Will they announce port changes?

[TNcruising02]

I think the odds are good that you will make it to your scheduled ports.  Out of 15 cruises, we missed our ports twice due to hurricanes.  However, we cruised during hurricane season so we were prepared for the possibility.  One of those times, we scheduled the cruise specifically to go to Bermuda.  We didn't make it that time, but made it last year.  Anyway, a cruise in April is a great time of year.  There are no guarantees, but the odds are good.  Even if your cruise is rerouted, there are plenty of other great ports to enjoy that would replace it.

Congratulations on your hard work!  Have fun researching things to do on your cruise.  I always like to read reviews posted by people who have gone on the same cruise.

Edited June 4, 2020 by TNcruising02

[sanger727]

as others have said, any port can be cancelled at any time from shortly before the cruise (like if the change all ports due to a hurricane) to the day of the port stop (weather, equipment issues, emergencies, etc). If something like that happens the announcement will be too late to change or put off your cruise. The best remedy is to book shore excursions that either do not require pre payment or will refund you if the ship misses the port.

 

as far as a covid cancellation, at this point it’s way too early to make any intelligent guess about April of next year. Luckily, your final payment is still a ways off. Keep monitoring this forum. Carnival thinks they may start cruising in August. Even if that gets pushed off again, there is an excellent chance that a cruise sailing that itinerary will occur by January. So if they are able to dock at those ports you will know that you are in the clear. If not; it’s hard to say how far ahead carnival will announce changes. But be aware of cancellation penalties. If they announce changes shortly before your trip it will no longer be an option to move to a different date or itinerary.

 

one point I would like to make. Several people have said not to cruise for a specific stop. If you want to take a cruise and chose this one because it stops in Belize, I don’t think there is anything wrong w that. We cruise for itinerariesvall the time. The problem is if you want to go to belize and simply chose a cruise to get there. You are definately going to get a cruise; you will probably get Belize but things can always change.

Edited June 4, 2020 by sanger727

[firefly333]

I must hold the record on missed ports from reading this. I'll bet I've missed 6 ports. And been in late enough times I dont book a flight out before noon.

 

I was also on the cruise where the hurricane wiped out Galveston and lost my car. Allstate was the last on the scene and I never saw my car again. We spent a extra night in cozumel and then the following day ported in new orleans and went thru customs and booked a rental car home. Eventually they got permission to port in houston but we didnt know that when they made us get off in new orleans for customs, though they did say we could reboard after customs. They got to houston the following Thursday. 

 

I do think Galveston might have fewer ports it can reach, so less possibility to reroute. Also we are known for foggy mornings in February and have debarred late due to fog and once a broken ramp.

 

I still love Galveston as a port city and the friendly pax. I posted this on rcl board recently that I love how texans and middle america who mostly cruises out of texas are just extra friendly. Someone posted back they prefer a more diverse group of pax out of say miami, and many gave her rebuke of me many stars. I still like Texans and their friendliness. A cruise out of Galveston just feels different and I like it. 

 

Actually the cruise where we had the protests we missed two ports. The second port was caymans maybe? And the waves were high and it was windy. The ship tried for over 2 hours to dock and just couldnt safely dock between the wind and the waves. So that's why newbies thought we should get a refund of the cruise. I went to a meeting and tried to reason with them and they said if you arent on our side get out and kicked me out. Actually having pax marching around the ship i thought was kinda entertaining. They did finally call security when that lawyer kid wouldnt quit protesting next to customer service in the lobby. 

 

But I'm sure I've missed over 6 ports easily. But ive cruised almost 20 years and a lot of cruises so maybe it's just the odds or the time of year, or Galveston. I dont know how many cruises ive done, on carnival, princess, celebrity, ncl and rcl. 

Edited June 4, 2020 by firefly333

[TNcruising02]

As far as the friendliness of the passengers, I rate Galveston as #1 and Port Canaveral as #2.  I also had a great cruise out of Baltimore.  It's funny that two of my favorite ports to cruise from are both so far from the airports.  They are worth it though.

 

Cruising in April, you don't have to worry about hurricanes or spring breakers.  It should be a great time to cruise.

Edited June 4, 2020 by TNcruising02

[Oldpeoplecruising]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We have only cruised during hurricane season as DW is a teacher. Yet in 12 cruises, we have never missed a port. The closest was when we actually did have a hurricane; we made all our ports, but spent an extra two days at sea before we could disembark in Fort Lauderdale.

 

However, the present situation with ports possibly saying we do not want cruise ships to dock due to health reasons may very well be different.

That is what I figured.   I think most likely they will know if a port will be closed still to COVID at least a week before the cruise and hopefully could at least let us know.  

