Princess Cays crowds

[Notonboard]

When did Princess Cays start having Carnival ships with Princess at the same time?

I do not remember from previous years that Carnival ships joined us.  I only thought it was one ship at a time. 

Examples

November 25 Carnival Ecstasy/Regal Princess

December 5-Carnival Ecstasy/Sky Princess

Has anyone else seen more than one ship at Princess Cays at the same time?

[thinfool]

It has never been 1 ship at a time...if there was only one ship it was/is because that is how the schedule worked out.

We have been at PC with 2 Princess ships.

Half Moon Cay, where Carnival routinely stops, is undergoing renovation.  I suspect this is why you find the Carnival/Princess combination at PC.

[Brian1713]

The Carnival ship is at Princess Cays on the 26th and Half Moon Cay on December 5. I don’t believe Princess Cays could handle two ships at once. 

[MissP22]

While I've never seen two ships at Princess Cays at one time and if they ever did schedule it  would never get off the ship.

Actually I would avoid even booking a trip if I knew for sure they were going to do so. Why pay port charges for something that can be avoided?

 

Now that I think of it we were at Grand Turk one time when a Carnival ship arrived hours before we did.

Although the beach was nice, the choice of chairs was terrible. All the better locations were already taken & most of the remaining chairs were either broken of sagging so badly no one wanted to sit on them.

Edited September 1, 2019 by MissP22

[wrongwaywatson]

We will be there on Nov 25 on the Regal and it looks like the Carnival Ecstasy gets in one hour before us.   Nope, not gonna get off the ship!

[lx200gps]

According to a Princess Cays port schedule, there are a few days this fall when a Princess ship is in at the same time as a Carnival ship (9 Oct, 11 Nov, 25 Nov, 5 Dec, 9 Dec, and 23 Dec). Sadly, in all cases the smaller Carnival ship arrives before the Princess ship.  We dodged a bullet and our 18 Nov stop on the Regal is not affected. 

[CineGraphic]

Princess Cays = A great day to stay on the ship

[voljeep]

we aren't planning on getting off the SKY on 12/5 anyway ...but that would seal the deal ...

[stoneharborlady]

I love Princess Cays, but the amount of passengers from two ships would not make it a pleasant experience.  Way too many people.

[Steelers36]

30 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

According to a Princess Cays port schedule, there are a few days this fall when a Princess ship is in at the same time as a Carnival ship (9 Oct, 11 Nov, 25 Nov, 5 Dec, 9 Dec, and 23 Dec). Sadly, in all cases the smaller Carnival ship arrives before the Princess ship.  We dodged a bullet and our 18 Nov stop on the Regal is not affected. 

Thanks.  Glad I don't need to look into our Nov cruise situation.  We will be there on Nov 8, so no issue.

 

[satxdiver]

Two ships at Princess Cays has to be a nightmare.  It is not that large of an area so I would imagine it would be literally wall to wall people.  I remember when we used to get off the ship the extremely long lines waiting to return to the ship.  Now add to that the confusion as to which tender to take back to your ship since Princess uses the same color scheme for all its tenders.  We are not beach people or sun lovers and burn easily so the last few times we have stayed on the ship and enjoyed an empty ship.

[pms4104]

We are most disappointed to be scheduled to share the beach with a Carnival ship in October ... poor planning by Princess ... looks like another sea day for us.

 

I would not be surprised to see a name change from Princess Cays to something more generic, such as Cozy Cays or similar ... just as Half Moon does not include HAL in its name 

Edited September 1, 2019 by pms4104

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, wrongwaywatson said:

We will be there on Nov 25 on the Regal and it looks like the Carnival Ecstasy gets in one hour before us.   Nope, not gonna get off the ship!

The worst part about it is having to pay for stopping there. 😧

[Notonboard]

Real Estate....how many chairs are at Princess Cays?  I did not count in the 6 times I was there before.  I bet those chair huggers will be out early.  Nearly 6000 folks if all stepped off the ship. NOPE...Sea Day for us.

I’ve been to Grand Turks and other ports with more than one ship. Just saying a smaller island with more people. YUCK.

