Port of New Orleans

[snowmouse]

Have there been any announcements regarding ships scheduled to dock in NO? My friend has a large family reunion booked on the Grandeur in a couple of months. I'm quite sure it will need to be rerouted, if able to sail. As they have family coming from all over the country, plane tickets need to be arranged soon. Has RCCL made any decisions about this yet?

[Goldryder]

Doesn't appear to have been any decisions made as yet, going by this thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=228262&page=1&pp=25

[dawgman]

We make our final payment today. The travel agent called RCCL and they still have not made any changes. We sail Dec.17. They did tell us that if RCCL does change ports

they have to notify us with options as to what we want to do.

[Boxer_Mom]

We are supposed to sail Dec 10 and our final pymt is due Oct 1st. Call 1-800-529-6918 (Cust Serv) and they will tell you like they told us yesterday, no sailing out of Port of NO, yet they are dragging their heels to say where they actually WILL be sailing from. I was told I will have a penalty if I canceled after final pymt if I didnt like the departure port.

[Lakesidedreamer]

We are supposed to sail Dec 10 and our final pymt is due Oct 1st. Call 1-800-529-6918 (Cust Serv) and they will tell you like they told us yesterday, no sailing out of Port of NO, yet they are dragging their heels to say where they actually WILL be sailing from. I was told I will have a penalty if I canceled after final pymt if I didnt like the departure port.

 

Now, I'm really confused. I just got off the phone with Customer Service and she told me that since my cruise is not until December (December 17 to be exact), that it would depart from New Orleans.

 

She said the port is open and there shouldn't be a problem with this December cruise. Also she stated that if I cancelled between 30 - 89 days, I would loose my deposit. Now I have to make up my mind today!!!! Or take a chance and loose $1,000.00!!!

 

Boxer Mom: The customer service person told you that they would NOT sail from NO? Please let me know!

[IMNiles]

People are hearing conflicting answers when they call, which leads me to believe that the csrs are just guessing. I was told in no uncertain terms that the ship WAS sailing from NO and would only be rerouted at a later date if it became clear that they would not be allowed to sail from there, and that furthermore no decision was forthcoming until possibly October or November. Other people who called during the same time period heard that it was definitely NOT sailing from NO. So, I'm making my final payment and hoping for the best. If history is a guide, if you booked cruise air you're fine, otherwise you're at the mercy of your airline. Most are being pretty good about it, but some less so. All of the other cruiselines have offered a no-fee "out" to those who cancel a cruise on a ship that was moved. I see no reason to believe that rccl will not also waive the fees in that case.

[Boxer_Mom]

I was told in no uncertain terms that we would not be sailing out of NO - 2 csrs told me that. But with so many answers going around, who the heck knows anymore!

 

And now with Rita, we may not be able to sail out of Galveston! Dang it!:mad:

[Lakesidedreamer]

Well, I gave up. I cancelled yesterday afternoon. I had no air reserved since we were planning on driving to New Orleans. Just the 'not knowing' drove me crazy and the fact if they do move it to Tampa or some other point in Florida, I have no airline tickets. And what are the chances of getting tickets at Christmas time??

 

Sorry to say that I gave up but I just couldn't take a chance to "hopefully" get a full refund if they move it. That's another reason I cancelled. No one could guarantee that I would get to "opt out" if they move the departure point.

 

And this was lesson for me for not using a TA. I booked this cruise on RCCL's own website so I had no other person that I could call to ask.

 

After I cancelled, I did call a TA and asked her to see what other cruises are out there in December. She found one leaving Galveston on the same weekend and now....RITA!!!!! Maybe someone from above is trying to tell me something!! ha

[BrnMlr]

I emailed Mr. Goldstein and asked him what the plans where and to tell him that the CSR's are saying different things. Here is the response I got from Teri Montenegro, Manager - Operations, Royal Caribbean International

 

"Our apologies that you have not received consistent responses from our staff. As you may know, the Grandeur of the Seas is not scheduled into the Port of New Orleans until December. Our decision is that we will return to New Orleans in December and resume our cruises from this port.

 

Please be certain that if there is any change to this decision in the future, we will contact all impacted guests immediately. "

[debshomespun]

With Rita on her way to the Gulf somewhere, who knows what strength she will be, and where she will hit. They are evacuating New Orleans again, and some of the other areas of the Gulf. It IS hurricane season, and unfortunately mother nature is being very active this year. I think it will depend on what is to come in the future by the ways of storms, and how quickly they will have the port ready for passengers. Even if the port is open for passengers, what will the city be like for tourists? Not that I wouldn't want to give them my $$$ to help them recover, but they have a long, long, long way to get back to any type of routineness in their lives in all the gulf coast areas.

 

Anyone that is concerned with not knowing where their cruise will be leaving from should cancel if not made final payment, until the ports are back open and fully operational.

[Firefighterhoop]

1) They may not even know yet, as they are trying to probabally keep the departure date Saturday, but most ports are full or near full on Saturdays

 

2) The current Rita track has it going way SOUTH of Galveston, TX, However even if it were to hit head on, it is a totally different ball game, since that town is not a bowl 8 feet below sea level, clean up would go much faster, as has been shown in several florida cities.