[sanger727]

2 hours ago, Oldpeoplecruising said:

That is what I figured.   I think most likely they will know if a port will be closed still to COVID at least a week before the cruise and hopefully could at least let us know.  

 

They probably will know and let you know sometime ahead of the cruise. A week seems reasonable.  But you won't be able to do anything to change cruises at that point.

[GLCM GUY]

As West coast cruisers we are really interested to see when Mexico will open her borders and ports.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We have only cruised during hurricane season as DW is a teacher. Yet in 12 cruises, we have never missed a port. The closest was when we actually did have a hurricane; we made all our ports, but spent an extra two days at sea before we could disembark in Fort Lauderdale.

 

However, the present situation with ports possibly saying we do not want cruise ships to dock due to health reasons may very well be different.

Maybe I should add though we made all our ports, the next cruise on the ship was going to be very different. First they were starting 2 days late. Second from what I understand none of our ports Key West, Cozumel, and Belize were done on that next cruise. (I'm not quite sure where they went, but our 5 day cruise became a 7 day cruise so there must have become a 3 day cruise.) 

 

At the airport I spoke to one of the cruise line people holding up a sign for the cruise line and asked her what kind of turnout they expected. Her answer was she had no idea. I later read that they reduced the 2 dinner seatings (this was before any anytime options to one. I believe they sailed at most half full.

[Oldpeoplecruising]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I must hold the record on missed ports from reading this. I'll bet I've missed 6 ports. And been in late enough times I dont book a flight out before noon.

 

I was also on the cruise where the hurricane wiped out Galveston and lost my car. Allstate was the last on the scene and I never saw my car again. We spent a extra night in cozumel and then the following day ported in new orleans and went thru customs and booked a rental car home. Eventually they got permission to port in houston but we didnt know that when they made us get off in new orleans for customs, though they did say we could reboard after customs. They got to houston the following Thursday. 

 

I do think Galveston might have fewer ports it can reach, so less possibility to reroute. Also we are known for foggy mornings in February and have debarred late due to fog and once a broken ramp.

 

I still love Galveston as a port city and the friendly pax. I posted this on rcl board recently that I love how texans and middle america who mostly cruises out of texas are just extra friendly. Someone posted back they prefer a more diverse group of pax out of say miami, and many gave her rebuke of me many stars. I still like Texans and their friendliness. A cruise out of Galveston just feels different and I like it. 

 

Actually the cruise where we had the protests we missed two ports. The second port was caymans maybe? And the waves were high and it was windy. The ship tried for over 2 hours to dock and just couldnt safely dock between the wind and the waves. So that's why newbies thought we should get a refund of the cruise. I went to a meeting and tried to reason with them and they said if you arent on our side get out and kicked me out. Actually having pax marching around the ship i thought was kinda entertaining. They did finally call security when that lawyer kid wouldnt quit protesting next to customer service in the lobby. 

 

But I'm sure I've missed over 6 ports easily. But ive cruised almost 20 years and a lot of cruises so maybe it's just the odds or the time of year, or Galveston. I dont know how many cruises ive done, on carnival, princess, celebrity, ncl and rcl. 

Lol... I actually live right outside of Galveston.  About a 10 minute drive.   🙂     I  love to people watch and would have loved to be on this cruise to watch everyone....

[firefly333]

23 minutes ago, Oldpeoplecruising said:

Lol... I actually live right outside of Galveston.  About a 10 minute drive.   🙂     I  love to people watch and would have loved to be on this cruise to watch everyone....

Your first cruise you have a blue card. Takes a couple of cruises depending on length to move to red. 

 

People DO notice the color of your card if you are wearing it around your neck. My hint is if you want to revolt and 99% in the room also have blue cards, though some didnt show... maybe dont wear that card so obviously lol. I may have it backwards, been a while since I was new.

[Joe817]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Your first cruise you have a blue card. Takes a couple of cruises depending on length to move to red. 

 

People DO notice the color of your card if you are wearing it around your neck. My hint is if you want to revolt and 99% in the room also have blue cards, though some didnt show... maybe dont wear that card so obviously lol. I may have it backwards, been a while since I was new.

Why? Being a first time cruiser is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, EVERYBODY was a blue card at one time. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Why? Being a first time cruiser is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, EVERYBODY was a blue card at one time. 

If you read thru both posts .... they organized a protest and marched around the ship and refused to listen to anyone who tried to explain what they agreed to when they agreed to terms before they boarded.

 

If you are a first time cruiser maybe its smart to be more open to listening and not saying, I'm a lawyer and know my rights and demanding to be refunded your entire cruisefare if a port is missed and stirring up others to march around the ship.

