Short port calls for Coral Princess

[MarWaves86]

The Coral Princess itinerary for Panama Canal/Central America on Oct 12 seems like an awesome Itinerary. Colombia, Aruba, Jamaica, sailing through the canal all seem like memories I would savor for a lifetime. My questions is why is the ship only in port for six hours? It almost seems like the moment you leave the ship, you have to start watching your clock for time. I will not be able to afford a balcony on that ship, so an inside cabin would be suitable due to the port intensity. I just don't see how intensely one would be able to get a feel for the ports for only six hours. I need some advice, please.

[caribill]

The Coral Princess itinerary for Panama Canal/Central America on Oct 12 seems like an awesome Itinerary. Colombia, Aruba, Jamaica, sailing through the canal all seem like memories I would savor for a lifetime. My questions is why is the ship only in port for six hours? It almost seems like the moment you leave the ship, you have to start watching your clock for time. I will not be able to afford a balcony on that ship, so an inside cabin would be suitable due to the port intensity. I just don't see how intensely one would be able to get a feel for the ports for only six hours. I need some advice, please.

 

 

Which port are you asking about?

[spongerob]

We were on the west-bound crossing in April. Some of the port calls were very short, in particular Huatulco, Cartagena, and Aruba. I would have like a little more time in each place. There was just enough time to get off the ship, take a ship's tour, and get back on board. It made things a bit hectic.

[crusinpeg]

We are on this cruise and the only port that's really 6 hours is Aruba..and we have been there several times, so for us it's not an issue.

 

The other ports seem to have ample time.

Peggy

[mii]

There are a number of reasons why at times you are in port a short time. The main one is port assignments. Princess has to vie for port space with the other cruise-lines, they also have a date and time schedule to follow, these are a few of the reasons. I know that sometimes it can be a pain if you have a shortened time in port but just check out the shore excursions and they always have some that will get you back in time.

 

Marilyn

[spongerob]

We were the only ship in port at all of our stops and still had some very short times. It forced us to look at ship's tours in places where we might otherwise have made our own arrangements. No complaints, though, the tours were good, but we missed not being able to relax and have some food or drinks on shore before returning to the ship.

[Pam in CA]

The short port times could be any one or a combination of reasons. I'm sure Princess doesn't say, "Let's cut their time short so that they don't have a full day." Among things to consider are tides and currents (depending on the port entrance or the waterway, there may not be much flexibility as to when the ship can leave or enter), pilot availability, distance to the next port, etc. Here's an example: cruise ships embarking or disembarking in Tampa are limited to when they can arrive or leave. Even though there may be only one cruise ship there, if a tanker is docked further down the channel towards the Gulf, the cruise ship can't leave because the channel would bring them too close to the tanker and a certain distance from the tanker must be kept at all times. Cruise ships arriving or leaving the Tampa port are scheduled around the arrival and departure time of tankers that are often several miles away but closer to the entrance to the Gulf.

[Pia1913]

There's another problem with the Tampa port. Fog. There have been many instances when the ships can't get back into port, resulting in delays of many hours. Ask me. We were once delayed 6 hours and mostly everyone missed their flights.

[spongerob]

I looked back through a couple Cruises Atlases and a 2003/04 Panama Canal brochure and the port times for Coral/Island were the same then as they are today. It's a great cruise in spite of that, particularly if you like just spending time at sea.