Hurricane Damage Discussion and Photos

[settingsail]

Hi El -coz

The pictures will not show up , we will need a password to access them or you may have to put them in another way . To tell you the truth we are hoping to tender there , we would be there Dec 1st . I am absolutely frustrated with RCCL that they can not tell us yet if we are going there or not . I don't feel this is a hard decision , especially if they are tendering . Heck just let off of the ship to shop and swim , if excursions are up and running then people can do those . If people don't want to get off the ship then don't get off . Come on RCCL make a decision !!!!!!!!!, we are leaving in a little over 2 weeks :)

[settingsail]

Hi again

Sorry about that I figured out how to view the pictures .

 

WOW , I didn't realize how bad it was . I hope everyone down there gets the help they need . I truely wouldn't mind spend a few bucks to help out with the rebuilding . I can't imagine how hard it is to get through these tough times .I hope hte children are doing well . I have never been to Cozumel but paradise to me is a little more then pristine beaches and endless shopping , most of the time when I cruise I enjoy more then anything else would be talking with the locals .

Once again I sure hope we are able to come !!!!

Thank you for the pictures , are things looking a little better as of the last few days ? Can't wait to see your updated pictures :) Good Luck and best wishes

[settingsail]

Hi again

Sorry about that I figured out how to view the pictures .

 

WOW , I didn't realize how bad it was . I hope everyone down there gets the help they need . I truely wouldn't mind spend a few bucks to help out with the rebuilding . I can't imagine how hard it is to get through these tough times .I hope hope children are doing well . I have never been to Cozumel but paradise to me is a little more then pristine beaches and endless shopping , most of the time when I cruise I enjoy more then anything else would be talking with the locals .

Once again I sure hope we are able to come !!!!

Thank you for the pictures , are things looking a little better as of the last few days ? Can't wait to see your updated pictures :) Good Luck and best wishes

[settingsail]

Hi

 

Sorry about that i did get the pictures :)

WOW , it is worse then I imagined , I'm so sorry ! I still hope we are able to come . I wouldn't mind at all helping out and spending a few bucks . Are the children doing well ? Are things getting better as the days pass . I hear that there is alot of hard working people there .

To me paradise is more then just pristine beaches and endless shopping , it is also visitng with locals and getting to know them and their culture . Once again Good Luck and best wishes I still hope we come . Hopefully we will see you Dec 1st , if not we will come as soon as the ships start returning , maybe in the Spring .

Take care and thanks again , we will be watching for your new pictures !

[El Coz - Antonio]

This is "borrowed" from a thread on cozumelmycozumel.com:

 

This is what is was distributed today to reporters and editors in the US, according to some of my media friends. I know Raul Marrufo and he is a sharp guy, and I think he and tourism leaders on the island are doing their best to get the message out.

 

 

COZUMEL, MEXICO, REPORTS RAPID RECOVERY

 

COZUMEL, Mexico (Nov. 8, 2005) - Cozumel tourism officials report rapid

progress in the post-hurricane Wilma clean up and restoration effort on

the island.

 

According to Raul Marrufo, director of the Cozumel Tourism Promotion

Board, "Now that the essential services have been restored to most of the island, we have shifted our focus to prepare the island for winter

visitors. We are enthusiastic about our progress and look forward to a

busy tourist season starting in December."

General information:

 

- Electricity and water has been restored to 90 percent of the island

- The Cozumel Airport officially reopened on October 29, 2005. Mexicana

Airlines is currently operating daily flights to Cozumel out of Mexico

City. American Airlines will resume its Dallas-to-Cozumel flights on

December 16, 2005, operating three flights a week, and Continental has

resumed its Houston-to-Cozumel flights, operating three flights a week.

- The first cruise ship is scheduled to arrive on November 14, 2005.

- Several dive shops are open and operating

- Officials from the Cozumel National Marine Park are optimistic and

report that many reefs along Cozumel are largely undamaged. Shallow

reefs, up to 35 feet deep, were most impacted, while reefs found at greater

depths are reported to be in good condition.

