Worst port ever visited.

[Southbound]

[font=Tahoma][size=3][color=navy]San Blas Islands, Panama. Awful. Couldn't get back on the tender fast enough! [/color][/size][/font]

[rosinryanz]

[quote name='Southbound'][font=Tahoma][size=3][color=navy]San Blas Islands, Panama. Awful. Couldn't get back on the tender fast enough! [/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

What was bad in San Blas? Furthermore, what is there to do?

[RevNeal]

Thursday is definitely the "heavy day" at Grand Cayman. Here's the list of ships due there on November 17, 2005, their times at harbor, and their passenger capacity:

Rhapsody of The Seas (RCI) = 7 am - 4 pm = 2435
Westerdam (HAL) = 8 am - 4 pm = 1773
Jewel of the Seas (RCI) = 7 am - 4 pm = 2100
Radiance of the Seas (RCI) = 8 am - 5 pm = 2500
Carnival Valor = 9 am - 5:30 pm = 3700
Star Princess = 0:00 pm (yes, that's what it says) - 7 pm = 1625
Coral Princess = 7 am - 5 pm = 1950
Sea Princess = 7 am - 5 pm = 1950
Zenith (Celebrity) = 8 am - 5 pm = 1374
Carnival Conquest = 7 am - 4pm = 3700
Holiday Dream (Mallorca)= 8:29 am - 5 pm = 758

TOTAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS AT GRAND CAYMAN: 23,865
Population of Crand Cayman (without cruise ships): 37,083

In other words, a total mass of people roughly equal to 64% of the current population of the island will be coming ashore. YIKES!

Of course this schedule might be a bit wrong ... they still have the Noordam listed as calling on Friday. But ... there isn't a Noordam in service now or this November. So ... this schedule could be wrong. There might be MORE ships at anchor that Thursday! God help us! No ... scratch that. God help the people of Grand Cayman.

[Landlubber54]

[quote name='dippy']Puerto Bacyardo[/QUOTE]

[font=Arial Black][color=blue]VERY funny![/color][/font]

[font=Arial Black][color=blue]Just about anywhere is better.:D [/color][/font]

[Southbound]

[font=Tahoma][size=3][color=navy]rosinryanz -- For starters, see post #21 by ryansmemom. There is only one English word spoken on the island ("dollar") and we'd hear it directed at us with every step we took. It is a cluster of little islands, all at sea level, covered with ramshackle lean-tos where the natives display their handmade molas (very colorful). The initial assumption is that they reside there amidst much poverty; but as the ship was readying to leave, there was a mass exodus by the natives via their boats. We were later told the tribe owned most of the islands in that area and were, in fact, quite well off. How accurate that information is, I can't say. I do know the harassment and unpleasant atmosphere was a main topic of conversation by many pax once back on board, and some who had purchased molas as a goodwill gesture felt they had been snookered. Also, while we were anchored, the tribe's chief, along with two or three native women, came on board and set up a display of molas by the Lido pool and anyone who was interested in making a purchase could do so. Much more pleasant way to spend a few $, if one so chose to.[/color][/size][/font]

[babyher]

[quote name='revneal']Ut-oh. This November the Westerdam is schedule to drop anchor there with NINE other Cruise Ships, all on the same day. 4 Biggies, and 5 of them the size of the Westerdam or smaller.

Perhaps we'd better stay aboard and enjoy an "extra day at sea" ?[/QUOTE]


Yikes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be in Grand Cayman on that day

Oh Well looks like another lazy "Sea Day" for me. :) :) :)

[arzz]

Spent 14 days on Grand Cayman about 20 years ago. We spent half of our time in a condo on the North Shore and half of the time in a condo at the far end of seven mile beach. Except for the most expensive restaurant meals that we have eaten anywhere, bar none, even 20 years later, we loved our stay. The islanders were wonderful, kind people who were easy to get to know. There was the time that we stupidly got the rental car stuck in the sand on a road that converted from pavement to sand in the blink of an eye, and a local gentleman went out of his way to help us out expecting (and accepting) nothing in return. We felt very safe there and could have stayed on the North Shore indefinitely had we had the funds to do so. The beaches were beautiful, the coral reefs on the north shore exquisite. Even in those days we stayed out of town on cruise ship days -- and 20 years ago a large ship held about 700 passengers, and they came into port one or two at a time.

For old times sake we got off the Zaandam at Grand Cayman in December. There were several ships in port, and downtown was ridiculous. We returned to the ship within a few minutes. I would not list Grand Cayman among my worst ports but I am very sad to see what has happened to a lovely island as well as to read all of your comments.

