Mahogany Bay Docking Problems?

[BLK03GT]

My Aunt was on the Crown Princess in late Jan and missed Roatan. We just got off the same ship and missed it due to winds last week, however we got extremely lucky and Princess tendered us in. We anchored off the other side by the NCL Epic.

 

The envelope for Princess anyway is a 25 knot wind, anymore they won't even try it according to the Captain.

[Sharon2U]

We just came back from the 2/19 trip on the Dream and missed Roatan Island. :( While sitting on the back deck we watched the Carnival Legend pull right up to the dock as we were being told we couldn't go in because of the wind.

 

We caught up with the Legend in Costa Maya and they were not able to go into Belize and were told it was because of high winds. That was somewhat funny because the Dream was able to dock..

 

I was on the Carnival Legend that left Tampa on 2/20/11. We were handed a piece of paper that told us we were not going to Belize due to tender problems, nothing at all to do with wind. Basically they are only letting one ship go there at a time and the they chose to let the Valor dock there and send us to Costa Maya, we were refunded 3.75 pp.:(

We docked at Isla Roatan but were told by locals that there can be very strong cross winds and that is why the Dream did not docke there that day. We were told they sometimes will divert to Coxen Hole but not really sure if they did that day or not.

[texancruzer]

There have been tons of posts about Carnival not tendering at Belize. Seems they have an on-going dispute with tender operators re: prices or something. Since I do not sail Carnival I didnt really pay attention to the posts.

 

I am surpised you didnt know that since you are here on CC.

[caribsun]

Just off the NCL Spirit and we were due to dock on Feb. 23, 2011 but missed MB because of high winds.

The Spirit arrived within 1/2 mile of MB and we just sat there for 1 hour, the Carnival Glory then circled us and backed into the pier. I was guessing we needed to wait for the Glory and then we would dock in the space in front of her.

The Spirit slowly drifted to Coxen Hole and then a Celebrity ship passes us and they dock at CH. We anchored here and got to shore via life boats.

I went to the customer service desk to ask if we could still go to MB and they said yes and the fee is around $3 p/p ea way by taxi.

Walked to taxi stand and asked 2 drivers for a ride to MB and both said it is private? We decided to go to West Bay beach for $10 p/p, r/t. We ended up at Foster's Beach and for another $5.00 ea we got beach chairs.

[jtdlmc]

We just came back from the 2/19 trip on the Dream and missed Roatan Island. :( While sitting on the back deck we watched the Carnival Legend pull right up to the dock as we were being told we couldn't go in because of the wind.

 

We caught up with the Legend in Costa Maya and they were not able to go into Belize and were told it was because of high winds. That was somewhat funny because the Dream was able to dock..

 

We were on the Legend last week and were told two weeks in advance that we were not going to Belize because of the tendering issues - had nothing to do with the wind! We were told the Dream could not get in to MB that same day though and yet it did not even seem windy at all.

[BLK03GT]

Looks like the Crown made it in to port today judging by the bridge webcam.

 

JTD - it's hard to judge the wind while on the ship. When the captain said last week we couldn't make it I walked on the balcony and it didn't seem windy at all. However, we then walked up to the most forward part of the ship and could barely walk it was so windy.

[luv2cruise08]

Just off the NCL Spirit and we were due to dock on Feb. 23, 2011 but missed MB because of high winds.

The Spirit arrived within 1/2 mile of MB and we just sat there for 1 hour, the Carnival Glory then circled us and backed into the pier. I was guessing we needed to wait for the Glory and then we would dock in the space in front of her.

The Spirit slowly drifted to Coxen Hole and then a Celebrity ship passes us and they dock at CH. We anchored here and got to shore via life boats.

 

Well that's good news that at least you got to go to the port. I am on the Spirit in April and was wondering if it was just Carnival ships not being able to dock there since I hadn't read much about NCL ships not being able to dock. So I guess it's pretty universal if it's windy you don't get to dock;-( I sure hope we don't miss it. Roatan and Belize are the 2 I want to see the most.

[mikemartha]

I'm on the September 18 cruise on the Spirit and there will be 2 Carnivla ship scheduled for Roatan the same day. Will the Spirit guest be tendered in or will they use Coxen Hole?

[Sharon2U]

There have been tons of posts about Carnival not tendering at Belize. Seems they have an on-going dispute with tender operators re: prices or something. Since I do not sail Carnival I didnt really pay attention to the posts.

 

I am surpised you didnt know that since you are here on CC.

 

 

I did know that we were not going to Belize about 2 weeks in advance but apparently everyone did not know or they would not have been handing out the papers. I found out by checking my intinerary on Carnival's website, and posted the information on CC.

[texancruzer]

I did know that we were not going to Belize about 2 weeks in advance but apparently everyone did not know or they would not have been handing out the papers. I found out by checking my intinerary on Carnival's website, and posted the information on CC.

 

From your other post it sounded like you found out once on the ship...... and for many I am sure that is how they found out since many don't know about Cruisecritic. Bummer.

[Sanddiver]

I'm on the September 18 cruise on the Spirit and there will be 2 Carnivla ship scheduled for Roatan the same day. Will the Spirit guest be tendered in or will they use Coxen Hole?

If there are two carnival ships in port the you absolutely will dock elswhere or tender

[crewsweeper]

I'm on the September 18 cruise on the Spirit and there will be 2 Carnivla ship scheduled for Roatan the same day. Will the Spirit guest be tendered in or will they use Coxen Hole?

