Anyone reschedualing or cancelling a Caribbean cruise this winter due to storm damage

Before you cancel, stop and think about those who live on those islands and whose welfare is dependent upon tourists. It may not be the best time to visit but I'm sure those who live there will appreciate your visit.

We have cyclones in Australia. When our towns are hit, they try to re-open for business as soon as they can because it is their livelihoods. They invite people back!

 

Cruise ships are pretty much self-sufficient, but bring passengers with much needed $$.

 

Check your closets; do you have good quality clothing,towels and bedding you aren't using? Lighten-up, pack-up and bring to hand out at port. Just find a local church on the island and it will be passed-on to some-one in need.

It's not easy to get stuff off the ship without customs being involved. We had to put stuff back in our room when our back pack looked so big.

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As a kid who spent every summer on St. John in the late sixties and 70s, we used to bring an extra suitcase loaded with prescription samples for the local doctor, named Doctor Tobacco, but I'm not sure if I want to spend my vacation viewing storm wreckage. I'd feel guilty sitting on a beach, sipping rum punch. There's a lot to consider.

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We have cyclones in Australia. When our towns are hit, they try to re-open for business as soon as they can because it is their livelihoods. They invite people back!

 

Cruise ships are pretty much self-sufficient, but bring passengers with much needed $$.

 

Check your closets; do you have good quality clothing,towels and bedding you aren't using? Lighten-up, pack-up and bring to hand out at port. Just find a local church on the island and it will be passed-on to some-one in need.

It's not easy to get stuff off the ship without customs being involved. We had to put stuff back in our room when our back pack looked so big.

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If Port Everglades is undamaged and cruises are sailing, the majority of the islands will be doing everything they can to clean and open up for tourists.

 

My personal view is that if they are open and welcoming visitors, we should go and support them.

 

Just my view. Everyone needs to make their own decisions and do what they are comfortable with.

We agree entirely. Our upcoming voyages this year have some of these damaged islands and because we have been there so many times we normally don't spend a lot of time in port, however, we will this time and try to help the economy.

I might be canceling my cruise with X on 9/24. It is a Pacific coastal cruise. If Irma damages our home in Florida, I will be heading there and not on our west coast cruise.

The one thing for me is that this condo is not our main residence. I am lucky for that. There are so many who will lose every thing. Their only home, their car. \The people who have no where else to live. These people need our help and prayers. I feel so bad for the ones who's live are wreaked by both of theses hurricanes.

As for our 12/10 Regal cruise, we should be going on that one.

I'll bet those cats will bust their asses to get that port open. With upwards of 10000 pale, over fed Americans and Brits arriving daily throughout the winter months, that has to be a top priority.

 

 

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A few years ago our roll call collected school supplies for Dominica. The organizer had contact with a school teacher on the island and she put us in touch with the port agent who met us at the ship and facilitated everything.

Go...stop wherever you stop and spend your $. Even if you don't normally do a shore excursion, take a local cab driver tour at least. If every person spend $50 on the island a 3000 cruise ship will put $150000 into their economy in one day. That's huge.

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Oct 26th 10 day repo from NY to FLL

 

Antigua, St Maarten, and Bonaire.

 

Should be interesting to see where we end up. :)

Yep! We're on that cruise, as well. Have the same thought. However.....for us, we've been to the Caribbean many, many times and when we do get off the ship, it is to have a cup of coffee or adult beverage and then return. We can do that on any port.

Just hope that the islands badly hit can regenerate some of the revenue they'll miss.

We are booked and just recently paid off our cruise for 12/10/17 on Regal- we are supposed to go to Princess Cay, St. Thomas and St. Martin- I know at least 2 of these ports will likely be a no-go, but we have absolutely NO intention of cancelling. They need our help so whatever we can do to help support them in any way we should. This is our 1st Princess cruise and we are so excited. I just wonder where we will end up going. I know that there are other cruises well ahead of ours that they will have to address 1st but I hope they let us know what will end up happening.

