How often is Roatan missed?

[KatieCharlotte]

Last month, I watched the Dream and the Magic dock side-by-side in MB with no problems. On cruise critic, we tend to only hear about the misses, not the many times the ships dock without problems. So don't think you're doomed to miss it.

 

But iti s an issue, which Carnival obviously doesn't warn its customers about beforehand. Our tour guide said the captain of the Dream is overly cautious, to put it politely, but obviously the guides are not happy about losing revenue when the ship doesn't dock and Carnival isn't happy when a captain damages the ship, and it looks pretty tricky to dock, especially with a larger ship.

 

Don't feel you have to book with Carnival because there are private tours that are refundable or don't make you pay in advance. We loved Bodden tours, which doesn't require any payment info beforehand, just a cash payment partway through the tour.

[aprilcruisers]

Just got off the Crown.

 

We had to miss the port because of high winds. Could not dock. Spent another day at sea, which was nice, but missed our excursions. Maybe next time...

[eandj]

Yep...we missed it once too while cruising the Crown. I'm thinking that Carnival isn't going to be taking ANY chances with that port of call considering all the bad PR as of late. So if there's any wind, they aren't docking. Better to cruise on Celebrity or Royal if Roatan is a MUST.

 

It's really a shame.:(

[goldne]

We also missed Roatan on the liberty back in march. Very disappointing.

[Jettalinc]

What seems to be the most common time of year to miss this port?

[texancruzer]

Anytime its windy the ships have a really hard time getting into Mahogany Bay. It can be windy any time of the year.......

[eandj]

We missed Roatan in late Jan. on our Princess cruise. But the RCL ships were having no trouble in Coxen Hole.

Like Texancruiser said, there's no one time of year that Mahagony Bay is affected. 50-50 chances lately. Carnival (and their other lines) will take NO chances any longer.

[EditorDiva]

Two weeks ago on our Carnival cruise, we had to bypass MB port due to rough seas. Luckily for us, we got to dock at Coxen Hole and were the only cruise ship there that day. MB excursions were canceled for all that had them, and some people were pretty upset. We had a Maya Key excursion so were still good to go. So hopefully for you, if MB has to be missed you can still dock at Coxen Hole and enjoy Roatan. It was by far one of my favorite places in terms of pure beauty!

[reno3]

We missed Mahogany two weeks ago. We docked in Coxen. We had a cabana rented and that was canceled.

[maxine10018]

We were there 5 years ago on the Legend. There was a pier then, but no cruise shops. The local markets lined the street right by the pier. Was that MB or Coxen Hole? Anyone know? Thank you

 

PS. We are on the Dream June 8, 2013

[eandj]

We were there 5 years ago on the Legend. There was a pier then, but no cruise shops. The local markets lined the street right by the pier. Was that MB or Coxen Hole? Anyone know? Thank you

 

PS. We are on the Dream June 8, 2013

 

You will be at MB this time. 5 years ago you were at CH.

[skittl1321]

I doubt Carnival is worrying too much about making MB more easily accessible. If they miss the port, that is more on board revenue for them.

 

 

MB is Carnival's- and so many cruisers stay there that they make a ton of money. I don't think MOST people venture out of MB. Carnival doesn't want to miss this port.

 

(Heck even ports they don't own- it is bad for business to miss ports. Missed ports don't make happy cruisers in the long run, even if the cruise line might make more money that day in on board revenues.)

[JimAOk1945]

Sorry to hear you missed going ashore at Roatan.

 

I guess we were lucky when we went there. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Roatan Shore Excursion http://nancysoasis.com/roatan/roatan.html

[chudster]

Zombie thread arise! :)

 

Seriously though, I thought I'd bring this thread back to the top since my family just got back from our first cruise ever: a Carnival Magic 7-day cruise (August 16-23), and we missed Roatan due to high winds: the captain said safety came first, which I appreciated at the time.

 

However after reading this thread, and learning that some of this may have to do with the design of Carnival's port in Roatan, I am thinking I will try Royal Caribbean for our next cruise.

An R.C. ship was side by side with us all the way from Galveston to the Western Caribbean, and they made it into Roatan just fine.

