Mexican cruises: 2 ships in Roatan vs 4?

[motopolitico]

I’m comparing two RCI itineraries on Oasis class ships, and I’m wondering, how much should The number of ships in port, on a given day matter to me? Here’s what I’m looking at:

Itinerary 1:

4 ships in Roatan

5 ships in Cozumel

2 ships in Costa Maya

 

Itinerary 2:

2 ships in Roatan

4 ships in Cozumel 

2 ships in Costa Maya

2 ships in CocoCay

[joepeka]

Are these all RCI ships? I ask because in Roatan and Cozumel, RCI and the Carnival family (Carnival, HAL, Princess, etc.) have separate docking areas. In fact, in Roatan, they are separated by several miles.

[motopolitico]

Great insight!

Itinerary 1:

4 ships in Roatan 2 RCI, 2CCL

5 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 2 CCL, 1 Norwegian, 1 Disney

2 ships in Costa Maya

 

Itinerary 2:

2 ships in Roatan 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian

4 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian, 1CCL, 1 MSC

2 ships in Costa Maya

2 ships in CocoCay

[joepeka]

Without knowing which cruise docks NCL, Disney and MSC normally use in Roatan and Coz, it's difficult to say where they will be on the days you're looking at. I'm "guessing" that NCL will often use the same docks as RCI and that Disney and MSC will use the same docks as Carnival - but that obviously can change from itinerary to itinerary. Regardless, four or five ships in Cozumel (even with the docks separated by about a quarter mile) is a heavy port load. Four ships in Roatan seems less problematic give the distance between the ports. I'm sure others here who have been to those ports on heavy cruise traffic days (we've only been to those ports on light days) can provide more first hand insight.

[kitkat343]

Cruisetimetables lets you search by port and will show all the ships in roatan

[motopolitico]

Really helpful insight. I want my family to have the best experience possible in Roatan.

 

Thanks!

[c-leg5]

30 minutes ago, motopolitico said:

Great insight!

 

Itinerary 1:

4 ships in Roatan 2 RCI, 2CCL

5 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 2 CCL, 1 Norwegian, 1 Disney

2 ships in Costa Maya

 

Itinerary 2:

2 ships in Roatan 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian

4 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian, 1CCL, 1 MSC

2 ships in Costa Maya

2 ships in CocoCay

Norwegian generally docks at Coxen Hole in Roatan with RCI. There is very little to do in Coxen Hole and you really need an excursion or driver for the day if you haven’t been before. However there is a recently opened pool. The port is under renovation.

 

4/5 ships in Cozumel is nothing - they regularly have 7/8. Royal and Carnival have their own piers unless they have multiple ships then smaller older ones may dock in town. Norwegian,  Disney and MSC normally dock in town (Punta Langosta) but any one of them “could” float to International or Puerta Maya but with that combination I would say odds are you will be alone at International. 
 

2 ships in Costa Maya is light.

Edited April 3 by c-leg5

[joepeka]

14 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Cruisetimetables lets you search by port and will show all the ships in roatan

Quite true though in the case of NCL, MSC and Disney (referring to the OP's list), you can't know for sure which dock (Coxen Hole or Mahagony Bay) those ships will be at. Though as I mention, NCL usually shares with RCI.

Edited April 3 by joepeka

[c-leg5]

1 minute ago, joepeka said:

Quite true though in the case of NCL, MSC and Disney (referring to the OP's list), you can't know for sure which dock (Coxen Hole or Mahagony Bay) those ships will be at. 

Carnival owns Mahogany Bay and you can go to their website and see the schedule.

[joepeka]

4 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Carnival owns Mahogany Bay and you can go to their website and see the schedule.

Good info for the OP. I was just responding to the other comment about using Cruise Timetables - I use it as well but it does not provide any info as to Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay for non-RCI and non-Carnival traffic.

Edited April 3 by joepeka

[c-leg5]

19 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Cruisetimetables lets you search by port and will show all the ships in roatan

Not sure if cruisetimetables differentiates between different piers in ports?

[c-leg5]

2 minutes ago, joepeka said:

Good info for the OP. I was just responding to the other comment about using Cruise Timetables - I use it as well but it does not provide any info as to Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay for non-RCI and non-Carnival traffic.

