Hello all. I have been lurking here for quite a while. Thought it was time to join in the fun and fellowship.
I was also motivated by the cruise ship conversations. We will be back to the island for our fourth trip for a week in July. It has been 2 years since our last trip. I don't remember the crowds from the ships before. Is there a place to find out when ships will be in? Is it a seasonal thing?
Hopefully my concerns are misplaced.any info will be appreciated.Thanks, Skip

http://www.infobonaire.com/cruises.html

note that this list is updated as appropriate

Skip, are there any ships in port your week? Hope not! cb

Thankfully, there are none in port while I'll be there ... especially since my husband and I are apparently staying at the hot spot for cruise ship passengers ... the Divi!

Thanks Denise, great link. CB; none scheduled!
Also, my bad on the first post, it's been 3 years. 2006 was Dominica and last year was the keys.

This is getting a little off topic, but how did you like Dominica, Skip? I've been reading about it, and it sounds really nice. Sounds like it is unspoiled. How does the diving compare to Bonaire?

I was on island Feb 9-16. There were cruise ships in port 4 out of 7 days on island and on one day there were 2 cruise ships in port. Kaya Grande was closed to vehicles. No big deal.
Shore dive sites were uncrowded. Restaurants for dinner was not an issue because I always made reservations a day before when dining at Richards, Patagonia, or Cactus Blue. Mi Banana is a well kept secret.
I saw a lot more taxi type vehicles and small tour buses than I've ever seen on Bonaire. They weren't overly intrusive on my Bonaire vacation experience and the cruise ship passenger has given more jobs opportunities to the residents of Bonaire.

I've read a lot here about the negative impact of poddies on Bonaire but didn't see anything negative on my Feb 9-16 vacation on island.

I can only hope that Bonaire remains the wonderful enchanting island that it now is.

Daniel

(Message edited by imdiverdan on February 26, 2008)

Jane, Dominica is an absolutely beautiful island above and below water. Driving IMHO is best left to others. We stayed at Fort Young which is about an hour and forty five minutes from the airport. Accomodations were ok, breakfast buffet on site.
Dive op off site, we were picked up at the hotel pier.
Getting there and back was as bad as it gets. We were with a group of about 22 people. Nine of them missed the plane in Nashville because the ticket agents wanted everyone to use self check.(we were all there at the counter in plenty of time)
For some reason, our group could not access the terminals (self check). The airline routed them to PR where they had all hotels booked. Our guys spent the night in the terminal and got to Dominica a day late.
Without going into detail, the flights back were a nightmare to say the least.
I would go back except for the problems with flights.

Daniel, thanks for the update. We can only hope that the actual ships are not overly intrusive when it comes to the health of the reef(s), as well. Still concerns with tugs having to run engines alongside the ships to keep them stable during winds and when more than one ship is in Bonaire.

One of the shop owners (jeweler) told me the other day that most of the passengers buy post cards and other "light" items but higher end sales seem to depend on what number "stop" Bonaire is for the ship during its cruise itinerary. If Bonaire is towards the "end" of their stops folks might not have as much money to spend as they did at the beginning of the cruise at the earlier port stops.

thanks, again, for your input. cb

Skip and others.
The cruise ship season ends on April 30th. The next season starts around end October, apart from Freewinds which comes for a few days most weeks and certainly does not add to any congestion in town. It seems that the passengers there are on seminars most of the time and have very little time ashore.
Also the ships virtually without exception leave by 7pm, so they are not a problem with dinner reservations