Mare closed to Cruise ships until end of 2023, Isle of Pines to remain closed.

[Hammer61]

Got notification this morning that our Cruise in June 2023 will have 2 visits to Noumea as the stop at Mare has had to be cancelled.

 

Going to see plenty of rescheduling i expect, Mare wont be open until the end of 2023 and Isle of Pines has no date scheduled to re open to visits from Cruise ships at this stage.

[NSWP]

Lot of uncertainty cruising the Islands at this time, due to the Lurgy.

[arxcards]

41 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Lot of uncertainty cruising the Islands at this time, due to the Lurgy.

Mare is because of the wharf, and why they have a more definite closure. But otherwise, yes.

[little britain]

Has this information changed? Meant to be visiting both in January? 

[arxcards]

Yes, it has. Neither port will be open in January, and Royal Caribbean has changed their itinerary.

Mare is extended through 2024, and Isle of Pines is indefinite.

 

Rather than earlier "reasons" given by those ports, it seems they just don't want cruise ships.

[Chiliburn]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

Has this information changed? Meant to be visiting both in January? 

That’s on Brilliance ,last season a lot of the smaller islands where dropped for different reasons.

Noumea and Villa are the only ones they seem to visit with the random mystery island.

[aussielozzie18]

Thank goodness cruises can still visit Mystery Island. Quantum was at Mystery Island yesterday and the weather was glorious.  

[arxcards]

7 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Thank goodness cruises can still visit Mystery Island. Quantum was at Mystery Island yesterday and the weather was glorious.  

I saw some pictures from an online friend yesterday. The colour of the water was stunning.

[little britain]

2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

That’s on Brilliance ,last season a lot of the smaller islands where dropped for different reasons.

Noumea and Villa are the only ones they seem to visit with the random mystery island.

Yes, we are on Brilliance in Jan. 
lifou

mystery island

Isle of pines

vila, Vanuatu 

mare

 

we hope! 

 

 

[fairywren]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

Yes, we are on Brilliance in Jan. 
lifou

mystery island

Isle of pines

vila, Vanuatu 

mare

 

we hope! 

 

 

You should have had an email from RCI or your TA with the changed itinerary, because you won't be stopping at IOP and perhaps Mare.

Edited November 1, 2023 by fairywren

[arxcards]

10 minutes ago, fairywren said:

You should have had an email from RCI or your TA with the changed itinerary, because you won't be stopping at IOP and perhaps Mare.

Interesting. The itinerary of your cruise has changed on Royal's site, but the January cruises haven't. I don't know if that is because they haven't locked in a new itinerary, or if they were waiting for final payment date to pass. Carnival had also cancelled Mare, so this is puzzling.

 

9th January is currently showing as:

• Sydney, Australia
• Lifou, Loyalty Islands
• Mystery Island, Vanuatu
• Port Vila, Vanuatu
• Mare, New Caledonia
• Isle Of Pines, New Caledonia
• Sydney, Australia

19th January is currently showing as:

• Sydney, Australia
• Noumea, New Caledonia
• Mare, New Caledonia
• Lifou, Loyalty Islands
• Sydney, Australia

 

 

[cruiser3775]

The New Caledonia removals might also be because of the problem with the beaches being closed because of shark attacks.  The ban is in force until 31 December, but may be extended beyond that.  Noumea is OK as a port stop because there are many other things you can do if the beaches are closed, but in other places, no swimming/snorkelling means there's not a lot of things to do ashore.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-26/shark-attacks-ban-swimming-noumea-new-caledonia/102764780

[MicCanberra]

The recent storms/ cyclones probably haven't  helped with any of the islands infrastructure either.

[little britain]

7 hours ago, fairywren said:

You should have had an email from RCI or your TA with the changed itinerary, because you won't be stopping at IOP and perhaps Mare.

No we have not. My planner has shore ex for Mystery Island 🏝️ too. Nothing for IoP though. 

[TRUEBLUE66]

On 11/1/2023 at 7:29 AM, little britain said:

No we have not. My planner has shore ex for Mystery Island 🏝️ too. Nothing for IoP though. 

Hi lb,

          We are on a Princess ship in February doing a similar itinerary and our stop at IoP was pulled several months ago. We have since had the full itinerary moved around but still supposedly going to Noumea, Mystery Island and Lautoka,Suva and Dravuni Island in Fiji. Will just keep our 🤞that nothing else changes. At least no more testing worries!

[MicCanberra]

I think you will likely get to those ports, but as you say crossing fingers crossed may help and yes, testing prior to sailing has been dropped.

[Hogbay]

Here is Brilliance up date from Royal, Mare and li de Pinns closed till 2025 😒

[arxcards]

And we go lousy at Qantas.

Seems they have forgotten about Btilliance in January, as Mare & IOP is still in the itineraries being sold.

www.royalcaribbean.com//cruises/itinerary/10-night-south-pacific-from-sydney-on-brilliance/BR10SYD-3689643052?sail-date=2024-01-09&currency=AUD&country=AUS

[possum52]

11 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Here is Brilliance up date from Royal, Mare and li de Pinns closed till 2025 😒

The first sentence of the announcement says they have been advised New Caledonia will remain closed until 2025 but still have two New Caledonian ports on the itinerary - Noumea and Lifou. I realise it is unlikely that Noumea would be removed but have they forgotten that Lifou which is described as being in the Loyalty Islands is also New Caledonia? 

[cruiser3775]

6 minutes ago, possum52 said:

first sentence of the announcement says they have been advised New Caledonia will remain closed until 2025

Well, that's incorrect, so how could you trust anything they say?  New Caledonia is NOT closed to cruise ships as a whole. Noumea is definite still open, though other ports are closed.

[Hogbay]

44 minutes ago, possum52 said:

The first sentence of the announcement says they have been advised New Caledonia will remain closed until 2025 but still have two New Caledonian ports on the itinerary - Noumea and Lifou. I realise it is unlikely that Noumea would be removed but have they forgotten that Lifou which is described as being in the Loyalty Islands is also New Caledonia? 

They are in Miami  🤣Noumea  is New Caledonia  and first to open il De Pinns closd and  Mare also .Lifou  Loyalty  Islands,  is open but turtle Cove  is closed  for recovery from overuse  and  there has been big issues  with  females only wearing  string 😎

[possum52]

2 hours ago, Hogbay said:

They are in Miami  🤣Noumea  is New Caledonia  and first to open il De Pinns closd and  Mare also .Lifou  Loyalty  Islands,  is open but turtle Cove  is closed  for recovery from overuse  and  there has been big issues  with  females only wearing  string 😎

Yep I know all that. I was just commenting that RCCL can’t get their communications to passengers correct. It shouldn’t matter where they are. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by possum52

[MicCanberra]

27 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Yep I know all that. I was just commenting that RCCL can’t get their communications to passengers correct. It shouldn’t matter where they are. 

Cruise websites are always full of errors. Regardless of where a cruise says it is going, they are very easily changed.

[arxcards]

Loyalty Islands are somewhat linked to New Caledonia by association, but are part of a different island group.

 

Lifou and Mystery Island are not part of New Caledonia, geographically.

[Hogbay]

3 hours ago, possum52 said:

Yep I know all that. I was just commenting that RCCL can’t get their communications to passengers correct. It shouldn’t matter where they are. 

Oh good , how many times dose it to take to clean a hull and certifiied for environmental compliance in ,say for  NZ ?