Coz in may?

[claven]

We are on the NOS may 13th and our last stops are cayman and cozumel. I was wondering if we should change the itinery to the eastern carib? I was looking forward to cozumel and the mayan culture, but I wonder if it will be back to 'normal' by then...

[springtxbill]

It should be in pretty good shape by then and could use your money to help them out. Don't change your trip.

[phantom728]

I would definitely keep your Western Itinerary as you are not cruising for several months. If you cannot make Cozumel, they will most likely report you to Costa Maya or possibly Belize, which both also offer Mayan ruin tours, which I have heard are better than Cozumels.

 

We are cruising in January and are hoping that Cozumel will be ready for some tourists as we would like to help the economy get moving again.

 

I think you need to allow more time before deciding to change.

[claven]

How hard is it to change my ressie from one ship to another?

[rolloman]

There is absolutely NO WAY they will have this port ready to be open in at least a year. Even if they do open it in one year from now, it will be basically no better than a sea day. I know most of you have no clue what a hurricane does to the terrain and buildings so let me tell you first hand, it will be leveled and rebuilt from the ground up. I just lived through a milder version of the storm and I am without power until November 22! It takes years to bring something this devistated back to its origional condition, regardless of how motivated the people are. Think about it, New Orleans, Mississippi, Florida, Cozumel, etc. all need the same building materials. These supplies are in short supply. We have people in Florida with no roofs a year later because of sparse construction materials. Sorry for the rant but people keep asking the same old question and the real answer is, forget about Cozumel for at least a year. Regardless of what some eight dollar an hour call center person tells you.

[erik]

Rolloman,

 

I'd like to politely disagree with your assessment. I too am booked on a cruise stopping in Coz. The Grandeur is scheduled to stop there on 5/16/05. As a result, I've been researching the nature of the damage and been monitoring the reactions of the folks who are actually on the island and involved in the repairs/reconstruction. Below are a couple of rather lengthy posts from the discussion forums at cozumelmycosumel dot com. It very celarly describes the cuture and resilience of the Mayans and ex-pats who populate the island.

 

From Bill: Bill Horn of Aqua Safari has just called with an update from the island. Aqua Safari is the longest existing dive operation on the island, and Bill has been in Cozumel for more than 30 years. A true Cozumel expert, Bill lives at Condumel on the third floor. He said that during the height of the storm, the ocean was lapping at his storm shutters. Bill estimates the storm surge at 18 feet above normal tide levels. For all of that, Condumel came through with only some broken windows, though the beach area in front now "looks like Mars." All Aqua Safari dive boats, securely anchored in the Puerto de Abrigo nearby, fortunately survived undamaged.

The ocean did invade Aqua Safari's downtown dive shop, located directly on the waterfront. Clean up there is already in progress. The Safari Inn, located above the shop, came through undamaged and Bill has guests there now. Bahia Hotel, Suites Colonial, and Vista del Mar, all small hotels downtown, are also in good shape. The Palace Hotel, where Aqua Safari has a second location, did not fare as well. The majority of the rooms suffered damage, and that hotel may not reopen for some months.

Bill also reported that he attended a meeting at the Cozumel Mayor's office this morning. A large car and truck ferry is being readied to bring heavy equipment and supplies to Cozumel. It is expected on Friday, Oct. 28, and the plan is land at the Municipal pier downtown. Tourist cruise ship arrivals are scheduled to resume on November 20. As most of the cruise ship piers were damaged, tourists initially will be taken ashore in tender boats. Cozumel will certainly be looking forward to the revenue of shoppers back on the streets of San Miguel. For all of the damage reports, Bill was upbeat and unruffled. As he made clear, "It will take time, but Cozumel will come back better than ever."

Bill Horn and crew have been family to me for years. I trust his judgment and assessments completely.

"RE: Email from Bill"

 

As I stated somewhere, Bill Horn is on my top ten list of quality human beings on the island. I'd trust his accuracy, his judgment and his opinions, equal to or better than anyone.I got off the phone tonight with Terri and Daniel Ancejo, owners of Coco's restuarant next to Banamex. They were very upbeat as well. Sure it is a mess, but as usual/normal Cozumel is making dramatic strides in the clean up. Most of the streets are passable. Many of the land phones are working and worked during the storm. I would expect far more internet activity tomorrow and the next day. The wireless is working some places and they're adjusting things to expand the service area. Some cell phones are working, but only in certain areas. Terri had a signal tonight at home for the first time, while previously she has been using it downtown. Part of the reason we haven't heard more sooner is they all have been busy attending to important needs. I called about ten minutes after 7:00PM curfew and they had just gotten home. The call I made tonight was my first attempt, I wanted to wait until now. I really haven't had concerns about peoples physical wellbeing.

