Irma and beyond....

Hi - this is my first post!!

Just a kind of general question regarding re-routing.

My heart goes out to all those residents of the Caribbean Islands affected by Irma - we have many joyous memories of the lovely people and their hospitality.

We are booked on Independence - sailing from UK on 29 October going to St Maarten, St Thomas, St Kitts, Haiti and San Juan, ending in Ft Lauderdale and as yet, we have not heard what is happening. I am not finding fault with anyone. Given the circumstances, I can totally understand the position of the cruise companies and the islands themselves. These poor people have lost their homes and their families and our holiday is way down the list of priorities. I'm embarrassed even asking the question.

Just wondered if anyone had heard anything about that general time and if anyone has any experience of 'what happens next'?

I don't mind where they take us...just wondered at what point a decision is made and when the customers are informed.

Sorry for asking...please understand I am asking here, rather than putting RCCI under more pressure.

Thanks for reading and (hopefully) replying.

Regards

Liz

It's fine to ask this question. Some of your port stops will be changed. Just keep checking your cruise line's webpage, as Hurricane Maria is currently heading to this area, and who knows what will follow?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/18/intensifying-hurricane-maria-is-a-severe-threat-to-caribbean-and-puerto-rico-jose-to-scrape-northeast-coast/?utm_term=.a469e64c5002

Hi Liz! Welcome to CC. I have no idea how to answer your question, as I don't even think the cruise lines know as of yet. Some of the Islands you mentioned are supposed to get hit really hard again in the next few days (especially Puerto Rico) :( Hang in there. You will have a great cruise regardless of the change in itinerary. :cool:

Hi Liz! Welcome to CC. I have no idea how to answer your question, as I don't even think the cruise lines know as of yet. Some of the Islands you mentioned are supposed to get hit really hard again in the next few days (especially Puerto Rico) :( Hang in there. You will have a great cruise regardless of the change in itinerary. :cool:

I wonder if the the cruise lines themselves will be in economic distress?

Now to mid Nonvember ,the ships in Europe will be doing their TAs to ports of Florida and ultimately their Winter season in the Carribbean and even SA, add those to the ships that sail in the Carribbean all year long.

Many lines have new ships builds that will all be vying for the same customers this winter season.

Wil customers cancel or not even decide to do a cruise vacation with the uncertian recovery schedule for may of these islands and even Key West and ports in Florida.

Hi - this is my first post!!

Just a kind of general question regarding re-routing.

My heart goes out to all those residents of the Caribbean Islands affected by Irma - we have many joyous memories of the lovely people and their hospitality.

We are booked on Independence - sailing from UK on 29 October going to St Maarten, St Thomas, St Kitts, Haiti and San Juan, ending in Ft Lauderdale and as yet, we have not heard what is happening. I am not finding fault with anyone. Given the circumstances, I can totally understand the position of the cruise companies and the islands themselves. These poor people have lost their homes and their families and our holiday is way down the list of priorities. I'm embarrassed even asking the question.

Just wondered if anyone had heard anything about that general time and if anyone has any experience of 'what happens next'?

I don't mind where they take us...just wondered at what point a decision is made and when the customers are informed.

Sorry for asking...please understand I am asking here, rather than putting RCCI under more pressure.

Thanks for reading and (hopefully) replying.

Regards

Liz

It's pretty well know that St. Thomas and St. Maarten are not going to be accepting any cruise ships for about a year. Another hurricane is bearing down on that area again today. It is further south and may cause problems in St. Kitts, Haiti, and in San Juan.

At this time it is really impossible to say where you might end up. I would not be surprised if you diverted to the Caymans or Jamaica, or even Antigua. You may lose some of your stops or just go to the Bahamas. Since you are coming from th UK, the ship doesn't have to stop at any island to comply with US law.

It's pretty well know that ...

Such comments would not be necessary if there were statements saying how long the port would be close from the people who actually make such decisions. In such cases where we actually "know" we could start such a comment saying, "According to ..." And then specify the official's name.

Having said that, my guess is that St. Maarten will be skipped for quite some time - a year? Maybe. St. Thomas? Let's just say that claims that cruise ships won't be visiting St. Thomas until next September at the earliest are incredible.

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Your cruise line as well as many other cruise lines will be making changes. And there are just so many ports that are available for ships to visit. And they can only handle so many ships.

St Maarten and St Thomas took direct hits from Irma. Maria is another category 5 hurricane and causing destruction.

This was posted on the HAL board yesterday:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2544972

I wonder if the the cruise lines themselves will be in economic distress?

Now to mid Nonvember ,the ships in Europe will be doing their TAs to ports of Florida and ultimately their Winter season in the Carribbean and even SA, add those to the ships that sail in the Carribbean all year long.

Many lines have new ships builds that will all be vying for the same customers this winter season.

Wil customers cancel or not even decide to do a cruise vacation with the uncertian recovery schedule for may of these islands and even Key West and ports in Florida.

For this season, other than canceled cruises they will be fine since they have the right to change itineraries due to almost any reason.

For this winter I wouldn't be surprised if bookings are down a bit (other than what's already been booked and paid for) as folks don't want to have more sea days or go to place B instead of place A

And I expect next summer there will be fewer ships risking hurricane season in the Caribbean.

As to when a cruise line makes a decision about which port it will sail to....

Awhile back, when we left the ship in Grand Cayman our next port was to be Cozumel...

When we returned after a day in port, our next port was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

A nasty storm was bearing down on Coz, so the captain had been on the phone with Princess to change the itinerary.

We were happy!

There will be changing answers to your questions. Some port will come back on line quickly. While others will take longer. I suspect the cruise lines are looking at every cruise that has one or more impacted ports. Initially they are working on the closer in cruises. They have to determine which ports are open completely. Which have some facilities up and running but others unavailable. And which ports are not available. They will then start the process of determining what changes to make to an itinerary. Are their open ports that can be substituted? We some calls be replaced by sea days?

Thank you for all your answers. The general opinion is.......nobody really knows. So it is reassuring to know that it's not just me that doesn't know - does that make sense?

We have cruised lots and have had 3 force 12 storms mid Atlantic but never a hurricane and never such catastrophic destruction. I don't really fancy being on board for 7 days trans Atlantic then another 8 days on board because we can't stop anywhere. If we went to the islands which had damage, we would want to help. But I guess we would just get in the way as we are nearly 60 and not as fit and able as we once were.

But thank you so much to all who took the time to reply. I shall send you a postcard - from the edge!

Liz