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I expect my 11/19 cruise out of San Juan to be canceled because the cruise starts and ends there. Given that the island will have power outages for months I doubt that they'll be prepared to host 4000 cruisers(in bound and outbound), many of whom will require hotels, police/security and ground transportation to the port.Unlike the Florida ports where driving in is an option I would venture to guess that all passengers for this cruise will arrive by plane.

 

I'm traveling on a land based casino certificate. If it is canceled I hope I have an opportunity to rebook with the same deal as I'd rather not lose my certificate.

What is a land base casino?

I love the balcony. I love to leave the door open while sleeping. So peaceful. We use ours more than we expected. At sea days if the deck is to crazy, we gather 'snacks' and head back to the balcony, read books, or actually talk to each other. :)

Going on vacation and suing for lost wages?

What is DSC?

No, my information about Florida was correct. I was on one of those tankers staged off Florida, and we were the second tanker into Port Everglades. Nearly all of those tankers were US flag tankers, and any that were foreign flag were bringing in refined product from overseas, as they are allowed to, as that has nothing to do with the Jones Act. There was only one foreign flag tanker that loaded in the US for delivery in Florida. So, the Jones Act waiver, which was declared as a means to get fuel to the state before the storm, didn't do that, and only one tanker load was carried under the waiver, and all subsequent domestic product has been carried on Jones Act tankers. There are foreign flag tankers into Florida ports every day, just as there were in Puerto Rican ports before the storm, carrying refined product from overseas.

Sorry I wasn't talking about foreign flag tankers.. I was talking about all tankers. You may have been on one of those tankers, however I live here and have personal expertise as to what happened with IRMA

No direct flights from the UK so you’ll have to go through the US. (New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami)

 

Heathrow to San Juan with a 3 hour connection in Miami would be about 15 hours travel time.

 

 

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You can also use Orlando as a connection.

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.

I will still say that I believe this is merely a PR exercise, and that there will be very few foreign flag ships taking cargo from the US to PR, just as there was only one ship that took fuel to Florida. Again, its not that there isn't enough US tonnage, its that they can't unload and store the supplies, regardless of what flag the ship flies. And Texas never had, or needed, a waiver of the Jones Act, it was strictly Florida. The other thing is that the US refineries in Texas are still not at full capacity (there are dozens of tankers sitting off Galveston, just waiting), so PR would be better off buying gasoline from Venezuela at $0.60/gallon (that's right, gasoline in Venezuela is 60 cents a gallon), and the distance from PR is 1/3 of the distance from Houston to PR, and this gasoline can be carried to PR on foreign flag ships without any waiver of the Jones Act, as any cargo brought from overseas is not covered by the Jones Act.

I don't mean to insult you, unfortunately your information about Florida is a bit off. There were tankers off the west coast staged, ready to bring gas to the state after the storm. They were staged for Miami, Tampa, and other ports along that route. We had gas in little over 24 hours and I am in Orlando. The lines for gas ended within 48 hours. Now the power was horrible. Good news on the power is that it was restored 50% faster than when Charlie came through.

For cruises in November and later, odds are very good that the San Juan portion of the island will be as close to normal as possible. The key, of course, it the airport right now. From everything I've read, it got hit very hard, as did the port itself. I would think within the next 2 weeks we'll know what the exact situation is down there in terms of things getting back to normal.

The Keys are still a mess. If you are looking for a beach, stay on board. Most museums and downtown attractions are open. It will take more time to get the beaches in shape, so there is really no reason to head out. Just stay in town. The trolley companies and conch train are open. Forget about scooters/gold cart rentals for a couple more weeks as the roads get cleared.

No pumpkin pie.

It is NOT just Front Street - that was just an example. Yes we have been there at least 50 times but still hope to support the recovery. For all the negative comments here ... I have seen good comments on Cruise Critic by people hoping to help support the recovery. My point was that the cruise lines are making decisions so far out, I am hoping that doesn't hinder the much needed tourism.

 

Recently (3 days ago) from a friend of mine in St. Maarten:

In light of all the devastating posts going around about St. Maarten, the island is making remarkable progress.

