storms and hurricanes

Today another hurricane is hitting San Juan PR, it looks awful, very sad. Just wondering with all the damage done to many islands, are cruise ships stopping at the ports? I see on the news the devastation and I just dont think a few thousand cruise passengers would be helpful to the clean up . Did Half Moon cay survive ? That is my fave port. Everyone take care and be safe!

Nope

As I said on another thread about the islands and storms .....

Those islands impacted by Irma need the port fees from the cruise ships for recovery. Thus they will try their best to have the cruise ports in tourist form.

We were in Grand Turk a few years ago soon after a hurricane. The port was open, tours were running - even while school was still being held with the student desks outside under the trees.

ports will be up and running much quicker than people think in the moment of disaster

Today another hurricane is hitting San Juan PR, it looks awful, very sad. Just wondering with all the damage done to many islands, are cruise ships stopping at the ports? I see on the news the devastation and I just dont think a few thousand cruise passengers would be helpful to the clean up . Did Half Moon cay survive ? That is my fave port. Everyone take care and be safe!

Half Moon Cay survived Irma in good shape. Maria is forecast to go to the east of it, but it's being closed and evacuated for a few days as a precaution.

As for the ports, the ones with minimal or no damage are being stopped at per normal. The ones that were hit harder are being skipped and replaced, except for specific humanitarian stops to drop off or pick up people and/or supplies.

For news about ports, our own Cruise Critic has a pretty good site at https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8067 that summarize their statuses.

ports will be up and running much quicker than people think in the moment of disaster

the port might be open, but the islands are devastated, nothing happens fast in the islands

the port might be open, but the islands are devastated, nothing happens fast in the islands

We're talking about cruises. The port with be open. People can snorkel. Beaches will still exist. Bars will be open. Not sure what else you're looking for. For cruisers, it will be a viable stop.

In these situations money helps a great deal in recovery. That is what the cruise lines bring to these areas more than anything. The sooner they can recover enough to accept cruise traffic the better for them.

ports will be up and running much quicker than people think in the moment of disaster

Pretty irresponsible to make comments like yours. St Maarten, Dominica, SAN Juan, St Thomas, St Croix have never been hit by hurricanes before like this. There countries and people are dealing with things they never imagined. It's much more than the port that is needed to cruise there. You must consider the safety of the passengers. There will be many that will want to go to places farther away from the port. At times like this it will not be safe as there will be people who try to take advantage of tourists as they have valuables. Please sit down and think this thru realistically as it may be months and years before cruise ships return to some of these ports. It sounds easy to say when the port opens we can cruise again but in reality is it isn't.

Today another hurricane is hitting San Juan PR, it looks awful, very sad. Just wondering with all the damage done to many islands, are cruise ships stopping at the ports? I see on the news the devastation and I just dont think a few thousand cruise passengers would be helpful to the clean up . Did Half Moon cay survive ? That is my fave port. Everyone take care and be safe!

Are you kidding with that ??? geez

I tend to believe that the almighty dollar will cause cruise port recovery to happen sooner rather than later.

We went on a cruise a few years back that stopped in Grenada a short time after they went through a hurricane. We went into town to support their economy. The town had roads and sidewalks that were in very dangerous disrepair. At every turn, we were basically accosted by people who wanted us to buy their spices and crafts. When you said "no" they became very rude and hostile. We hightailed it back to the ship without haste. The ships staff member greeting us on the walkway laughed and said "I wanted to warn people getting off the ship, but I couldn't--I'd lose my job". I understand their despair, to them everyone getting off that ship is $ signs to them. I'd much rather donate to good charities for these people who have seen so much devastation than to go to their island before they're really ready. Let the flaming begin.

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The Caribbean will not be the same in my life time, very sad. So many of these people had so little to begin with, I hate to think of how difficult the struggle to rebuild will be for them.

the port might be open, but the islands are devastated, nothing happens fast in the islands

PR specifically has no money, they are bankrupt and have defaulted on their bonds. Trump has declared the island a state of emergency. We're $20 trillion in debt, and to get these islands and our States up and running is going to be a long and slow process. We were thinking about buying Carnival stock, not now.

Pretty irresponsible to make comments like yours. St Maarten, Dominica, SAN Juan, St Thomas, St Croix have never been hit by hurricanes before like this. There countries and people are dealing with things they never imagined. It's much more than the port that is needed to cruise there. You must consider the safety of the passengers. There will be many that will want to go to places farther away from the port. At times like this it will not be safe as there will be people who try to take advantage of tourists as they have valuables. Please sit down and think this thru realistically as it may be months and years before cruise ships return to some of these ports. It sounds easy to say when the port opens we can cruise again but in reality is it isn't.

If you think it will be months/years before cruise ports are open, it is YOU who is thinking unrealistically. Lets circle up in 60 days and compare notes. Weather you choose to visit these ports in the future based on safety concerns is up to you, but they will open back up much sooner than you think.

