Galaxy out of San Juan: ethnically diverse passengers?

[RichardK]

Come to think of it, there were a number of reports of a period of "lopsided" passenger mixes out of San Juan, but for a reason........

 

Post 9/11, a lot of people cancelled their cruises especially out of PR – as you recall, the fear of flying was gripping many at the time. Many who could cancel without penalty did so, especially after the first of the year -- Jan 2002 to the end of that season (April 2002) the cruise lines were forced to sell off many of the ship's cabins to locals in PR.

 

For those who braved the flight, etc., they indeed found themselves a "minority", with ships taken over by the locals. A lot of comments, observations and some complaints -- however, for that specific time period mostly. I think that is what a lot of people may be remembering when they pose this particular type of thread.

[johno95]

well...

 

i started this thread because a friend of mine had a "lopsided" cruise two weeks ago (not in 2002) out of San Juan, on a RCL ship.

 

i must say that, after reading all these posts, such a lopsided cruise may not necessarily turn out to be bad for me. it just might be a lot of fun. i guess it just depends.

 

i am oversensitive to noise. and sometimes it bothers me if i don't know what people around me are saying because they don't seak English. i admit that these are my problems. the other people aren't doing anything wrong, and are not being rude or unfriendly.

 

i would like to avoid an unpleasant cruise. but i just don't know that it would be unpleasant... meeting San Juan locals may turn out to be great.

 

aurgh!!! :confused:

 

Come to think of it, there were a number of reports of a period of "lopsided" passenger mixes out of San Juan, but for a reason........

 

Post 9/11, a lot of people cancelled their cruises especially out of PR – as you recall, the fear of flying was gripping many at the time. Many who could cancel without penalty did so, especially after the first of the year -- Jan 2002 to the end of that season (April 2002) the cruise lines were forced to sell off many of the ship's cabins to locals in PR.

 

For those who braved the flight, etc., they indeed found themselves a "minority", with ships taken over by the locals. A lot of comments, observations and some complaints -- however, for that specific time period mostly. I think that is what a lot of people may be remembering when they pose this particular type of thread.

[02143]

Has anyone had any experience with the Galaxy going out of the same port? What percentage of passengers were from Puerto Rico? Do you feel that the entertainment, activities, general atmosphere, or (your) enjoyment had changed from the average Celebrity sailing?

 

I sailed on a Constellation 7-day out of San Juan during the discount seas, pre-Xmas, and the cruise was dominated by three large groups. There was our group (gay and lesbian), a German tour group, and a Puerto Rican medical association. Many of the independent travelers appeared to be from the mainland. It was a quiet cruise with the groups keeping to themselves by and large and with English as dominant.

 

[edited to remove post-9/11 refs already discussed]

[kitty9]

We did a cruise in January 2004 out of SJ on the Adventure and it was dominated by locals---over 1200. Yes, there are cultural differences and they do show an exuberance that cannot be defined, but in many ways this did change the atmosphere of the entire cruise. First, tons of kids who were never watched by a parent. While we all have seen this on our cruises, it was a much bigger problem on this cruise as kids would gather in large groups and take over an area, be it an elevator lobby or passenger hallway and even in the casino at night. Everything was done in two languages, with Spanish being the primary. Trivia, all announcements, bingo and a lot of the entertainment was done in two languages. Another area where the ambience was greatly affected was the mode of dress, or lack thereof. Jeans, shorts, tank tops and the like, even on formal nights. It appeared that most of the local passengers brought nothing other than very casual clothes. I know the non-dress up contingent on these boards would say that this shouldn't affect your cruise, but it really does when most of the passengers are dressed in shorts or jeans and t-shirts on formal nights. I haven't heard of any cruise line recently offering the huge discounts that were offered to the locals on our cruise----$350 per passenger--- so I don't think it's as big an issue as it once was.

[elaineb]

I have sailed twice out of SJ (both RCCL). I love the culture of PR and the exhuberance of the people. I work with a very culturally diverse group of people in my printing plant, so to hear Spanish speaking people is not strange to me. However, if you are taking a cruise to the Caribbean, isn't meeting and seeing different cultures part of the experience??? If you are not open to that, then why cruise there? Of course a ship sailing from PR is going to have many people from there, as is a ship sailing from NYC or Texas going to have a high percent of locals. You have to consider that when booking a cruise. If you are not comfortable with a culturally diverse group, then you probably shouldn't sail from PR.

[babylene]

Of course, many unruly kids would present a problem. And, of course, it is possible that there would be a two week vacation exactly when we are sailing (Feb. 12-23)

 

Kitty9, was your cruise a one week or longer?

 

Anyway, I refuse to worry about it. With only 2 seadays, not too much "damage" could be done!!