Go...stop wherever you stop and spend your $. Even if you don't normally do a shore excursion, take a local cab driver tour at least. If every person spend $50 on the island a 3000 cruise ship will put $150000 into their economy in one day. That's huge.

 

 

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I totally agree with you.

Tony

We are booked to sail December 14 out of FLL on the Regal. Many of the ports on our trip have been damaged to put it mildly, including San Juan. That's one reason we chose this cruise.

 

Of course final payment is not due until the end of September. I'm wondering when Princess will make the decision to cancel the cruise or something else. The cruise is 21 days and with all the ports being hit by the hurricane, I can't imagine where we will go. I don't want to be at sea for an extended amount of time.

 

Hopefully, a decision will be made sooner rather then later after everything is reviewed.

 

Pam

Are you talking December 14, 2017? We are on the Regal departing 12/10/2017 for a 7 day cruise.

Do not see how the Regal is doing both!!

We are on the 10/7 14-day Circle Caribbean Cruise (first Princess ship out of Port Everglades this season). We have no intention of canceling. Not sure if the ship will be stopping at Princess Cays or St Thomas due to Irma, but nothing has been said yet. It's still 4 weeks away, so a lot can change between now and then.

We, too, are on the Sep. 7 cruise and waiting to hear from Princess.

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Are you talking December 14, 2017? We are on the Regal departing 12/10/2017 for a 7 day cruise.

 

Do not see how the Regal is doing both!!

She merely misspoke. She is leaving on the 14th but the cruise departs on the 17th. It's the 21 day Caribbean Explorer. Looks like a great cruise. She's allowed a little slack as she's a cat person which, as should be obvious, makes her part of the better informed class. Dogs have Owners but Cats have Staff. I am definitely Staff. (Only one cat now but Bob has ruled the roost for a good 14 years and has me well trained.. :cool:)

We will not be cancelling. We are on the Circle the Caribbean and a partial transit in January. Wherever the ship goes we will too

Looking forward to our Nov 5th cruise, even though we may or may not miss a couple of ports. Whatever Princess decides is fine with me. I am more than happy to do my share to pump some money into the economy down there.

NCL announced today that until November all Eastern Caribbean cruises will become Western Caribbean itineraries. Does not say if early, mid or late November but is at least an indication of the extent of the damage to the ports in that area that are usually part of 7 day voyages.

I would expect other lines to make similar updates this week.

Found this in a Carnival thread, good points

For all those looking for answers about your upcoming cruise, you will not be able to get an accurate answer UNTIL the authorities can get to the ports and advise of re-opening dates. Depending on the damage, that answer could come within a week or two or it could be a couple of months with projected opening dates well into the spring.

 

 

 

I understand that this causes frustration for many and just hope that those of you who were dead set on a particular route either have not made final payment, or if you did, choose cancel for any reason insurance. This is very much a buyer be ware circumstance and I can predict with almost 100% certainty in the weeks and months to come we will see COUNTLESS posts on how horrible Carnival is for changing the itinerary and refusing to give people a refund. But that is the contract you agreed to and the way to protect yourself was insurance.

 

 

 

I am fortunate enough to have cruised to most all the places I really wanted to see, but do have a few upcoming - Progresso in December and and island hopper (with new ports of St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Barbados) in March. We may or may not make either St. Thomas or St. Martin on the island hopper, and as I have been to both, would be thrilled with Dominica or another substitution; we had planned to snorkel in both St. Thomas and St, Martin and neither will have good snorkeling in many areas for years to come depending on storm surge and the beating the reefs took.

 

 

 

But I also recognize that we still have A LOT hurricane season to weather (excuse the pun) - for those of you not aware, it runs THROUGH NOVEMBER 30! Storms peak in September and into early October. Any of the above ports that I have yet to visit could also be targeted by mother nature. A cruise encompasses the risk that your detestation may or may not be accessible come cruise time, and the closer you are to hurricane season, the higher your chance you might miss your port. If you want to see a particular Caribbean location, a cruise is not the best way to do that; instead, plan a land vacation far outside of hurricane season.