That was what I thought too.
 

There used to be good site for Cozumel that broke down the piers but haven’t been able to find it recently.

Edited April 3 by c-leg5

[joepeka]

On 4/3/2024 at 3:37 PM, motopolitico said:

Great insight!

 

Itinerary 1:

4 ships in Roatan 2 RCI, 2CCL

5 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 2 CCL, 1 Norwegian, 1 Disney

2 ships in Costa Maya

 

Itinerary 2:

2 ships in Roatan 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian

4 ships in Cozumel 1 RCI, 1 Norwegian, 1CCL, 1 MSC

2 ships in Costa Maya

2 ships in CocoCay

I know this subject has been covered, probably to the OP's satisfaction, but I want to give him/her a real time example of five ships in port in Cozumel. Here's a link to the Marine Traffic site showing five in Coz: three in the international pier areas (one CCL, one NCL, one RCI) and two at the pier near town center (one NCL, one MSC). I'm guessing the international piers of CCL could handle at least one more.

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-86.937/centery:20.501/zoom:13

[c-leg5]

49 minutes ago, joepeka said:

I know this subject has been covered, probably to the OP's satisfaction, but I want to give him/her a real time example of five ships in port in Cozumel. Here's a link to the Marine Traffic site showing five in Coz: three in the international pier areas (one CCL, one NCL, one RCI) and two at the pier near town center (one NCL, one MSC). I'm guessing the international piers of CCL could handle at least one more.

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-86.937/centery:20.501/zoom:13

interesting I didn’t realize you could zoom in like that in real time!
 

They can fit, two at Langosta, two at International, and four at Puerta Maya. Any more will, and have, tendered in the past. THEN you are getting busy!
 

International and Puerta Maya (not sure about Langosta but possibly) have a smaller pier in addition usually used for tender boats and excursions. 

Edited April 5 by c-leg5

[joepeka]

14 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

interesting I didn’t realize you could zoom in like that in real time!
 

They can fit, two at Langosta, two at International, and four at Puerta Maya. Any more will, and have, tendered in the past. THEN you are getting busy!
 

International and Puerta Maya (not sure about Langosta but possibly) have a smaller pier in addition usually used for tender boats and excursions. 

You're correct - Puerta Maya could handle four ships though I've personally never seen more than three. Just for grins, I looked at the Coz port schedule through the end of July and there was only one day with more than five ships in port and that's next week (April 11) when there's six. Most of the time it's 1-5.

[T-2]

I would not hesitate to visit Roatan even with 4 ships in port, we were there a few days ago on the Icon of the Seas, along with Mariner I believe, docked in Coxen Hole, there were a couple ships at Mahogany Bay, one was mid size Carnival and something else smaller but not Disney, NCL was supposed to also be in port that day but decided at the last minute to skip it as a port of call. I know from our excursion driver that many locals who thought they were going to work that day were suddenly given the day off. Coxen Hole looked like handling 3 ships would be easy, perhaps 4, we took up a bit more space and brought 7,002 passengers on the Icon. There were still vendors offering spaces on tours, ours went off flawlessly but I would add that if you are choosing any of the animal experiences like we did, we opted to be amongst the first off the ship to head to Daniel Johnsons slough and monkeys, and virtually had almost no wait. These places do watch how many reservations they take so that everyone can have an equally enjoyable experience as no one wants bad reviews. On a previous trip we did Anthonys Caye and it was awesome as well, love visiting Roatan, super nice people.

[Essiesmom]

For Cozumel, Google Cozumel insider.  They post the schedule a week at a time, but you can see where various lines usually dock.  Cozumelinsider.com.  EM

[c-leg5]

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

For Cozumel, Google Cozumel insider.  They post the schedule a week at a time, but you can see where various lines usually dock.  Cozumelinsider.com.  EM

Yes that’s good for a week at a time and general trend.
 

It’s a pity the long term one doesn’t work anymore but that’s a good work around to estimate for excursion pick-ups or to guess if you are lucky enough to be in town. 

Edited April 6 by c-leg5