Post Irma and Maria cruising

I am just wondering if any of you seasoned cruisers have any suggestions, ideas, advice regarding cruising in the Caribbean in the next several months. We have a cruise booked for Feb. 2018 on the Oasis - we picked this trip specifically for the ship & the itinerary (San Juan, St. Maarten & Labadee). Do the cruise lines ever offer any compensation if the original ports are not open? Also what if the ports are open but the islands still don't have power everywhere? St. Maarten & San Juan are our favorite places - we are praying for everyone there. I know they need tourists but I think it would be wrong to be there relaxing while the residents are struggling to just get by Please share your thoughts (no nasty mean spirited banter please) I don't want to go somewhere in Feb if it would be inappropriate

I am just wondering if any of you seasoned cruisers have any suggestions, ideas, advice regarding cruising in the Caribbean in the next several months. We have a cruise booked for Feb. 2018 on the Oasis - we picked this trip specifically for the ship & the itinerary (San Juan, St. Maarten & Labadee). Do the cruise lines ever offer any compensation if the original ports are not open? Also what if the ports are open but the islands still don't have power everywhere? St. Maarten & San Juan are our favorite places - we are praying for everyone there. I know they need tourists but I think it would be wrong to be there relaxing while the residents are struggling to just get by Please share your thoughts (no nasty mean spirited banter please) I don't want to go somewhere in Feb if it would be inappropriate

We are going the end of Jan. we cannot cancel at this point. If the ports are closed, I believe they try to go somewhere else instead. I was looking forward to San Juan as we have never been. I hope they will be doing better. I feel so bad for the people affected. I don't know weather they will be on the schedule or not by then.

I am not a seasoned cruiser, but am taking a cruise Feb. It's on my bucket list to see the forts of San Juan and Maegens Bay in St. Thomas. I'm on Adventure which will port out of San Juan. If St. Thomas isn't ready I hope there's an alternative. I'm also worried about the hotel in San Juan if it had structural damage. I'm not sure how good the inspections are before they're allowed to take guests.

The cruise lines typically do not offer compensation for changing port stops other then refunding port fees if a port is eliminated and changes to a sea day. It is part of the cruise contract that they can (and do) change itineraries as they deem necessary.

We are cruising on the 6th October and we have been told that SJ is progressing well and they expect to dock there.

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We are cruising on the 6th October and we have been told that SJ is progressing well and they expect to dock there.

 

 

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That is encouraging....although surprising. Which cruise line are you sailing if you wouldn't mind sharing? We don't have any answers yet for ours in December....and a lot of others are experiencing the same further out than your October 6th date. Please keep us posted.

That is encouraging....although surprising. Which cruise line are you sailing if you wouldn't mind sharing? We don't have any answers yet for ours in December....and a lot of others are experiencing the same further out than your October 6th date. Please keep us posted.

We are with Princess...

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Thank you. Are you originating/terminating your cruise in SJ or just a port day?

Thank you. Are you originating/terminating your cruise in SJ or just a port day?

We are just porting there. Leaving from Fort Lauderdale.

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Thanks again. Sure hope it all goes well for SJ stop. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks again. Sure hope it all goes well for SJ stop. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you so much. I will report back after the cruise. I adore PR. A beautiful place full of lovely people. Spent my honeymoon there in 2015. I so hope they can rebuild. Hope you enjoy your cruises too.

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Our cruise originated in SJ on oct 21st. I'm super nervous about it as of right now. Hope u guys can give us a positive update!

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Carnival posted this 12:30 ET:

"...Port officials have informed us that our terminal in San Juan has sustained extensive damage as a result of Hurricane Maria. The assessment is still in progress but it now appears that it will take several weeks to make the necessary repairs."

https://www.carnival.com/travel-alerts.aspx

Bad news, the moaners on our cruise have now caused princess to reassess their port day in PR. We will now not be going and therefore PR will not be getting any help or aid from our cruise. So we now get another at sea day which we could have had at PR whilst they helped the island............... Not impressed with selfish people.

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I'm sailing on the Eurodam in December and San Juan is still on my itiniary, the only change was St Croix for St Martin. I don't see how PR can be visited for a long time, no power, water etc.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/09/disconnected-by-disasterphotos-from-a-battered-puerto-rico/540975/

I can't see how the port would be open in SJ. The whole island is down ...they are in dire need of help for basic needs.