[Pete Jackson]

Although it was a disembarkation port, and not a port of call, Norfolk :mad: was so bad that it has to be tops on the list of worst ports that we have visited!

The space there is wholly inadequate with great confusion about picking up luggage, and with hardly any room for the buses on their tiny circle, let alone any taxis or car rentaL vans.

They say that a new terminal is under construction, but that doesn't excuse the shabby treatment of pax disembarking at the current facility, which I have dubbed 'Barficus' :mad: rather than honoring it with its real name.

My wife who has difficulty walking suffered humiliating treatment while we were trying to get away at our disembarkation last October 15th from a wonderful :) Canada-NE cruise on the Maasdam. We wrote a letter to HAL who, of course, say it's not their facility but that doesn't wash because at every other place, there are HAL personnel off the ship assisting.

We thought, as we waited in the confusion for hours, that things would finally settle one everybody had left, but no way, the arriving people for the next cruise soon started adding to the jam, and that's probably where all the HAL personnel went, assisting the new arrivals and helping in the turnover of the ship.

My advice for anybody arriving at Barficus :mad: and not flying out is to take the HAL shuttle to the airport and pick up taxis/rental cars there. Although one would still face a hubbub getting on these shuttles, at least they got priority into the miserable little circle.

[Randyk47]

For me the worst port was Dominica but that was 11 years ago when the Ryndam went there for what was maybe only its third of fourth time. There was nothing.....virtually no tours/excursions.....no shopping.....no beach....no nothing. Back in the early 90's Dominica for me made me miss Nassau.....which is still my all time "been there, done that" and don't need to go back to port.

[2floridacruzers]

Santa Domingo - met by armed police and non-English speaking tour guides - a very scary situation :eek: - Anne Kendall

[anngie]

I was dying to put my choice of 2nd worst port but only one was asked for so Puerto Plata is so bad that the other bad ones are not even close.
Jakedoc, I wonder why you thought Progreso is so bad. Some of the best times that we have had in a port have been in Progreso or Merida.
If you have not been to Progreso lately the Mexican Govt has poured quite of bit of money in there. The beach is renourished and is a delightful place to spend the day now. The people who live there are very friendly and really want you to come back. The beach chairs are free to use and drinks are even served to you at a cheap price by nice young people. There is a good flea market in the middle of downtown of Progreso. Lots of locals have booths with crafts and locally bottled liqueurs and if you have not ever been to Merida it is a very pretty old town with a lot of beautiful historical buildings and houses.

[RuthC]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]It's kind of funny, but ever since this thread started I've been trying to think of my personal "worst" port, and I can't come up with one! [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]Sure, some ports were much better than others, and there are many that I don't feel the need to return to, but every port I ever visited has some good memories associated with it. [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]I've seen incredible poverty, and kind people. There has been the marvels of nature and man's handiwork to view. I realize how fortunate I am to live where and as I do, and to cruise this glorious world. [/color][/size][/font]

[babyher]

Very nicely said Ruth :)


I feel the same way, some places have been nicer than others, and some places I can do without and don't need to go back to.

But it does make you count your blessings when you do visit someplace terribly poverty ravaged or filthy or whatever , (especially on a cruise) that you can just turn around and get back on that beautiful ship and leave it behind you.

It does change your perspective on things.

[blackbird71]

[quote name='RuthC'][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]It's kind of funny, but ever since this thread started I've been trying to think of my personal "worst" port, and I can't come up with one! [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]Sure, some ports were much better than others, and there are many that I don't feel the need to return to, but every port I ever visited has some good memories associated with it. [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]I've seen incredible poverty, and kind people. There has been the marvels of nature and man's handiwork to view. I realize how fortunate I am to live where and as I do, and to cruise this glorious world. [/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

Nicely said.. And never forget you are on a cruise... :). As I have pointed out San Juan is the only port I recently did not get off the ship... But I had a ship to myself :) And watched a fuel barge come and fill up the ship... OK after they got the hoses connected, it was boring but it was just out side my balcony and something I have never seen.

[harrodsfan]

[[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue] Caracas. The poverty there is unreal! The stelling - louting - having to be guarded with men carrying M'16s and M'4s and youare only allowed to shop in a couple of stores. We had guards on the buses.[/color][/font][/b]
I agree with Caracas. Have traveled all over the world..India, Yeman, Myamar seem very civilized compared to venezula. Trash just thrown everywhere. wE went out a morning tour in which our tour guide hyjacked us for a full day tour with no food...Most of the time we were stuck in traffic. wE got back to the ship at 3:30...

