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What options for Regent in Caribbean after hurricanes?


tripperva
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St.Maarten and possibly other ports will be unavailable to winter cruises such as the Explorer holiday trip.

Several alternative stops have been terribly damaged as well, so where can Regent go? Hopefully they will not simply add more sea days on top of 2 existing concurrent sea days. I think all travelers feel the pain for residents of these devastated islands.

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That's a difficult question - the devastation in the islands is severe. And the loss of income from the drop in tourism will just add to the problems. I'd think that getting the residents housed and fed and on the path back to some sort of normal would take precedence, but the loss of tourist dollars will also be a huge impact.

 

There's a young lady in my office who's getting married in a few weeks and she booked - you guessed it - a Caribbean cruise for her honeymoon. They had scheduled stops in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Grand Turk. Not sure what their status is, but I'm sure everyone in the cruise industry is scrambling right now.

 

Terrible storm...and terrible destruction.

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Last night I read that Antigua will recover fairly quickly which is amazing since they are close to Barbuda which was hit so hard. My guess is that Regent will change their itinerary to other Caribbean islands. I feel so badly for the people affected by the hurricane.

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St.Maarten and possibly other ports will be unavailable to winter cruises such as the Explorer holiday trip.

Several alternative stops have been terribly damaged as well, so where can Regent go? Hopefully they will not simply add more sea days on top of 2 existing concurrent sea days. I think all travelers feel the pain for residents of these devastated islands.

I really think we should have more compassion for those affected by these devastating and life changing hurricanes than to worry if a cruise line will add more sea days to an itinerary.

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This was devastating and we could not see how they could make repairs fast enough for our December cruise, so we cancelled today taking a huge penalty and will donate the remainder to projects of our choice. We are sorry we will miss our Christmas cruise.

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We are booked with another cruise line for a Christmas cruise to the Caribbean and received an email yesterday. Here is the gist of it:

 

Caribbean Update

 

As you are booked to sail on a Cruise holiday to the Caribbean I wanted to write to you with an update following last weekend’s hurricane in the region.

 

We are all devastated by the impact of Hurricane Irma. As I am sure you have seen in the news, a few of the Caribbean ports that our ships routinely visit in the winter season have had damage to both the infrastructure and vibrant communities who support our operations and work hard to provide our guests with fantastic experiences.

 

We are currently trying to talk to our port agents in those affected islands, firstly to check their wellbeing and also to assess the situation in each area. As you can imagine communication is difficult at the moment but as soon as we can establish the facts we will then be able to share an update.

 

Whilst we need to support the communities in those affected ports, inevitably it may take some time to repair the damage and restore the islands so they are able to accept our guests and give you a safe and enjoyable holiday.

 

Therefore, we need to understand the extent of the damage so we can make a decision on the itineraries. Whilst thankfully it will not be necessary to cancel any cruises, it may be necessary to amend the itinerary slightly. Once we have confirmation of this we will contact you directly or through your travel agent and we will also update the website. Also, if you have booked a shore excursion in a port which has to be replaced then a full refund will automatically be given.

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to reassure you that as a Corporation we will be doing everything we can to support the region. We are already talking to the affected islands directly to assess their immediate and longer term needs so that we can provide wider help to rebuild these communities. We will shortly be posting details for those wishing to donate.

 

I look forward to giving you an update as soon as possible.

 

 

We don't have an option of cancelling or rescheduling and are quite happy with how the company are handling the situation and the general consensus is that there will be two ports that we will be unable to put into, St Maarten and Tortola. We only have three sea days out of 15 nights, so all of the options, more sea days, overnight in a couple of ports, or two new ports, will work for us. So we are happy to go and donate as and when to help these lovely Islands and Islanders rebulid their shattered lives.

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  • Members

Cruise Critic is keeping a running update on the status of the Eastern Caribbean ports and when they'll be open for cruising. More than you might expect are already open, including Barbados, Antigua and St. Kitts (I saw Grand Turk mentioned above, that is also going to be able to accept ships). We will continue to update this story as information comes in from the CTO and cruise lines: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8067

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Thanks so much for the information. We will be watching to see how things progress as we depart for the Caribbean in two months! Even if a port isn't perfect, we want to be able to go ashore and spend money to help the economy and to help the rebuilding process.

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Thanks so much for the information. We will be watching to see how things progress as we depart for the Caribbean in two months! Even if a port isn't perfect, we want to be able to go ashore and spend money to help the economy and to help the rebuilding process.

 

Our sentiments, exactly. We'd be delighted to help strengthen their economy in anyway possible. I'm sure that Regent will not take us any place that is not deemed safe. Even if our ports are changed or juggled, we won't mind, but would love to spend some cash where it is most needed.....We'll see what happens....

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As of now, St. Barts appears to be the only port that may not be open for our end of October cruise, but time will tell. While we have never visited there, and would have enjoyed seeing the island, (and contributing to the local economy :)) all we care about is that the people of all places affected by these hurricanes regain some sense of normalcy soon. Our hearts go out to the humans (and animals) who are suffering. Our cruise itinerary/possible changes don't amount to a hill of beans compared to what so many are dealing with.

 

When we debark on November 13 in Miami, our plan was to visit a good friend in Key Largo, who lives on his boat. He evacuated, and he is making his way slowly back to the Keys. His boat may or may not be there, and who knows what he will find. It was his home, his dream, and chances are it's gone.

 

Prayers to all who are dealing with these horrific circumstances both in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all. The team is actively reviewing options and should have more information to share in the next week or so. We had plans developed after Hurricane Irma and those have once again changed since Hurricane Maria. Please stay patient as we review viable options. We will plan to coordinate these communications more effectively and to treat our booked guests as first priority. Right now our focus is on the upcoming 2017 voyages and we remain optimistic for 2018 voyages.

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