Cruise passengers clogging the ports

[Mikel1733]

Looks like the land lubbers don't like the congestion cruise ships bring to port;

 

 

http://www.smartmoney.com/mag/index.cfm?story=may2008-cruises&afl=yahoo

[Peery5]

Good article. I can appreciate the 'land lubbers' concern but with the exception of hotel and restuarant sales, I would bet the cruise ships bring more money into port in a day than the lubbers spend in a week. There should be enough room for everyone. Buy a drink, lay in the sun and enjoy. To quote an unnamed author - It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter".

[NCTribeFan]

Well, yeah, but there are still a huge number of areas that aren't served by cruise ships. The folks taking land vacations need to do their homework, too, not just us cruisers.

[Kurbanfan]

That's what is great about being an experienced cruiser. When doing land vacations we know which places to stay away from;)

[dan40]

When Grand Cayman gets a full load of cruise ships, the passengers outnumber the native population, including the land vacationers. They gotta love that!

 

Dan

[ShedQueen77]

I had to LOL at the comment that that woman made about it being too crowded when she was snorkeling and got bopped in the head with someone's flipper. Why on earth would you swim that close to someone's feet? Why not go another direction or something? :rolleyes:

[VentureMan_2000]

Nothing worse than other people using your shortcut to get home... or others vacationing on your beach that you booked for your vacation... :D

[SheriNtexas]

I had to LOL at the comment that that woman made about it being too crowded when she was snorkeling and got bopped in the head with someone's flipper. Why on earth would you swim that close to someone's feet? Why not go another direction or something? :rolleyes:

 

 

 

So many people, SO much fun...:D

 

[TCF]

Some islands, like Grand Cayman, don't really "welcome" the cruise ships or their passengers....and they let Mother Nature control in the influx....much to the chagrin of the cruise lines and passengers alike.

For years the industry has been trying to convince the Grand Cayman governmet to build piers on the island and for years the government...and the majority of locals....have said "NO"!

The shallow lead-in to the island means that a stiff breeze from the sea can toss up waves large enough to stop tendering....and we all know how often that happens at Grand Cayman.

For islands like Cozumel, Jamaica, St Thomas, St. Johns and others, the local economies are linked entirely to the cruise industry....but there are others...like Grand Cayman....that grudgingly accept the onslaught that comes from across the water.

[nolaAlive]

I dunno. Both the island and the people of Grand Cayman have always welcomed me. Been there a number of times and always able to tender in. Grand Cayman is by no means the only tender port.

 

Jamaica has more land based passengers than cruise ship passengers - at least until Genesis and probably even after.

 

Sounds like land based vacationers should either do more research or stick to the packaged tours?

 

I wonder who howled more when crui$ecal became a pay site?

[balcony bound]

Thanks for posting the article. It made me consider things a little differently. Living in Florida, I certainly know how "locals" concern themselves about "tourists." Wow, I wonder what our economy would be without them! I cannot imagine our "shopkeepers" closing up when tourists are at their heaviest. I guess I am glad to hear that these places are doing so well that they can afford to do that.

 

As other posters have said, best to do your homework to find the vacation environment you are wanting.

[Cruzfan34]

I refuse to believe that people were squashed like sardines on the beach...wall to wall beach towels? Give me a break. Must be a pretty small beach. And is it the only beach? I've been to several beaches on our cruises and I've never been crowded.

I also find it very selfish and naive for someone to possibly think they would have the whole beach to themselves. Whiners.

[BND]

Well, they are PORTS! Ports have ships, ships have people. What isn't understood? A lot of money is brought into port towns economies by ships. Land vacationers are no more entitled to anything than cruise ship passengers are. I'd say, if you want a land vacation without cruise passengers, go where there isn't a cruise port. Pretty simple.

[halos]

Looks like the land lubbers don't like the congestion cruise ships bring to port;

 

 

http://www.smartmoney.com/mag/index.cfm?story=may2008-cruises&afl=yahoo

 

 

I can tell you that doesn't hold true everywhere.

I live near a cruise port and the ships are totally celebrated here for the revenue that the passengers bring in.

At the end of the summer as the leaf peepers start filling the Canada/ New England Cruises, There will be pictures of cruise ships on the front page of the newspapers and news of how many ships we're getting this year, and it's a 'happy' thing.

At the end of the short season (maybe that's why it's not a big deal..it's a short season??), more pics of ships, pics of happy passengers with lots of bags in their arms and business men and woman smiling with happy faces.

here in Maine, we are happy to see cruise passengers.