- Caverns, including Chankanaab Cavern, F1 Cavern and Aerolito Cavern

did not sustain damage and are open.

- More than 30 island excursions have been available since October 31,

2005

- 95 percent of shops and restaurants will be open beginning November

14, 2005

- The Cozumel Country Club will reopen the golf course, offering 9

holes, on December 1, 2005

- The Atlantis Submarine attraction will reopen on December 15, 2005

- Fiesta Holidays is open for snorkeling tours and car rentals

 

 

According to Aurelio Joaquin, director of the Foundation of Parks and

Museums of Cozumel, "Though the island's parks have sustained some

damage, we are thankful that the ruins at San Gervasio were not harmed. We have already begun efforts to restore the parks and will have them

ready for visitors to enjoy by the winter travel season."

 

- The Museum of the Island of Cozumel is now open and fully

operational.

- Punta Sur ecological park is currently open for jeep tours.

- Reconstruction has started on Chankanaab National Park, with the

tentative opening date scheduled for December 20, 2005

- The Mayan ruins at San Gervasio were not damaged and the

archaeological site will reopen on November 14, 2005.

 

According to Gabriela Verduzco, manager of the Cozumel Hotels

Association, "Several hotels have already returned to business as usual and many others will reopen prior to the busy fall season." The following is a list of scheduled reopening dates for various Cozumel hotels and

resorts. Some properties are still in the assessment stage and have not yet reported reopening dates.

 

Hotel -- Scheduled Opening Date

Casa del mar -- December 15, 2005

Casa Mexicana -- Open

Coral Princess -- February 1, 2006

Cozumel Palace -- Pending

Cozumel Resort -- Open

Days Inn -- Open

El Cozumeleño -- Pending

El Cid la Ceiba -- November 15, 2005

Fiesta Americana -- February 1, 2006

Flamingo -- Open

Hacienda San Miguel -- Pending

Iberostar -- Pending

Melia Cozumel -- December 23, 2005

Occidental Allegro -- January 31, 2006

Occidental Grand -- January 31, 2006

Park Royal -- July 2006

Playa Azul -- December 15, 2005

Presidente InterContinental -- May 2006

Reef Club -- Pending

Scuba Club Cozumel -- November 15, 2005

Sol Cabañas del Caribe -- Pending

Suites Bahia -- December 15, 2005

Suites Colonial -- December 15, 2005

Villablanca -- November 15, 2005

Vista del Mar -- Open

 

For ongoing destination updates, travelers should visit

www.islacozumel.com.mx.

 

trish in cozumel

www.mesa17.com

[El Coz - Antonio]

Puerta Maya is the southern most pier and it was the worst hit. I've seen the word 'destroyed' used in reports too, but I think that's a little strong. The structure is still standing, broken in places, but still safe to use for tenders - 2 at a time is the current thinking - so I wouldn't say it's 'destroyed'.

 

Ian in Cozumel

 

Don't mean to challenge your post Ian, but I would say Puerta Maya pier was destroyed, I'm sure the shops and mall (even the pier) will be re-built, but I just don't see what's not destroyed about the pier itself, or where they could tender there, I believe the tenders are planned for the downtown pier.

 

 

The International pier in the foreground, Puerta Maya in the background:

 

[sharks48]

Haven't seen any pics of Chankanaab or heard anything lately about what condition it's in. We were just there a month ago and it was so beautiful....

[donovan52]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just checked RCI's site for the Mariner's December 4th western cruise. They are no longer showing a stop in Cozumel, and have substituted another sea day. This seems contrary to what I am reading here...that the port, while somewhat bruised, is (or will be) ready for cruisers. Does anybody have any further info?

 

Reg

[seabum]

Hi,

 

Well, the rumor mill still has us tendering in next week. Hope so.

