Update on St. Thomas

Just received a report from a friend who traditionally spends Jan. on St. Thomas. The person he rents from has kept him updated on the situation. Here's a summary: "The island in general sustained horrible damage, most of the trees stripped of both leaves and bark. Not only were power lines down but many of the poles as well. The authorities are hoping to have power restored by Christmas! Even now the businesses that are open have no operating computer systems, so purchases are pretty much cash only. The groceries employ guards inside and out, not just "armed" but carrying weapons." My friend doesn't think they'll go down next Jan.

Sad to hear of the conditions in St Thomas. It must be very emotionally and economically devastating. Thank you for sharing what you've heard.

Thanks for the heads up.

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This status seems very realistic and appreciate you posting it.

Keith

thanks for the update

As of now Princess plans to resume calling at St Thomas on December 15. If they actually go through with the planned December itineraries people will be in for quite a shock. Media coverage of the USVI has been far less than that of Puerto Rico as the latter took that second even stronger hit from Maria. But the infrastructure destroyed in all the storms will take years to return to normal. Ask the people on Long Island, five years and counting after Sandy. Or New Orleans--make that the entire Gulf coast--after the tripleheader of Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005. After this year's tripleheader it is surprising that only a minority of cruises were changed to Western Caribbean from Eastern, or that more than just a couple ships were taken out of service in the region given the number of cancellations.

As of now Princess plans to resume calling at St Thomas on December 15. If they actually go through with the planned December itineraries people will be in for quite a shock. . . .

I just looked at a You Tube video of St. Thomas, post-hurricane (there are many on YT). Someone did the video from a car as it wound its way down a mountain road. Nothing was untouched. The videographer interlaced "before" and "after" video clips of each area.

So sad about the devastation. Although our preferred cruise line is Princess we are going Cunard QE2 this Christmas/New year and have had St. Thomas cancelled and St. Maarten changed to Amber cove. I expect all cruise lines are having to re-schedule their ports of call. Prayers for the islanders please.

Very interesting video. So sad

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I just looked at a You Tube video of St. Thomas, post-hurricane (there are many on YT). Someone did the video from a car as it wound its way down a mountain road. Nothing was untouched. The videographer interlaced "before" and "after" video clips of each area.

Wow! That video sure puts things into perspective..

I haven’t booked anytime in St. Thomas for our dec 10 cruise. I am hoping there are some businesses open I can support.

We were on one of the first ships to sail into Grand Cayman after a major hurricane. Not a single leaf was on the trees. It was a very eerie

We have just cancelled our Jan cruise on the Regal, as we did not wish to sail to St Thomas or St Martin with the current situation - please do not tell me they need our cash etc, this was our decision.

As a means of persuasion not to cancel, the agent informed me the itinerary will be changed for the Jan sailing, but at the moment they are unable to confirm the itinerary.

We have just cancelled our Jan cruise on the Regal, as we did not wish to sail to St Thomas or St Martin with the current situation - please do not tell me they need our cash etc, this was our decision.

As a means of persuasion not to cancel, the agent informed me the itinerary will be changed for the Jan sailing, but at the moment they are unable to confirm the itinerary.

Obviously, cantwaitforthenextcruise, youcanwaitforthenextcruise. Sticking with a cruise is your decision and only your decision.

We have decided to keep the CB cruise in January, but that is us. Getting cash in the hands of people in the Caribbean was not in the equation.

Thank you for sharing. We love Princess but is difficult to believe that the

rates have not really decreased and Princess has not been more pro active

in changing the itineraries. This makes it more difficult for those who love Princess

to make wise decisions.

In October 2005, hurricane wilma, category 5, decimated Cozumel destroying the cruise piers along with many buildings. We were on a ship that stopped in Cozumel later the following spring. Cozumel looked like a war zone. The cruise piers had been repaired and repair work was going on on the island but there were a lot of boarded up buildings and businesses. We were in Cozumel many times after that but it was not until 10 years later that Cozumel started to look like it had before Wilma destroyed it.

St Thomas may well be "open" for business meaning the cruise piers have been repaired to the point of being usable again but do not expect the island to look any where near the same or your former activities to be offered this time. Many buildings/shops will be closed, excursions canceled, etc. They indeed need the revenue but many may not find the island to be all that much an adventure and stay on the ship. We will be calling on St Thomas in November 2018 and even then expect that it will not be completely up and running. We plan our cruises two years out so this is just how it seemed to have worked out for us.