Much progress has been made toward restoring the potable water. They are purging the lines and checking the wells. CAPA (water dept) is working with CFE (electric commission) to insure power to pump the water. They're expecting water to start to happen in the next couple of days. Supposedly 48 out of 150 wells are ready to be operational. Normally the agua potable is shifted around and each area only gets water maybe four hours a day, enough to fill their cisterns. They are expecting that to only maybe be at 1/2 the daily normal allotment.

They are buying gasoline to power the generators. It may be semi-rationed, but there is no shortage of gasoline and people are getting what is needed without problems. Most of the downtown hotels are able to receive guests. They have 35 electrical workers staying at the Marquesa. The whole downtown area is rapidly being cleared. There was not looting that had been implied in some of the reports. The waterfront jewelry stores were trashed by storm surge. People had been digging in the sand in the street and finding some storm washed out jewelry. The good stuff i am sure were in the vaults.

Much of the conversation was me telling them what has been happening around them. They aren't getting much news from outside. She was especially grateful for my reports of the massive concern shown by so many people. I asked if there was anything that she wanted posted and I'll post this again somewheres;

Message from Terri: "Please tell people, please tell the outside world, if they want to help Cozumel, please make plans to return as tourists as soon as possible". They will be ready to accomodate us soon. The old Cozumel which has long been starved by the resort developments is largely intact. It will sort of be like 1990 revisited. She said the restaurant by El Foco was packed this morning. She said Coco's would probably reopen next week. Pleae tell the people we need tourism and not charity. What will get this island back on its feet with be tourism and the jobs that it will bring. "tell then not to send money, but bring money and spend it normally". I mentioned that there was talk of divers booking trips and sending in deposit money to aid in the reconstruction and she thought that was a great idea. It was the dive industry that really started modern tourism and I think it is the dive industry that will bring Cozumel back the fastest.

I expect things to make some leaps back toward normality in the next two days. People have just been too busy. Look at Paula, she clawed her way in from Mariposa Estates. Its a hearty group of people down there. They are accustomed to dealing with adversity. The dirt poor mayans, they have "hurricanes" in their lives every months. They could use some help now as mother nature is not especially bountiful, but my guess is they have their stick and lamina houses almost rebuilt, I saw it happen in three days after Roxanne. Unless you have been there and seen it, it really is difficult to imagine. I never had a worry regarding Carey and Tony. I know their house and I know Tony's obsession to detail in preparing. I never had a doubt they would make it through fine. I do not have the slightest doubt that Cozumel will not only recover, but now is a grand opportunity for the island to come back better than ever.

 

 

There is no arguing the fact that the island suffered a lot of damage. However, we should not discount the ability of the natives, ex-pats, and local authorities in recovering. Clearly it will take a while before Coz is back 100%, but there is no reason for anyone to change their itinerary if they aren't scheduled to be there until several months from now.

[wrp96]

How hard is it to change my ressie from one ship to another?

 

You have to cancel the cruise you already have booked and book the other ship at whatever rates it is currently booking at.

[masterbaker]

How hard is it to change my ressie from one ship to another?

 

Easy. One phone call to either your TA or your cruiseline (if you booked it yourself) and the switch can be made. We did it this week, it took less than 5 minutes. If you have onboard credit attached to your booking make sure you keep your original booking number when you switch or you will loose it. Our original itineray was Coz, Costa Maya, Belize and Grand Cayman, not leaving many options for an alternate port.

 

Living in Florida gives us plenty of exposure to hurricane damage and when on vacation we want to get away from that, it's depressing enough to see it every day right here at home. Vacation is our time to escape.

[rolloman]

What do you think the Islanders of Cozumel are going to say?? Tourism is the only resource for this island. Fix the pier, visit the sand. I can spend my hard earned vacation dollars elsewhere. I gaurantee the cruise ships will have teams accessing when will be safe and proper to begin traveling back and it wont be cleared in May. I read some posts that said they need our vacation dollars, just go ahead and go there to support Mexico. I have a novel idea, how about everyone with this humanitarian idea visit New Orleans and South Florida and help out your own first.

[Babs66]

I also disagree with Rolloman. They want to get this tourist city up and running asap. You would be amazed on what engineers and construction crews can do in a short amount of time. Just look at New Orleans, Bourban Street is up and running, restraunts are being reopened and this is from a city that was under water, yes there is still major repairs to be done, but it is coming back full force just as Cozumel will. If the boat can't dock they will at least have tenders able to. We were originally scheduled to cruise out of New Orleans in April on Grandeuer but they changed the itinerary from 7 to 5 days, now we are cruising out of Tampa on Legend with stops at Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize. We are NOT changing again.

[serene56]

When Grand Cayman was hit--how long did it take that place to rebuild??

I have told friends never ever book a cruise based on the ports because younever know what will happen.

