Shortened Time in Ports....

[JamesEM]

My guess is that the bean counters are working over time again.

[Cruzin Terri]

Having done the 24- day Magic of the Mediterranean twice, once in 2008 on the Zuiderdam and again in 2011 on the Nieuw Amsterdam it was quite noticeable that the time in ports were shortened on the second journey. This is especially troublesome in places such as Europe where getting to a city usually requires a taxi, bus or train rather than just walking off the pier as in most Caribbean ports.

 

Terri

[Randyk47]

I started to notice that many port times have gotten shorter the last couple of years.

 

The ship is not my destination and I want a longer time in the ports.

 

We too are destination cruisers. I won't go as far as to say it's a deal breaker for us but the more I read here about this and other "adjustments" by Holland America the more convinced I am that our days on Holland America are over. As to the reason or reasons for shorter stays....it's got to be the bottom line and that includes probably fuel savings, increased on-board spending, dock charges, and so on.

[Bearnaise]

Yet another reason for limiting port times, besides fuel savings and increase on-board expenditures, would be attracting more people to ship-sponsored excursions. With time limited, fewer people will risk doing their own thing in port and potentially missing the ship, signing up for the ship excursions instead to ensure they get back in time.

 

I too noticed the brief port stops for my W. Caribbean cruise. Fortunately for us, the ship is our destination and the ports are just to get off the ship and walk around a bit. I had considered renting a car in Grand Cayman but after I figured in tendering each way, shuttle to/from car rental shop, and dealing with paperwork and return hassle, I realized we wouldn't even have enough time to drive to the other side of the island.

 

Which leads to a fourth reason: by keeping port times short, more passengers will be doing what I'll be doing, i.e. keeping within walking distance of the ship while in port. At least in the Caribbean and Alaskan ports, this means keeping passengers near the port shops, bars, and restaurants that give kickbacks and near Diamonds International.

[BearInStPete]

Destination cruisers should always book with the ports and their schedule in mind if that is a priority in your cruise, and many cruises try to be overly port intensive, reducing time in each port.

 

There is far more to port timing than the pure monetary incentives to HAL others have suggested on this thread! Their are many logistics considerations and "pecking" order as to what ships are assigned to what piers in a given port necessitated by shoreside labor availability (pilots, linesmen, security, etc.), maneuvering issues, WEATHER/SEASON, fueling, and maintenance, etc. Also, the ports themselves dictate schedule and pier use, often with the largest ships getting the prime locations and times - HAL's "medium" sized ships are at somewhat of a disadvantage when there are other larger ships in port.

 

I would encourage you to read Captain Albert's blog to get a more realistic perspective of the issues impacting port calls. Obviously Captain Albert is a HAL employee so conspiracy theorists can have full disclosure in reading his posts and their evaluation of them.

 

Since the fuel price spikes in 2008, all cruise lines are factoring fuel burn into the schedule planning. Those who follow the lines, from 2000-2006 or so, many cruise lines were evaluating faster ships that could offer more ports, not so anymore.

 

Off on the Noordam tomorrow, with plenty of time scheduled in the ports!

[igraf]

The all-aboard times were typically 3:30 pm on our recent new England cruise, which means that we had to rush to see the sights. This was early in the season and I suspect that this had something to do with keeping the port visits within an 8-hour work day for the longshoremen.

 

igraf

[Maryandi]

The 2014 Grand Med is ending it's itinerary in Civitaveccia, Italy !!

 

In my memory, I can't remember a Grand Med not bringing you back to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

So far, that is the ultimate in cost-cutting, fuel-saving on a cruise.

 

Other lines already do this but HAL didn't until now.

 

I wonder how the bookings are doing.

[solocanadian]

Destination cruisers should always book with the ports and their schedule in mind if that is a priority in your cruise, and many cruises try to be overly port intensive, reducing time in each port.

 

There is far more to port timing than the pure monetary incentives to HAL others have suggested on this thread! Their are many logistics considerations and "pecking" order as to what ships are assigned to what piers in a given port necessitated by shoreside labor availability (pilots, linesmen, security, etc.), maneuvering issues, WEATHER/SEASON, fueling, and maintenance, etc. Also, the ports themselves dictate schedule and pier use, often with the largest ships getting the prime locations and times - HAL's "medium" sized ships are at somewhat of a disadvantage when there are other larger ships in port.

 

I would encourage you to read Captain Albert's blog to get a more realistic perspective of the issues impacting port calls. Obviously Captain Albert is a HAL employee so conspiracy theorists can have full disclosure in reading his posts and their evaluation of them.

 

Since the fuel price spikes in 2008, all cruise lines are factoring fuel burn into the schedule planning. Those who follow the lines, from 2000-2006 or so, many cruise lines were evaluating faster ships that could offer more ports, not so anymore.

 

Off on the Noordam tomorrow, with plenty of time scheduled in the ports!