Obviously, cantwaitforthenextcruise, youcanwaitforthenextcruise. Sticking with a cruise is your decision and only your decision.

 

We have decided to keep the CB cruise in January, but that is us. Getting cash in the hands of people in the Caribbean was not in the equation.

I didn’t say we weren’t cruising, I said we weren’t sailing on the Regal. We are now going to sail our 28 days in the Southern Hemisphere, with Cunard.

Just received a report from a friend who traditionally spends Jan. on St. Thomas. The person he rents from has kept him updated on the situation. Here's a summary: "The island in general sustained horrible damage, most of the trees stripped of both leaves and bark. Not only were power lines down but many of the poles as well. The authorities are hoping to have power restored by Christmas! Even now the businesses that are open have no operating computer systems, so purchases are pretty much cash only. The groceries employ guards inside and out, not just "armed" but carrying weapons." My friend doesn't think they'll go down next Jan.

interestingly, i just got an email from carnival and they are not going to st thomas until january (although tbey are going to puerto rico in november as of now...of course, royal is saying they are going in november and will be the first line back...)

i am on the first st thomas call, on the 13th. i woudl not be surprised if it is cancelled. i also would not be surprised if they turn it into a sea day, or if they stop there and then cancel most of the excursions. whatever it is, i will not be in my office, and hence i will be happy. i just booked last week (on the now famous low casino promotions), so i knew what i was getting into...i am certain it will look and feel sad, especially since my parents live on marco island (hit by irma) and my mom constantly tells me how sad the trees look. and i will most likely get back on board and promptly make a donation to a hurricane relief organization to support them!

We are on Dec 10th Regal sailing and are still scheduled for a 12 hour port call in St. Thomas on the 13th. Irresponsible for Princess to go there at all, much less for 12 hours! The islanders in all these stricken ports do not need us there to buy "stuff" while getting in the way of their recovery. What they do need is for our government to re-build their islands. Neither Princess nor the islanders will make make money from excursions - no place to go! And it's very unfair to us as passengers to have to waste a day of our cruise at a place that isn't passenger-ready while everything on the ship is closed because we are in port. They also risk exposing passengers and crew to post-storm diseases such as malaria, Hep A, Hep B, dysentery, Zika, etc. Better to give us an extra day at sea.

We are on Dec 10th Regal sailing and are still scheduled for a 12 hour port call in St. Thomas on the 13th. Irresponsible for Princess to go there at all, much less for 12 hours! The islanders in all these stricken ports do not need us there to buy "stuff" while getting in the way of their recovery. What they do need is for our government to re-build their islands. Neither Princess nor the islanders will make make money from excursions - no place to go! And it's very unfair to us as passengers to have to waste a day of our cruise at a place that isn't passenger-ready while everything on the ship is closed because we are in port. They also risk exposing passengers and crew to post-storm diseases such as malaria, Hep A, Hep B, dysentery, Zika, etc. Better to give us an extra day at sea.

While you are welcome to your opinion, I find this to be a drastic over reaction, and rather inaccurate...Zika is not a “post -storm disease” and neither is malaria or either version of hepatitis. And you aren’t going to be getting dysentery from drinking bottled water you buy on the ship. For the matter, there have been no reports of epidemics of any of these diseases in any of the Virgin Islands, although I would not be surprised if dysentery breaks out in Puerto Rico - or for that matter, in parts of Houston and southwest Florida. If you feel this strongly, treat it as a sea day and don’t go ashore, but don’t base your fear on inaccurate information.

Thanks for sharing. It’s to bad I hope things get better soon for all the people of St.Thomas.

Tony

We are going, no matter what, even if we stay on board the ship while in St. Thomas. A vacation is a vacation.

Thank you for sharing. We love Princess but is difficult to believe that the

rates have not really decreased and Princess has not been more pro active

in changing the itineraries. This makes it more difficult for those who love Princess

to make wise decisions.

We (on the Dec 10 cruise) are scheduled to stop in St. Thomas. I am not booking anything until we are onboard ship, as they will assess current conditions.

Thank you for sharing. We love Princess but is difficult to believe that the

rates have not really decreased and Princess has not been more pro active

in changing the itineraries. This makes it more difficult for those who love Princess

to make wise decisions.

You must have missed last weekend, were there were $49 5-day cruises,

and $299 mini-suites on 10 day cruises.

I don't think there are enough 'extra' ports for every ship in the carribbean to change to,

and make passengers happy.