Missed Bermuda... sigh.

[RickEk]

Well, due to heavy winds (30-40knots), the Caribbean Princess has skipped Bermuda today. Oh well... on the plus side, we have another day at sea! :) But some folks have already started to complain.... sigh. I do think the captain made the correct decision.

[SueseaQ]

Hi RickEk, So sorry you missed Bermuda (my favorite island), but if the Captain felt it was the right (and safest) thing to do, so be it. My niece is on that cruise also, celebrating her 21st Birthday, I know she must be so dissapointed about not stopping in Bermuda. Is there any chance that you may be able to stop there as the last port of call on the way back to NYC ?

We sailed practically the same interary on the Crown in 2006 and at that time there was bad weather around San Juan, the Captain made the desicion not to stop there so the ship was diverted to La Romana in the Dominican Republic, which was not a port of call on the original itinerary.

Hope the rest of the cruise is uneventful, other than for a good time, of course :).

[Clutterlady]

Well, due to heavy winds (30-40knots), the Caribbean Princess has skipped Bermuda today. Oh well... on the plus side, we have another day at sea! :) But some folks have already started to complain.... sigh. I do think the captain made the correct decision.

 

Sorry to hear that. I know how disappointed everyone must be:(

[shadowlover]

Wow, I am so sorry. We just got off Monday. When in Bermuda we heard they were expecting a stretch of bad weather...was afraid of that. You'll just have to go again!

[LidoLiz]

Same thing happened to us on our recent CB cruise (May 24th-June 2.) The seas didn't seem rough at all to us passengers (we couldn't feel any ship's movement at breakfast), but the pilot was unable to board to take the ship into port, so the captain made the call to bypass.

 

On the bright side, it was a cloudy and rainy day in Bermuda, and the captain sailed on to find us some sunny skies. Some very disappointed cruisers onboard, however.

 

Wonder how often Bermuda is skipped due to bad weather?

 

LidoLiz

[Momma Mojito]

Does that mean that you are having rough sailing?

I know what you mean about passengers being disapppointed. When we were on the Valor with our DD and DGDS we had our whole itinerary changed because of an approaching storm..... that never materialized......instead of St. Martin and St Thomas we had to go the Freeport in the Bahamas.... and Princess Cays. Princess Cays was nice but we didn't care for Freeport. I like to research where we will begoing before we cruise so from now on I bring a travel guide book with me.

[ndavis7515]

We are sailing on 8/4. Our concern is getting diverted to Canada! That happened to me in 2003 on a planned Boston to Bermuda run. As far as I am concerned, skipping the West End of Bermuda is no big loss. It is so far removed from everything that it defeats the purpose of how beautiful Bermuda is.

[MrPete]

WOW! As a Bermuda LOVER, I would be a bit cross. I take it that it was a one day stop?

[ndavis7515]

WOW! As a Bermuda LOVER, I would be a bit cross. I take it that it was a one day stop?

I am also a Bermuda lover, but I think the only way to cruise there is to take the NYC to Bermuda or the Boston to Bermuda and stay there for the 3 days. 8 hours just doesn't show you how wonderful it is, and that is what the stop is on the CB.

[MrPete]

I am also a Bermuda lover, but I think the only way to cruise there is to take the NYC to Bermuda or the Boston to Bermuda and stay there for the 3 days. 8 hours just doesn't show you how wonderful it is, and that is what the stop is on the CB.

 

AGREED!

 

We did a 3 day stop out of NY once. Two beautiful sunsets to enjoy.

 

We've since done 3 two nighters out of NY and THAT is too short. A one "day" stop is a blip. :eek:

[ndavis7515]

There is a very large reef that the ships have to navigate in order to dock in Bermuda. If the winds are too high it is too dangerous to do this.

[FLACRUISER99]

Well, due to heavy winds (30-40knots), the Caribbean Princess has skipped Bermuda today. Oh well... on the plus side, we have another day at sea! :) But some folks have already started to complain.... sigh. I do think the captain made the correct decision.

It may not have been the Captains call, often the port closes due to high winds.

