Celebrity heads back to St Thomas in early November!

Check this out - just posted on the Celebrity website. This is for the 10/28/17 cruise on the Summit. They have just added St Thomas back in & say it is progressing well.

September 26, 2017

Dear Guest,

You recently received an updated itinerary for your upcoming 7-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise on

Celebrity Summit® departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on October 28. We’ve made further

changes to your itinerary.

We continue to evaluate the situation in the Caribbean, and while several facilities in San Juan

suffered significant damage, we remain confident that the airport and cruise terminals will be

functional at the time of your sailing, and we continue to work closely with local officials to provide

food, water, and generators to those in need.

Further, due to the success of the recovery efforts in St. Thomas, USVI, we’re happy to announce

that we will be adding a visit to this stunning island back to your sailing. We’ve removed the stop in

St. Croix, USVI from your sailing. For your convenience, we’ve included the revised and newly

updated itineraries for your reference below.

We’ll send you all the details on our updated shore excursion offerings in St. Thomas as soon as

they’re finalized. If you had already booked shore excursions for St. Croix, you’ll automatically

receive a full refund back to the form of payment used to book your excursions.

We know that these changes can be disruptive to your vacation plans and truly appreciate your

understanding as we work to through the effects of these terrible storms.

We’re doing everything we can to support the ongoing relief efforts for all those affected by these

devastating storms. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of these incredible

islands, as they work toward a complete recovery. We hope you’re looking forward to visiting these

beautiful destinations just as much as we are.

If you have any questions about your new ports of call, please call us at 1–800–280–3423

Great news, hope they're not rushing things.

Thanks for the heads up.

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I can't believe they are still sailing from Puerto Rico!

I can't believe they are still sailing from Puerto Rico!

Right now they aren't. They may be on October 28, that remains to be seen.

Too soon. The only obligation for Celebrity or ANY other cruises line is to get to the pier. If the local authority says that the port is open, then the cruise line will go. Business decision only.

We are not going to make a difference in the local economy for a while. Billions of $$ will be poured in the next 2-3 years sprucing up the place, rebuilding home then business, etc by their local gov.. Beer bucket, cheap-t-shirt will not

Too soon. The only obligation for Celebrity or ANY other cruises line is to get to the pier. If the local authority says that the port is open, then the cruise line will go. Business decision only.

 

We are not going to make a difference in the local economy for a while. Billions of $$ will be poured in the next 2-3 years sprucing up the place, rebuilding home then business, etc by their local gov.. Beer bucket, cheap-t-shirt will not

Every little bit helps, though. Especially if it goes to the local little guy try to feed his family.

Every little bit helps, though. Especially if it goes to the local little guy try to feed his family.

St Maarten tourism and economic affairs says that the port will be open by Nov 11, it´s a symbolic date (St. Maarten day).

It's all a bunch of hullabaloo. These islands will take months if not years to recover.

Just because a ship stops there doesn't mean you want to get off the ship.

The cruise lines sign contracts with the governments which obligates them to dock there if the dock is available. Otherwise they get sued for breach of contract (millions of dollars) for not paying the dockage fees.

I can't believe that any of the beaches are recognizable from what they were before the hurricanes.

Just call me a realistic practical person. It's all a tragedy but it's going to cost many millions and millions of dollars in US Federal Govt funds to put St. Thomas and Puerto Rico especially back together.

Not that it's stopping us from cancelling our trip in March. I'd still rather float around in the warm Caribbean sun than be in a NE winter.

Everyone don't get too excited. There isn't a magic wand and if you go, do not get sick because there is no functioning hospital on St. Thomas and won't be for many months. This NYT article should be sobering to all. Cut and paste in your browser. https://nyti.ms/2ytt3l7

Thank you Benjo8 for that link. What a horrible ordeal for the USVI.

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Everyone don't get too excited. There isn't a magic wand and if you go, do not get sick because there is no functioning hospital on St. Thomas and won't be for many months. This NYT article should be sobering to all. Cut and paste in your browser. https://nyti.ms/2ytt3l7

Wow...this NY Times article with photos shows how bad it really is, as of article date.,..Total destruction in many places. So sad . Not fixable in a short time frame...no trees..eerie!

Kudos to those who have assisted with pvt jets to get med supplies in and sick people out!

You'd think the port contracts would include provisions that if the port city or immediate area itself has major damage from storms, fire , civil unrest, lack of basic services...water, sewer, elec, cell service, med facilities, or major contagious illness etc, the requirement to dock there would be waived or forfeit penalty greatly reduced.

So if the port is open, but no planes are flying and no hotels are open, due to no electricity, how can one even get there to board?

Helaine

Who is going to be boarding in St. Thomas?

The airport is opening today, according to Caribbean Journal online.

____________________________________________________________

In a significant boost for the hard-hit island of St Thomas, the Cyril E. King Airport is set to reopen on Thursday for commercial flights.

The announcement was made by US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp, who commended the Virgin Islands Port Authority and the Department of Tourism “for their work in getting the airport up and running under difficult circumstances.”

Indeed, American Airlines was scheduled to fly from Miami to Charlotte Amalie on Thursday with its regular daily flights relaunching.

JetBlue was set to relaunch its San Juan-St Thomas flight on Thursday, while Delta was set to resume its Atlanta-St Thomas flight the same day.

United will be relaunching its daily Newark-St Thomas flights on Oct. 3, according to the company’s Web site.

Flight schedules will be determined by the respective airlines, and Mapp urged travelers to arrive four hours before departure in light of longer processing times.

Plans are underway to reopen St Croix’s Henry Rohlsen Airport next week, Mapp said.

Everyone don't get too excited. There isn't a magic wand and if you go, do not get sick because there is no functioning hospital on St. Thomas and won't be for many months. . https://nyti.ms/2ytt3l7

Why would this matter? No different than sea days that happen on every cruise.

Why would this matter? No different than sea days that happen on every cruise.

Would have to take injured or sick person back to the ship....

No nearby place to evac to.....

Just another indication the place is really not ready....

The pics with the NY Times article are so sad but show what folks can expect beyond the pier or port stores....

Take this for what it is worth:

St. Thomas needs more than tourism and tourist dollars at this point and for months to come. .The Island needs workers, equipment, food, water, vehicles and many other things before the people can even think about returning to service jobs in the tourist industry.

Shopping centers may be open with places like Diamonds Int. and other branches of big retailers, who have plenty of cash to make repairs.

Looks like months of cleanup and repairs just to get roofs over the peoples heads so they can return to work or to the lives they lived before the hurricanes.

bosco

Good news about the St. Thomas airport.

It's all a bunch of hullabaloo. These islands will take months if not years to recover.

Just because a ship stops there doesn't mean you want to get off the ship.

The cruise lines sign contracts with the governments which obligates them to dock there if the dock is available. Otherwise they get sued for breach of contract (millions of dollars) for not paying the dockage fees.

Right on.