What happens if our only port in Cuba is canceled?

[mcmarya]

Our cruise only stops at one port in Cuba, Cienfuegos.  This is a tender port which is sometimes missed due to weather.  If that happens will they refund that fee for a useless visa? I’m guessing not but just curious.  Anyone have experience with this?  It’s disappointing to only have one port but doubly so if that port is missed.

[Cary Cruiser]

As far as ports go, it is always at the discretion of the Captain, but try and think positive.  Cienfuegos is in a protected harbor inside a large, almost enclosed bay.  Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that "weather" will cancel your port stop.

[mcmarya]

Since Cienfuegos was our only port in Cuba, passengers were instructed not to fill out their Visa until arriving at the port (just in case the port was missed.)  I spoke with someone who was not able to go ashore due to a medical problem.  Since she did not write on her Visa, she was able to turn it in for a refund.  In the case of a port cancellation, anyone who had not filled in their Visa could do the same.

[ebslcc]

On 12/12/2018 at 8:00 AM, Cary Cruiser said:

As far as ports go, it is always at the discretion of the Captain, but try and think positive.  Cienfuegos is in a protected harbor inside a large, almost enclosed bay.  Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that "weather" will cancel your port stop.

 

Cienfuegos is in a protected harbor however the passage to get into the harbor is narrow.  Our Cienfuegos stop on Dec 12th was delayed for 2 1/2 hours.  It was a sunny day but there were high winds.  The ship was refused entry until the wind died down.  Apparently if there is strong winds and low tide there may be delays.  Luckily we used a local private tour guide (Tony Castillo).  His Casa is only 15 minutes from the port.  He came back to meet us 3 hours later than planned.  We were lucky that we had 2 days in port and were able to shift our tour schedule so we didn't miss the places we planned to see.  Per Tony there were multiple times cruises ships stopping in Cienfuegos were delayed or even cancel in the past 3 months. 

 

Laurence

[tybeelucy2]

On 12/12/2018 at 11:00 AM, Cary Cruiser said:

As far as ports go, it is always at the discretion of the Captain, but try and think positive.  Cienfuegos is in a protected harbor inside a large, almost enclosed bay.  Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that "weather" will cancel your port stop.

 Not necessarily. The Empress was rerouted due to weather and missed the Ceinfuegos stop, but luckily rescued two fisherman. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/24/lost-sea-their-food-was-running-low-then-empress-seas-appeared/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1863ab2dd8ba