Carnival Inspiration - Costa Maya cancelled

We just returned home from our cruise (05/30/04 - 06/06/04) on Carnival's
INSPIRATION. I've never been on a trip where the ship's Captain cancels a
planned stop, but it happened this time.

We pulled into Costa Maya and the ship was actually pulled alongside the
pier, but before they secured the lines, an announcement was made that the
Captain had made the decision not to dock due to sea conditions, fearing
that lines could snap and damage could be caused to the ship, pier, or
personnel. The weather appeared to be very nice and the seas didn't seem to
be THAT rough... of course I am totally unfamiliar with the
currents/peculiarities there in Costa Maya, so I am NOT second-guessing the
Captain. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this at Costa
Maya, or if anyone has heard from other passengers that were on the same
cruise.

Any travel agents out there hear from anyone about this?

It worked out fine as far as we were concerned because we had no plans to
leave the ship there anyway... They made way at a good clip for our next
port (Cozumel), arrived around 5pm or so that evening and stayed until
5:30pm the next evening. All excursions were automatically refunded and
everyone's account was credited $25.

Mister Duke

Hi:

Way back when we took our first cruise in 1982, the Captain (a
substitute for the usual one) on our ship (Commodore's Boheme)got mad
when a barge didn't get out of the way fast enough to suit him in Haiti
so he cancelled the stop. Back then, a ship coming in was a big
economic boom in Port Au Prince and the people there rowed their little
whatevers out to the ship to sell their stuff. About all we got out of
it was refunds on our tours and a 45 minute watered down drink cocktail
party. At least you got your port charge back. In the 20 plus cruises
we have taken since then only once has a port been cancelled and that
was a private island and it really was too rough to tender in to it.

Tucker in Texas

In article c5Mwc.50627$Yr.16618@okepread04, Mister Duke
wrote:

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this at Costa
Maya,

Yes, it happened to me on Grand Princess. They are going to be very
careful about this dock because shortly after the port opened, a ship
smashed the dock and the port was closed to all ships for seven or
eight months.

--
Charles

Currents can be bad at Costa Maya. I believe it was the unRegal Empress that
while docking seriously damaged the pier which was subsequently closed for
months. The capt makes decisions based on more than apparent visual
indications.

Back then, a ship coming in was a big
economic boom in Port Au Prince and the people there rowed their little
whatevers out to the ship to sell their stuff.

Many years back while on the QE2 in Nassau, there was a death by coin. The
native kids love to dive next to the ship after coins that people throw. I
guess the coin hit terminal velocity from being thrown from the top of the QE2
and landed right on a kid's head. Most dreadful.

-Heather
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"Mister Duke" wrote in message news:c5Mwc.50627$Yr.16618@okepread04...
We just returned home from our cruise (05/30/04 - 06/06/04) on Carnival's
INSPIRATION. I've never been on a trip where the ship's Captain cancels a
planned stop, but it happened this time.

We pulled into Costa Maya and the ship was actually pulled alongside the
pier, but before they secured the lines, an announcement was made that the
Captain had made the decision not to dock due to sea conditions, fearing
that lines could snap and damage could be caused to the ship, pier, or
personnel. The weather appeared to be very nice and the seas didn't seem to
be THAT rough... of course I am totally unfamiliar with the
currents/peculiarities there in Costa Maya, so I am NOT second-guessing the
Captain. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this at Costa
Maya, or if anyone has heard from other passengers that were on the same
cruise.

Any travel agents out there hear from anyone about this?

It worked out fine as far as we were concerned because we had no plans to
leave the ship there anyway... They made way at a good clip for our next
port (Cozumel), arrived around 5pm or so that evening and stayed until
5:30pm the next evening. All excursions were automatically refunded and
everyone's account was credited $25.

Mister Duke

I was on a cruise in May 2002 and we also failed to dock in Costa Maya
due to rough seas. I later found out that this is a common problem
there.

Leonard