Hurricane Damage Discussion and Photos

[bjr928]

Thanks for the pics Mark! That's so hard to believe that's the same Cozumel I fell in love with! My heart goes out to everyone there!

[Divette]

Here are some additional photos from Cozumel.

 

http://eczm.com/wilma

[Amagamma]

can't seem to get that link for the pier pictures. What am I doing wrong?

[mirthmaiden]

I've read that Chakanaab park was completely destroyed. Does anybody know about the dolphins at Atlantida? Even if the cruise ships start tendering in after Nov 20th, I would guess that most of the shore excursions would still be cancelled?? Has anyone heard if the dolphins were released before the storm hit? :(

[sdf89]

I've read that Chakanaab park was completely destroyed. Does anybody know about the dolphins at Atlantida? Even if the cruise ships start tendering in after Nov 20th, I would guess that most of the shore excursions would still be cancelled?? Has anyone heard if the dolphins were released before the storm hit? :(

 

If you go to http://www.dolphindiscovery.com it tells you that the dolphins are safe and under care. (For some reason my browser will not let me cut and paste the text)

[bjr928]

If you go to www.dolphindiscovery.com it tells you that the dolphins are safe and under care. (For some reason my browser will not let me cut and paste the text)

 

Where on the site did you find this? I looked earlier and must just be blind! :D

[BallFour4]

I'd like some opinions and reflections on Veracruz and Progreso. We like a beach excursion and one that mixes sights and shopping.

 

Here is what Carnival has on the website:

 

Elation October 22 from Galveston - This cruise will visit Veracruz (Mon.) and Progreso (Tue.)

 

We've not missed a opportunity to sail the week of Thanksgiving on the Canival ships that serve Galveston. The price is right, the school teacher I married needs a break and the teenager does as well. Cozumel and Calica have been the ports sice we first started this trend in 2002.

 

We will sail in November, and will really miss Chankannab and Xcaret. Bless those people in Cozumel...

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/blusry

 

One hurricane moves us from the Ecstasy to the Elation (good thing) and another moves us to Veracruz and Progresso (bad thing).

 

Drink Upstream From The Herd,

 

Lee in Houston

[grandmaof7]

Quote:

16:40 group of 17 dolphins that comprises of the attractiveness of the Chancanab park was transferred of the island from Cozumel to Port Adventure, where they have the conditions to remain per indefinite time, Ana informed Maria Ledezma and Canaam, spokeswoman of Integral the Harbor Administration of Quintana Roo.

 

This from another board.:D

[MaryPoppinz]

A few more.....

 

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cozumel00/album?.dir=/5c8b&.src=ph

[sdf89]

Where on the site did you find this? I looked earlier and must just be blind! :D

It was a popup on going to the web address (http://www.dolphindiscovery.com). If you have a popup blocker, it may be blocking it. Again, I'm sorry I cannot figure out how to copy the text and paste.

[Cozumel_Tom]

Hi Guys... lost internet access at the hospital but we´re back in the inlaws house now. I don´t why the other thread was pulled, hopefully it wasnt cause of my posts being too personal in nature, a lot of CCers have met either me, Sally and Caroline and understandably want to know how we fared.

 

Anyway, here´s some stuff I´ve heard from the Mexican National news channels or from phone calls to residents. Oh, by the way, Sally and Caroline are both fine, talked to both in the last 2 days.

 

-the beach clubs are working hard getting the sand out of their parking lots, facilities. grounds, jungle etc. and depositing it back where it belongs...under your beach chairs! The ocean is doing its part as well, depositing sand on shore.

 

-one resident I talked to says the old road past Dzul ha is wiped out. She had to lock up her bike and walk the rest of the way to a friends house just north of Chankanaab.

 

-Nightly news reports that 50% of Cancun and Playa del Carmen now have power...last night they reported 30%. Cozumel has 4 "colonias" or neighbourhoods with power now, hope mine is one of them!

 

-Mexicana Airlines told me today that the earliest I could use my return ticket back to Cozumel is Nov 1st...maybe.

 

-Chedraui (big Walmart-type supermarket) was giving away food and supplies.

