Carnival Dream and Roatan

[ruthlessboss]

Gained a sea day as Dream could not get to the dock. To us, weather was perfect, but after staring at the island a while, it was announced it was too dangerous, something about narrow channel to the dock.
Some passengers said Dream cancels this port quite often. If so. what are the reasons?

[fun2cruiz]

Originally Posted by ruthlessboss

Gained a sea day as Dream could not get to the dock. To us, weather was perfect, but after staring at the island a while, it was announced it was too dangerous, something about narrow channel to the dock.
Some passengers said Dream cancels this port quite often. If so. what are the reasons?

Not only does Carnival cancel this port on occassion, so has Princess in the past.... Roatan is a tricky port for the captain to manuver the ship into a narrow channel. If the seas are choppy and the wind is high, the ship will be unable to dock just as you were told. Coxen Hole is used by NCL and they usually do not miss this port of call. But CCL uses Mahogany Bay (which they developed poorly) and is often un dockable.

[Trip]

On the Epic,we were told that NCL cruisers are the lucky ones, hardly missing the port... We could see a Princess ship at the "other" dock, that day..which is just a hit or miss, for other ships..

[ruthlessboss]

Are there any tendering plans you've heard of? After the tendering at Belize I can see it to be a HUGE undertaking for the large ships. I saw all those tender boats coming at us at the crack of dawn, thought I was in Somalia! It took hours due to the volume of people to transport.
When we were heading to Mahogany, we passed 2 ships docked at the other pier.

[Snoozeman]

You can only dock one ship at Coxen Hole. You can tender there as well so if you saw two ships, then one was tendering. Royal Caribbean also uses it. NCL was the 1st cruise line to have regularly scheduled trips there so NCL (I believe) has priority.

Mahogany Bay has a narrow channel and although one ship can usually maneuver there fine, getting the 2nd ship in can be a problem if it is windy or rough seas. Many times one ship will dock, but the 2nd ship scheduled will have to tender at Coxen Hole or miss the port.

[lhp]

Weather can be absolutely beautiful and the seas calm as can be and still not be able to dock.

Happened to us in Grand Turk on the Splendor (before she went West).

The Captain explained that ships of that size (remember the Dream is even bigger) act like huge SAILS and even when the weather is otherwise wonderful....the winds can be an invisible culprit.

I know Carnival hates missing Roatan....they make some serious money on Shore Excursions and at that new beach when they dock.

[Snoozeman]

Does anyone think that the big ship wreck there at Mahogany Bay influences the Carnival Captains as they attempt to dock?

It has to make them think as it's a very good reminder of how close the reef is located there!

[john_galt]

The wreck is a great prop. I'd love to know the story behind it. The Crown Princess docked at Mahogany Bay just fine last week in spite of relatively high winds. We loved the port. It was very clean and well organized. We particularly enjoyed the lift to the beach. However, the captain chose not to stop at Princess Cays due to high seas and we picked up an extra day at sea. They immediately printed an updated Princess Patter and opened the shops and casino. Worked for us!

[RoatanSunSplash]

Hi all, I live on Roatan as well as own and operate a tour operator business with my husband.
There are a few ship wrecks around the island that have been propped, or purposely sunk for the diving or snorkeling. I'm sure cruising in and seeing it makes the captain say hmmmm... The Carnival port has been tricky to maneuver into, but this is a work in progress. They are working on making it more accessible during our low season this year.
Hope you all keep coming to Roatan and enjoy your time here. If you're heading back this way, look us up! roatansunsplashtours.com
Happy Sailing!