Did Caribbean Princess bypass Roatan

[Cosmos]

Caribbean Princess should be in Roatan today. The Bridge Cam shows it heading to Belize. Does anyone know why they had to skip the port?

[CruiserToo]

I don't know for sure, but it looks to me like rough waters as the ship approached, and possibly they were unable to dock safely. I was watching on the web cam and could see a lot of white caps. I am particularly interested as I will be on this ship in 4 days.

 

 

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[RickEk]

It happens... the approach to Mahogany Bay is very narrow and they will cancel the call if it's too windy.

[eandj]

Princess/Carnival skips Roatan often. The Mahagony Bay private poorly designed port area is not conducive to large ships on windier days. Which unfortunately is often. Ask the staff and they will tell you honestly how often they have recently skipped. Since Carnival's recent disasters (Costa for one) they are being VERY careful at this port. The last thing they need is a bad docking incident, so they are being VERY careful here.

 

If Roatan is a must see for a cruiser, I'd head to Celebrity or another line that uses Coxen Hole to dock., a much better area. Sometimes Princess/Hal/Carnival can head over to Coxen Hole if there aren't too many ships there. However that is not the norm.

 

We made it to Roatan on Celebrity. The next year Princess skipped it on our cruise. :rolleyes: A big enough disappointment that we ended up a month later renting a condo there for 10 super days.;)

Edited January 7, 2014 by eandj

[skynight]

As said, it is very narrow approach to the pier. The ship has to back in. You can see the shallow water on both sides as you approach the pier. Any rough water or wind can cause a non call.

[whataboutport]

Princess/Carnival skips Roatan often. The Mahagony Bay private poorly designed port area is not conducive to large ships on windier days. Which unfortunately is often. Ask the staff and they will tell you honestly how often they have recently skipped. Since Carnival's recent disasters (Costa for one) they are being VERY careful at this port. The last thing they need is a bad docking incident, so they are being VERY careful here.

 

If Roatan is a must see for a cruiser, I'd head to Celebrity or another line that uses Coxen Hole to dock., a much better area. Sometimes Princess/Hal/Carnival can head over to Coxen Hole if there aren't too many ships there. However that is not the norm.

 

We made it to Roatan on Celebrity. The next year Princess skipped it on our cruise. :rolleyes: A big enough disappointment that we ended up a month later renting a condo there for 10 super days.;)

 

I remember our CD mentioning Coxen Hole when we were on the CB in Nov. I didn't actually hear what he said about CH bc as soon as bf heard "Coxen Hole" he burst into laughter. :rolleyes: But I did hear him say something about only sometimes docking there.

 

I hope that since it was too windy to dock there that it's also not too windy for them to make Belize.

[Go South]

We were on this cruise last week, and so far are one of the only ones to get away reasonably on time, stop at all the advertised ports, and get back on time. This itinerary seems dogged with problems of one kind or another.

[5:00_Somewhere]

I don't know for sure, but it looks to me like rough waters as the ship approached, and possibly they were unable to dock safely. I was watching on the web cam and could see a lot of white caps. I am particularly interested as I will be on this ship in 4 days.

 

 

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It happens... the approach to Mahogany Bay is very narrow and they will cancel the call if it's too windy.

 

We are watching the CB very closely, as well, because we board on the 18th.

 

As RickEk and others have said, Mahogany Bay is sometimes missed due to high winds. We've stopped in Roatan on two different cruises in the past 3 or 4 years. The first time, it was smooth sailing in and out. The second time, the Captain made several attempts to get into port in the early morning, but finally pulled back due to high winds. We held position off shore for well over an hour and then the Captain made another attempt. Fortunately, we made it on the second try.

 

Will be interesting to see what they do tomorrow if they missed Roatan today. Hopefully they give it another try. Fingers crossed for us all. ;)

Edited January 7, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[Yuk0n Jack]

What does the ship do typically when a port can't be reached - slowly proceed to next port to arrive when scheduled?