 

Does anyone have any post Wilma snorkeling suggestions? We have a jeep reserved with Avis, and had planned on snorkeling a few sites while driving around the island.

 

I understand the east coast "highway" has been washed out as well.

 

Last I heard was you could get to about Coconuts on the east coast driving from the north, and down to Paradise Beach on the west coast.

 

Any new info would be greatly appreciated -

 

Thanks

[starfamily]

The piers don't look very safe to me!:eek:

I am bringing my son with me and certainly hope that princess is not planning on depositing my child on a broken pier!! For some reason I thought we would tender into shore , this is most upseting

[bruce-r]

I just checked RCI's site for the Mariner's December 4th western cruise. They are no longer showing a stop in Cozumel, and have substituted another sea day. This seems contrary to what I am reading here...that the port, while somewhat bruised, is (or will be) ready for cruisers. Does anybody have any further info?

I think Cozumel will be ready on Nov 14 as discussed, but not every ship originally scheduled to stop there will make the call, only some ships will be stopping. The cruise lines themselves will decide which ships stop there. I have no idea how they decided.

 

Does anyone have any post Wilma snorkeling suggestions? We have a jeep reserved with Avis, and had planned on snorkeling a few sites while driving around the island.

 

I understand the east coast "highway" has been washed out as well.

 

Last I heard was you could get to about Coconuts on the east coast driving from the north, and down to Paradise Beach on the west coast.

Solita mentioned that the transverse road across the island is closed at San Gervasio, no one gets past there. The south end of the road is also closed down near the south end of the island. I have no ideal when the transverse road will reopen. Hopefully by the time cruisers arrive so they can take the jeep/dune buggy tours on the east side north from Mezcalitos.

 

The Road to PB should be no problem

 

The piers don't look very safe to me!

I am bringing my son with me and certainly hope that Princess is not planning on depositing my child on a broken pier!! For some reason I thought we would tender into shore , this is most upseting

There is no way they will dock ships on the piers you saw in the photos. You will be tendered ashore and most likely get off the tender at the ferry pier which is downtown right across from the Plaza.

[dlb1357]

starfamily -

 

As bruce-r stated, the tendering is going to happen right in downtown San Miguel by the downtown plaza...on the ferry pier that has been used since shortly after the hurricane to ferry the locals to the mainland. If it were a safety hazard they wouldn't be using it.

[Donna PT]

On RCI's website, Cozumel has been removed from the 12/4/05 sailing of the Explorer and has an extra day at sea. Hmmm.

[nealthedeal]

So it will be open next week for me is that what u are saying?:rolleyes:

[settingsail]

Hi there Donna PT , isn't that funny I can't figure out what the heck RCCL is doing . Ours is still on there for the November 26th sailing on the Legend . I check everyday .I guess I should stop worring about it . like I said before we will be just happy to go to the 3 islands and have a wonderful time at Sea . I was hoping we could thou just to help out the people :(

[smrtypnts]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just checked RCI's site for the Mariner's December 4th western cruise. They are no longer showing a stop in Cozumel, and have substituted another sea day. This seems contrary to what I am reading here...that the port, while somewhat bruised, is (or will be) ready for cruisers. Does anybody have any further info?Reg

 

I take it you were supposed to be a 4-port cruise? Because of what you said, I checked our November 19 cruise and there doesn't seem to be any changes.:rolleyes:

 

To answer your question, I suspect there's not enough tender boats to accomodate everyone, so the # of ships allowed per day will be limited.

[Cozumel-Ian]

Hi all

 

I've updated my website today, and here are a few extra bits of info...

 

- RCCL will start sending ships on Monday, I think at a rate of about one a day.

- Princess will start Tuesdy I understand.

- NCL and Carnival have yet to make a decision, but I suspect December is a likely return date for them when we will be ready to accomodate more ships daily.