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The port was open for our ship but too many of our cruisers didn't want to go there. I was expecting an at sea day at port so that princess could off load supplies and help the island but that is now nit happening. We will sail past the devastation supping our cocktails looking the other way...... When we could have given then supplies

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Bad news, the moaners on our cruise have now caused princess to reassess their port day in PR. We will now not be going and therefore PR will not be getting any help or aid from our cruise. So we now get another at sea day which we could have had at PR whilst they helped the island............... Not impressed with selfish people.

 

 

Selfish people would be those who want to stop on an island that has no food, no water, no power for it's citizens and where people are dying because help cannot get to them.

[selfish people would be those who want to stop on an island that has no food, no water, no power for it's citizens and where people are dying because help cannot get to them.

A ship tied up at port will not tax the resources of the island. It will be as self-sufficient as if it were out at sea. The port fees would provide at least a bit of revenue.

If there were truly nothing to do on shore the passengers could just stay on ship the same as any other sea day. The few hardy souls who did venture out would get a chance to enlarge their horizons beyond the homogeneous suburbs they're fleeing in the first place. They might even put some money in the pockets of people who need it.

But we're a nation of whiners, I mean "winners", and best to turn our heads from situations that make us uncomfortable.

Visiting the port in San Juan is one thing. Celebrity has my October 22 cruise ending in San Juan on the 28th. I doubt that the airport will be close to fully functional by then.

Two of the other ports have been changed, which is fine.

I’m not happy about ending in San Juan, and would love to cancel this cruise, but insurance won’t pay.

SJ is the homeport for the Celebrity Summit and they want the ship there. It seems foolish to dump us in an area that has been described as “like a war zone”.

The port was open for our ship but too many of our cruisers didn't want to go there. I was expecting an at sea day at port so that princess could off load supplies and help the island but that is now nit happening. We will sail past the devastation supping our cocktails looking the other way...... When we could have given then supplies

 

 

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I too would have wanted to at least drop off supplies off on my extra "seaday". If PR can't accept visitors, that means that they NEED supplies.

Most of the cruisers would be Americans on your ship and Puerto Rican's are also American citizens. This fact makes your post even more surprising.

I too would have wanted to at least drop off supplies off on my extra "seaday". If PR can't accept visitors, that means that they NEED supplies.

 

Most of the cruisers would be Americans on your ship and Puerto Rican's are also American citizens. This fact makes your post even more surprising.

Yup I'm disgusted with those who moaned. They don't have to get off the ship and I feel personally it would be best if we remained on the ship and left them to give them the much needed supplies. Now they are all organising a big gambling competition to play on that sea day and it is leaving a very nasty taste in my mouth!!

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Yup I'm disgusted with those who moaned. They don't have to get off the ship and I feel personally it would be best if we remained on the ship and left them to give them the much needed supplies. Now they are all organising a big gambling competition to play on that sea day and it is leaving a very nasty taste in my mouth!!

 

 

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As my dear old dad would say " You can't make this stuff up!":eek:

Bad news, the moaners on our cruise have now caused princess to reassess their port day in PR. We will now not be going and therefore PR will not be getting any help or aid from our cruise. So we now get another at sea day which we could have had at PR whilst they helped the island............... Not impressed with selfish people.

 

 

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It was not the moaners on your cruise which caused Princess to reassess their port day in PR, it was the damage to the port and the current situation on going. The situation is absolutely critical down there. Someone from the Coast Guard was at my home yesterday and we were discussing the situation there, she is about to head down there. There are reasons your ship is not going and it's not from people complaining!

I also forgot to note, while Princess was bringing some supplies in, they weren't going to take anyone off the island. The pier needs to be left open to those ships that are not only bringing supplies but taking people off the island. Royal Caribbean has a ship there today that came loaded with supplies and empty cabins with the exception of crew. They are taking off evacuees, stranded tourists and employees. Then it's going to St. Croix. In all 3,800 people will be brought back to Port Everglades.

Carnival Corp is certainly doing a lot with ships going in prior and donating lots of money. But a Princess cruise ship loaded with passengers should not be going there at this point in time.