Worth waiting out Caribbean rebuilding? December Carnival Sunshine

We are scheduled for a cruise on Carnival Sunshine the first week of December this year in the Eastern Caribbean. We have not yet made our final payment and with Irma happening, husband and I are not sure what to do. With all the devastation, I do feel spoiled by thinking, "but what about my vacation?!" so that is not lost on me. Since tourism is such a huge part of the revenue, I'm not sure if ports would reopen soon or if our itinerary would be changing. I cannot get through to Carnival support as they are understandably inundated with calls for departures happening this week.

Is it worth making the final payment and then possibly being rerouted or should we go ahead and cancel our December trip? Anyone else on the Carnival Sunshine in December 8-day cruise know what they are doing yet?

We are going at the end of November, my guess is that if our ports (St Maarten being one of them) are not available, we will get sent to another. This can happen at any time for any reason, so I won't change our plans. We had a port change a few years back due to an excursion robbery on St Kitts (all cruise lines skipped that island due to this). Most of the Islands we are scheduled to stop at have been hit by Irma, so who knows where we'll end up!! Good luck with your decision!!

Most of the Eastern scheduled cruises will probably do the western routes so unless you are keen on Mexico ports I might cancel.

Or diverted to Cayman or Jamaica as well as less frequented Mexican ports like Progresso or Costa Maya. I'd wait it out until I heard about what the change will be.......

We are cruising Nov. 4 out of Charleston. Following

These islands depend on tourism. They won't be shut down for long. They may not be perfect but I bet they will be up and running soon.

As we are so often reminded, a day on a cruise is better than any day at home. DH and I love the sunshine for all the awesome venues and would keep our cruise in a heartbeat.

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I'm on the same cruise as the OP. I expect St maarten is definitely a no. The others, not sure yet. It's bad but they may have some of it rebuilt but it won't be close to normal. I'm going no matter what. I'd be happy to contribute any help I can by visiting and patronizing for islands.

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You might want to look on the Cruise Critic homepage at the "Follow Our Latest Storm Coverage". This will give you some idea of the affects of Irma on the Caribbean ports of call and maybe an idea of when the ports will reopen for cruise ship visits.

I would take the cruise. Weather, good and bad is something no one controls. I would sail with a relaxed mind embarking on a journey to an unknown destination. One of the best vacations I ever had was totally unplanned. I flew to Europe, rented a car and just explored.

Don't worry about the storm damage, have empathy for those harmed by it, but realize these people have rebuilding down to an art. Go and have you will have a good experience.

;p We are on the Sunshine on Nov.18. Booked it for Thanksgiving on a cruise ship. We really don't care if it does not stop at any ports just love being on a ship. I'm sure a lot of ports will have damage but places like Old San Juan and Gr. Turk will be open. Carnival will repair GT port as fast as they can. Good luck to all and stay safe in the storm.

I wouldn't cancel. A different port...another sea day...I'm on a cruise. In fact I'm set for your itinerary (in reverse) for a Halloween Cruise, and now it's become a mystery cruise.

We are sailing the Conquest the same week as the Original Poster. I don't know how many of the scheduled ports will be available, but we are looking forward to a pleasant cruise to ... somewhere. We have seen a fair number of port cancellations or changes on past cruises, and we know that we will always find something pleasant to do, wherever we go.

Last October Matthew sent us to Canada instead of the Bahamas. We chose to sail and although it was not what we had planned, we were on a cruise and we had a good time!

We will be on the Magic sailing November 4, and I suspect we may miss St. Thomas. San Juan, Amber Cove and hopefully Grand Turk will be up and running by then. Whatever, we will again be on a cruise and enjoying ourselves.

With that being said if there are anymore monster storms out there this month and next, I may have to rethink sailing at this time of year. ;p;p;p

Last October Matthew sent us to Canada instead of the Bahamas. We chose to sail and although it was not what we had planned, we were on a cruise and we had a good time!

That's interesting that you went in the other direction! Were you prepared with clothes and packing? I mean, packing for a Canadian cruise is totally different than going to the Bahamas ;p

I would go ahead and continue on with my cruise if I were in your shoes. I don't know what your ports are, but a good portion of the eastern islands took less damage than was initially anticipated and will probably be up and running very soon. For those that didn't fare as well, it will probably take them some time to rebuild, but they will want the cruise ports open ASAP because that revenue is such a huge part of their economy. The islands might not be at 100% back to normal, but the people and communities there need the business cruise ships bring more than they did before. And if they aren't open you will still get rerouted and get to experience another island that will be great too.

However, if you booked this specific cruise because of a specific port, by all means change. But I would also check the damages that specific place took, and find estimates of how long it will take them to recover.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian send out memos saying the Eastern cruises would now be changed to Western until at least November . I suspect Carnival will do the same .....

I would keep the cruise. We were re-routed last year due to a hurricane, and it ended up being our favorite cruise ever. And if you stay on your scheduled itinerary, even if the ports are open but not totally rebuilt, your money helps in their recovery effort.

It looks like St. Maarten will be out for a while. It was reported that 95% of the island was damaged.

On the french side, Club Orient is gone. Literally nothing left.

Orient Village is gone.

Grand Case too.

Front Street Philipsburg is not even recognizable due to the damage.

I wonder how long it will take to get the port put back together.

Karen

We have a cruise on another line booked for January and St. Martin was one of the ports. I am 95% sure that we are going to cancel before final payment. My spouse says any cruise is good. But I planned this cruise specifically for the Eastern Caribbean ports. What's the use of paying all that money and not being able to go where I wanted to go?

We have a cruise on another line booked for January and St. Martin was one of the ports. I am 95% sure that we are going to cancel before final payment. My spouse says any cruise is good. But I planned this cruise specifically for the Eastern Caribbean ports. What's the use of paying all that money and not being able to go where I wanted to go?

Umm...because it is a vacation....what are you going to do instead?

And St. Thomas could very well be up and running by then. St. Martin and possibly GT may still be closed in January. It's way to early to tell and you will know by late October what your ports are...

We are booked on the same cruise with you and I paid our last payment Friday knowing what the consequences would be. I'm sure our itinerary will be changed, how much and where is up in the air. If you feel strongly about a certain port do what's best so you enjoy your vacation. There are few places I have no desire to go but I won't cancel my cruise, I just won't get off the boat.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian send out memos saying the Eastern cruises would now be changed to Western until at least November . I suspect Carnival will do the same .....

And where did you see that? I have seen nothing from RCI and I leave 10/1/17 for Nassau, st Thomas and san juan.

In fact I just looked at their latest statement and someone asked them about a change in islands since they cruise this coming sunday..they answered that everything is still the same.

Please site your sources if you are going make such a large blanket statement

We are cruising Nov. 4 out of Charleston. Following

Same here. I think our ports (Grand Turk, Amber Cove and Half Moon Cay) are ok. But I am not 100% sure.

I read the same thing as Charleyann regarding not stopping in the Eastern Caribbean until Nov.

This is all I can find at the moment though....

https://www.ncl.com/press-releases/hurricane-irma-update