Changes in Itinerary = Hurricane Cause

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There is also info in the St. Maarten forum on this site that they are planning to accept their first cruise ships in the beginning of November.

Talked today with the owner of a condo we usually rent in St. Martin - Princess Heights. He said there are only three hotels open and all three are housing emergency workers. He was told to not plan on coming to his condo until February at the earliest. He has refunded our deposits for November and February. The information he is getting is that tourists will not be allowed until later. Our opinion is they are being hopeful for the beginning of November but realistically, it probably won't happen.

We just heard from our intended hotel in St. Martin. They cancelled our reservation for late November. Unfortunately I think St. Martin will out of commission for awhile

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that the megaships mostly operate out of US homeports.

Windstar (and maybe other small ships) is in a unique position where the ships home port in various islands. That creates the difficult situation where the passengers are not only dealing with changes in ports, but also having to ascertain whether airports and hotels are open to get to the cruise.

Trying to provision a ship in these ports is going to be a logistical nightmare, including dealing with employees coming on and off contract, medical situations and family emergencies.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression is that the megaships mostly operate out of US homeports.

 

Windstar (and maybe other small ships) is in a unique position where the ships home port in various islands. That creates the difficult situation where the passengers are not only dealing with changes in ports, but also having to ascertain whether airports and hotels are open to get to the cruise.

 

Trying to provision a ship in these ports is going to be a logistical nightmare, including dealing with employees coming on and off contract, medical situations and family emergencies.

I know RCCL and Carnival both have a ship using San Juan as their home port. I also believe Disney has a ship.

I know RCCL and Carnival both have a ship using San Juan as their home port. I also believe Disney has a ship.

In November 2017 - 2 RCCL, 1 Carnival, 1 Celebrity, 1 Norwegian, 1 Viking, and 1 Windstar ships will be home porting out of San Juan.

In November 2017 - 2 RCCL, 1 Carnival, 1 Celebrity, 1 Norwegian, 1 Viking, and 1 Windstar ships will be home porting out of San Juan.

So do all the rest of the mainstream lines' ships operate out of US homeports?

A lot of airlines are waiving change fees. The difference in airfare may be an issue, however.

As well as capacity. If the airlines are smart, and if the airports have slots available, they'll monitor the changes in cruise itineraries and add more capacity onto certain routes to accommodate the extra traffic. Hotel rooms may be another issue...

So do all the rest of the mainstream lines' ships operate out of US homeports?

Puerto Rico is a US port so the ships operating out of PR are operating out of a US homeport.

Of course, ships operate out of non-US home ports in Europe and Asia.

So, is your question which mainstream lines operate Caribbean cruises with home ports other than the contiguous US states?

BTW, my one mainstream line cruise was a Celebrity cruise out of Puerto Rico. I much prefer those itineraries because one has the option of hitting more ports and the port times are much better. I recall that when I looked some of the cruises leaving out of Florida would have a port or two with short or fairly useless port times (e.g. an evening visit that limited the options on land). Also, since many of the cruises leave Florida on Saturday or Sunday and go to the bigger ports, they end up visiting the islands on very busy port days with big crowds.

When we cruised on Celebrity out of PR, the ship was the only big ship in port, sometimes there might be one or two of the smaller ships there with us. The ports were lovely and uncrowded. Cruises out of PR can plan on visiting the most heavily used ports on days when the other ships are at sea.

Puerto Rico is a US port so the ships operating out of PR are operating out of a US homeport.

 

So, is your question which mainstream lines operate Caribbean cruises with home ports other than the contiguous US states?

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Sincere apologies on that one. I once had a waitress refuse a Puerto Rican quarter after telling me they didn't accept foreign currencies! I guess I was thinking about the American mainland ports along the Gulf of Mexico that service the Caribbean, and while damaged in Harvey and Irma, are nowhere near as devastated as the islands have been. :o I hope I'll do better in the future sharing thoughts from my aging brain.