 

Don't get me wrong, our cruise was fun, and we enjoyed Cozumel and Belize a lot.

But I'd heard that Roatan was supposed to be a very pretty port, so we were disappointed to not see it.

 

Also, missing Roatan gave us an extra "sea day" coming back (3 instead of 2), which was a bit much.

 

The Carnival staff was all very friendly: bartenders, waiters, room stewards, etc all greeted us by name with smiles every time we saw them throughout the trip.

 

We might try Royal Carribean next time though, and try to see Roatan.

[JennSTX]

I was on Carnival Magic this past August and they announced that we would not be able to dock at Mahogany bay due to weather but would instead dock Coxen Hole. We did with no problems and our tour people knew of this change and were there to meet us!

 

We watched the RCC dock and their passengers get out - but our ship just watched. One of the crew said that had we docked an hour earlier (the RCC ship docked 45 min before us) the winds would have been more favorable.

 

I'm so bummed that we missed this port :(

[Nadiaslash]

Back from the Magic cruise as well. This was our first cruise. Our best excursion was scheduled at Roatan. We missed it and I would have chosen RC if I had known about this issue. A nice cruise otherwise, but I am done with Carnival.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Nadiaslash

[crewsweeper]

RCCL docks in Coxen Hole. It's an entirely different sea environment than the old Dixon Cove where Mahogany Bay is located. The cove is very narrow and shallow. Doesn't take much wind to push the water. Ships back in, so they can pull out easier in the afternoon. That's a whole different ball game than pulling into a port bow first. If there was another ship scheduled to be in MBCC with your ship and they arrived first and will leave first, they probably took the berth nearest the ocean, meaning the Magic, big ship as it is, would have had to back up further into the cove under windy conditions, risking collision and really ruining two sets of passengers cruises. So yes safety first.

 

I understand it can be disappointing not to dock in a port, and for some sea days aren't eventful...just chill and appreciate the down time and money saved on excursions. Not the end of the world.

 

RCCL has been starting to direct some cruises to the mainland and if that happens on the RCCL cruise you book, you'll miss Roatan again. So check itineraries carefully. And just grin and bear it as to the weather.

[Nadiaslash]

You can chill and I will choose better odds next time and skip Carnival. Here is what a Long time Carnival employee told me: This captain on the Magic is fairly green and had it been a the one he knew before with many years of experience he would have made Thursday a sea day and gotten to another port Friday. That is what the experienced captain did in fact.

 

It was not a storm, just some wind. Not a proper port!

[crewsweeper]

Not a proper port!

 

Can't say I disagree with you there. I've always scratched my head as to why they built the place there. Used to be an eco-oriented teen camp. My sense is it wasn't pulling in enough $ for the local owner, who is a relatively powerful politician in the country and owns a lot of property on the island. Plus Coxen Hole's pier is limited to one ship and perhaps a second anchoring out so there was/is a local economic need to increase berthing space. Dixon Cove just "happened to be available" for a joint venture.

 

But unless that crew member was on the bridge when the "green" captain ( and all ship Captains have tons of experience in many different conditions) made his choice, and has been on the bridge steering the boat, the crew member is just speculating like the rest of us. Remember, there's a local pilot on board who can give the captain local condition information and helps direct the steering. I'm sure his "experience" and "advice" was part of the captain's decision.

[Turn7]

You can chill and I will choose better odds next time and skip Carnival. Here is what a Long time Carnival employee told me: This captain on the Magic is fairly green and had it been a the one he knew before with many years of experience he would have made Thursday a sea day and gotten to another port Friday. That is what the experienced captain did in fact.

 

It was not a storm, just some wind. Not a proper port!

 

This is a picture of the "nasty" weather that kept the ship from docking. Either the Captain has a p.o.'ed girlfriend in that port or he needs to resign and let a qualified person be in charge. It is laughable that he nixed the port for the conditions.