 

I didn't say there was anything wrong with being a first time cruiser ... go back and read about the protest they organized and refused to listen to anyone. The terms say you get a refund of port fees, that's what you agreed to. You dont get your entire fare back. He was loudly saying, I paid a big price, I'm in a balcony, as if that meant since he paid more he should get something more back  or I know my rights, they even called radio stations in houston and said they were being meet by reporters when they embarked ... the promised reporters never showed. Getting bodily removed from the lobbymtwice I saw by security. 

 

My pt was someone with a few cruises under their belt probably knew they weren't getting a refund of their cruisefare just by marching around.

 

. 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Your first cruise you have a blue card. Takes a couple of cruises depending on length to move to red. 

 

A person's second cruise will always give them a red card no matter what length the first one was.  Actually, there was one exception to that - Carnival had a 26-day repositioning cruise across the Pacific last year, and cruisers who chose that one as their second cruise ended up with gold cards.

 

Anyway, I was trying to figure out how many ports I missed and I have a couple of math problems I'd like some help with.

 

1.  I've had two cruises canceled outright by the cruise line.  Combined they had nine ports.  So how many ports did I miss, nine or zero?

 

2.  One of my cruises canceled a port a year before my sailing - but after I booked.  Some of those who booked after me didn't notice that there was a port canceled because it was immediately replaced.  Does that count as a missed port?

 

Otherwise... I can't recall missing any ports in my 16 cruises.

[AmBear]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:40 AM, TNcruising02 said:

I think the odds are good that you will make it to your scheduled ports.  Out of 15 cruises, we missed our ports twice due to hurricanes.  However, we cruised during hurricane season so we were prepared for the possibility.  One of those times, we scheduled the cruise specifically to go to Bermuda.  We didn't make it that time, but made it last year.  Anyway, a cruise in April is a great time of year.  There are no guarantees, but the odds are good.  Even if your cruise is rerouted, there are plenty of other great ports to enjoy that would replace it.

Congratulations on your hard work!  Have fun researching things to do on your cruise.  I always like to read reviews posted by people who have gone on the same cruise.

I'd disagree, We think all the ports except  maybe' for a few, including the private islands that can be serviced by the ship's crew only, will be the only ports open! And those few would have to be ones where cruise ship life boats as tenders would be used!

Can't see the Islands opening up to ships from ports coming from states like Florida, Texas, etc that are exploding once again in virus infections! Florida just had their highest 5 days of infections reported, and it doesn't look like its gonna get better!

[donaldsc]

On 6/3/2020 at 11:22 AM, Oldpeoplecruising said:

I know with all of this COVID stuff so much is changing and changes every day, but I was wondering if the cruise lines announce port changes before the cruise.    I know in the fine print it says they can change your ports, but I had planned on booking my excursions through a third party.  Also, on the cruise that I selected, there is one port that is very important to me that we hit.  It is the whole reason I selected the cruise I did.   If they know in advance that that port is not accepting cruise lines, I will ask that my "deposit" ( I have paid in full) be held for a different cruise.     The cruise I have selected on Carnival is not until April 2021.     So my payment deadline is not until January.   We WILL be taking a cruise as this is to celebrate my college graduation.   It only took 30 years....lol.   But I worked really hard and got a 4.0 so this is my reward to myself.    So... it IS happening... just a matter of when.    It is mine and my husbands first cruise ever.    As I mentioned, it isnt until April of next year, but I have a suitcase in the spare bedroom that I have already started to pack with things that I am hearing you should take on all of the packing youtube videos.    So .... my husband is just getting a kick out of watching me prepare.   lol.   I have been researching for a year for this cruise.     And now that I am done with my school work, I have more time to look at the 1 million videos on youtube about cruises.  🙂

 

I know they dont announce changes in advance all the time.    Usually it is for weather or last minute political stuff.   But I figure they may have an idea a month or two in advance what ports will still be accepting cruises and which ones will not.  I would love to know if there are changes in advance so that I can change the cruise if it doesnt hit that one port that we booked this one for.    🙂

 

Read your cruise contract.  Nobody should book a cruise based on just one port.  If that port is so important to you,  fly to the port and spend a week there. No ports are ever guaranteed.

 

DON

[sgttami]

Welcome to cruising and Cruise Critic

 

Everyone hopes that what they book will be where they go but even in normal times, anything can happen.

 

I was booked for Bermuda last year which was three days in port and it wasn't until we boarded that we found out we weren't going due to a hurricane.  Some people , mostly the ones who specifically booked for itinerary, went nuts carrying on like it was the Captain's fault and complained all through the cruise.

 

We ended up in Grand Turk and Amber Cove and overall it was still fun.  We got a future cruise credit but for some, that still wasn't enough. (LOL)

 

Enjoy cruising, wherever it may take you!