- The Puerta Maya pier is ready to take tenders, although I don't know of RCCL will be using it - they may well use the downtown pier as others suggest. But I stand by my claim that Puerta Maya was not 'destroyed' as to me that implies it is rubble underwater, which is not the case! :) Still, let's not argue about semantics - it was very seriously damaged as the photos show and I don't want to down-play the state it's in.

 

Carnival (the owners) and the authorities would not dare to open it for tenders if it was not safe, they would be terrified of being sued in the US if anything went wrong. So, rest assured it will only be used if safe and the same applies for other piers. We have plenty of modern ferries to tender people to shore, so hopefully it will be quick and won't inconvenience passengers too much.

 

I plan to do a fuller report on piers this week, but the battery died on my motorbike yesterday (the wiring seems to be a delayed victim of the rain!) so I'm not so mobile... but I hope to fix it today and will do my best to get the real 'pier and tender' story.

 

For spots to snorkel - watch out for my reef report also coming on my site this week.

 

The road is physically passable all the way around the island apart from a stretch near Chen Rio on the Other Side. Police are still restricting access as repairs are underway, but I think quite a lot should be accessible by next Monday and some tours will be able to return to Punta Sur in the next couple of weeks.

 

Another little piece of good news - the mini-golf is fine, as is Scott the owner! You can see a pic here: http://www.wilmacozumel.com/images/minigolf.jpg He lost some leaves from trees but otherwise is fine and will re-open on Monday too!

 

Antonio - may be we can meet up, sounds like you could help me with my reef report! My email is ian@wilmacozumel.com

 

Best regards

 

Ian

[CruiseMark]

Actually, Carnival did make their decision:

 

Itinerary Update – November 9, 2005 1:00 PM

Due to the impact from Hurricane Wilma in Cozumel, we will make the following

itinerary changes for Western Caribbean cruise departures through and including

December 31, 2005, except for Elation. For Elation 4 & 5 Day cruises beyond

11/19/05 and onwards, we will post this shortly:

Fascination 4 Day from Miami on Mon. 11/21, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19 and

12/26/05: These cruises will visit Key West (Tues.) and Calica, Mexico (Wed.)

Imagination 4 Day from Miami on Thurs. 12/1, 12/15 and 12/29/05: These cruises

will visit Key West (Fri.) and Calica, Mexico (Sat.)

Inspiration 4 Day from Tampa on Thurs. 11/17, 12/1, 12/15 and 12/29/05: These

cruises will visit Cozumel (Sat.)

Inspiration 5 Day from Tampa on Sat. 11/12 and 11/26/05: These cruises will

visit Grand Cayman (Mon.) and Costa Maya (Tues.)

Inspiration 5 Day on Mon. 11/21, 12/5 & 12/19 and Sat. 12/10 & 12/24/05: Mon.

cruises will visit Grand Cayman (Wed.) and Cozumel (Thurs.) and Saturday cruises

will visit Grand Cayman (Mon.) and Cozumel (Tues.)

Elation 5 Day from Galveston on Mon. 11/14/05: This cruise will visit Progreso,

Yucatan (Wed.) and Veracruz (Thurs.)

Carnival Miracle 7 Day from Tampa on Sun. 11/13, 11/20, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11,

12/18, and 12/25/05:These cruises will visit the scheduled ports of call but in

a different sequence

Carnival Valor 7 Day WC from Miami on Sun. 11/13, 11/27, 12/11 and 12/25/05:

These cruises will visit Grand Cayman (Tues.), Isla Roatan (Wed.) Belize

(Thurs.) and Costa Maya (Fri.)

Carnival Glory 7 Day from Port Canaveral on Sat., 11/19/05 due to the Key West

Boat Race: The scheduled call in Key West will be replaced with Costa Maya

(Mon.) and we will visit Belize (Tues) and Cozumel (Wed.)

Carnival Victory 7 Day from Miami on Sun. 11/20, 12/4 and 12/18/05: These

cruises will visit Costa Maya (Tues.), Grand Cayman (Thurs.) and Ocho Rios

(Fri.)