[JimmyVWine]

What does the ship do typically when a port can't be reached - slowly proceed to next port to arrive when scheduled?

It typically takes a circuitous route to arrive on time rather than slowing down. Many times the reason for skipping a port is wind and waves. If that is the case, slowing down could become a little uncomfortable for the passengers.

Edited January 7, 2014 by JimmyVWine

[satxdiver]

We were able to visit Roatan on our cruise the second week of December. The weather was cooperative. The ship has to maintain a fairly fast forward speed in rough water/high winds to maintain its stability. You do not want to be aboard a ship that is stopped or traveling slowly in rough water/winds.

 

In all the ships I have sailed, the captains have been conservative about going into ports which I am all for even if we have to miss a port. Better safe than sorry. There will always be tomorrow.

[planb]

We sail in March and hoper that approaching spring will bring better weather and the ports will be there. I did get some good advice to plan the shore excursion from the ship so you won't worry about refunded or missed ports. Made sense since lots of post of fog and missed ports.

[Cruzin-K]

We made all the ports on the Nov 30 cruise.

 

The approach to Roatan was interesting to watch. It took a long time to dock once we got close to the island. We had to do a 180 and then back very slowly to the dock. When we left, after dark, the Captain told us to watch the lights (buoys) on either side of the ship, so we could get a feel for how narrow the space is that we had to sail through.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Cruzin-K

[azbirdmom]

Last week we were on our balcony on the port side when the ship slowly backed into the rear position at the dock at Mahogany Bay. It did take quite a while and we both remarked how precise docking needed to be given the buoys and other boats so close off the starboard side. It really is a shame that it's so difficult to get into as Roatan is a gem of a stop, and we're glad that we were some of the lucky few cruising on the Caribbean Princess who made it there.

Edited January 9, 2014 by azbirdmom

[Cozumel Parrot]

I was on the Caribbean Princess last week, from 1/4 - 1/11. We did indeed miss the Roatan port scheduled for Tuesday 1/7. The captain said the wind was too high and waves too choppy to make the port.

 

The captain also said he considered going back to Belize but that was not doable because of weather as well. We ended up circling for a day and then went to Belize as scheduled the next day. That same night, the evening's big show in the Princess Theater, was canceled because the ship was rocking so bad it wasn't safe for the entertainers.

 

Hope you have better luck than we did. On 6 of the 7 days, we had very cloudy skies and rain. Was drizzling when we boarded on 1/4, and it was rainy and dreary until Friday 1/10 the last day of the cruise, which was the only sunny day.

 

We did visit Cozumel and Belize. Cozumel was rainy all day but we visited friends and were indoors all day so no problem. On Belize, we had a combination Mayan ruins/river cruise excursion. For the Mayan part it was cloudy but the rain held off so that was fine. But the river cruise was in an open-air boat and it rained, soaking everyone. Fine with me but my wife was miserable. Other passengers said their snorkeling excursion on Belize had to be cancelled because of choppy water making people seasick.

 

Overall, a bad experience. I chose this cruise because it was the "dry season", and we got rained on the whole time.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know for sure, but it looks to me like rough waters as the ship approached, and possibly they were unable to dock safely. I was watching on the web cam and could see a lot of white caps. I am particularly interested as I will be on this ship in 4 days.

 

 

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Edited January 12, 2014 by Cozumel Parrot

[Colo Cruiser]

I was on the Caribbean Princess last week, from 1/4 - 1/11. We did indeed miss the Roatan port on Tuesday 1/8. The captain said the wind was too high and waves too choppy to make the port.

 

The captain also said he considered going back to Belize but that was not doable because of weather as well. We ended up circling for a day and then went to Belize as scheduled the next day. That same night, the evening's big show in the Princess Theater, was canceled because the ship was rocking so bad it wasn't safe for the entertainers.

 

Hope you have better luck than we did. On 6 of the 7 days, we had very cloudy skies and rain. Didn't see the sun at all from Sunday 1/5 until Friday 1/10, Friday, the last day of the cruise, was the only sunny day. We did visit Cozumel and Belize and fortunately for me my port activities were of the bar-hopping variety not outdoors/water, because rain and cold and wind ruined those activities everywhere we went.

