how to know if the port will be crowded

I've seen references to check to see what other ships will be in port the same day as your ship. How do I do this?

For example I am looking at a cruise that has us in Civitavecchia (Rome) on May 15. Is there a website I need to check? Thank you.:cool:

CruiseTT is one site at the link below:

http://cruisett.com/content.php?

Click on Ports and go from there.

Enjoy your cruise!

I always use https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#destports

usually people do not hang around the port so you will not really notice there

usually people do not hang around the port so you will not really notice there

I think it’s so you can judge transportation time getting out of the port. And in some small ports how busy the town might be.

I think it’s so you can judge transportation time getting out of the port. And in some small ports how busy the town might be.

....and the tour providers and tourist venues, the local stores, restaurants, etc.

It is what it is....the ports don't allow more than they can handle. No real worries!

It is what it is....the ports don't allow more than they can handle. No real worries!

I suspect many cruisers would disagree with that statement and their #1 example might be Santorini.

The most accurate source for ships in port is the website/schedule for that port. So Google searching for the ports involved is the best source.

Have been on 21 cruises, for over 275 days on cruise ships. Not one has been affected by the number of ships in port. And that includes Santorini.

I normally search each port's cruise ship schedule. How busy the port will be depends on the number of ships and also the total pax. For example some of the RCCL monster ships have over 6,000 pax.

In 40 years of cruising, as the size of ships increases significantly, I have noted increasing congestion in a number of ports. Santorini is a classic example, however on our recent visit we were lucky to only have 1 other small vessel. In Alaska, Skagway and Juneau can be crowded, as last time in Juneau every berth was full and they had an additional 3 ships at anchor.

I suspect many cruisers would disagree with that statement and their #1 example might be Santorini.

Indeed. And agreed. Just because ports "can handle" the crowds doesn't mean it is particularly pleasant to be among them on a hot summer's day. ;)

Have been on 21 cruises, for over 275 days on cruise ships. Not one has been affected by the number of ships in port. And that includes Santorini.

See my above reply. I think it applies here as well.

It is what it is....the ports don't allow more than they can handle. No real worries!

Really? That wasn't the case in some of the ports on the cruise I did last year:

Marseilles had 5 ships with an estimated 18,000 passengers and you could barely move or find a restaurant to eat at.

Santorini had 2 ships, around 8000 passengers and was unpleasantly crowded plus the queue to get down the cable car was horrendeous.

Dubrovnik had 3 ships (7500 pax) and the entrance to the old town was at a slow shuffle but improved once you got past the queue of people waiting to go up on the walls.

Corfu was a disaster. 4 ships and over 10,000 pax. The roads were choked by buses and our group got the bums rush at the distillery, the town looked so crowded we didn't bother getting off the bus, and it took over an hour to get through the cruise terminal to go back to the ship.

Oddly enough, Civitavecchia with 3 ships and over 12,000 passengers, wasn't a problem. I suspect most people took tours into Rome. The problem with Civitavecchia was the touts who were real pests.

Civitavecchia is a huge port that handles frequent large ferries and commercial shipping as well as many cruise ships. The Port effectively handles just about any volume and we seldom even think about how many ships are in the port as we just don't notice many changes. The Port runs a very efficient internal shuttle bus system that expands to handle additional ships. About the only place you might feel increased volume would be at the train station (if you plan on taking the train).

Hank

It is what it is....the ports don't allow more than they can handle. No real worries!

Perhaps there may be enough pier berths and mooring spots for the given number of ships - but each ship in port adds about a thousand to up to five thousand people milling around - and those mobs are a lot more than can be easily handled. Philipsburg, St. Maarten, for example, was close to choked with humanity on 20,000+ passenger days. The ships fitted in, but the people sure did not. Yes—- real worries.

I've seen references to check to see what other ships will be in port the same day as your ship. How do I do this?

For example I am looking at a cruise that has us in Civitavecchia (Rome) on May 15. Is there a website I need to check? Thank you.:cool:

Hi, and a belated welcome to Cruise Critic.

Folk on this thread have mentioned places like Santorini (Bruce must have been pretty lucky there :)) and Sint Maarten.

On small islands like that where a huge proportion of visitors visit by cruise ship, the number & size of ships makes a big difference, although the various websites like cruisett and even the much better official port websites can be very inaccurate.

But in places like Marseilles?

Really? :confused:

A few thousand on top of a population of close to a million isn't going to make any difference. Not suggesting JJ didn't experience crowds there - but cruisers would have been a small proportion of them unless JJ was sticking close to the cruise port.

BTW, not a city where I'd be looking for a restaurant - IMHO the best view of Marseilles is in the rear-view mirror, en-route to the delightful Provence hinterland.

Ditto Civi.

It's a port - busy with commercial and ferry traffic as well as cruise ships. And with not a lot to commend the town, so I don't understand why any cruisers would want to hang around..:confused:

We've never experienced crowds there, because like most folk we head for the station or other transport to Rome.

Crowded on the trains for sure - that's another story. But Civi to Rome is just part of a regional train route and cruisers can't expect the railway network to be re-vamped just for their benefit. Some cruise lines lay on a special ship-sponsored train to get folk to & from Rome - if you're prepared to pay their outlandish prices. :eek:

Us? We'll muck in with the rest on the local train at around €12 return.

And the number of cruise ships will make not a jot of difference in Rome.

