Maria, Maria....cancel or not that is the question?

May I ask where you have received your information that most Caribbean ports are open? Certainly not St. Martin, St. Thomas, Tortola, San Juan, Dominica... If one is on an Eastern Caribbean 5-7 day cruise, you are hitting St. Martin, St. Thomas, maybe Tortola. Sure, a ship may go to Bahamas, maybe 2 Jamaican ports and a private island, that may not be what someone is happy substituting. Hard to move the cruises over to the Western Caribbean as that area is already saturated with 5-6 (and sometimes more) ships in a port.

I am including all Caribbean ports, not only Eastern. Also the ABC islands.

I got the info from the list in an article from USA TODAY:

Is your Caribbean cruise destination still open? A port-by-port look after Irma, Maria

https://usat.ly/2yfDNDQ

The eastern Caribbean 5 to 7 day that you mention is a pretty pedestrian itinerary. Ports on my cruise in December that are currently open, Antigua, Barbados, St.Lucia, St. Kitts could be substituted and make a better and more interesting Eastern than the one you listed. I can give you a few more ports than the ones I mentioned, Granada and Martinique that could be on Eastern itineraries.

Thank you for sharing that, Charles.

I was not judging at all. I am aware that I have more opportunities to travel than others. I live 30 minutes from one port and 1 hour form another. I have the benefit of not needing flights for most cruises. I never told anyone how to spend their money.

 

I specifically asked, in the middle of my post, to think about why you might be going. Ship or ports? I guess I should have also put in a disclaimer that the answer to that question should be a deciding factor on what to do.

 

My December cruise already passed final payment. So that was the mindset I was going with. I can cancel and lose my deposits, which for four people add up to a lot. But I'd rather not lose that money and make the best of the situation.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

For me cruising is not "the ship is my destination." We enjoy getting off and taking part in Island port activities. They are not as exciting as Med cruise ports but we enjoy beach time, shopping, local cuisine.....whatever.

The pool areas on most ships are always crowded and with no shade.....not necessarily something we could do for seven straight days. We don't drink to the point that an unlimited beverage package is worthwhile. I guess we sound boring but for us a good experience is a mix of ship activities and enjoying ports we want to visit.

 

Our next cruise is a family cruise.....5 cabins.....my treat $$$.....with ports we selected, most of which were hit hard and might take a very long time to recover. We don't cruise until June, 2018 but we may not want to wait until after final payment when RCCL can decide what the cruise will look like.

 

In addition.....we are near the point now where we would have to book air fares.....TEN ..... and travel insurance. Not sure I like going in blind so for us it is a decision.

 

I certainly appreciate that for others, the ship alone is a great vacation

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We just did this on the Norwegian Escape with a party of 10 (ages 23-68) and had a ball! I would highly recommend that ship for a large group of varied ages.

Our itinerary was changed from Western (Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya & Cozumel) which we carefully picked to Eastern (St. Maarten, St. Thomas & Nassau, which are not our favorite ports) the day we sailed due to Hurricane Harvey. Even though all of our preplanned excursions went out the window we still had a great time. We all agreed the food/entertainment on the ship was some of the best we've experienced while cruising.

I will say thank you for sharing where you found your list, Charles. I wanted to see something concrete rather then speculations and you provided one place to look.

I will say thank you for sharing where you found your list, Charles. I wanted to see something concrete rather then speculations and you provided one place to look.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I am sailing out of San Juan on the Dec 3rd sailing. As of today, per the port authorities, the SJ port is open with no restrictions. My hotel, Old San Juan Sheraton, is not accepting new reservations, however the PR sites are saying it is open and housing relief folks. Starwood will be reassessing and will know more on Oct 2nd. The airport will be back to 'normal' once they get the navigation electronics fixed and of course power. I honestly believe that the NCL Dawn Dec 3rd sailing will be a go with a possible port or two changed.