I spoke to WS today- we are booked on the Dec 2 sailing out of SJU- and they said that they will know more about changes on Monday. With the exception of Montserrat, the entire itinerary will probably change. Virgin Gorda, St Bart's and Jost Van Dyke are surely off the schedule and I would assume that Vieques is also out. We are hoping to cancel and are happy to just get credit towards a future cruise but at this point WS is telling us to wait a bit longer.

 

 

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Any updates from Windstar today?

checked with Windstar today about further changes to Saints of the Caribbean sailing on November 18 from Barbados. The itinerary included a new stop at Dominica but that seems unlikely. They had no additional information at this time.

Sincere apologies on that one. I once had a waitress refuse a Puerto Rican quarter after telling me they didn't accept foreign currencies! I guess I was thinking about the American mainland ports along the Gulf of Mexico that service the Caribbean, and while damaged in Harvey and Irma, are nowhere near as devastated as the islands have been. :o I hope I'll do better in the future sharing thoughts from my aging brain.

My apologies too. Rereading my post, it sounds snarky which I didn't intend.

The map for Saints of the Caribbean now shows stops in Grenada and Anse Matin in Martinique, however the printed itinerary stills shows Dominica and Grande Anse d'Arlet in Martinique. I think things are still very chaotic at Windstar.

The map for Saints of the Caribbean now shows stops in Grenada and Anse Matin in Martinique, however the printed itinerary stills shows Dominica and Grande Anse d'Arlet in Martinique. I think things are still very chaotic at Windstar.

At least they are updating this itinerary. The Star Pride - San Juan and the Virgin Islands itinerary has not been updated at all and still has all the islands that were in Irma's direct path.

We're booked on the Classic Caribbean cruise on Nov.25th that was originally supposed to port out of St Maarten. We received an email on Sept 18 of the itinerary change due to Hurricane Irma. Had been waiting for another change due to Hurricane Maria. Never got an email, but noticed they changed itinerary and shore excursions on the website. The only change to the previously updated itinerary is now we're going to Martinique instead of Dominica. Hopefully there won't be anymore changes.

The map for Saints of the Caribbean now shows stops in Grenada and Anse Matin in Martinique, however the printed itinerary stills shows Dominica and Grande Anse d'Arlet in Martinique. I think things are still very chaotic at Windstar.

At least this would be acceptable and avoid destroyed ports

Talked to Windstar again today and what I walked about with is that this is a small company trying to deal with the aftermath of not one but two apocalyptic hurricanes. The reps have all been very helpful with limited information. They are currently trying to reconstruct a number of arrival and departure ports for several itineraries. They told me that changes to mid itinerary cruise ports will follow hopefully next week. I think Windstar will do its best to provide the best trip possible in the face of course these extraordinary circumstances.

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My husband and I are on the Star Breeze from Nov 4 to Dec 2 - I haven't heard from my TA or WS, but another change just happened on the 18-Nov and 25-Nov sailings - Dominica is out, and we are now going to be in Martinique on 23-Nov, and Grenada on 24-Nov. On the second 7 days, it looks like we are going to Castries, St Lucia for the day on the 29th, then moving over to Pigeon Island to spend the night and the next day.

Wednesday, November 29

Sailing

Arrival Castries, Saint Lucia 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Castries, Saint Lucia 5:00 PM

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 PM

Thursday, November 30

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 6:00 PM

Friday, December 1

Sailing

Arrival St. George'S, Grenada 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure St. George'S, Grenada 2:00 PM

We're booked on the Classic Caribbean cruise on Nov.25th that was originally supposed to port out of St Maarten. We received an email on Sept 18 of the itinerary change due to Hurricane Irma. Had been waiting for another change due to Hurricane Maria. Never got an email, but noticed they changed itinerary and shore excursions on the website. The only change to the previously updated itinerary is now we're going to Martinique instead of Dominica. Hopefully there won't be anymore changes.

Today's itinerary shows two days in St Lucia instead of Martinique....

