How many cruise ships?

[nwflyboy]

How intensive is the current cruise ship assault on the Bay Islands?

How many ships are there in port at a time? Are they there every day (if not, what days/how often are they)? Are they only on Roatan, or the other islands too?

Thanks.

[parrotheaddiver]

One cruise ship per week on Roatan....puts in port at Coxen Hole.....still not sure why the cruise ships go there Roatan is not commercialized like say cozumel or Grand Cayman....but unfortunatly changes are coming to Roatan:shakehead they are trying to attract the cruise ship crowd.....go quickly before it changes....the rest of the Bay Islands are safe for now....I hope.....

Doc got anything to add????????

[RoatanMan]

they are trying to attract the cruise ship crowd.....go quickly before it changes....the rest of the Bay Islands are safe for now...Doc got anything to add?

Yeah, I'll pitch in. The cruise ship stops are inevitable. It is (so far) tolerable. There have been two a week at times.

People are looking for something different. Cruise Shipping is hereditary. Current Pod People grew up hearing their parents whining about the food in Aruba and the "natives" in the Bahamas. Now it's their turn. God bless their pointed heads and the starving Pygmies, but you can't really SCUBA dive after disembarking from a cruise ship. I know we have a Forum here on SB, but how it got mooshed-in with liveaboards, I will never figure out.

Cruise Ship want to keep people on-board. They hate the process of disembarking and reloading, they hate docking fees, and most of all, they hate losing Casino revenue. Stops are made as they are an expected thing.

The Western Caribbean route? Here's an internet quote that (whoops) neglects the Bay Islands:

Ports of call on a Western Caribbean itinerary often include Cozumel or Playa del Carmen, Mexico; Grand Cayman; Key West, FL; the Dominican Republic; Jamaica; Belize; or Costa Rica. If you look at a map, you will see that since the ports of call are further apart, more sailing is usually involved on a western Caribbean cruise. So you may have more time at sea and less time in port or on the beach. The ports of call in the western Caribbean are sometimes on the mainland (Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica) or at larger islands (Jamaica, Dominican Republic). Therefore, the shore excursion options are more varied. You can explore ancient Mayan ruins, hike the rain forests, or go snorkeling or SCUBA diving in some unforgettable locations.

How Jamaica and DR got in the mix, I know not. Usually Cayman is on the list befor eheading West.

Roatan is the leader among the Bay Islands in land sales and economic growth. If but not for Mitch (98) Guanaja would be right in the mix as well. Roatan is a heavily promoted to Italians and South Americans.

The biggest impact so far is the economic and societal changes on the vendors who provide the "straw market" and the shops in Coxen Hole and the West Bay. Secondarily would be the growth of the bars in the West Bay Beach area.

The greatest impact upon Roatan is to the Coxen Hole "downtown" area, West Bay Beach and Anthony Key Resort where the "pod people" go to SCUBA dive and to fondle Flipper.

Otherwise, as a week-long island based diver, you won't notice them.

[orangewing]

[quote=parrotheaddiver]One cruise ship per week on Roatan....puts in port at Coxen Hole.....still not sure why the cruise ships go there Roatan is not commercialized like say cozumel or Grand Cayman....

Exactly why I chose to dive in Roatan on our last cruise. Ok, I got certified so I could dive on a cruise.:14: Not a cattle boat though, I booked a 2 tank dive with a small resort in the west end. They picked us up at the port and took us back to the ship. There were 3 divers, 1 snorkeler and a dive master in the water. Ideal first fun dive for me.
Newbie

[scubadobadoo]

You won't be too annoyed by the POD people on Roatan as long as you aren't one of them or staying at Anthony's Key. Heck, I never even saw a POD person while I was there last time. Most divers go to and mostly stay on dive resorts and have no need to even visit Coxen Hole for the most part like one may visit downtown areas in other locations like Cozumel, Grand Cayman, or even Bonaire.

[Bay Island Diver]

I will endevour to put a Cruise Ship schedule on my website when I can find one. November through March is the busiest Cruise ship time. On average three a week in this period, but they have little impact on you even if you stay at Anthony's Key which picks up a lot of that business.

In fact the new deal with Royal Caribbena means that they will soon be doing there own dives and not even using Roatan's dive operation - Way to go local government their visit could at least boost the local economy!

[Tandoorii]

I will endevour to put a Cruise Ship schedule on my website when I can find one.

Here's what I've used before to see what ship is where:

http://www.cruiseclues.com/portschedules.htm

Tandoorii

[LavaSurfer]

Just got back from my third trip to Roatan.
There was a cruise ship in port Tues,Wed and Thurs
Rumor has it that there are plans for two more docks.
Jonesville and Oak ridge. That would make three ports
The president of Honduras was in French Harbor last Wednesday signing a free trade zone agreement for the bay islands.

Good or bad, the islands are going to change drastically over the next few years.

[LavaSurfer]

Just got back from my third trip to Roatan.
There was a cruise ship in port Tues,Wed and Thurs
Rumor has it that there are plans for two more docks.
Jonesville and Oak ridge. That would make three ports
The president of Honduras was in French Harbor last Wednesday signing a free trade zone agreement for the bay islands.

http://www.roatanfreezone.com/

Good or bad, the islands are going to change drastically over the next few years.