 

-ferries were free for awhile. Lots of Cozumel residents going across to SAM´S to bring back food and supplies.

 

-Taxis were doing their part too, RAISING their min. fee from 15 to 20 pesos...way to go dirtbags.

 

-the reporter I saw on the news was really amazed at how the residents were cleaning up their neighbourhoods and the downtown area. Of course he´s from the big city...he doesnt remember that we had a good practice run with EMILY in July!

 

OK, its very late, gotta go to sleep. Think I started this post about 3 hours ago but apparently I hafta put this new kid´s priorities 1st! Feeding, burping, changing, dressing, changing, changing, feeding, burping..... When are kids toilet trained anyway? 3, 4 months? ;)

 

Hasta la vista!!

[mirthmaiden]

If you go to www.dolphindiscovery.com it tells you that the dolphins are safe and under care. (For some reason my browser will not let me cut and paste the text)

 

I followed the link and clicked on the Cozumel button on the map. It brought me to a page where I can book a reservation. Looks like business as usual there. I didn't see anything talking about how the dolphins fared in the hurricane, or even that the park was closed?? Please forgive my ineptitude, but where exactly are you finding this information?

[MAO]

PB Tom thanks for updatig us...feel alittle better knowing it's coming from you. There is sooo much talk out there, and you never know.

I was in Cozumel last year and it was my favorite port we had a fantastic time and everyone was very nice, enjoyed meeting you and meeting up with friends at PB, was looking forward to visiting again Feb. 3rd off the Mariner. What do you think the chances are of that? I hope that things good fairly smoothly for everyone over there...must be difficult...can't imagine!

Good luck with that new baby;)

MAO

[CruiseMark]

I followed the link and clicked on the Cozumel button on the map. It brought me to a page where I can book a reservation. Looks like business as usual there. I didn't see anything talking about how the dolphins fared in the hurricane, or even that the park was closed?? Please forgive my ineptitude, but where exactly are you finding this information?

 

In case you didn't see my post from the Mexican newspaper, here's more info from the cozumelmycozumel board:

 

Below is the reply back to me from an e-mail I sent to the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (where Dolphin Discovery is certified)

 

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

 

Good news. The dolphins are just fine.

 

The Alliance standards and guidelines require that there be an emergency plan for open-water facilities to address situations such as hurricanes.

 

The dolphins were moved to a safe pool temporarily and then moved to a sister Dolphin Discovery facility in the area that had little damage -- with plenty of space to house them successfully.

 

You are so sweet to be concerned about the animals and I appreciate hearing from you.

 

mem

 

Marilee Menard

Executive Director

Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums

[airhead22]

Yes Tom, Of course he will be. hehehe I can not imagine your stress level right now, but I can tell you what everyone always told me.. this too shall pass. I know in realilty you are cherishing every burp. I have no doubts your beautiful office will be back to its' former self in no time and before you know it you will be chasing Cristian down the beach! God bless you all!!!

[CruiseMark]

Great overall status from Dave from Aldora Divers in Cozumel:

 

Transcript from Chat With Dave from Aldora Divers on the chat from 10/26

I would like to explain a few things first. One is that the news I present and the opinions I present are based on the limited ability of me and my staff to gain information. It is guaranteed to be neither perfect nor jounalistically accurate. Nextly we had our staff survey the island today, both by land where we coud get to by land, then by one of our boats to the south part of the island. They are just getting back and my partner Memo Mendoza will be calling me within 10 minutes with a full report whcih I will relay to you.

 

Before Memo calls me I would like to express one very important factor. Their are lots of hotels and dive shops ready to provide a great experience, all they need is electical power. So that is the key for deciding on when to come to Cozumel.

 

It might be best to keep specific questions for a few minutes until I get the call from Memo. But there is power at some locations and the Corpus Christi neighborhood/Chedraui is due on Friday. I am on the phone with Memo now.

 

Memo did it from South to North From South to North:

 

Iberostar: in very bad shape, most all roofs gone, Pier can be identified but just a few sticks coming out of the water.

 

Occidental Grand: Seems to be in good shape with an intact pier and tourists sunning themselves on the beach!