 

Overall, a bad experience. I chose this cruise because it was the "dry season", and we got rained on the whole time.

 

Thanks for following up.

 

Welcome to CC! Post often. :)

[eandj]

I was on the Caribbean Princess last week, from 1/4 - 1/11. We did indeed miss the Roatan port scheduled for Tuesday 1/7. The captain said the wind was too high and waves too choppy to make the port.

 

 

Overall, a bad experience. I chose this cruise because it was the "dry season", and we got rained on the whole time.

 

 

Sorry to hear about your bad weather cruise. Some people don't really seem to upsedt when weather affects their cruises. It DOES me. I look forward to sun and warmth, since cruising during our cold weather at home. Have never "lost" more than a day or two of a cruise with rain and cold. You really had a rare experience.

[eandj]

What does the ship do typically when a port can't be reached - slowly proceed to next port to arrive when scheduled?

 

 

Generally yes. It becomes a sea day onboard. The staff has to do some adjusting with entertainment, meals etc to try and keep everyone happy.

[QueenofEverything]

I guess they are missing Cozumel this week. The bridgecam shows them headed for Roatan. I assume this us because they departed almost 6 hours late yesterday.

[wdrl]

I guess they are missing Cozumel this week. The bridgecam shows them headed for Roatan. I assume this us because they departed almost 6 hours late yesterday.

 

I was wondering that myself. We are on the February 8th cruise so we are curious on what happens with delays. Of course this delay was more lengthy because of fog delaying the return and then sanitizing the ship at the port because of a norovirus outbreak. It seems the current CDC policy really works and cleans the ships of the dreaded virus so I hope the passengers onboard this week have a healthy cruise.

[Cozumel Parrot]

I was wondering that myself. We are on the February 8th cruise so we are curious on what happens with delays. Of course this delay was more lengthy because of fog delaying the return and then sanitizing the ship at the port because of a norovirus outbreak. It seems the current CDC policy really works and cleans the ships of the dreaded virus so I hope the passengers onboard this week have a healthy cruise.

 

They are apparently not missing Cozumel. They have a new itinerary:

 

Roatan (Tuesday 1/14)

Belize (Wednesday 1/15)

Cozumel (Thursday 1/16)

 

I assume the moved Cozumel from Monday to Thursday because of the virus?

Edited January 12, 2014 by Cozumel Parrot

[carma7007]

I was on the CB as well 1/4-1/11/14

 

It rained in every port. We got SOAKED in Tulum. It was a hard rain and a long walk back to bus in pouring rain and the road flooded so you just went with it. Should have brought more towels.

 

The ferry ride back was not fun either. We never spent any time in Playa del Carmen or Cozumel. We didn't arrive back until 5pm.

 

I wish the new passengers great weather and excellent health.

 

We still had a great time!

[azbirdmom]

They are apparently not missing Cozumel. They have a new itinerary:

 

Roatan (Tuesday 1/14)

Belize (Wednesday 1/15)

Cozumel (Thursday 1/16)

 

I assume the moved Cozumel from Monday to Thursday because of the virus?

 

It's good that Princess is juggling the schedule due to the late start to at least make an attempt to get to all ports. Hope it all works out!

[Cozumel Parrot]

It's good that Princess is juggling the schedule due to the late start to at least make an attempt to get to all ports. Hope it all works out!

 

One thing that frustrated me was why, after missing Roatan on Tuesday 1/8, the boat couldn't have gone back to Roatan on Thursday, 1/10?

 

I'm sure there's some kind of rational logistical reason, but it was disappointing not to stop in SOME port on that Thursday to make up for what was lost ... :(

[shipmate29]

Since they left 7 hours late, they are head directly for Roatan, but will stop at Cozumel on the way back. Kudos to Princess for making the change. I hope their weather is sunny and warm!