Wednesday, November 29

Sailing

Arrival Castries, Saint Lucia 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Castries, Saint Lucia 5:00 PM

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 PM

Thursday, November 30

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 6:00 PM

Just checked the itinerary on my cruise documents and indeed things have changed. Here is the latest for the Saints of the Caribbean sailing on the 18th.

Saturday, November 18

Sailing

Departure Bridgetown, Barbados 11:59 PM

Sunday, November 19

Sailing

Arrival Bequia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 10:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Bequia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 10:00 PM

Monday, November 20

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 6:00 PM

Tuesday, November 21

Sailing

Arrival Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 6:00 PM

Wednesday, November 22

Sailing

Arrival Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Nevis 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Nevis 4:00 PM

Thursday, November 23

Sailing

Arrival Anse Mitan, Martinique 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Anse Mitan, Martinique 4:00 PM

Friday, November 24

Sailing

Arrival St. George'S, Grenada 7:00 AM

Sailing

Departure St. George'S, Grenada 2:00 PM

Saturday, November 25

Sailing

Arrival Bridgetown, Barbados 4:00 AM

I just checked My Windstar for our Dec. 9 sailing on the Pride. Definitely changes in itinerary, and I love it! All new ports for us, except St. Lucia (which we love!)

Saturday, December 9

Sailing

Departure San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:00 PM

Sunday, December 10

Sailing

At Sea

Monday, December 11

Sailing

Arrival Anse Mitan, Martinique 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Anse Mitan, Martinique 10:00 PM

Tuesday, December 12

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 5:00 PM

Wednesday, December 13

Sailing

Arrival Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 10:00 PM

Thursday, December 14

Sailing

Arrival Little Bay, Montserrat 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Little Bay, Montserrat 4:00 PM

Friday, December 15

Sailing

Arrival Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 7:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 1:30 PM

Saturday, December 16

Sailing

Arrival San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 AM

Nothing new on Dec 2nd Pride departure yet

Stand corrected.. on Windstar's site in the account it shows this as the new itinerary Dec 2:

Date

Activity

Description

Passengers

Saturday, December 2

Sailing

Departure San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:00 PM

Sunday, December 3

Sailing

At Sea

Monday, December 4

Sailing

Arrival Anse Mitan, Martinique 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Anse Mitan, Martinique 10:00 PM

Tuesday, December 5

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 5:00 PM

Wednesday, December 6

Sailing

Arrival Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 10:00 PM

Thursday, December 7

Sailing

Arrival Little Bay, Montserrat 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Little Bay, Montserrat 4:00 PM

Friday, December 8

Sailing

Arrival Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 7:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 1:30 PM

Saturday, December 9

Sailing

Arrival San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 AM

We are on the Windsurf Classic Caribbean Jan 20...have moved from St. Martin to Barbados, dropped Barbuda, St. Bart's, Dominica for Montserrat and Martinique.

We were in Montserrat last year on Star Legend, very interesting but one time is enough!!! (just get off the ship and grab one of the cab/vans, drivers sitting around waiting...they do a great tour of the island...it's all you need!)

Wondering where the Beach Party might be? Hoping for Martinique because they don't seem to have any excursions available for that port...anyone know how to determine?

Fingers crossed the storms and devastation are done...this has been terrible to watch!:eek:

We are on the Windsurf Classic Caribbean Jan 20...have moved from St. Martin to Barbados, dropped Barbuda, St. Bart's, Dominica for Montserrat and Martinique.

We were in Montserrat last year on Star Legend, very interesting but one time is enough!!! (just get off the ship and grab one of the cab/vans, drivers sitting around waiting...they do a great tour of the island...it's all you need!)

 

Wondering where the Beach Party might be? Hoping for Martinique because they don't seem to have any excursions available for that port...anyone know how to determine?

 

Fingers crossed the storms and devastation are done...this has been terrible to watch!:eek:

We are on the Pride out of San Juan with many of the same ports. When you just look at shore excursions, there are none for Martinique. When you use the already booked tab, they show Martinique excursions. You might want to see if that works for you. There is no description, just names and dollars.