Itinerary change for Novmeber 20, 2021

[sns1]

We are booked on the 8 day Southern Caribbean on November 20, 2021.  It was originally the ABC itinerary.  Just got an e-mail that instead of Bonaire....we now will be going to Grand Turk.  There is a sea day in between Grand Turk and Fort Lauderdale.  Can the ship make Fort Lauderdale from Grand Turk without a sea day?   Just wondering if Princess plans to make this 8 day cruise a 7 day cruise.

[Mud_Shark]

Our Nov 6th itinerary has also replaced Bonaire (with Grenada).  I wonder if there is some restriction Bonaire has imposed upon cruise ships that Princess feels is simply too constricting for cruising there this coming year?

 

Don

[Set to go]

We are on this cruise and got notification about the change yesterday.  I’m not overly upset because we have been to Bonaire in the past, but I was looking forward to snorkeling there.  We have never been to the port replacing it.  Is Grand Turk known for anything special?

 

Diane

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, Set to go said:

 Is Grand Turk known for anything special?

Jack's Shack ! ... ( RIP Topher)

[Set to go]

13 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Jack's Shack ! ... ( RIP Topher)

Thanks for the tip!  I looked at their website and it seems like our kind of place!  Now...hopefully we will be able to do private excursions by that time!

 

Diane

[skynight]

56 minutes ago, Set to go said:

Thanks for the tip!  I looked at their website and it seems like our kind of place!  Now...hopefully we will be able to do private excursions by that time!

 

Diane

Jack's Shack is a bar & beach area a few hundred yards up the beach. Exit the pier turn left before you reach the mall area and walk the beach until you reach Jack's Shack. 

[skynight]

1 hour ago, sns1 said:

 Can the ship make Fort Lauderdale from Grand Turk without a sea day?   Just wondering if Princess plans to make this 8 day cruise a 7 day cruise.

This past February, just before the shutdown, we departed Grand Turk at 7pm Thursday and arrived in F.L. on Saturday. The distance is around 600 nautical miles.  There is a day at sea.

[1025cruise]

I would be unhappy with a substitution of Grand Turk for Bonaire. While I'm sure there is a valid reason, personally, Grand Turk would become a ship day for me.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

33 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

I would be unhappy with a substitution of Grand Turk for Bonaire. While I'm sure there is a valid reason, personally, Grand Turk would become a ship day for me.

 

Yup - It's called Carnival Corp having a financial stake in the Grand Turk port facility.  That would be reason #1 to get as many ships in there as practical - REVENUE!

 

Snarkiness aside - It could simply be a berthing issue in Bonaire for a few dates in fall 2021.  Often it can be related to a pier being closed for repairs.  In this case Bonaire may only want 1 ship a day through end of 2021 to limit the # of passengers on island at any one time.  I think we will see MANY more port changes on itineraries across ALL cruise lines in the coming months as they work with port authorities to see where ships will be welcome and in what #s

[Set to go]

Atlanta Cruiser, you may be on to something about Bonaire only wanting so many ships at a time.  Our notification said it was due to “ship congestion.” 
 

Diane

[capriccio]

6 hours ago, Set to go said:

  Is Grand Turk known for anything special?

We've been there once (about 5 years ago IIRC).  Since you are missing the snorkeling in Bonaire (which is magnificent) you might want to snorkel the Grand Turk Wall.  We did that with power snorkels (a blast).  Maybe 100 feet off the beach you go from being in about 30 feet of clear water to thousands of feet of dark (sunlight not penetrating it) water.

[skynight]

13 hours ago, Set to go said:

Atlanta Cruiser, you may be on to something about Bonaire only wanting so many ships at a time.  Our notification said it was due to “ship congestion.” 
 

Diane

Bonaire has two piers. Could be they will only operate one of them.

[richsea]

We’re booked on Sky, now Caribbean Princess repo from NYC Nov. 5, & were notified last month that Bonaire  is substituted with Grenada. Must be something going on behind the scenes, as there’s not a lot of ships scheduled there for November 2021.

http://crew-center.com/kralendijk-bonaire-cruise-ship-schedule-2021

[BarbinMich]

Bonaire is quite small:  111 sq miles in size with population of 20,000 or so.  It's a lovely place to visit and to snorkel and/or visit the flamingos.  But I'm sure they would be in big trouble if COVID came a-calling.  Grenada is 135 sq miles with population of 111,000+ so probably has more ability to deal with COVID.

[voljeep]

Bonaire is a very special place to us ... after we booked the 10 day Southern Caribbean , my wife decided she wanted to learn how to snorkel, which she did in our home pool, under very controlled conditions

 

Bonaire was her first 'deep, open water' snorkel - she was hooked, and also snorkeled when we went to St Johns Trunk Bay - nice, but it's not Bonaire ...

 

sad for y'all who will miss that port

[flyers1976]

We were booked for the Nov. 6th southern Caribbean cruise to the same islands. We got our notification that cruise was canceled already. I believe the issue is the CDC is not allowing cruises over 7 nights thru 10/31. Switching this to a 7 night cruise falls inside their guidelines in case that order gets extended.  just my guess....