships  is of no consequence because a few thousand cruise passengers are small compared to the tens of thousands of shore-based visitors.

For some other ports, it's only for transfers from / back to the port where the numbers of cruise passengers can impact travel - examples are between Civitavecchia port and Rome where the trains can be over-whelmed at busy times, and on Santorini between the tender pier and the rest of the island can also be over-whelmed.

 

The smaller Caribbean islands are where the numbers and sizes of cruise ships make a huge difference.

Websites will give you an idea of how-crowded on the day of your visit, though there's little you can do to alleviate that other than stay on the ship & treat it as a sea-day.

Staying aboard is a chance to enjoy a relatively peaceful ship, to take advantage of discounted spa etc prices on port days, or on large resort ships to enjoy the major attractions - flow-riders, ice-rinks, climbing walls and such - without lines as frustratingly long as at theme-parks

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB 🙂

[ontheweb]

52 minutes ago, John Bull said:

As per No 28's post, the ports' own websites are the most reliable, but sometimes they're difficult to track down or don't include the information.

The other websites - several have been mentioned in posts above - are second-best because as per crystalspin's post they are less-accurate.

 

Not all websites mention ships' hours in port - one which departs at 1pm isn't going to affect one which arrives at 2pm.

 

For some cities, like Barcelona or Naples or Athens or Venice or La Spezia, the number and size of cruise ships  is of no consequence because a few thousand cruise passengers are small compared to the tens of thousands of shore-based visitors.

For some other ports, it's only for transfers from / back to the port where the numbers of cruise passengers can impact travel - examples are between Civitavecchia port and Rome where the trains can be over-whelmed at busy times, and on Santorini between the tender pier and the rest of the island can also be over-whelmed.

 

The smaller Caribbean islands are where the numbers and sizes of cruise ships make a huge difference.

Websites will give you an idea of how-crowded on the day of your visit, though there's little you can do to alleviate that other than stay on the ship & treat it as a sea-day.

Staying aboard is a chance to enjoy a relatively peaceful ship, to take advantage of discounted spa etc prices on port days, or on large resort ships to enjoy the major attractions - flow-riders, ice-rinks, climbing walls and such - without lines as frustratingly long as at theme-parks

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB 🙂

It also can matter if there are more ships than there are docks. We were once in Corfu with there being 3 ships and 2 docks. The ship we were on was the one that ended up having to tender.