NCL Ships at Amber Cove

[Laszlo]

On on the 1-8-2023 Sailing of the Getaway. We are suppose to dock in "Puerto Plata" January 17th. I know for sure in won't be Amber Cove because they already have two ships there that day. Over the weekend I had contacted a guide service in Puerto Plata. I had asked about some excursions and prices. I got an email back with some places we could go. In the email the person mentioned a number of times NCL had missed the port. They went on to say how we would get a full refund if the Getaway did not dock 

 

 

Someone on CC had mentioned over the weekend and today how NCL's insurance company won't let them dock Tanio Bay.... take that with a grain of salt

Edited December 12, 2022 by Laszlo

[asmit4]

9 hours ago, Laszlo said:

On on the 1-8-2023 Sailing of the Getaway. We are suppose to dock in "Puerto Plata" January 17th. I know for sure in won't be Amber Cove because they already have two ships there that day. Over the weekend I had contacted a guide service in Puerto Plata. I had asked about some excursions and prices. I got an email back with some places we could go. In the email the person mentioned a number of times NCL had missed the port. They went on to say how we would get a full refund if the Getaway did not dock 

 

 

Someone on CC had mentioned over the weekend and today how NCL's insurance company won't let them dock Tanio Bay.... take that with a grain of salt

so based on your comment it would seem that if there are already 2 ships set for Amber Cove and Taino is out- they just skip the port? Ugh. I'm due in PP at the end of February. I hope they figure out Taino before then. 

[AwesomO]

Neither Amber Cove nor Taino Bay have any ships posted on their website calendars after January 2023. Hopefully it gets updated soon and we have a better idea of realistic expectations. 

[Laszlo]

9 hours ago, asmit4 said:

so based on your comment it would seem that if there are already 2 ships set for Amber Cove and Taino is out- they just skip the port? Ugh. I'm due in PP at the end of February. I hope they figure out Taino before then. 

I really hope they don't skip a port, that would mean three sea days going home. Hopefully we dock in Taino or end up a GSC. We can skip Nassau Lol

[TominNC]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:05 PM, PATRLR said:

According to Portmapper, Escape is scheduled for Amber Cove on the 19th and the 26th.

Portmapper or cruisemapper?  Cruisemapper shows 4 ships (2 Carnival, 1 Celebrity and Encore) at Amber Cove Dec 21

[mking8288]

4 hours ago, Laszlo said:

I really hope they don't skip a port, that would mean three sea days going home. Hopefully we dock in Taino or end up a GSC. We can skip Nassau Lol

We are on the GA for 12 days after you, tracking to see where ya be docking and also the other tender ports. Nassau will be much nicer by May when the new terminal area is ready, worst case is GSC if we can tender ashore 🫣

[asmit4]

10 hours ago, TominNC said:

Portmapper or cruisemapper?  Cruisemapper shows 4 ships (2 Carnival, 1 Celebrity and Encore) at Amber Cove Dec 21

I thought Amber Cove only had room for 2 ships?? 

[TominNC]

2 minutes ago, asmit4 said:

I thought Amber Cove only had room for 2 ships?? 

That's what people are saying, but not what the cruise mapper is showing

[TominNC]

So everything says two berths at Amber Cove, but 4 ships showing on the schedule for Dec 21.  Soemthing has to give.

[AwesomO]

I don't think cruise mapper differentiates the listing between Taino Bay and Amber Cove. both are in Puerto Plata and I don't see a separate listing just for Taino Bay. So theoretically, there could be 2 scheduled for AC and 2 scheduled for TB, but with TB seemingly out of commission (at least for NCL), may as well assume NCL will get the boot from the schedule 

Edited December 14, 2022 by AwesomO

[AnitaVacation]

We were on the 11/28 10 day sailing of the Getaway. We were scheduled to go to PP on day 8, we were never told anything different. On about day 5, we recieved new excursion tickets with a new meeting place for our PP excursion (now I wish I would have looked at them, I didn't and I tossed them away at the end of the cruise...but I was sure they were for Amber Cove). The night before we were to arrive at DR, the captain came on and told us that due to 'unforeseen circumstances' we would not be calling on PP or DR at all, but instead, we will go to GSC on day 9.  Morning of day 9, pulled up to GSC and captain decided the water was too rough...so, yeah... 3 sea days!! But the cherry on the cake was the part where NCL did not refund any port fees!! Anyone that asked was directed to the website or given a phone number to call and according to our 350+ fb group, everyone that has submitted for the refund has been denied..... with no explanation, none.....

[redlock]

We are on the Dawn next week from the 22nd and due into Puerta Plata on the 25th.

Just been tracking the Dawn this week and she was due in PP today but is now berthed in san Juan.