[Brian1713]

Not sure where you are getting info on two ships being at Princess Cays at the same time. But I’m pretty sure the Regal will be the only ship there on November 25. As far as the other dates , think about the logistics of what happens when a ship calls on the island . All food and drinks is placed on tenders and brought to the island . So if a second ship showed up , where would they set up?  And then how would they charge you ? Would they have separate bars that you had to go to? And then the lines to get back to your ship?

[Notonboard]

My intel is good ole Google. Search Princess Cays cruise schedule.

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, thinfool said:

It has never been 1 ship at a time...if there was only one ship it was/is because that is how the schedule worked out.

We have been at PC with 2 Princess ships.

Half Moon Cay, where Carnival routinely stops, is undergoing renovation.  I suspect this is why you find the Carnival/Princess combination at PC.

Sure hope this is not true......

I have never seen more than 1 ship at a time at PC.   🤔

Have been to PC aboard Oceania Riviera but no other ship.

 

[memonkey]

http://crew-center.com/bahamas-cruise-ports-schedules-2020

[Brian1713]

31 minutes ago, Notonboard said:

My intel is good ole Google. Search Princess Cays cruise schedule.

Try googling the carnival site . It shows the Ecstasy at Princess Cays on the 26th.

[Notonboard]

Yes Shipmate also shows this.  Hope it’s true.

[qqwer123]

Been there at least ten times and always one ship. 

[scott4020]

1 hour ago, Brian1713 said:

Not sure where you are getting info on two ships being at Princess Cays at the same time. But I’m pretty sure the Regal will be the only ship there on November 25. As far as the other dates , think about the logistics of what happens when a ship calls on the island . All food and drinks is placed on tenders and brought to the island . So if a second ship showed up , where would they set up?  And then how would they charge you ? Would they have separate bars that you had to go to? And then the lines to get back to your ship?

 

It is not a typical port, the food, drink and staff come off of the ship. It would be a logistical nightmare to have two ships at the same time. I can't imagine how they would do it.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Notonboard said:

My intel is good ole Google. Search Princess Cays cruise schedule.

Yes, sure enough it does show Carnival using the Island.

 

They'll be there when we're scheduled to be there this fall and originally I didn't want any part of it but now I'm anxious to see how the crowds will be handled with that many people. This will probably be the last time I book for Princess Cays if two ships will be there. 

As others have mentioned - how will the food lines be handled?

What about tender lines which were always long to begin with?

Finding a spot in the shade should be a challenge especially if your late getting there. 

It should be a total nightmare but I've just got to see it unfold. 

[tothemall&beyond]

6 hours ago, thinfool said:

It has never been 1 ship at a time...if there was only one ship it was/is because that is how the schedule worked out.

We have been at PC with 2 Princess ships.

Half Moon Cay, where Carnival routinely stops, is undergoing renovation.  I suspect this is why you find the Carnival/Princess combination at PC.

I'm sorry, but unless you're talking about a year like 2017 when Hurricanes Irma and Maria changed all the cruise lines' itineraries, in my 19 years of cruising with Princess (and that comprises many, many times in Princess Cays), I have NEVER seen more than 1 ship there at a time! Perhaps it was 2017 (or another hurricane-affected year) when you were there with 2 ships? Or, are you, perhaps, thinking of the Turks and Caicos which is designed for 2 ships?

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by tothemall&beyond

[tothemall&beyond]

38 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Yes, sure enough it does show Carnival using the Island.

 

They'll be there when we're scheduled to be there this fall and originally I didn't want any part of it but now I'm anxious to see how the crowds will be handled with that many people. This will probably be the last time I book for Princess Cays if two ships will be there. 

As others have mentioned - how will the food lines be handled?

What about tender lines which were always long to begin with?

Finding a spot in the shade should be a challenge especially if your late getting there. 

It should be a total nightmare but I've just got to see it unfold. 

Don't love Princess Cays to begin with, but having to share it with 2 ships' worth of pax, particularly Carnival's pax, would be my idea of hell. Often don't get off ship there, and for sure wouldn't under these circumstances.