 

Allegro Resort. Pier is seriously damaged but we could not discern any structural problems at the buildings.

 

The Occidental grand is a new add-on to the Allegro Resort which was formerly known as the Diamond Resort.

 

Nachi Cocom day beach is hurt but the Pier is OK, as is the Playa Mia (formerly Playa Sol). Both of those can be back in operation very fast.

 

San Francisco and Paradise Beach resorts are hurt bad, neither had piers.

 

Reef Club had lots of windows broken, pier and everything else near the beach is gone.

 

Private Houses north of Reef Club appear to be ok structurally but lots of broken windows. All palapas and exterior walls are down.

 

Fiesta Americana Looks to be in good shape but everything on the water side of the road is gone.

 

Presidente has lost all beach and structures close to the beach are gone, like the restaurant/bar.

 

El Cid/La Ceiba lots of broken windows and rocks in lobby. They refused to let us enter saying they were waiting for insurance adjusters. The beach part of their property is surely gone.

 

Casa Del Mar hotel seems to be in pretty good shape but like most other waterfront structures their beach stuff, pier and everything else is gone.

 

Villa Blanca Hotel: Hotel seems ok with just broken windows, beach facilities are trashed.

 

Caribe Blu: Lower floor is trashed and doors and windows are blown out of almost every room. Adjacent buildings are trashed as well. Upper floor may be ok.

 

Hotel Cozumel may be ok, but we were denied entrance. Beach stuff gone

 

Scuba Club: They won't let us in during good times. We presume that all of the facility close to the beach is trashed, but the view from the street is OK

 

Casa Mexican says they are closed for a month but that may be because they are housing all of the Mexican disaster officials. they are in good shape

 

Bahis Hotel: In good shape and ready to accept guests as soon as power is on.

 

Coral Princess: Refuse to let us in. Lots of broken windows but it sits high enough to probably avoid much damage to the lobby or rooms

 

Cozumeleno: Lots of broken glass, beach probably gone. Should be closed for 3 months

 

Melia Mayan: same as Cozumeleno, closed for 3 months.

 

That is it for today’s report. I will answer questions and if I don't have an answer I will try to get it figured out for tomorrow. Next I want to talk about the dive we did today.

 

 

http://*****.com/87kpl

[mirthmaiden]

Thanks CruiseMark for the updated information. I am trying to make a decision about whether or not to cancel our dolphin swim booked through RCCL for Atlantida, and look at possibly booking one in Jamaica since that would be the only other possible port to do it (and that is, of course, assuming RCCL substitutes Jamaica for Cozumel on our itinerary; we already have stops in Costa Maya, Belize, and GC).

 

There seems to be so much conflicting information. Some are making it seem like it will only be a couple of weeks before ships are going to Cozumel again, even if they have to tender rather than dock. Then others are saying it will be April 2006, "months and months," etc. I certainly understand that the local people want to give as positive an outlook as possible so the tourists will be confident about coming back. BUT, I don't want to be led to believe that everything is fine until it's too late to make other plans.

 

Before anybody flames me, in no way am I trying to diminish the loss and devastation that the people of Cozumel have sustained. My heart truly goes out to them, and I am all for contributing my $$ toward the efforts to rebuild. But I am concerned about trying to salvage a dolphin swim on this cruise since DH is terminally ill. This will very likely be our last family vacation, and dolphin swimming together is something the whole family is looking forward to, while we still can :( It would be good to have some realistic information instead of the rose-colored spin that the cruise lines are putting out there.

 

I respect the collective wisdom of the CC'ers. If you all think I should just hang in there and hold on to the excursion then that's what I will do.

[CruiseMark]

Mirthmaiden - I think it's extremely unlikely (if not impossible) that Chankanaab will be open in time for your 11/19 cruise. I haven't seen any reports that suggest that's even a remote possibility.

 

The 11/20 date that the mayor is targeting is to get things started again. That means probably tendering rather than docking, some shops being open, a couple snorkeling/dive shops operating, and a few beach clubs being open.

 

When Emily hit in July, it took Chankanaab almost two months to be open again. This was MUCH worse.

