Barbados Cruise Terminal-Please Explain

[dz63]

:confused: I have read that you have to take a bus to get from the ship to the cruise terminal and that one needs to allow more time getting back to the ship because of this.

 

Can someone please explain the Barbados cruise terminal setup. Is the ship really far from the terminal? How many people can fit on a bus at a time? What is the procedure, once I get off the ship?

 

Do some tour operators or taxi drivers get clearance to come up to the ship while others wait outside of the terminal area?

 

This terminal sounds very different from most other cruise ports and I would appreciate any information to help me to know what to expect.

 

Thanks for any information!

[Aplmac]

The Bridgetown Port was designed in the mid-1950's as a cargo port.

It was built when I was a kid (I remember big lorries carrying monstrous rocks to the area!)

and it opened for use around 1960/61 for cargo use,

long before cruising came up over the recreational horizon!

 

The Bridgetown Port is a Port proper, and can berth six cruise ships if my reckoning is correct.

It's not an afterthought pier like how many smaller islands threw a straight one out into the sea, within the last 2 decades.

 

As a result of this more expanded situation, if your ship is docked at the end of the outer arm

it can be quite a walk to the terminal bldg.

 

And so shuttle buses are provided to help the elderly get to and fro.

something most folks take advantage of.

 

I have no photos that properly illustrate the scale of the Bridgetown Port

but here are a few that might help give some idea.

 

 

 

This is a view taken 'from your ship'

looking clear across the Port at another ship on the other side of the Port!

 

Get the idea as to size here?;)

 

This is not St.Kitts or Tortola! :)

 

If you are a healthy mobile individual, sure you can walk it!

Many people opt to not wait for the shuttle buses(they hold about 30 people per short trip)

And if your ship is at the cross-berth or near to the pink Terminal building

the buses may not even need to run your way.

 

If you get back to the Port with little time to spare before your ship departs

and your ship is one of five others in Port that day(that's 15,000 cruisers like you?!)..

you just pick up those two feet of yours and hot-foot it down the tarmac with all due haste

-don't wait on the shuttle, if there's a crowd there

 

 

 

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[Aplmac]

:confused: I have read that you have to take a bus

to get from the ship to the cruise terminal ===> Most folks utilise the shuttle, but you don't have to.

 

and that one needs to allow more time getting back to the ship because of this. ===> Good advice if there are several ships in, that day!

 

Is the ship really far from the terminal? ===> Depends on the berth your ship is given!

 

How many people can fit on a bus at a time? ===> About 30 per trip.

 

What is the procedure, once I get off the ship? ===> Most folks take the shuttle to the terminal

 

Do some tour operators or taxi drivers get clearance to come up to the ship

while others wait outside of the terminal area? ===> Only shuttle buses work their way along the narrow Outer Arm to the ship.

 

This terminal sounds very different from most other (Caribbean)cruise ports ===> It's not a small-island pier situation!

The backups occur around 2:30-5 p.m.? - when thousands of cruisers who went ashore

are then returning to the Port, since most ships depart around 5 p.m.

-at fifteen minute intervals,if you must know

Let's do the math: 5 ships at 2,000 pax per ship...that's 10,000 cruisers right there!

And it'll probably be more than that but it depends on the day, doesn't it!?

 

 

 

This is one small corner of the Port(at the end of the cross-berth)

where the two Pilot boats hang out.

That's the pink terminal bldg. at right.

 

 

 

_______________________________

See my other post with photos.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

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[Aplmac]

Most busy days

there's a steel band at the terminal to welcome you..

..right as you get off the shuttle bus, at the terminal.

See how far away Serenade of the Seas is, in the distance? :)

 

...........................................

 

Here's a picture of Queen Mary 2 on her way in

She's our biggest visiting ship -and there's already 3 others in port, that day :cool:

 

 

How busy it is... depends on the day!

What date do you anticipate arriving here, might I ask? :confused:

 

If you have Google Earth, go have a look.

 

 

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[dz63]

:) Wow aplmac--you sure are a wealth of knowledge and I love how you add all these pictures to help explain the information--you are amazing!

 

This really helps me to understand the size of the terminal in Barbados.

 

We will be in Barbados on Wednesday July 8. As far as I know, the Carnival Victory will be the only ship in port.

If that is the case, our ship will most likely be closer to the pink terminal building.

 

I hope the steel band will be playing when we are there!

 

Thanks again for all your help!

[Aplmac]

:) Wow aplmac--you sure are a wealth of knowledge

and I love how you add all these pictures to help explain the information ===> A picture says 1,000 words?

 

This really helps me to understand the size of the terminal in Barbados. ===> Glad to help.

 

We will be in Barbados on Wednesday July 8.

As far as I know, the Carnival Victory will be the only ship in port. ===> Yes. In Summer it gets very slow.

If that is the case,

our ship will most likely be closer to the pink terminal building. ===> Very likely. You'll just walk across..

 

I hope the steel band will be playing when we are there! ===> Very likely,too!

Since you'll be the only ship in town that day

your transit problems should be minimal. ;)

 

Those stories you've heard are on days when there are 4 and 5 ships in port! :eek:

No worries, mate! as the Australians say! :D

 

 

 

if you want to see what it's like in the terminal bldg itself, go to my webpage at URL..

http://www.****************.com/terminal.html

to see what inside the pink building is like...lotsa shops.

 

.....................

 

 

Pics of the island generally are at URL...

http://www.****************.com/scenes.html

 

 

 

Accra's a nice beach to go to...

Rockley Beach is its real name...

 

 

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[Aplmac]

If those pic links above don't work, it's not my or your fault.

 

Some Cruisecritic members have had probs at that website

(poorly defended computers) and so they've put a block on that website.

not that I blame them.

 

Just so's you know.

 

contact me at pcdoctor (at) caribsurf dot com

and I'll email you the links, privately.

 

 

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