Key West

[esther e]

Why is HAL indicating KW is one of the ports when it's known that they don't want any large ships docked with pax over 1000?  Might they change their minds?  I doubt it.

[FlaMariner]

I don't want to accuse them of "bait and switch" but we were on a 5 night NA cruise in late December and the port calls were:  Key West, Nassau and HMC......

 

A month or so before departure, we were advised that the new ports would be......Freeport, Bimini and HMC....(Key West was, of course, a port we were excited to visit but whatever)

 

When we cruised, we went to Freeport (which was a waste), Bimini (not much to that) and we missed HMC due to weather.....LOL...So we did not visit any of the ports that were on our original itinerary.

 

We had a great cruise but the ports were not what was advertised......(and I'm very much aware that my "contract" says they can switch ports as they see fit)

 

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

I don't want to accuse them of "bait and switch" but we were on a 5 night NA cruise in late December and the port calls were:  Key West, Nassau and HMC......

 

A month or so before departure, we were advised that the new ports would be......Freeport, Bimini and HMC....(Key West was, of course, a port we were excited to visit but whatever)

 

When we cruised, we went to Freeport (which was a waste), Bimini (not much to that) and we missed HMC due to weather.....LOL...So we did not visit any of the ports that were on our original itinerary.

 

We had a great cruise but the ports were not what was advertised......(and I'm very much aware that my "contract" says they can switch ports as they see fit)

 

 

I agree that the contract says they can switch ports, but it is still wrong to advertise a port that they know they are barred from. The ability to switch ports should really be there for reasons like weather.

[FredT]

The ban on cruise ships at Key West was overturned by the governor and state legislator.  Just google "Key West cruise ship ban" and you will see numerous articles on this.  

[Aquahound]

The state overturned the KW law but it doesn't change the fact that KW is still divided on the issue. 

 

That said, KW is my hometown and I promise that you'll still have a nice visit.  KW isn't like much of the world.  You won't see people out protesting the ship's arrival and acting all stupid.  Those people will get distracted by any one of a thousand bars on their way to the port.  😉

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, Aquahound said:

The state overturned the KW law but it doesn't change the fact that KW is still divided on the issue. 

 

I did not know this.  Thank you for posting this information.  I have visited Key West a few times and I have always enjoyed my visits.  

[FlaMariner]

Actually, just looked at the cruise calendar for Key West and looks like lots of our type ships are planning to dock in January......

 

I see the Rotterdam, Nieuw Amsterdam and lots of other "mass market" ships planning to dock at Key West!  Perhaps us regular folks are once again welcome in Key West.....

 

Here is the link....

 

https://crew-center.com/key-west-florida-cruise-ship-schedule#:~:text=Key West%2C Florida Cruise Ship Schedule ,Jan. - 17%3A00 26 more rows

 

 

 

[Aquahound]

9 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I did not know this.  Thank you for posting this information. 

 

Yeah, there's a lot of shady back story to the whole mess, but that gets into the forbidden subject that starts with p and ends with olitics.  😉

Edited January 12, 2022 by Aquahound

[lupaglupa]

Some cruise companies are voluntarily complying with the overturned ban on large ships at Key West; most are still sailing there despite the desire of the majority of residents to restrict large ships. Our February sailing is scheduled to stop at Key West - a place I've long wished to visit. I'll be happy to go there but if HAL decides to honor the wishes of the residents and skip it I won't complain. I think the local community deserves to decide what they want in visitors. 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Aquahound said:

 

Yeah, there's a lot of shady back story to the whole mess, but that gets into the forbidden subject that starts with p and ends with olitics.  😉

 

Doesn't surprise me!  

[Crazy For Cats]

4 hours ago, Aquahound said:

The state overturned the KW law but it doesn't change the fact that KW is still divided on the issue. 

 

That said, KW is my hometown and I promise that you'll still have a nice visit.  KW isn't like much of the world.  You won't see people out protesting the ship's arrival and acting all stupid.  Those people will get distracted by any one of a thousand bars on their way to the port.  😉

We were on the Dawn last month and were greeted by protesters on land and sea.  We have a lot of coast guard around the ship.  There were also lots of people thanking us for stopping.

[esther e]

Many years ago they were trying to get rid of the chickens.  

[The-Inside-Cabin]

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/438656-gov-desantis-tanks-key-west-cruise-rules/