Couldn't agree with you more, to read Captain Albert's blog. They are very informative & have answered many questions in my mind. :D

[Taxguy77]

That was the case this November when we were in Hawaii and left Maui at 1PM instead of 3PM in the same time period as 2010. When you tender in Maui, it doesn't leave much time to even consider going ashore so we didn't.

 

May also be their solution not to add fuel surcharges and make some reconsider cruising.

 

That's sad!:(

Maui is beautiful. We spany 4 days there years ago and if we ever get to Hawaii again will spend the whole trip there.:cool:

[vicocala]

Destination cruisers should always book with the ports and their schedule in mind if that is a priority in your cruise, and many cruises try to be overly port intensive, reducing time in each port.

 

There is far more to port timing than the pure monetary incentives to HAL others have suggested on this thread! Their are many logistics considerations and "pecking" order as to what ships are assigned to what piers in a given port necessitated by shoreside labor availability (pilots, linesmen, security, etc.), maneuvering issues, WEATHER/SEASON, fueling, and maintenance, etc. Also, the ports themselves dictate schedule and pier use, often with the largest ships getting the prime locations and times - HAL's "medium" sized ships are at somewhat of a disadvantage when there are other larger ships in port.

 

I would encourage you to read Captain Albert's blog to get a more realistic perspective of the issues impacting port calls. Obviously Captain Albert is a HAL employee so conspiracy theorists can have full disclosure in reading his posts and their evaluation of them.

 

Since the fuel price spikes in 2008, all cruise lines are factoring fuel burn into the schedule planning. Those who follow the lines, from 2000-2006 or so, many cruise lines were evaluating faster ships that could offer more ports, not so anymore.

 

Off on the Noordam tomorrow, with plenty of time scheduled in the ports!

 

Bon Voyage!

[Bearnaise]

That's sad!:(

Maui is beautiful. We spany 4 days there years ago and if we ever get to Hawaii again will spend the whole trip there.:cool:

Exactly. Some ports demand far more than a day to even scratch. I doubt the OP would have gotten much more out of 2 more hours on Maui. Then again, I really can't understand the virtue of cruising to places that deserve far more time to explore. I like those ports where you pretty much can see everything in a single day, saving the rest for extended land tours.

[Tampa Girl]

Exactly. Some ports demand far more than a day to even scratch. I doubt the OP would have gotten much more out of 2 more hours on Maui. Then again, I really can't understand the virtue of cruising to places that deserve far more time to explore. I like those ports where you pretty much can see everything in a single day, saving the rest for extended land tours.

 

 

Ditto. We look upon these port visits as simply a brief overview of places that we might want to see later on a land vacation.

[Tampa Girl]

The 2014 Grand Med is ending it's itinerary in Civitaveccia, Italy !!

 

In my memory, I can't remember a Grand Med not bringing you back to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

So far, that is the ultimate in cost-cutting, fuel-saving on a cruise.

 

Other lines already do this but HAL didn't until now.

 

I wonder how the bookings are doing.

 

 

Did you mean the 2013 itinerary? I don't see the 2014 November cruises published yet. The 2013 Prinsedam cruise does end in Fort Lauderdale.

[jaguarstyper]

Exactly. Some ports demand far more than a day to even scratch. I doubt the OP would have gotten much more out of 2 more hours on Maui. Then again, I really can't understand the virtue of cruising to places that deserve far more time to explore. I like those ports where you pretty much can see everything in a single day, saving the rest for extended land tours.

Yeah, I feel the same way. No cruise is going to offer enough time to really see a destination in any great detail. All they can to is offer a taste of what is there. For me, that is one thing I like about cruising. I don't really see myself as a "destination cruiser", because I feel that its not really possible. You simply cannot even begin to immerse yourself in any destination on most cruises. That said, I have used the tastes of destinations to make a list of places I want to visit as a true destination and have visited several of them of them over the years and still have quite a few on my list. If you truly want to experience a destination, you need to go there and spend several days there. Cruising will never really allow you to do that.

 

Unfortunately, the reduced times in the ports is making it much more difficult to even get a good enough taste to know if its a entree you want to order in the future. And IMO, that really kind of stinks.

[miketeri]

For whatever the reason, fuel economy, too many old fazzolla's that don't get off the boat, make us spend more money onboard instead of a port, I will make future cruise decisions based on my port times and not just the ports themselves.

 

Doing 2 weeks on the Westerdam on a Collector cruise, getting to a HMC at 7am does no good just a much as leaving a warm island destination at 2:30. Leaving Key West at 4:30 only to travel to FLL when the sun sets after 5 defeats enjoying the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. This all makes no sense.

 

Cruisers who get OFF THE BOAT must really make future decisions with whom they may cruise with accordingly.:eek:

[kazu]

For whatever the reason, fuel economy, too many old fazzolla's that don't get off the boat, make us spend more money onboard instead of a port, I will make future cruise decisions based on my port times and not just the ports themselves.

