Worst Cruise Ports

[Isklaar]

Worst port ever ?

Richards Bay, South Africa. It's an industrial port specialising in coal. There's coal everywhere, it's all you can see. Ugly port, nothing to do there.

[Aquahound]

Jamaica.

 

Agreed!

 

I'm not sure if this counts but Princess Cay is a complete waste of a day. I'd rather just sail around the island for the day. Bad beaches (too crowded), bad food and bad snorkeling. I know people love it however. I just don't see it.

 

I also agree. I've been to all the private islands and Princess Cays is by far my least favorite.

[jocap]

No, no, no.

Mistaken identity, Jo. :rolleyes:

 

As any six-year-old will tell you, Santa is alive and well and currently hard at work in his grotto in Greenland, wrapping presents in time for Christmas. :D

 

JB :)

Right! :cool:

So- Somebody was stolen from Turkey, and ended up in Bari (and Venice), and the Turks want him back.

Better ask Santa... :rolleyes:

[sail7seas]

Agree with Martinique and Samana.

I agree about Martinique. We've been a number of times and it fails togrow on me.

Edited September 20, 2016 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

Agree with Martinique and Samana.

I agree about Martinique. We've been a number of times and it fails to grow on me.

[grand isle joe]

Agreed!

 

 

 

I also agree. I've been to all the private islands and Princess Cays is by far my least favorite.

 

I second that agreement.

[ronandannette]

Disagree with many of the "worsts" that have been mentioned. We've been to Ensenada a number of times and always find something different to do (golfing, vineyard tours, etc.). We also LOVED Ocho Rios, Nassau and Belize City - the latter being one of the most hospitable welcome we've ever received. Others that have been mentioned as losers that we liked are Icy Strait Point and St. Maarten.

 

On the flip-side, our absolute least-favourite stops of all time are at the private islands. We just hate them. As my son so aptly puts it "these aren't places, they're fake places". If I never saw Half Moon Cay, Labadee or Cocoa Cay again I'd be all the happier. We also had an absolutely dreadful time on St. Lucia and wouldn't get off the boat again there either. Astoria, Oregon is a complte head-scratcher; why even stop the ship? Just head straight down the coast another couple of hours and port somewhere worthwhile.

Edited September 20, 2016 by ronandannette

[JAF1]

Jamaica, Bahamas, Harwich(UK), Icy Straight, and Cozumel.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Harwich is only a small port but just down the road is Colchester which is the oldest recorded town in England and has some very fine Roman remains and interesting places to visit but as it is on a river which is not wide enough or deep enough to dock a cruise ship they dock at Harwich instead. Harwich has an excellent train link direct into London.

[barante]

Granted we all have our individual reasons for our preferences, but I must say Ensenada was a pleasant surprise. We were coming from Hawaii and stopped there. We soon realized it was a dusty dorp without much of anything. Then, walking on one of the main drags, we happened on Hussong's cantina https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150770-d153539-Reviews-Hussong_s_Cantina-Ensenada_Ensenada_Municipality_Baja_California.html What first attracted us to Hussong's were hats of cowboys on a window ledge. Inside the bar, complete with shavings on the floor, was a gag of all kinds of people who cheered for a bridal party in progress in one corner of the bar. Margarita supposedly was invented there.

 

Also, on the way back to the ship we saw a big crafts area that was within a walking distance of the pier.

 

Now on to Falmouth. A great place. We had previously been to Jamaica where my wife got an obligatory braiding jobs while I defended myself against bar girls high as kites making all kinds of intriguing propositions. After they lost their interest in me, their boy friends came. Mon, buy some ganja, buy some weed.

 

I think Falmouth is totally underrated. Number one: RCL has created its fake Jamaican village, with shops and restaurants but also an occasional reggae band. That's almost enough for the weak-hearted. (Don't worry. When I bought a bottle of water from a vendor inside the compound he asked whether I also wanted weed).

 

We took a culinary tour in Falmouth, a quite well preserved Caribbean town. Five stops, each with different types of eats, from meat pies to jerky chicken. It was a rainy day. The tour company gave us ponchos and water. The whole tour was by walking.

 

Falmouth looked like an interesting place. If only one could there more often without also visiting the Cayman's, which I like less and less every time I go there.

Edited September 21, 2016 by barante

[jamessemaj]

It's interesting to see the different perspectives on various ports. I think every place has redeeming value but you have to find it. I hated St. Johns, USVI. But my experience there was just the rude taxi drivers taking you into the hideous shopping area. I won't bother to get off the ship next visit.