PR specifically has no money, they are bankrupt and have defaulted on their bonds. Trump has declared the island a state of emergency. We're $20 trillion in debt, and to get these islands and our States up and running is going to be a long and slow process. We were thinking about buying Carnival stock, not now.

Stocks up almost 40% in the past year, and actually up again in futures. Only reason not to buy is because its too high...

Pretty irresponsible to make comments like yours. St Maarten, Dominica, SAN Juan, St Thomas, St Croix have never been hit by hurricanes before like this. There countries and people are dealing with things they never imagined. It's much more than the port that is needed to cruise there. You must consider the safety of the passengers. There will be many that will want to go to places farther away from the port. At times like this it will not be safe as there will be people who try to take advantage of tourists as they have valuables. Please sit down and think this thru realistically as it may be months and years before cruise ships return to some of these ports. It sounds easy to say when the port opens we can cruise again but in reality is it isn't.

Tourism accounts for @ 80% of the GDP for most of these islands (exception being Puerto Rico where it is 8% due to a manufacturing base) and cruise ships are a way to bring in fast $$$ to them without having to support thousands tourists on a damaged infrastructure (cruise ship pax are day trippers and do not need hotel rooms, limited food required etc since ship provides it) so the cruise ports will be up and open long before the island is TRULY capable of hosting tourists. Whether you choose to go ashore is up to each person, but the lifeblood of these islands is tourists and the quickest easiest way to get them there is on a ship, and ships need Islands to stop at to attract customers... so the ports will be open earlier than you might think.... since both the islands and the ships are motivated to do,this!

Tourism accounts for @ 80% of the GDP for most of these islands (exception being Puerto Rico where it is 8% due to a manufacturing base) and cruise ships are a way to bring in fast $$$ to them without having to support thousands tourists on a damaged infrastructure (cruise ship pax are day trippers and do not need hotel rooms, limited food required etc since ship provides it) so the cruise ports will be up and open long before the island is TRULY capable of hosting tourists. Whether you choose to go ashore is up to each person, but the lifeblood of these islands is tourists and the quickest easiest way to get them there is on a ship, and ships need Islands to stop at to attract customers... so the ports will be open earlier than you might think.... since both the islands and the ships are motivated to do,this!

This!

Ships pay port fees based on the number of passengers aboard on that particular sailing. Even if you choose not to get off the ship in a given port that fee has still been paid. Those devastated islands need that money and thus will try to get them up and running.

A huge percentage of the island population is employed in the tourism industry. No tourists = no income for residents for repairs, food, general expenses.

If you think it will be months/years before cruise ports are open, it is YOU who is thinking unrealistically. Lets circle up in 60 days and compare notes. Weather you choose to visit these ports in the future based on safety concerns is up to you, but they will open back up much sooner than you think.

Yes let's compare in 60 days. No doubt that St Maarten and Dominica will still not be having cruise ships by then. St Thomas and St Croix possibly. San Juan most likely. Disagree with it's up to you on safety concerns. Ultimately it is up to the person, I agree. What you are missing is once the first bad act happens it will be a PR nightmare for Carnival as people will blame them. You also have to remember there are other ports to visit. Carnival is selling vacations. Very few will want to go to these ports until they are up and running to almost full capacity as far as excursions, places to visit, things to do. finally people need to stop comparing to previous hurricanes. These are circumstances that these countries have not experienced before. It's much different to recover from cat 1-3 storms vs 4-5 as the damage is much more significant. See u in 60.

Months? Perhaps two or three, in some cases. Most though will have their cruise ports up and running before then. The islands may not be as attractive as before, but they depend on that money.. Years? No way. You can bet that the ports and cruise facilities will be a priority during clean up and repair. The interiors of these islands will take longer, but that will not stop them from receiving cruise ships, cruise passengers, and cruise money. And yes, these islands HAVE seen storms of the magnitude of Irma and Marie, just not in our lifetimes. In the case of Puerto Rico, It was hit with a storm of equal or greater strength in the 1920s. Monster hurricanes have been around since long before CNN, Fox News, and the Weather Channel, since the dawn of time in fact.

Please share the hurricane that was worse for St Thomas, St Maarten, Dominica? As far as PR it's still left to be seen which was worse, Maria or 1928. I can tell you that it really doesn't matter as they have to deal with the current storm of Maria.

Please share the hurricane that was worse for St Thomas, St Maarten, Dominica? As far as PR it's still left to be seen which was worse, Maria or 1928. I can tell you that it really doesn't matter as they have to deal with the current storm of Maria.

http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/saintthomas.htm

You can look up the others just as easily as I can.

Here is a link to hurricane history for St. Thomas and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/saintthomas.htm

 

You can look up the others just as easily as I can.

Thanks but it wasn't I who needed this info to support what I was saying. Thanks.

Thanks but it wasn't I who needed this info to support what I was saying. Thanks.