[asmit4]

15 hours ago, AwesomO said:

I don't think cruise mapper differentiates the listing between Taino Bay and Amber Cove. both are in Puerto Plata and I don't see a separate listing just for Taino Bay. So theoretically, there could be 2 scheduled for AC and 2 scheduled for TB, but with TB seemingly out of commission (at least for NCL), may as well assume NCL will get the boot from the schedule 

I noticed this too yesterday- Cruisemapper states the following: 

Note: This page combines Cruisemapper's schedules for two different cruise ports/terminals - Amber Cove (exclusive for Carnival Corporation-owned ships), and Puerto Plata. The distance between the ports is 12 km (7,5 mi), with travel time ~20 min drive. 

---so if you see 4 ships 2 of those ships MUST go to Taino. ---but keep in mind that all Carnival/subsidiaries have 1st dibs on Amber Cove so if 2 of those 4 ships are Carnival/Costa etc? ---you are going to Taino--BUT if your ship is classified as 'large'---AKA- Escape--you currently can't doc at Taino...so....where are you going? Nobody knows....

[Laszlo]

33 minutes ago, asmit4 said:

I noticed this too yesterday- Cruisemapper states the following: 

Note: This page combines Cruisemapper's schedules for two different cruise ports/terminals - Amber Cove (exclusive for Carnival Corporation-owned ships), and Puerto Plata. The distance between the ports is 12 km (7,5 mi), with travel time ~20 min drive. 

---so if you see 4 ships 2 of those ships MUST go to Taino. ---but keep in mind that all Carnival/subsidiaries have 1st dibs on Amber Cove so if 2 of those 4 ships are Carnival/Costa etc? ---you are going to Taino--BUT if your ship is classified as 'large'---AKA- Escape--you currently can't doc at Taino...so....where are you going? Nobody knows....

Exactly.... Amber Cove can only take 2 ships, its pier is only so long. IDK if ships ever tender to Amber Cove

[zqvol]

15 hours ago, TominNC said:

That's what people are saying, but not what the cruise mapper is showing

Amber Cove can only host 2 ships, the other two are scheduled for Puertp Plata, cruisemapper doesn't differentiate between the two, it just lumps them together.

[Slk1z]

On 12/13/2022 at 11:20 AM, TominNC said:

Portmapper or cruisemapper?  Cruisemapper shows 4 ships (2 Carnival, 1 Celebrity and Encore) at Amber Cove Dec 21

According to the Port schedule @ ambercove.com   Dec 21 only has the 2 Carnival ships listed.

Funny thing is that only more NCL ship listed to port after that point.   As well, none listed for Jan'23..

It would be good to find out they dredged the channel and NCL can finally return to Taino..

[kitkat343]

Hi, 

 

Someone just posted the Sky was able to dock in Taino recently:

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Sky is much smaller in size vs. Getaway and Escape (that ran aground in March navigating that narrow channel) etc. with destination listed as Puerto Plata.  

[kitkat343]

56 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Sky is much smaller in size vs. Getaway and Escape (that ran aground in March navigating that narrow channel) etc. with destination listed as Puerto Plata.  

Thanks - not the news I’d hoped for but better to be prepared!

[asmit4]

The smaller ships are still going to Taino. The larger ones are the problem. 

[TominNC]

And NCL knows this and acts like nothing's wrong until the last minute?  It's not like the don't KNOW Amber Cove will have two Carnival ships in and that Encore is a large ship.  Jeez

[ccridercc]

Would this be considered neglect.  NCL knows that this is a problem and fail to do anything to fix the problem.  They leave everyone guessing until we get on board and say by the way we are not calling on Puerto Plata we will be going to GSC if we are lucky to tender or worst case Nassau,  I've seen class action lawsuits for less.  Something has to be done.....does anybody agree or feel the same way??

[AwesomO]

not sure if you'd have anything to stand on since terms of service explicitly says ports can be changed at any time for any reason. 

[dbrown84]

yes, the terms allow them to change ports, but I think the problem is they don't feel the need to inform in a timely matter.  Luckily for me, I decided not to book a private excursion for my cruise because I couldn't figure out which port we were going to use.  We ended up going to Nassau.  NCL clearly already knew we were going to Nassau because the excursion sheets already had Nassau printed on them instead of DR when we boarded.  And now, they also clearly know there is a problem.  They could at least post something about it on their website for cruises with DR as a stop so that people can make informed decisions.

[AwesomO]

but it also says "at any time." Ships have tried to come in to port and have had to turn away last minute because waters are too choppy. The list is just way too long to list all potential reasons why a ship may not be able to make it to their scheduled stops within any given time frame. Some can be predicted, some can't. But their terms of services covers it all. 

 

Am I saying I agree with how they handle these things, particularly in cases like DR when they know they won't be able to make it weeks, if not months in advance? No, absolutely not. I just don't think there would be anything there legally because of the terms of service. But maybe there's a lawyer out there who would take it on 🤷‍♀️