[barante]

. . . our absolute least-favourite stops of all time are at the private islands. We just hate them. As my son so aptly puts it "these aren't places, they're fake places". If I never saw Half Moon Cay, Labadee or Cocoa Cay again I'd be all the happier. We also had an absolutely dreadful time on St. Lucia and wouldn't get off the boat again there either. Astoria, Oregon is a complte head-scratcher; why even stop the ship? Just head straight down the coast another couple of hours and port somewhere worthwhile.

 

My own take certainly on Labadee is that some of your happiness depend on whether you already know a spot or not. We use the same spot every time we go. It is at the far end of the cabana area at a small cove. However, for food we go back to the ship. As to Half Moon Cay, I find the water quite chilly in the winter.

 

On Astoria: We saw it and it was interesting enough. A town on the skids after thriving as timber industry hub. I happen to be from Finland so I was interested in the few remnants -- meeting halls and such -- from the days when hundreds, if not thousands, Finnish immigrants lived there. I had delicious pastry at a Danish pastry. So many layers of ethnicity.

Edited September 21, 2016 by barante

[navybankerteacher]

Right! :cool:

So- Somebody was stolen from Turkey, and ended up in Bari (and Venice), and the Turks want him back.

Better ask Santa... :rolleyes:

 

Just part of a great medieval commercial tradition - St. Mark (rather his relics) were stolen from Egypt an brought to Venice so they could have an attraction to compete with St. James in Campostella.

[capriccio]

We also had an absolutely dreadful time on St. Lucia and wouldn't get off the boat again there either. Astoria, Oregon is a complte head-scratcher; why even stop the ship? Just head straight down the coast another couple of hours and port somewhere worthwhile.

 

Sometimes you have to get out of the port area. We've had wonderful excursions in St. Lucia on 3 cruises and our excursion to Mt. St. Helens out of Astoria was one of our all time favorites.

[Flatbush Flyer]

If it weren't for Ensenada a whole chain of restaurants and a song wouldn't have been possible. You can still get a Margarita in the bar that invented it, Hussong's.

 

Agree about La Romana. That was just plain scary.

 

 

Most "cocktail historians" agree that the margarita was invented in 1938 by Carlos "Danny" Herrera at his restaurant Rancho La Gloria, halfway between Tijuana and Rosarito, Mexico.

 

BTW, a true Margarita is a very simple concoction made of 100% agave tequila (preferably something like El Tesoro Reposado rather than "rot gut" Cuervo Gold), fresh line juice and agave syrup (served over ice and never blended).

[Floridiana]

Obviously no one has ever been to Tianjin! We were held up by 3 guys with Uzis at the gate and the Cabbie said RUN!! So we grabbed our stuff and ran toward the terminal.

 

Are you serious? I can't imagine any private person in China owning Uzis. They were probably port security at the gate and there was no reason to run from them. The taxi driver and the three guys were probably laughing behind your back at the scared foreigners.

[ronandannette]

My own take certainly on Labadee is that some of your happiness depend on whether you already know a spot or not. We use the same spot every time we go. It is at the far end of the cabana area at a small cove. However, for food we go back to the ship. As to Half Moon Cay, I find the water quite chilly in the winter.

 

On Astoria: We saw it and it was interesting enough. A town on the skids after thriving as timber industry hub. I happen to be from Finland so I was interested in the few remnants -- meeting halls and such -- from the days when hundreds, if not thousands, Finnish immigrants lived there. I had delicious pastry at a Danish pastry. So many layers of ethnicity.

It's not about the beach and where we do or don't sit. It's about the total lack of local context.

 

Sometimes you have to get out of the port area. We've had wonderful excursions in St. Lucia on 3 cruises and our excursion to Mt. St. Helens out of Astoria was one of our all time favorites.

What makes you think we didn't? We took a cab to Reduit Beach for the day and ended up retreating to the near-by resort hotel to escape the menacing vendors. We've never once gotten off at any port just to hang around the pier - why bother?

[capriccio]

What makes you think we didn't?

 

Because you didn't say so :confused:.

 

Thank you for the explanation - others who are considering a beach day may find it helpful - but I wouldn't write off an entire island due to beach vendors. Should you end up in St. Lucia again, take an excursion with a reputable tour company (we use Serenity but there are a number of others highly recommended on the Ports of Call board) and see some of the best scenery in the Caribbean.