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Email from HAL with information about Caribbean cruises


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I thoroughly enjoyed my day on St. Croix a few years back. It is not a rich island economically, but scenically lovely with history to spare. We had a private tour to the Cruzan rum distillery and a long wander in Christiansted. It is probably the logical substitution for St Thomas and won't disappoint.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my day on St. Croix a few years back. It is not a rich island economically, but scenically lovely with history to spare. We had a private tour to the Cruzan rum distillery and a long wander in Christiansted. It is probably the logical substitution for St Thomas and won't disappoint.

 

I would not complain if that turns out to be our substitution, as I've been to St Thomas many times and have not been to St Croix. What was the docking situation? Dock or anchor?

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Thank you for posting the letter. I wonder why the writer did not sign their name.they signed the company name but are they nameless? :( It may be a particular oddiity of mine but I think if it is worth writing and sending to your 'customers, is it not worth taking owners ship of and signing ? JMO.. Who wrote the letter and/or okayed that it be sent?

 

OP it was vert good of you to share it with us.. thank you..

 

You can't be serious?! The directive more than likely came from a group of well informed corporate decision makers and was drafted by an administrative assistant. Does the name of a person you have never met or will likely never meet matter? If it was signed, it could have been signed by a pen name for all you would know. Sorry, but to me content is more important.

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We are on your cruise and booked with a TA. We got the email directly from HAL. The wording is exactly as above.

 

Thanks for your reply. I haven't received an email yet but hope to soon. It will be interesting to see what the substitutes will be. I'm sure wherever we go will be nice.

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You can't be serious?! The directive more than likely came from a group of well informed corporate decision makers and was drafted by an administrative assistant. Does the name of a person you have never met or will likely never meet matter? If it was signed, it could have been signed by a pen name for all you would know. Sorry, but to me content is more important.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking They take the opportunity to communicate with their customers and it is lacking because it doesn't have a name on the bottom? I wouldn't want to deal with the public these days for all the tea in China You are continually damned if you do and damned if you don't

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We booked directly with HAL for an Eastern Caribbean cruise (which included St. Maarten) scheduled for January, but we haven't heard anything! Thanks for posting your email. It sounds as if they'll be making a decision about the 2018 cruises on October 5th, so we'll wait until then to see what they propose. I'm leaning toward cancelling and doing something else for our winter vacation.

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We booked directly with HAL for an Eastern Caribbean cruise (which included St. Maarten) scheduled for January, but we haven't heard anything! Thanks for posting your email. It sounds as if they'll be making a decision about the 2018 cruises on October 5th, so we'll wait until then to see what they propose. I'm leaning toward cancelling and doing something else for our winter vacation.

 

They will probably substitute another island for St. Maarten but the rest of the cruise will most likely remain the same. Unless St. Maarten is a must, enjoy the cruise!

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I'm booked for the Eurodam New Year's Eve "Tropical" Caribbean itinerary. The itinerary was Key West, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, HMC.

If you go to book it now, the map of the route shows HMC, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Grand Cayman. But if you to "view itinerary" the original is still listed.

To be honest - I prefer the new one... mostly because being at HMC on New Year's Day is better than being at a port with stores, etc. Last year Key West was barely open in the morning and the smell of vomit/booze/piss was everywhere.

 

 

The rest of 2017 itinerary maps show no St Maarten... January still does.

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The NCL rep that has been trying to talk me into an Eastern Caribbean cruise for March 2018 said that "all of the affected ports will be back up and running by the end of November, without trees."

CCL and NCL are both losing big $$ every day that those islands are down. They will pay contractors any amount of money to get the areas around the ports back to tourist-accepting status.

 

Shannon

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i talked to my pcc on Friday. I was told that they would have more information on Tuesday or Wednesday about port changes.

I am also on a cruise that has 4 ports that are damaged and would like to know the changes. not that it really matters as others have said I will be on a ship.

 

the port of st. croix has a dock

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The NCL rep that has been trying to talk me into an Eastern Caribbean cruise for March 2018 said that "all of the affected ports will be back up and running by the end of November, without trees."

CCL and NCL are both losing big $$ every day that those islands are down. They will pay contractors any amount of money to get the areas around the ports back to tourist-accepting status.

 

Shannon

 

Depending on the ports in question, I think November is ambitious. Yes, they can clear away the debris, but rebuilding in the Caribbean is dreadfully slow because all building supplies have to be shipped to the islands.

 

I know that some people will be disappointed by substitutions. But in the long run, we as passengers may benefit from these substitutions if cruise lines start including some of these "substitute" ports in their itineraries. HAL's Caribbean itineraries seem to be the same every year. I'm not saying they should abandon the old standbys like St Thomas or St Maarten (which is one of my favorites)--these islands will need the income tourists bring. But give us something new to try once in a while.

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I still haven't received an email. Now it looks like Maria may impact the islands not hit by Irma. I'm wondering which islands may be left untouched when this is all over with? I really feel sorry for those living on the islands!

 

I also wonder whether our cruise (Dec 8-22, 2017 14 day Southern Caribbean) may be cancelled, rescheduled, or maybe a completely different itinerary offered to replace our current booked cruise?

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I still haven't received an email. Now it looks like Maria may impact the islands not hit by Irma. I'm wondering which islands may be left untouched when this is all over with? I really feel sorry for those living on the islands!

 

I also wonder whether our cruise (Dec 8-22, 2017 14 day Southern Caribbean) may be cancelled, rescheduled, or maybe a completely different itinerary offered to replace our current booked cruise?

 

Your cruise will not be cancelled unless there is a storm happened that week. You likely will have a different itinerary.

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I still haven't received an email. Now it looks like Maria may impact the islands not hit by Irma. I'm wondering which islands may be left untouched when this is all over with? I really feel sorry for those living on the islands!

 

I also wonder whether our cruise (Dec 8-22, 2017 14 day Southern Caribbean) may be cancelled, rescheduled, or maybe a completely different itinerary offered to replace our current booked cruise?

 

I doubt seriously that a Southern Caribbean Cruise would be cancelled. We're on a Partial Canal cruise at the end of December, and I wold be really shocked if the cruise is cancelled or even significantly altered, none of the scheduled port stops (Aruba, Curacao, Colombia, & Costa Rica) were effected by the storms. Our first day on the ship is scheduled as Half Moon Cay, but if that one gets dropped, I'm not too worried.

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Thanks for the reassurance about our cruise. I always appreciate the input from seasoned HAL cruisers! :D

 

This is our present itinerary. Two of our port calls are probably going to change, and possibly more if Maria causes a lot of damage.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

AT SEA

AT SEA

Road Town (Tortola), BVI

Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis

Castries, Saint Lucia (and Cruising Soufriere Bay)

Bridgetown, Barbados

Saint Georges, Grenada

Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

AT SEA

AT SEA

Fort Lauderdale, FL

We would not be upset if we had a different itinerary. We love being on a cruise. This will only be our second on HAL and we are very happy to be on HAL again. I will give my TA a call tomorrow and see if he has heard anything from HAL.

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I'm not changing my plans for my November cruise, but HAL may change my plans!

 

I actually would prefer they wait and see what Maria does before announcing a revised itinerary. Since I usually book independent excursions, I don't want to re-book from St Martin and St Thomas and then have the substituted ports get hit and be out of commission, too!

 

I'd be perfectly happy with St Croix or San Juan instead of St Thomas.

 

Really wouldn't be terribly happy if they change to mostly Western, but I'll accept whatever changes are forthcoming.

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