 

Doing 2 weeks on the Westerdam on a Collector cruise, getting to a HMC at 7am does no good just a much as leaving a warm island destination at 2:30. Leaving Key West at 4:30 only to travel to FLL when the sun sets after 5 defeats enjoying the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. This all makes no sense.

 

Cruisers who get OFF THE BOAT must really make future decisions with whom they may cruise with accordingly.:eek:

 

Unless you are willing to have another day at sea extra (and pay for it) the only way HAL can do HMC and get to FLL in a timely manner is with the schedule that they have.

Part of the timing is dependent upon how long it takes to get to the next stop without having to go at ridiculous speeds which can make the ride rough and much more costly;)

[sail7seas]

Unless you are willing to have another day at sea extra (and pay for it) the only way HAL can do HMC and get to FLL in a timely manner is with the schedule that they have.

 

Part of the timing is dependent upon how long it takes to get to the next stop without having to go at ridiculous speeds which can make the ride rough and much more costly;)

 

 

Sometimes HMC is scheduled as the first port........

It is for the Western Caribbean Itinerary on Westerdam which we just did.

 

It is not always the last port of the cruise.

 

[Maryandi]

Key West does not want a big, old cruiseship at the dock to block the sunset. No ship is to be at the dock after 4:30.

 

The Mallory Square sunset celebration is a part of Key West that they did not want changed.

 

The cruise ships are there all day to see the island.

[cruz chic]

Sometimes HMC is scheduled as the first port........

It is for the Western Caribbean Itinerary on Westerdam which we just did.

 

It is not always the last port of the cruise.

 

Same here.

[TheDarkestBlue]

As much as I love boats, we are cruising primarily for the ports vs ship, and we found 2:30pm all aboard time on some of our recent eastern Caribbean stops way too short. Though we were aware going in, it seemed ok as we like to scout for future land vacations (kind of like a smorgesbord of potential places, you can sample and choose as your tastes allow) but in doing it, there was too much of a rush to get back, not much time to relax and have fun, which is why we venture out to begin with......

[Hawaiidan]

We had not read the itinerary very carefully either when we booked our recent Westerdam Collectors Cruise(s) nor did we pay much attention to the actual time scheduling as we've been to all those ports many times so it surprised us a few days when we saw what a short time the ship was actually in port.

 

We've traveled all these itineraries for years and know the ships have traveled between the same ports in shorter amounts of time allowing for longer visits and we wonder if anyone has paid attention to when they started cruising slower thus arriving later/leaving earlier?

 

We are almost always aboard far before departure so it really didn't impact us particularly but definitely was remarkable and we noticed.

 

We can only guess the reason must be fuel conservation? Travel slower, use less fuel? Is that likely the reason?

 

The ship pays by the hour to dock or anchor. Second, every min. passengers are off the ship they are not spending $ on it they are loosing.

 

Some cruises lines in 7 days only are hitting 2 ports and their" revenue" island, in order to have a captive audience for as long as possible.

[jaguarstyper]

Unless you are willing to have another day at sea extra (and pay for it) the only way HAL can do HMC and get to FLL in a timely manner is with the schedule that they have.

 

Part of the timing is dependent upon how long it takes to get to the next stop without having to go at ridiculous speeds which can make the ride rough and much more costly;)

Did they move HMC recently? In all my Caribbean cruises on HAL, last of which was in 2008, we never left earlier than 5:00, as far as I can recall.

[Krazy Kruizers]

For whatever the reason, fuel economy, too many old fazzolla's that don't get off the boat, make us spend more money onboard instead of a port, I will make future cruise decisions based on my port times and not just the ports themselves.

 

Doing 2 weeks on the Westerdam on a Collector cruise, getting to a HMC at 7am does no good just a much as leaving a warm island destination at 2:30. Leaving Key West at 4:30 only to travel to FLL when the sun sets after 5 defeats enjoying the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. This all makes no sense.

 

Cruisers who get OFF THE BOAT must really make future decisions with whom they may cruise with accordingly.:eek:

 

Sounds as though you should choose another cruise line or not cruise at all.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Did they move HMC recently? In all my Caribbean cruises on HAL, last of which was in 2008, we never left earlier than 5:00, as far as I can recall.

 

All the cruises we have been on, when HMC was the port before going back to Ft Lauderdale we always left at 4.

Now on our recent cruises last spring, we left HMC at 3 PM.

[jaguarstyper]

All the cruises we have been on, when HMC was the port before going back to Ft Lauderdale we always left at 4.

 

Now on our recent cruises last spring, we left HMC at 3 PM.

You could be right about 4:00, I can't honestly remember. But, I do know it was later than 3:00. I suppose its starting to get dark by 5:00 on winter cruises. But, I still do not believe its a matter of distance.

 

The best I can tell, HMC is about 180nm from Ft Lauderdale. So, at an average speed of 15 knots, they can make the trip in less than 12 hours. If they leave at 5:00PM, they can be in Ft Lauderdale by 5:00AM. The published top speed for the Vista ships is 24 knots. 15 knots seems like loping speed to me.