 

 

 

And in the meantime, for all those concerned about their vacation, please try to approach cruising, Carnival and any line for that matter with your eyes open, a great attitude and most importantly, flexibilty.

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After speaking with my wife and my TA, we are pretty much set on sailing as planned. I'm sure that Princess will take great care of us no matter where they end up taking us.

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I am booked to sail on the Regal in January and have no intention on cancelling. I will be more than willing to help the local economies regardless of aesthetics

We took a cruise about 6 months after a hurricane hit Grand Turk. We rented a golf cart (fun) and ate lunch at a local restaurant so we did our part to impart a few dollars into the local economy at the time.

Entire neighborhoods were simply scoured off the face of Grand Turk. It looked like someone took a giant pot scrubber and erased the landscape. I can't imagine what the locals from St. Martin and St. Thomas are going through now.

After speaking to my TA, we canceled our Jan 6th cruise today. There was no way of knowing where it would be going before the final payment is in. Not only are the islands in terrible shape, they still need to scan all the channels for debris and see if the channels shifted before they can reopen them. We are going to book for January 2019..It's going to be a long rebuild in some of these islands. St. Thomas just told their residents to register their kids for school in St. Croix.

We are on the Dec 9th Crown sailing. Final payment is due 9/25. The itinerary includes 3 totally devastated ports and one very badly damaged port. We are also booked on the Jan 13th Circle Caribbean on the Caribbean which also includes 2 devastated and one very badly damaged port.

The following islands have been totally devastated:

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; St. Martin; St. John; St. Thomas; St. Barts; Barbuda

The following islands have significant damage but not total devastation:

Antigua - bad, but not as bad as Barbuda; but being used as a relief/recovery staging location for Barbuda so not exactly an attractive vacation spot; St. Kitts/Nevis; Puerto Rico

Princess HAS to make some decisions soon because many people like us have final payment dates approaching and would like to know what we'd be paying for, ie., what ports will be on the itinerary. I spoke with Princess Customer Relations (on their direct number) yesterday and again today. I was told:

1) They are not extending final payment dates.

2) They may or may not change itineraries (this is nonsense -- they absolutely have to for many of these islands).

3) If they do change itineraries, no decisions have been made as to where.

I asked them, as I also posit here, in what other situation in life would you toss a few thousand dollars over to someone and not know what you're going to get in return for that money? I doubt there would be any such situations where any of you would be willing to do that. It is ridiculous for Princess to hold hard and fast to non-refundable final payments without advising people where they will be going. It is also disingenuous on the part of those of you who see no problem with it.

In my opinion, it is not acceptable to be put on a Western Caribbean itinerary for the same money as a Lesser Antilles itinerary. I don't necessarily want to cancel; I’d just like to know where I'd be going BEFORE I pay for it. If they say, for instance, Barbados, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, etc. as replacement ports for our itineraries with St. Kitts, St. Martin, Antigua, Turks and Caicos and St. Thomas, that'd be fine. Montego Bay, Cozumel and Costa Maya, wouldn’t. At least not at the current fares we’re paying for the cruises.

For those of you who are saying that we have to go to these islands to spend money to support them, I ask simply: how? Spend money on what? And where would you spend it? There won't be any stores in which to spend money. There won't be any restaurants in which to eat or bars at which to drink. It is a nice sentiment to want to support them, but not realistic.

These islands have been totally wiped out, not just damaged. Most of them will not be re-built within THIS Caribbean season and some maybe not for a season beyond that. Certainly St. Martin, St. John, Barbuda, and Grand Turk will not be “open for business” this year. These ports don't have, and won't have for a long time to come, any electricity, running water or working sewers. The airports and hospitals were wiped out. All the materials they need to rebuild have to be shipped in and the shipping lanes may need to be re-dredged.