 

To be honest, I've goten used to the influx of vacationers here in the summer. The population in this state more than triples from May through Labor Day and then the cruise ships coming in expand this a little into October. It does make traffic a bit of a pain, but hell, that's what happens when you live in a place where people vacation.

 

All this ship publicity every year just gives ME bad PCD and causes us to book more. :p

[NCTribeFan]

I lived for years up in the mountains of NC, and while the tourist industry brought in a lot of revenue for SOME people, it did nothing except drive up prices for the locals. When those locals are just poor farm people, it's not a good situation. And there's nothing like not being to get to your road because some tourist has STOPPED in the middle of the road, around a blind curve, to take a picture of our beautiful mountains.

 

:mad:

 

Anyway, the point is that if/when I take a land vacation to the islands, it won't be to somewhere that 3-6 cruise ships call on every day. I'd love to spend a week on St John, but there are other places in the Virgin Islands where no cruise ships call, or only the smallest luxury ships can get to, that are probably fantastic vacation spots.

[PINEVIEW01]

I had to LOL at the comment that that woman made about it being too crowded when she was snorkeling and got bopped in the head with someone's flipper. Why on earth would you swim that close to someone's feet? Why not go another direction or something? :rolleyes:

I think her point was is was so crowded she couldn't find a place with out people being close.

[halos]

I lived for years up in the mountains of NC, and while the tourist industry brought in a lot of revenue for SOME people, it did nothing except drive up prices for the locals. When those locals are just poor farm people, it's not a good situation. .

 

Yes...I can definitely see that as a problem.

 

Question: I know that here, there are obvious price hikes during tourists season..on most everything, but there are still some non-tourist-visited areas where locals can shop without being gouged.

Didn't you have some 'out of the way' places up there that weren't imapcted by tourists??

[BND]

We live in VA Beach for 3 years and we avoided the public beach area because of the crowds. Because we were Navy, I just went to the Officer's Beach where there was hardly anyone most of the time. Even during peak summer days, there's plenty of room. We also paid a 9% resort tax at restaurants even though we lived there, year round. It's part of living in a vacation spot.

[salty dingo]

What an asinine article! If someone wants to avoid cruise ship crowds, there are a zillion places land-based travelers can go which are not on any cruise ship itinerary.

 

I wonder how the family in the article was not aware of the number of cruise ships that visit the Virgin Islands. They sounded pretty dense.

 

Plus, getting conked in the head by a flipper... poor thing!!

[Lady Chew]

We live in VA Beach for 3 years and we avoided the public beach area because of the crowds. Because we were Navy, I just went to the Officer's Beach where there was hardly anyone most of the time. Even during peak summer days, there's plenty of room. We also paid a 9% resort tax at restaurants even though we lived there, year round. It's part of living in a vacation spot.

 

My SIL has lived in Va Beach for 30 years ... MIL lived there for 25 ... they love the tourist economy and all of the $$$ it brings to the area. SIL's hubby always says, bring on more tourists, they bring more money, brings the locals more income, builds more infrastructure, etc etc

 

Mr Chew & I have spent lots of long weekends on boardwalk hotels and seen the growth for ourselves. We also know how crowded it gets on the beach along the boardwalk so we know where to go to avoid the crowds.

 

We were in St Thomas a little over a year ago, for a week, and even with multiple cruise ships in port each day there was plenty of room for everyone ... shop owners didn't care what kind of tourist you were, as long as you were spending.

[hillbillycruisers]

Did that article really say the average person only spends 8 dollars a day on food and drink on shore?? If thats true, BOY am I ever not average...and somebody needs to tell carlos and charlies that and watch them laugh :)

[Caribbreeze]

I had a less than pleasant conversation with someone from Cape Cod - one of my favorite places to visit - outside of peak season when it's not crowded.

She was complaining about how she hated living at the Cape because of the crowds in the summer time, and how much she hated tourists.

Ironically, we had this conversation in July, at Lake George Village in the Adirondacks - a quiet little town that booms in the summer with tourists - which, of course, she was. Hmmmm.

[Hurricane Girl]

We live less than an hour from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, on of the biggest tourist traps anywhere. If you have a drivers license with an address in the same county, you are a local and you get a lot of discounts, even some things FREE! One of our friends used to live there, but now lives near us. She has kept her old address on her license now for 8 years because of the perks.

 

My DH is a project manager for an electrical contracting company and they do a lot of work in that area. They can get a few discounts, but still not as many as the people who live there. He has come home many evenings cussing the tourists, mainly because of their driving. They sell bumper stickers that say "It's called tourist SEASON, does that mean we can shoot them?"