For a cruise in May?? I say if you want to go to Cozumel--hang in there coz more then likely you will be going. I am cruising in February to Coz and I wi lbe going there when my cruise comes.

[PTarbay]

What do you think the Islanders of Cozumel are going to say?? Tourism is the only resource for this island. Fix the pier, visit the sand. I can spend my hard earned vacation dollars elsewhere. I gaurantee the cruise ships will have teams accessing when will be safe and proper to begin traveling back and it wont be cleared in May. I read some posts that said they need our vacation dollars, just go ahead and go there to support Mexico. I have a novel idea, how about everyone with this humanitarian idea visit New Orleans and South Florida and help out your own first.

What makes you think that just because we want to help the people of Cozumel that we haven't also already helped and continue to help the people of New Orleans and Florida.All the rescue agencies have said sending cash donations was the best way to help and I can assure you there are a lot of people on these boards who have sent everything they could afford to help these people.We also would like to support the people of Cozumel too and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.The people of Cozumel need tourism to survive.Getting the island ready again will be ahigh priority for them and their government.Grand Cayman was up and running again very quickly as was Haiti which is one of the poorest nations in the Caribbean.I'm sure everything will not be 100% when they are ready for tourists again,but you can't expect it to be.That will be fine for most of us who enjoy visiting there.If you do not want to visit until it is 100% then that is your personal choice,but please don't put down those of us who do not feel that way and would like to help the people of Cozumel.That is our personal choice.

[erik]

It's nice to see I'm not the only one who believes Coz will bounce back rapidly. :)

 

Rolloman, I certainly respect your views and wouldn't dream of trying to change them. I'm not a cruising veteran by any stretch of the imagination (only 2 under my belt), but I do know what I like and what I look for in an enjoyable cruise. I was (and am) looking forward to Coz because I like to snorkel and explore new places. Thanks to an iron stomach, I embrace simple, authentic ethnic food, which will definitely be plentiful by May ’06, of not within the next few weeks. I'm not really interested in shopping, bar hopping, sun bathing and being waited on hand and foot while I sip margaritas on the beach. World class food and bowtie-wearing waiters don't do much for me. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, it's just not what I'm looking for.

 

The reefs and water around the island, which is what originally put Coz on the map as a tourist destination, will still have an abundance of beautiful fish and other creatures. The small, authentic hole-in-wall restaurants will all be open and welcome my business. I'm also planning on loading up an entire suitcase with school supplies for the local schools to use as they see fit. It's not much, and it's something I was planning to do even before Wilma, but it's something that they can use and yes, it will make me feel good as well.

 

I only bothered to post in the first place because I suspect that there are other cruisers out there with a similar definition of fun and relaxation. Where ever your next cruise is, Rolloman, I hope it’s a great one. :)

 

Edited to add: By the way, cruise ships are scheduled to return on 11/20/05. :)

[rolloman]

Good luck Erik. If the ship goes I am sure snorkeling will be one of the main attractions. I have been many times but never snorkeled. I have read it is one of the top reefs in the world for this activity. Hey, Tarbay or whatever your login is, dont put words in my mouth. Some posts have suggested people should cruise there to help out Mexico,and in my opinion I think there are other avenues to give humanitarian support. Last time I checked cruising is for vacation. To me a cruise vacation is to relax, explore different cultures in a safe invironment. Cozumel is far from safe and will be deemed so for sometime, I say it will take a year. You and a few others think you will sail there in a few days. Whatever, think what you want, makes no difference to me and I am not going to change my opinion. The origional OP asked what everyone thought and I gave my opinion, you gave yours, move on dude.

[erik]

Below is a post from dive dot scubadiving dot com that discusses more about the rebuiling progress on Coz. The more I dig for information, the more encouraging stuff I find. I apologize if no one finds this as intersting as I do, but I decided to post it because there were a few peple concerned about whether or not to change their plans to go to Coz.

 

Erik

 

 

 

I was staying in the Casa Mexicana during Wilma. The meeting at which the Nov 14th date was decided was held in the meeting room there and I got a firsthand briefing from two different people who were in that meeting. The meeting was held between the cruise line reps, heads of local shops and hotels, the local political leaders, tour and entertainment operators, and other key people. What they were trying to establish was when the main areas of Coz accessed by most cruise ship passengers could be cleaned up and ready, when there would be sufficient tours/entertainment options for pod people (i.e. horseback tours, diving, snorkeling, shopping, restaurants, etc.), and when the main facilities such as the docks and such would be ready. That meeting was what determined the November 14th date. I believe that date will easily be met. Coz will be much like GC after Ivan in that the natural beauty of the foliage and such will take a long time to truly come back. But the shopping stores were already opening, I ate at three restaurants with cold beverages and great food, and heard of at least two operations that were ready to go diving today. There is a great deal of work to do, but the 14th is a realistic date.