All the communities and businesses have been working together non-stop to get the wheels turning and make a difference. There has been a significant amount of clean up island wide.

Our electric company @Gebe has parts of the island up and running.

The telephone company @Telem n @Uts have gotten lines and internet working.

The banks have opened at half day hours.

Gas stations are also making progress.

Grocery stores are opening and should be at full capacity in the coming weeks.

Bars and small restaurants have opened to give normalcy as well.

Even Dominoes has opened its doors for a nice hot pizza pie!

I'm so happy to read this post. Our cruise hasn't changed and is out of SJPR. Do you know anything about St Thomas?

We where in calmer seas then he took off with an announcement from the bridge, I think that's proof. Everyone enjoying bermuda water but far enough for casino to open from 6 until 8 then the captain says Maria is behind us so we are heading back into jose brace for rough seas. I'm sure they record those calls.

Sorry you had to deal with two hurricanes on your sailing. I had to deal with them on dry land. I would prefer the rough seas over what I had to live. Think about 24 hours of hurricane force winds. Then being without any power, water, etc and then trying to feed and water a barn full of horses. Living in the country on a well is no fun when you have no power. No power means now water. So we hauled water from the pool to the barn. Six horses drink allot of water. I spent 8 days living this way. I am more than happy to switch roles the next time there is a hurricane coming my way.

Stop complaining. You had a captain who was taking care of his crew, passengers, and the ship. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Thanks for the answer. :(

Are you receiving any credits for the change in ports?

NCL is a Pepsi ship and I prefer Coke. Last time I sailed we were allowed to bring on bottled water and sodas. Are we still allowed to do this? I have gotta have my diet coke in the morning.. :)

I had a conversation with a VP at NCL and found out this information. Since their San Juan cruises are not until the middle of November, they are still evaluating the situation. The earliest we can hear about the re-position cruise will be nid-October. My cruise is December 3rd and was told that would be a good time for us to determine if SJ is an option. Other cruise lines have cancel cruises that begin at SJPR for the month of October.

The airport is running on a limited schedule, 12 flights total are being managed. Right now there is little to no communication on how the piers have weather the storms, just a general statement that they were hit hard and not able to accept cruise ships.

In addition the hotels that are able to have customers are housing emergency support folks From the PR Tourist website is a list of hotels and their status. Most of them are not accepting reservation until the end of October.

Just yesterday, NCL posted on their site about the ability to re-book and they are flexible on getting this done. I can tell you that when I first contacted them the re-booking without cancellation fees was not offered. So they are hearing and listening to the customers request. They are being quiet and I hope they offer the same offers as other cruise lines.

My next cruise maybe on Celebrity. They have been proactive providing excellent customer service and providing updated sailing, offering refunds and discounted cruises within the next year. I believe they have done the modification to the sailing through the end of the year. I wish all the other cruise lines would provide this service. We the customer have more than just the cruise cost. There is flight, hotel, pre-cruise events that we have to manage.

Last night I chatted with NCL (VP) and got a take on San Juan and the Caribbean. The positioning of the Dawn is schedule for November 13th. At this time, this positioning is still on target. The cruises coming out of San Juan ports will not change until we get into November. Of course this could all change at a moment notice as the islands recover from the 3 hurricanes.

On NCL webpage the weather update has in it that they will work with you about changing your cruise as well as getting the airline to waive the cancellation fees.

San Juan will be closed to cruises for at least a month and I bet that's pretty conservative. As I noted, I wouldn't be surprised if both ships (Fascination and AoS) are contracted out as housing for the recovery effort. They can't set up a temporary homeport and reschedule so many people from so many cruises on such short notice.

 

It's an interesting problem, what to do with current cruisers. The people who live on PR will want to go home to check on their loved ones and homes, but the last thing PR needs is another 10,000 people to take care of in the aftermath, who are currently safe and secure. I wonder if they will be debarked and sheltered in Miami?

I've seen other cruise lines divert to Miami for the arrival port vs PR

She was trying to get back to stateroom 9560 according to the New York Post.

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/ship_slip_hard_to_fathom_GWTnzODEBzsuwfGhl1soqK

So she upgraded to a better suite.