[Pia1913]

My son and family are on board and got I an email this AM saying they missed it due to weather. No other explanation. They are disappointed since it would have been a new port to them, but they are seasoned cruisers and understand it's out of their control. There's always another cruise down the road.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thats too bad, it is one of the 2 best stops on that iteniary IMO. :(

[firefly4423]

Well that stinks! Hopefully that extra day will be enjoyed.

[Cruise Junky]

There is a very large reef that the ships have to navigate in order to dock in Bermuda. If the winds are too high it is too dangerous to do this.

 

You're right, that reef would be terrible to navigate in bad weather. Bermuda is surrounded by ship wrecks. I spent two weeks there with girlfriends, awesome island. Hope to take hubby one day.

[prg2101]

WOW, that happened to us on the May 24th sailing.....Thats twice in 1 month!!!! Not a good thing:o:(

[Pam in CA]

I've been on quite a few cruises that had to cancel a port due to weather. While the seas might not look too bad to the inexperienced, that's not an indication of what the wave height, direction, currents, etc. are near or in the harbor. Often, harbors have tricky navigation and/or shallow depths that if the current takes the ship a few feet in either direction, the results could be disasterous. I hope the people onboard realize this.

 

Once, we were supposed to go into Rhodes and the waves and sea direction were too bad to go in. There were two cruise ships that had been stuck in the harbor for two days, unable to get out. You should have heard the grumbling and whining! It was awful. I finally turned around and said to one guy, "Would you like to be stuck there for two days and not get to see Ephesus and/or Istanbul?" He got quiet as he processed that. As it turned out, we had an extra half-day in Ephesus, which was wonderful.

 

FYI, the East Coast has had terrible weather for the past several weeks. It should be no surprise that Bermuda would also have bad weather.

[koolforkatz]

It's unfortunate you missed Bermuda - it's a very nice island. But it sounds like you've got a good attitude about it. These things happen sometimes and the only way to remedy it is too book another cruise when you get home that includes Bermuda :rolleyes:

[Colo Cruiser]

Unfortunatley this time of year (summer) Bermuda gets missed quite a bit.

I remember the first season of the Crown 2006, missing Bermuda was at least a twice monthly occurance.

 

The entrance to the channel especialy for a Grand Class ship is very hazardous/tricky and even the slightest wind can create havoc so Princess will not take the chance even though the skies may be clear and the air seems calm. :)

[Chelley00]

We had a chance to talk with the captain after our vow renewal about the CB missing Bermuda the cruise before ours (or 2 before?) Anyhow, he said it's a very narrow channel with lots of coral, and it's not very deep there and the currents are very strong. He emphasized that everything they do is all about safety.

[luv2sweat]

We're on the cruise right now. Things happen and you just have to take them in stride. We're still enjoying ourselves and plan on continuing to do so. I'm amazed at the number of people complaining. I much prefer that the captain and/or the port director acts in the interest of safety and not dollars. I mean the cruise line does not like to cancel a port, it costs them money. So they will only skip a port if it's absolutely necessary. Some folks are acting as if the captain just decided he didn't feel like going today.

 

Oh well, I look at it this way: as long as I'm on a ship I'm happy. And a bad day at sea (does that exist?) is still better than a good day on land.

[Theresa522]

There is a very large reef that the ships have to navigate in order to dock in Bermuda. If the winds are too high it is too dangerous to do this.

 

You are exactly right. We were just there this May and it is amazing how they navigate around them

[Theresa522]

We're on the cruise right now. Things happen and you just have to take them in stride. We're still enjoying ourselves and plan on continuing to do so. I'm amazed at the number of people complaining. I much prefer that the captain and/or the port director acts in the interest of safety and not dollars. I mean the cruise line does not like to cancel a port, it costs them money. So they will only skip a port if it's absolutely necessary. Some folks are acting as if the captain just decided he didn't feel like going today.

 

Oh well, I look at it this way: as long as I'm on a ship I'm happy. And a bad day at sea (does that exist?) is still better than a good day on land.

 

Great attitude!!! Enjoy the rest of your cruise. :D

[MoonPet]

We missed Bermuda on the same sailing last year because of Hurricane Bertha and people STILL complained.

 

I mean, heck, you want to sail into a hurricane?