Itinerary changes

[Ellusionz]

I've been watching the cruise itinerary changes to get an idea of what may be my port options for my future cruises, I know it changes day by day but I'm just a planner and like to have my options ready to go. I was just paying attention to my ships but was comparing notes to others of the same month and came up with a head scratcher. It's understandable if a port is changed due to weather or other issues like with covid. But what the heck... ships still sailing to Cozumel and Ochios Rios yet Horizon gets completely overhauled on its ports? I know its probably due to having to shift over ships around but come on, those should be the one stuck in the alternate ports!

[cmp03]

Horizon changed because Grand Cayman is closed to cruise ships still and you cant replace just Grand Cayman, you would have to replace Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman (because of distance between Jamaica and all the central america ports).  If you look at the other ports they could replace those with (Belize, Costa Maya, Roatan),  they already had like 4 ships at each port those days.  Its quite possible that there wasn't room for Horizon to stop there too.  They could have made the Grand Cayman day a sea day but I guess instead they just switched to Eastern Caribbean.

 

[KCtheDestroyer]

I'll be on the Horizon on the 30th. We still don't have any excursion options except for the 10 airport transfers in Miami showing up on the excursion page. I understand the need to change the itinerary, but I wish they had excursion options open by now. It's been a few days and we still haven't gotten refunds for excursions in the old ports and can't book any in the new ports yet.

[jsglow]

Ocho Rios would be expected to be scrapped from any 7 day.  It's still being visited by Sunrise (or any other ship) doing a 5 day out of Miami.  In that case, they swap out GC for a port in the Bahamas, most typically Nassau.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, KCtheDestroyer said:

I'll be on the Horizon on the 30th. We still don't have any excursion options except for the 10 airport transfers in Miami showing up on the excursion page. I understand the need to change the itinerary, but I wish they had excursion options open by now. It's been a few days and we still haven't gotten refunds for excursions in the old ports and can't book any in the new ports yet.

Just book independent excursions.  They are normally cheaper, and also in a van instead of possibly a bus.  Go to the ports of call section on CC to do your research.

[KCtheDestroyer]

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Just book independent excursions.  They are normally cheaper, and also in a van instead of possibly a bus.  Go to the ports of call section on CC to do your research.

Normally I would book independent excursions, but with so many last minute itinerary changes it's a much bigger risk than normal. I haven't seen many operators with cancellation policies that include your ship not making it to port. At least with Carnival you won't pay for excursions in ports the ship misses. I have been doing my research, thank you.

 

[Ellusionz]

I've never had an issue with reputable independent excursions people have recommended on CC and refunds so you should be fine. But I'm also just compiling a list of possible ports and waiting til last minute to book them to be safest.

 

And I understand thats why the made those changes (due to distance and stuff) but so frustrating.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Ellusionz