And, I'm sorry to say this, but it is already the case that widespread desperation is setting in for the residents of these islands, and violence is already breaking out. It may very well not be safe for well-intentioned, but vulnerable, tourists.

We live in Southeast Florida, the original anticipated target of Irma’s wrath. So, unlike most of the country, we've had nothing but wall to wall 24/7 coverage of the hurricane on every station (even on PBS) for over a week. All we watched as we shuttered up our homes and did the final prep of our hurricane kits was what was coming our way and what it did to these islands. If we were aware of what took place in these islands, so was Princess.

We are on the Dec 9th Crown sailing. Final payment is due 9/25. The itinerary includes 3 totally devastated ports and one very badly damaged port. We are also booked on the Jan 13th Circle Caribbean on the Caribbean which also includes 2 devastated and one very badly damaged port.

The following islands have been totally devastated:

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; St. Martin; St. John; St. Thomas; St. Barts; Barbuda

The following islands have significant damage but not total devastation:

Antigua - bad, but not as bad as Barbuda; but being used as a relief/recovery staging location for Barbuda so not exactly an attractive vacation spot; St. Kitts/Nevis; Puerto Rico

 

Princess HAS to make some decisions soon because many people like us have final payment dates approaching and would like to know what we'd be paying for, ie., what ports will be on the itinerary. I spoke with Princess Customer Relations (on their direct number) yesterday and again today. I was told:

1) They are not extending final payment dates.

2) They may or may not change itineraries (this is nonsense -- they absolutely have to for many of these islands).

3) If they do change itineraries, no decisions have been made as to where.

 

I asked them, as I also posit here, in what other situation in life would you toss a few thousand dollars over to someone and not know what you're going to get in return for that money? I doubt there would be any such situations where any of you would be willing to do that. It is ridiculous for Princess to hold hard and fast to non-refundable final payments without advising people where they will be going. It is also disingenuous on the part of those of you who see no problem with it.

 

In my opinion, it is not acceptable to be put on a Western Caribbean itinerary for the same money as a Lesser Antilles itinerary. I don't necessarily want to cancel; I’d just like to know where I'd be going BEFORE I pay for it. If they say, for instance, Barbados, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, etc. as replacement ports for our itineraries with St. Kitts, St. Martin, Antigua, Turks and Caicos and St. Thomas, that'd be fine. Montego Bay, Cozumel and Costa Maya, wouldn’t. At least not at the current fares we’re paying for the cruises.

 

For those of you who are saying that we have to go to these islands to spend money to support them, I ask simply: how? Spend money on what? And where would you spend it? There won't be any stores in which to spend money. There won't be any restaurants in which to eat or bars at which to drink. It is a nice sentiment to want to support them, but not realistic.

 

These islands have been totally wiped out, not just damaged. Most of them will not be re-built within THIS Caribbean season and some maybe not for a season beyond that. Certainly St. Martin, St. John, Barbuda, and Grand Turk will not be “open for business” this year. These ports don't have, and won't have for a long time to come, any electricity, running water or working sewers. The airports and hospitals were wiped out. All the materials they need to rebuild have to be shipped in and the shipping lanes may need to be re-dredged.

 

And, I'm sorry to say this, but it is already the case that widespread desperation is setting in for the residents of these islands, and violence is already breaking out. It may very well not be safe for well-intentioned, but vulnerable, tourists.

 

We live in Southeast Florida, the original anticipated target of Irma’s wrath. So, unlike most of the country, we've had nothing but wall to wall 24/7 coverage of the hurricane on every station (even on PBS) for over a week. All we watched as we shuttered up our homes and did the final prep of our hurricane kits was what was coming our way and what it did to these islands. If we were aware of what took place in these islands, so was Princess.

We are currently booked on two upcoming Princess cruises.

We are not cancelling, and we don't care where or whether they make any stops.

We had an unannounced visit from the upgrade fairy earlier today for one of our upcoming cruises.

We will have a good time on both of them.

Howard