According to the schedule on crusieportinsider, The Spirit is scheduled to dock at Coxen Hole. There are only 3 ships in Roatan that day, Sept 21st.

[crewsweeper]

Because cruise ships come to the wonderful island i lives on and i like to keep up with what folks are saying about it and also answer the more local questions that people who only visit for a few hours may not have answers to. Is that OK with you? BTW, The airport is very seldom closed and they did not fill in or dredge the reef to buld it

I understand the frustration Sand diver...Just FWIW, everyone, the area around the new Mahogany Bay complex used to be called Dixon Cove (you can see that on older maps, BTW, if you're trying to find out where MB is). Ironically, there used to be an eco-oriented "Resort/ camp" there, which is where the larger buildings at the MB beach come from and why they look at bit older than the shops at MBCC. Guess they were having financial difficulties with several of their places in the Caribbean and sold the facilities and land to local pols, or lost their lease or somesuch, and enter Carnival to build a facility, without full due diligence on site selection.

[mcouture]

I was on the Spirit and had to tender...on 2/23.

 

While tendering takes more time, it doesn't ruin the experience of going to shore at all. It's all part of the experience...

[russianmom]

I was also on the Spirit 2/23 and we tendered into Coxen Hole. Our driver told us tour guides watch for the ship and move between ports accordingly so we had no issue going on our private excursion

 

Last year in March I was on the Jewel and we were docked at Coxen Hole saw Carnival circling around, our tour guide told us they were not able to make it into MB that day d/t winds.

[luvinsun]

We were on the Crown Princess last April (2010) and although we could get into MB, we couldn't get out due to high winds and we blocked Carnival Dream in as well. We left the next morning about 6:30 a.m. and were rewarded with an additional sea day because we couldn't get to Cozumel in time. :( This is why we booked with Celebrity for this April so we don't have to fight potential winds at MB and we hopefully get all of our ports.:)

[luv2cruise08]

:( This is why we booked with Celebrity for this April so we don't have to fight potential winds at MB and we hopefully get all of our ports.:)

 

I was wondering why it mattered who you booked with? Do some ships automatically stop at MB no matter what the wind situation is? Is it because it's a smaller ship of something?

[luvinsun]

I was wondering why it mattered who you booked with? Do some ships automatically stop at MB no matter what the wind situation is? Is it because it's a smaller ship of something?

 

MB was built by Carnival/Princess, so their ships dock there. But I don't know how they determine which of their ships dock at that specific location, because I have heard that some of them also dock at the other locations.

[luv2cruise08]

MB was built by Carnival/Princess, so their ships dock there. But I don't know how they determine which of their ships dock at that specific location, because I have heard that some of them also dock at the other locations.

 

Ya, I don't know either. I am sailing on NCL and my itinerary says we are supposed to dock at MB. It sounds like it's been hit and miss these last few months, depending on weather and what other ships are there. I don't care if we have to anchor and tender in I just want to see the island:p

[runner15km]

Thanks for that info.

[cardzz & cruzin]

So I have read a few reviews now where the Roatan stop was cancelled due to ships being unable to dock at MB. Evidently the captain must back the ship in (I hate parallel parking, I can just imagine what a headache this is), and also if the winds are not quite right, the port is cancelled.

 

How often does this happen?

 

It seems well, idiotic, to me, to build a brand new costly cruise ship pier and dock facilities only to have it difficult for ships to dock there.

 

I really want to see Roatan. Would you recommend taking a cruise that docks at Coxen Hole instead?

 

TIA

 

Been there three times, first two docked at Coxen hole ( 1st time just a gravel lot) but yes at Mahogany Bay they do back in really strange to see, but its back in a cove like area. I think it would take awfully strong winds to cancel it.

[Sanddiver]

I think it would take awfully strong winds to cancel it.

No, not really and certainly the captains do not think so.

If you followed the link I posted previously you would have read

when the eastern wind is blowing at 20 knots, many cruise ships struggle to enter the channel. At 25 knots, conditions become unsafe for just about any cruise ship.

The winds are often at these speeds or higher, that is why at this time MB has been skipped something like 40 times since opening in late 2009.

[deadmoney]

Wow, this is the first I've read about this problem. We were on the Legend last May and got in with no problem.

Being a boater myself I found it very interesting how the captain manuvered to get to the dock.

I really feel sorry for those that missed this stop it is a very beautiful Island.

We will be on the Legend again when it stops there 5/12(crossing fingers praying for light winds)

[cah14522]

We were on the Crown Princess last April (2010) and although we could get into MB, we couldn't get out due to high winds and we blocked Carnival Dream in as well. We left the next morning about 6:30 a.m. and were rewarded with an additional sea day because we couldn't get to Cozumel in time. :( This is why we booked with Celebrity for this April so we don't have to fight potential winds at MB and we hopefully get all of our ports.:)

 

So that was you blocking us in...thanks a lot! ;) Yeah, we really enjoyed the extra time in MB last year on the Dream - made us miss our stop in Belize. So hopefully we'll make it into Belize this year when we're cruising on the Triumph.

[crewsweeper]

So that was you blocking us in...thanks a lot! ;) Yeah, we really enjoyed the extra time in MB last year on the Dream - made us miss our stop in Belize. So hopefully we'll make it into Belize this year when we're cruising on the Triumph.

 

Carnival has begun to change some of the itineraries for the Dream so that it's the only ship in MB when in Roatan. Hopefully this will assist them being able to dock more frequently. And I've noticed that for some sail dates, it's the only ship in Roatan. That increases the possibility for using Coxen Hole if the winds are too strong at MB.