[Sophiesmom2]

Ft. Lauderdale...because they made me get off the ship. :mad:

[aaannnthony]

Yesterday, I took the consensus of the "worst" nominees on this board and the Princess board, and, began a poll of the ten "wurst" on the Princess board. So, just to have one final evaluation, please go to the Princess board and cast your vote!

[Slinkiecat]

[quote name='Krazy Kruizers'][b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue]Grand Cayman - we have been there many times when there were 8 - 10 ships and it is a zoo with the tendering. We even had a bad time tendering there just this past May when there were only 3 ships anchored.[/color][/font][/b]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]The big problem here - HAL choses to use their own tenders while the majority of the other cruise lines use the island tenders - and they have priority in docking at the tender piers.[/color][/font][/b]
[/QUOTE]

On our world cruise the first port was to be GC, but since we had to use local tenders, and the water was a bit rough, we were not allowed to anchor. We had to skip that port, and our first stop out of FLL was then Cartagena. I had read Rev. Neal's reports on that port and was a bit suspicious of the town, but other than wearing cheap jewelry, we made no concession there.

We were deluged by vendors and guides (we did allow one to show us around), but we saw the city, the churches, and the emerald dealers. I did find some nice gold and emerald jewelry, so I left Cartagena very happy. The sun was shining, BTW.

Slinkie

[Slinkiecat]

[quote name='RuthC'][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]It's kind of funny, but ever since this thread started I've been trying to think of my personal "worst" port, and I can't come up with one! [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]Sure, some ports were much better than others, and there are many that I don't feel the need to return to, but every port I ever visited has some good memories associated with it. [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]I've seen incredible poverty, and kind people. There has been the marvels of nature and man's handiwork to view. I realize how fortunate I am to live where and as I do, and to cruise this glorious world. [/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

I'm with you here, Ruth. We saw some 40 ports on the world cruise, and while some were fabulous, others forgettable, and some had some negative aspects (terrible weather - DUH!!! - That happens everywhere), beggars, aggressive vendors (we saw way more than we wanted to of those in the beautiful Bali) and arrival on Sunday (for us in the Seychelles, again a beautiful place but nothing for tourists to do on Sunday), and the fabulous shopping in Hong Kong, even though it was cold and rainy when we were there. The possible disappointment for me was Ascension Island, where it was restful but boring. But without that stop we would have had five days at sea, crossing the Atlantic from Africa, so I understand how the cruise lines have to plan the itinerary. There just are not a lot of places to stop in some of those great oceans.

Some posters mentioned ports in Mexico as being unpleasant, but we loved them. Mostly we tried to mingle with the natives and go to their shopping areas, and that was very educational. We were able to pick up a couple of small items we hadn't packed and needed, like a battery operated clock, which we bought for less than $2 in a local store, and a really beautiful fire opal ring at a great price, much appreciated when we looked at the prices of opals in Australia of comparable color. I could have shopped forever in some of the Mexican ports, but that was early in our cruise and we knew we would be back some day.

This whole world is amazing, and sometimes a port may disappoint us simply because we don't have time to see the parts of it that interest us most.

Slinkie

[dippy]

[quote name='Landlubber54'][font=Arial Black][color=blue]VERY funny![/color][/font]

[font=Arial Black][color=blue]Just about anywhere is better.:D [/color][/font][/QUOTE]

Thanks! It's about time someone recognized the humour. Actually, it is the only cruise joke I know :D I know it's sad!

[Boatdrill]

[quote name='BruceMuzz']Miami has to be the worst port I have visited.
Dirty, dangerous.
Military and police everywhere - all carrying guns.
Very rude locals. Many do not speak English.
Taxis dirty and falliing apart.
Taxi drivers who don't speak English or know where anything is.
The sound of gunfire here and there.
Airport very disorganized.
Port area very disorganized[/QUOTE]


That's priceless ! Thanks :D

[CHRIS3169]

With very limited experience in cruising but lots in traveling!
Costa Maya-don't go unless you only want to see the ruins.

[ORDPLATAA]

Costa Maya - great if you want to go to the ruins but a huge letdown after Grand Cayman's shopping and the beaches of HMC. We took a cab over to the next town (I don't even want to try & spell it) and, outside of some really tasty guacamole, not a whole bunch to get excited about.