 

Now as to your question about hotels, that is more complicated. Many of the hotels were nearly destroyed and clearly will need many months if not over a year to be rebuilt. Some are probably so bad that they will be better off if they are razed and rebuilt. But others, such as the Casa Mexicana suffered relatively minor damage that should take very little time to repair. I don't want to put words in their mouths, but it would not surprise me to see them quite easily ready to take in guests in one month or less. I am aware that a couple of other properties were also in similar condition. I will post some pictures tomorrow sometime when I have had time to relax for a while to back up my claims regarding the Mexicana. While we were still there, they already had a crew in taking video of each and every room, cataloguing what needed to be fixed or replaced, and reportedly already had a construction crew on the island, with materials being shipped from the mainland.

 

Several things will make a big difference on Coz from what you experienced on GC in my opinion. Among them are:

 

1. Coz is a very small part of a much larger nation, with large quantity of the crucial resources a short ferry ride away, and a government that understands the value of a thriving tourist economy in Coz and at Cancun. GC was isolated not only by its distance from its traditional resource suppliers, but also by the government's intransigence about letting anybody outside know the extent of the damage. Because the Cayman Islands are such a small country to begin with (separated by thousands of miles of ocean from Great Britain), they had no real functional part of the country to take up the slack and help out the part that was severely damaged. Cozumel and Cancun have the entire rest of Mexico to provide support, organization and resources.

 

2. Labor - Mexico has a huge supply of available labor that is used to working very hard to do whatever is asked of them for relatively low wages. GC is exactly the opposite. They have a small local "labor" work force that is used to being paid well for a relatively low level of productivity. When Ivan hit, GC not only failed to liberalize their labor laws to allow a huge wave of outside labor to come in and quickly fix the damage, they also turned extremely nationalistic and fought all the time over which contracts and jobs could be awarded to local companies and which would be allowed to go to outside contractors who had greater resources and expertise. I guarantee you that Mexico will be bringing in everybody they can find to fix Coz and Cancun and they will not be bickering over the nationality of the ownership for the companies to do the repairs. The government may put up some minor red tape, but the general population won't give a lick who repairs what, so long as things are being fixed. In addition, the outside contractors will be more than happy to use local labor, because it will be cheaper than importing their own workers, unlike the situation on GC.

 

3. The damage at Coz was mostly from wind. The buildings that had catastrophic damage were confined mainly to the "malecon", and most of what was damaged off the waterfront was from wind. On GC, nearly every house was flooded with several feet of water, and most of the truly catastrophic damage was caused by that water surging across the island. On Coz, most places that were flooded had maybe a foot or two, and they were mostly private residences or shops. That type of flooding doesn't cause structural damage in most cases and does not require totally rebuilding the structure.

 

4. The GC government erected plenty of artificial barriers to redevelopment on their own. People and companies trying to rebuild have in many cases seen weeks or months of delays waiting on government officials to approve plans, or act on requests for input on reconstruction. While in many cases, that was good because they were able to enforce strict adherence to building codes, it also GREATLY delayed the start of reconstruction efforts and has been a continuing source of delay for those trying to rebuild. In Coz, I am certain that the differences in the way local politics and governmental controls work will result in a much smoother process for businesses starting to rebuild. Lets just say that I expect that many will begin rebuilding and ask for forgiveness later, rather than waiting for permission to be granted. That may result in some things being done in ways the government would not prefer, but forgiveness will be granted when the right people get together and talk about "courtesy taxes". Thats not the ideal situation obviously, but thats also why a burger costs $3 on Coz and $20 on GC.

 

In the end, I think some of the dates obviously will be too optimistic, but also don't let the pictures fool you. People don't take alot of pictures of places that are relatively unscathed in these situations. They take pictures of what looks the most horrific, and I think you need to remember how the stories sometimes failed to match the pictures in the first days after Ivan on GC as well.

 

Anyways, I am about done for the night and will post more tomorrow when I get the energy.

 

Bill

[PTarbay]

[Hey, Tarbay or whatever your login is, dont put words in my mouth. QUOTE]

First of all no need for the attitude.My sn is PTarbay as you can clearly see

I have a novel idea, how about everyone with this humanitarian idea visit New Orleans and South Florida and help out your own first.

These are your words,I didn't put them in your mouth.

You and a few others think you will sail there in a few days.

I think it might be you who are putting words in my mouth.

Whatever, think what you want, makes no difference to me and I am not going to change my opinion.

Noone asked you to change your opinion.Like I said do what you want but don't tell the rest of us what we should do or assume we don't help out at home because we want to help the people of Cozumel.

The origional OP asked what everyone thought and I gave my opinion,

As we all did

move on dude.

Good idea,maybe all of us should follow that advice