[edit...well, not laughable in the litteraly translation since I got shafted on visiting Roatan. :) If I cruise out of Galveston again, I'll make sure its with the Cruise company that can and not Carnival that can't]

 

 

Edited August 24, 2015 by Turn7

[kwbound]

RCCL docks in Coxen Hole. It's an entirely different sea environment than the old Dixon Cove where Mahogany Bay is located. The cove is very narrow and shallow. Doesn't take much wind to push the water. Ships back in, so they can pull out easier in the afternoon. That's a whole different ball game than pulling into a port bow first. If there was another ship scheduled to be in MBCC with your ship and they arrived first and will leave first, they probably took the berth nearest the ocean, meaning the Magic, big ship as it is, would have had to back up further into the cove under windy conditions, risking collision and really ruining two sets of passengers cruises. So yes safety first.

 

I understand it can be disappointing not to dock in a port, and for some sea days aren't eventful...just chill and appreciate the down time and money saved on excursions. Not the end of the world.

 

RCCL has been starting to direct some cruises to the mainland and if that happens on the RCCL cruise you book, you'll miss Roatan again. So check itineraries carefully. And just grin and bear it as to the weather.

 

I hadn't heard that. Where on the mainland did they go? Was it day of decision were passengers informed prior to sailing?

[tonit964]

This is a picture of the "nasty" weather that kept the ship from docking. Either the Captain has a p.o.'ed girlfriend in that port or he needs to resign and let a qualified person be in charge. It is laughable that he nixed the port for the conditions.

[edit...well, not laughable in the litteraly translation since I got shafted on visiting Roatan. :) If I cruise out of Galveston again, I'll make sure its with the Cruise company that can and not Carnival that can't]

 

 

 

I was on this cruise and I knew something was up when I saw the Navigator docked but we were just sitting there in the middle of the ocean, not moving.

 

I went to guest services to make sure it wasn't a tender port but I knew it wasn't. I told my DH, we are not making it there today.

 

I completely understand if it is not safe to stop at a port due to weather for safety reasons, but I don't get why RC was able to dock.They were behind us the whole way except for that port when they gained on us in the evening. When I went out on the balcony early in the morning, there is the Navigator in front of us on its way in to Roatan.

 

Also, why didn't the Captain try to go to an alternate port?

 

The comedian at the comedy club that night had a field day making fun of the Captain, the jokes were hilarious and true! He had the Italian accent down perfectly.

[crewsweeper]

I hadn't heard that. Where on the mainland did they go? Was it day of decision were passengers informed prior to sailing?

It's called Banana Coast it's in Trujillo. But in my double check, I think it's NCL and Holland that have gone there. Not RCCL. I apologize for the mis information:o

 

But if a ship is scheduled to dock there it would be listed in the original cruise itinerary. Once underway, for a ship to change itinerary takes a lot of doing (usually a massive TS or Hurricane, or a sudden "political" event) there's a lot of paperwork and country/port approval to be conducted before changing ports.

Edited August 25, 2015 by crewsweeper

[crewsweeper]

Also, why didn't the Captain try to go to an alternate port?

 

The comedian at the comedy club that night had a field day making fun of the Captain, the jokes were hilarious and true! He had the Italian accent down perfectly.

 

See my post above. There are 2 ports on Roatan. Coxen Hole where the navigator docked and Mahogany Bay where Carnival Lines ships (Carnival, Princess, HAL, etc) dock. Carnival ships have been known to dock at Coxen Hole in recent years if there are no other ships scheduled there and if Mahogany Bay isn't accessible. But the dock only holds one ship, in this case the Navigator, which was scheduled to dock there fromt he beginning, not because it "beat" you to Roatan.

 

I'm sorry your ship missed Roatan, it's a great place to visit. Beautiful beaches. I hope you get a chance to go there again.

[tonit964]

See my post above. There are 2 ports on Roatan. Coxen Hole where the navigator docked and Mahogany Bay where Carnival Lines ships (Carnival, Princess, HAL, etc) dock. Carnival ships have been known to dock at Coxen Hole in recent years if there are no other ships scheduled there and if Mahogany Bay isn't accessible. But the dock only holds one ship, in this case the Navigator, which was scheduled to dock there fromt he beginning, not because it "beat" you to Roatan.

 

I'm sorry your ship missed Roatan, it's a great place to visit. Beautiful beaches. I hope you get a chance to go there again.

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Of course it's not a "race" to see who gets there first and the ships have scheduled places to dock. My bad!

 

I'm looking forward to going back someday and getting to see it.