 

If swimming with the dolphins is an absolute must-do, then I think it would be prudent to make contigency plans. But until the cruise line announces your specific itinerary, that may be difficult to do.

[burners]

Does anyone know of any reports to any damage to the mayan ruins either on the Island of cozumel or on the mainland.They have stood for hundreds of years so I hope they survived ok.

[CruiseMark]

Does anyone know of any reports to any damage to the mayan ruins either on the Island of cozumel or on the mainland.They have stood for hundreds of years so I hope they survived ok.

 

There have been a couple of reports and they all say the ruins are fine.

[dlb1357]

Hi Guys... lost internet access at the hospital but we´re back in the inlaws house now. I don´t why the other thread was pulled, hopefully it wasnt cause of my posts being too personal in nature, a lot of CCers have met either me, Sally and Caroline and understandably want to know how we fared.

 

Anyway, here´s some stuff I´ve heard from the Mexican National news channels or from phone calls to residents. Oh, by the way, Sally and Caroline are both fine, talked to both in the last 2 days.

 

-the beach clubs are working hard getting the sand out of their parking lots, facilities. grounds, jungle etc. and depositing it back where it belongs...under your beach chairs! The ocean is doing its part as well, depositing sand on shore.

 

-one resident I talked to says the old road past Dzul ha is wiped out. She had to lock up her bike and walk the rest of the way to a friends house just north of Chankanaab.

 

-Nightly news reports that 50% of Cancun and Playa del Carmen now have power...last night they reported 30%. Cozumel has 4 "colonias" or neighbourhoods with power now, hope mine is one of them!

 

-Mexicana Airlines told me today that the earliest I could use my return ticket back to Cozumel is Nov 1st...maybe.

 

-Chedraui (big Walmart-type supermarket) was giving away food and supplies.

 

-ferries were free for awhile. Lots of Cozumel residents going across to SAM´S to bring back food and supplies.

 

-Taxis were doing their part too, RAISING their min. fee from 15 to 20 pesos...way to go dirtbags.

 

-the reporter I saw on the news was really amazed at how the residents were cleaning up their neighbourhoods and the downtown area. Of course he´s from the big city...he doesnt remember that we had a good practice run with EMILY in July!

 

OK, its very late, gotta go to sleep. Think I started this post about 3 hours ago but apparently I hafta put this new kid´s priorities 1st! Feeding, burping, changing, dressing, changing, changing, feeding, burping..... When are kids toilet trained anyway? 3, 4 months? ;)

 

Hasta la vista!!

Thanks for the update Tom. I know many of us have been looking forward to hearing from you again.

 

Hope you are able to get back home soon...

[mirthmaiden]

Mirthmaiden - I think it's extremely unlikely (if not impossible) that Chankanaab will be open in time for your 11/19 cruise. I haven't seen any reports that suggest that's even a remote possibility.

 

The 11/20 date that the mayor is targeting is to get things started again. That means probably tendering rather than docking, some shops being open, a couple snorkeling/dive shops operating, and a few beach clubs being open.

 

When Emily hit in July, it took Chankanaab almost two months to be open again. This was MUCH worse.

 

If swimming with the dolphins is an absolute must-do, then I think it would be prudent to make contigency plans. But until the cruise line announces your specific itinerary, that may be difficult to do.

 

Thanks. As soon as I finished reading your post, I went over to the main RCCL board and there's a post saying November 14th is when the cruise ships will be coming back (by tendering). Just so I'm sure I understand, is Atlantida and Chakanaab the same place???

[CruiseMark]

Atlantida is in Cancun, not Cozumel. Both places are run by Dolphin Discovery. Chankanaab is the park in Cozumel where Dolphin Discovery is located.

[Divette]

Has anybody heard about the back side of the island and how all the beaches, restaurant and bars are? I've heard the entire road has been washed out which leaves me to believe everything on that side is gone as well. I got married at Mezcalitos and would hate to think that it is gone.

[iluvdoxies]

Thanls for checking in with the updates, Tom. Know you must have a million things on your mind right now.

Glad to hear Sally and all are ok.

I know in my heart Coz will be back--you know we will be back at PB Oct 06!

Best to you, Margarita and Christian!

 

vicki and john