JB :)

Perhaps there may be enough pier berths and mooring spots for the given number of ships - but each ship in port adds about a thousand to up to five thousand people milling around - and those mobs are a lot more than can be easily handled. Philipsburg, St. Maarten, for example, was close to choked with humanity on 20,000+ passenger days. The ships fitted in, but the people sure did not. Yes—- real worries.

I agree with you. CB just spits out these stock answers again and again not really knowing or caring whether or not they are true. Very annoying to say the least. New cruisers take heed! :D

I agree with you. CB just spits out these stock answers again and again not really knowing or caring whether or not they are true. Very annoying to say the least. New cruisers take heed! :D

Agreed, although I am surprised a library and a book from 1980 weren't involved in the response.

It is what it is....the ports don't allow more than they can handle. No real worries!

That is an awful answer coming from a long time cruiser :(. For example, consider the port of Santorini where even the presence of 2 ships can cause passengers to wait for hours to get down on the cable car (which can only handle 600 persons per hour). While there has been some "talk" about putting stricter limits on the number of ships it seems that good judgment has fallen to greed. And a great example of too many ships ruining an island is what has happened on St Thomas where cruise passengers can inflate the number of people on the island by about 50%. Another awful example is La Spezia which has now caused some major problems at the Cinque Terre villages because of overcrowding. Rather then simply closing that particular port the Italian government has responded by installing road-blocking gates on the southern access road to Riomaggiore. And we should not forget the Port of Venice where they built a decent large cruise port and now have decided to put a future ban on large ships even coming to that port (so why did the idiots build a port they now do not want to use)?

The reality is that the large proliferation of cruise ships has overwhelmed many ports...and the situation is going to get much worse. Consider that Viking Ocean Cruises will soon be adding their 6th ship, MSC has plans to add 20 new mega ships, and even Richard Branson is getting in the act with his new Virgin Cruises. The industry keeps adding newer and often larger vessels but nobody is building new islands or many new ports.

Hank

Dubrovnik and Venice are two port cities which are considering limiting cruise ships. And it makes a difference to your enjoyment of the cities depending how many cruise ships are in port.

That is an awful answer coming from a long time cruiser :(. For example, consider the port of Santorini where even the presence of 2 ships can cause passengers to wait for hours to get down on the cable car (which can only handle 600 persons per hour).

Absolutely, and thank you for explaining it in that way. The cable car is a PRIME example of a port stretched to its limits (certainly NOT "no real worries"!!) When we were there one July, the wait was well over an hour long in the hot sun. We elected to walk down the stairs, which was fine but I know some people would have trouble with that.

My hope is that long-time member cb at sea will stop saying things that are absolutely untrue, things that could lead novice cruisers into making poor decisions.

.

If it is prime cruise time, there could be more than one ship in port. But you also have to consider this. There are tourists coming in from all over, not just on cruise ships. Find pictures of say, the front of the Vatican in the summer and later in the season, big difference.

But in places like Marseilles?

Really? :confused:

A few thousand on top of a population of close to a million isn't going to make any difference. Not suggesting JJ didn't experience crowds there - but cruisers would have been a small proportion of them unless JJ was sticking close to the cruise port.

BTW, not a city where I'd be looking for a restaurant - IMHO the best view of Marseilles is in the rear-view mirror, en-route to the delightful Provence hinterland.

 

Ditto Civi.

It's a port - busy with commercial and ferry traffic as well as cruise ships. And with not a lot to commend the town, so I don't understand why any cruisers would want to hang around..:confused:

We've never experienced crowds there, because like most folk we head for the station or other transport to Rome.

Crowded on the trains for sure - that's another story. But Civi to Rome is just part of a regional train route and cruisers can't expect the railway network to be re-vamped just for their benefit. Some cruise lines lay on a special ship-sponsored train to get folk to & from Rome - if you're prepared to pay their outlandish prices. :eek:

Us? We'll muck in with the rest on the local train at around €12 return.

And the number of cruise ships will make not a jot of difference in Rome.

 

JB :)

Marseilles was weird. I didn't expect it to be so crowded. It was OK when we got off the shuttle bus, but in the short time that we spent at a cafe having coffee the town just filled up to choke point. As we hadn't been to Marseilles before we wanted to explore the town and have lunch there. We'd been to other parts of Provence on a land trip plus we also had a port stop in Toulon and planned to go to Aix en Provence from there.

We actually enjoyed rambling around Civitavecchia, once we got away from the touts. Plus we found an awesome restaurant for a delicious celebratory lunch - it was our 20th wedding anniversary.

I am really surprised to hear that a few cruise ships would have much impact on Marseille. On all of our visits to that port nearly all the cruisers went off on tour or on their own to places in Provence such as Aix, Avignon, Les Baux, etc. Not many stayed in the city.

Hank

I am really surprised to hear that a few cruise ships would have much impact on Marseille. On all of our visits to that port nearly all the cruisers went off on tour or on their own to places in Provence such as Aix, Avignon, Les Baux, etc. Not many stayed in the city.

 

Hank

That's why I was surprised. We must have been there on the one day where a high percentage of cruisers decided to stay in town. Ah well, we might not have got to all the sights but I did find a lovely linen tshirt at Monoprix at less than 10% of the price I'd pay for one in Sydney, and we did eventually find a restaurant with a free table to have a simple but very yummy lunch (my favourite rock fish soup), and it was a gorgeous sunny day so we had fun regardless.

I always use https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#destports

Thanks for posting this link. Not only is it helpful for cruisers it is also of benefit to land-based travelers who want to avoid cruise ship crowds.