NCL dropping St. Maarten as a port of call?

[rbelfi]

It seems as if NCL is going to stop going to St. Maarten on any their ships this year and going forward. Does anyone know why they've decided to stop? I love that island, it would be a shame if this was permanent.

 

 

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[rbelfi]

A comment on a previous thread I was apart of. The person who told me couldn't find the article where he read it, but after looking at all the new itineraries annoucned I did not see St. Maarten mentioned once. It looks like by the end of 2014 NCL will no longer be sailing there. Just trying to find out if anyone knows why.

[Froggitt]

Could just be a financial decision e.g. cost of landing there going up. Ryanair in Europe takes a similar approach i.e. if the airport/town/city doesn't provide a big enough subsidy, they stop flying there and move on to the next airport.

[Mr and Mrs C]

My getaway booking for January 2015 is going there?

 

 

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[mpk218]

Highly dubious , that is a mainstay on their eastern run... ;)

[time2cruise1]

My getaway booking for January 2015 is going there?

 

 

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But not the Escape in Janurary 2016 that takes over that itinerary.

 

The Gem from NYC will still go there with her winter 10 day itineraries.

Edited March 14, 2014 by time2cruise1

[kjbacon]

I'm wondering about this too having seen some conflicting info. I know a lot of people just love St. Martin but it was our least favorite port so a change would be a plus for us. Everyone likes something different, I guess. One possible reason for dropping that stop could be the situation with the Chikungunya mosquito problem that's been a developing for several months now.

[time2cruise1]

Highly dubious , that is a mainstay on their eastern run... ;)

 

The mainstay will become a collar stay in winter 2015-16 with the only NCL ship going there is the Gem.

[Sundiego]

Looks like the Getaway starts going to Tortola instead of St. Maarten beginning April 25, 2015.

[jayjay10704]

St. Maarten is by far my favorite island I've been to so far. Maho Beach is awesome. It would be a shame if NCL stopped sailing there...

[biker@sea]

NCL is dropping St Marteen for Tortola

check it out here = http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41412036

[nbsjcruiser]

Sint Maarten is such a nice stop. What a shame. Its a great way to spend a day. Water taxi to the town area, lie on the beach, wander around town, more beach time, water taxi back to the ship for lunch then repeat for the afternoon.

[youngestof9]

Getaway will start Tortola next April and then when she moves to the Western Caribbean in the fall, Escape will take over Eastern with Tortola. So no new builds for the regular 7-days. I'm disappointed and wish that they would do St. Maarten instead of Nassau, but that'll never happen with the ships being flagged to the Bahamas.

 

I love St. Maarten. Bummer. On the flipside, I'm looking forward to visiting JVD while on Tortola.

[runner15km]

Maybe NCL is eyeing this new port.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2014/02/11/banana-coast-cruise-port-caribbean/5388801/

 

or this one - http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5487

 

Natural Harvest Key -

Edited March 14, 2014 by runner15km

[LrgPizza]

Maybe NCL is eyeing this new port.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2014/02/11/banana-coast-cruise-port-caribbean/5388801/

 

or this one - http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5487

The Jewel already has Trujillo on it's itinerary this year.

[LegallyBlonder]

NCL is dropping St Marteen for Tortola

check it out here = http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41412036

 

What a shame! In some cases, we have sought out itineraries specifically because they included St. Maarten- we love hopping in a taxi and spending the day on the French side. I guess we'll be venturing back out to other lines for that port in the future. I love Tortola too- just very different experiences. I wish they would replace DR with Tortola and keep St. Maarten.

[Doughboy139]

It seems as if NCL is going to stop going to St. Maarten on any their ships this year and going forward. Does anyone know why they've decided to stop? I love that island, it would be a shame if this was permanent.

 

 

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I was just on NCL's web page and the following ships are going to St. Maarten in 2015, They are, The Getaway, Gem, Dawn and The Breakaway.

[LrgPizza]

I was just on NCL's web page and the following ships are going to St. Maarten in 2015, They are, The Getaway, Gem, Dawn and The Breakaway.

Until April. After that, it switches to Tortola.

[UKLloyd]

Ah man really???? :(:(:(:(

 

We loved st maarten. Maho beach was the best.

 

We are waiting for itineries to be released for nov 2015 so we can book. When will this be?

 

Gutted no more st maarten, loved it there.

[dolita22]

Bummer! It's a beautiful island; my husband loves St. Maarten. Glad we've gotten to visit twice, and it will be fun to visit Tortola eventually, but like another poster, we may have to check out different lines if we want to go back to St. Maarten.

[LrgPizza]

Ah man really???? :(:(:(:(

 

We loved st maarten. Maho beach was the best.

 

We are waiting for itineries to be released for nov 2015 so we can book. When will this be?

 

Gutted no more st maarten, loved it there.

March 25

[nycmode]

Sigh St. Maarten is my favorite island too.

Oh well ... I'll just find some other way to get there in the future

[UKLloyd]

March 25

 

 

 

Thanks for answering .

 

Maybe we will have to cruise early April then rather than November. Really want to see st maarten again.

 

How's the weather in April compared to November?

[FIRELT5]

SXM schedule has NCL calling until April 2016.

 

http://201.220.14.28/sxm/MainMenu.aspx?ShipScheduleType=2

 

 

NCL confirms this by the recent press release.

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/pressroom/pressRelease.html?storyCode=PR_031214A

 

The visits to Tortola May have to be altered by the New pier construction which NCL is partially financing.

 

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2013/08/disney-cruise-line-partially-behind-tortola-pier-park-port-development-project/

Edited March 14, 2014 by FIRELT5

[LrgPizza]

SXM schedule has NCL calling until April 2016.

 

http://201.220.14.28/sxm/MainMenu.aspx?ShipScheduleType=2

 

 

NCL confirms this by the recent press release.

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/pressroom/pressRelease.html?storyCode=PR_031214A

 

The visits to Tortola May have to be altered by the New pier which NCL is partially financing.

Yep. Looks like the Star ports at St. Maartin a couple times and the Gem is there pretty regularly. There are no NCL ships between April and December, 2015 until those 2 show up. Interesting.