Carnival Glory 7 Day from Port Canaveral on Sat. 12/3, 12/17, and 12/31/05:

These cruises will visit Key West (Sun.), Belize (Tues) and Costa Maya, Mexico

(Wed.)

Carnival Liberty 6 Day from Ft. Lauderdale on Sun. 11/20, 12/4 and 12/18/05:

These cruises will visit Freeport (Mon.), Grand Cayman (Wed.) and Costa Maya

(Thurs.)

Carnival Liberty 8 Day from Ft. Lauderdale on Sat. 11/26 and 12/24/05: These

cruises will visit Costa Maya, Mexico (Mon.), Limon, Costa Rica (Wed.) and

Colon, Panama (Thurs.)

Due to the impact from Hurricane Wilma in Cozumel, we will make the following

itinerary changes for the cruises of Elation, November 10; Fascination, November

7 & 14 and Imagination, November 17, 2005:

Fascination November 7 & 14 from Miami - This cruise will visit Key West (Tues.)

and Calica, Mexico (Wed.)

Elation November 10 from Galveston - This cruise will visit Calica, Mexico

(Sat.)

Imagination November 17 from Miami - This cruise will visit Key West (Fri.) and

Calica, Mexico (Sat.)

Click here (http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/ShoreEx_Cozumel.aspx)

for Cozumel shore excursions updates.

[srobins]

Wonder why they didn't include the Conquest in their plans? That's what I need to know!

[Cozumel-Ian]

Thanks Cruisemark, I knew they were expected to make a decision yesterday or today, didn't realise they'd posted something on their site already..!

 

From what I can see it looks like they'll be returning in January - a little later than I'd hoped. Still, maybe when the see passengers on their competitors' cruises having a great time in Cozumel they change their minds...! :)

 

I'll let you know if I hear anything else from people this end...

 

Ian

[wolfganghowell]

Ian - thank you for being so consistent in keeping us up to date. I feel a little obsessive about asking but Carlos & Charlies website doesn't provide any info and we are very curious if it will be open in time. Do you have any new info? thank you again for all you do. We are looking forward to doing our little share for the Cozumel economy!

[dlb1357]

I was wondering the same thing...Maybe the Conquest will be the only Carnival ship that will be visiting Cozumel thru the end of the year...?

[dlb1357]

Solita just posted this on another thread...

 

 

Look who´s coming next week...

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I love this! For all of those people who said it would be months and all of those so called officals that said no way. As of a few minutes ago, here is the schedule for COZUMEL next week, NOT Calica...

 

Monday - Galaxy

Tuesday - NCL Sun and Dream, Star Princess and Jewel OTS

Wednesday - NCL Majesty, Zenith, Coral Princess and Carnival Miracle

Thursday - Legend OTS

Friday - Rhapsody OTS, Carnival Conquest

Saturday - Enchantment OTS, Carnival Inspiration

 

Now, the schedules have been changing today so this might not be accurate by tomorrow (or even 2 hours from now). For anyone coming on these ships next week, I will be the one standing on the pier with tears of joy and appreciation and one huge smile!

[coiran]

I haven't read all the posts, but I did speak with the Captain on the Oct. 30 Star Princess sailing - The peir south of town, which was built by Carnival Corporation was destroyed - he said they would probably begin stopping there in about two weeks anchoring out and tendering to shore.

 

Ron

[scampi]

Just received a Carnival E-mail. Quote: "We will be operating our schedule calling on Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This schedule will be effective for the cruise departures of November 13,20,27,December 4, 11, 18 and 25, 2005." The title: Important Notice, Carnival Conquest 7 Day Cruises November 13, 20,27,December 4,11,18 and 25, 2005

 

The letter dated November 9, 2005 is from Vicki L. Freed, CTC, Senior Vice President-Sales & Marketing

 

So now it's official. We just have a change in hours from 9:30 - 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. !:)