Worth waiting out Caribbean rebuilding? December Carnival Sunshine

[bingomamma19]

I read the same thing as Charleyann regarding not stopping in the Eastern Caribbean until Nov.

 

This is all I can find at the moment though....

 

https://www.ncl.com/press-releases/hurricane-irma-update

 

 

This states that the Norwegian Escape will change from Eastern to Western until November, not their whole fleet.

[Earthworm Jim]

I expect St maarten is definitely a no.

 

Really? Because for a December cruise like the OPs, I'd have thought St. Maarten being back in business was highly likely. Yes, there will still be obvious signs of damage. But the roads will be open, and the money making attractions will be back operating in some capacity within weeks, I'd guess. The bar next to Maho Beach may not yet be rebuilt, but the beach will be somewhat restored, and they'll have some sort of temporary structure, even if it's just a tent, to sell you drinks, and the planes will still be landing over your head.

 

 

But I don't claim to have any particular expertise, experience, or insights into this issue, so I could be totally wrong.

[riclop]

We are scheduled for a cruise on Carnival Sunshine the first week of December this year in the Eastern Caribbean. We have not yet made our final payment and with Irma happening, husband and I are not sure what to do. With all the devastation, I do feel spoiled by thinking, "but what about my vacation?!" so that is not lost on me. Since tourism is such a huge part of the revenue, I'm not sure if ports would reopen soon or if our itinerary would be changing. I cannot get through to Carnival support as they are understandably inundated with calls for departures happening this week.

 

Is it worth making the final payment and then possibly being rerouted or should we go ahead and cancel our December trip? Anyone else on the Carnival Sunshine in December 8-day cruise know what they are doing yet?

Time will tell.

[miss meow]

American airlines has offered itinerary changes for those traveling to St Maarten thru December 31. I expect it'll be several months at the very least before that island is really ready for tourists. So very sad.

 

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[terri-eddie]

We're on the same cruise....Dec 1-9 on Sunshine. So far, it only appears that St Maarten has received heavy damage, with San Juan, St Kitts and Grand Turk being relatively unharmed. We're still planning to sail, even knowing that some ports might be substituted.

[PattBenatar]

Needing to book 550+ days out to get 2 accessible balconies and all ports with no tenders was a challenge to wait this long and be told all ports previously planned will be scrapped for 4 tendered ports, I would still go. 8 sea days is better than 0 days of not cruising.

 

It is what it is. I just pray that those who have lost everything will get the help they need.

[HillBilly Bob]

We are scheduled for a cruise on Carnival Sunshine the first week of December this year in the Eastern Caribbean.

 

Hurricane season ends November 30, 2017 this year. There still is a chance that any rescheduled stops could also be cancelled. I say, GO...have a great time, life and cruising sometimes is a chance but you will always have the memories.

[chicchic325]

I'd try to talk to Carnival and see what they will do if they switch it to a Western Caribbean. We're booked on an Eastern that should be recovered by the time we go (pending more hurricanes) but I 100% will be pissed if they reroute us to a Western Caribbean itinerary rather than Eastern. I'm not paying to go back to the western itineraries, and I won't right now. We specifically booked a Eastern one.

 

That said, I'd try to see what Carnival will do for rescheduling. I expect the ports of call would be open by December though.

[Blondie419ag]

Is it worth making the final payment and then possibly being rerouted or should we go ahead and cancel our December trip? Anyone else on the Carnival Sunshine in December 8-day cruise know what they are doing yet?

 

Only one of the ports is not open, St. Martin. If you planned your cruise to specifically go to St. Martin then that's something to think about. But I can't imagine them changing the itinterary completely when 3/4 ports are up and functioning more than 2 months before your trip. I'm on the Magic with stops in Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and Amber Cove. I wouldn't be surprised if we both ended up doing a cruise with Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts and Amber Cove.

[rjrpar]

If you have watched videos of St. Maarten, you would know that it won't be open for many many months, maybe a year. Some of the main attractions are completely gone; Orient beach, Maho, Grand Case.

That said, St. Kitts is a nice replacement, if it has the capacity to handle the increased load.

 

 

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[Coopdog08]

I'd try to talk to Carnival and see what they will do if they switch it to a Western Caribbean. We're booked on an Eastern that should be recovered by the time we go (pending more hurricanes) but I 100% will be pissed if they reroute us to a Western Caribbean itinerary rather than Eastern. I'm not paying to go back to the western itineraries, and I won't right now. We specifically booked a Eastern one.

 

That said, I'd try to see what Carnival will do for rescheduling. I expect the ports of call would be open by December though.

St Maarten will not be open by December. I would give them one year if not longer at min. just to allow people to cruise there. To put into perspective it has taken us, meaning the US, how many days to get into the keys and we can't get past MM 74. St Maarten was hit significantly worse than the keys and they don't have the resources we have. It will take years for St Maarten to recover unfortunately.

[Blondie419ag]

Is it worth making the final payment and then possibly being rerouted or should we go ahead and cancel our December trip? Anyone else on the Carnival Sunshine in December 8-day cruise know what they are doing yet?

 

No announcement for Sunshine but the Magic was scheduled to have an 8 day cruise with your same itinerary on the 16th and they just swapped out St. Martin for Antigua.

[bobsfamily]

Same here. I think our ports (Grand Turk, Amber Cove and Half Moon Cay) are ok. But I am not 100% sure.

Just booked the same cruise and heard that Amber Cove is fine as is HMC... I heard that GT was accepting ships but something about not being able to go in the water? Not sure about that...

 

I used to live in St. Thomas and worked on St. Johns and the destruction is horrible. I would be amazed if those islands are able to sustain tourism in the near future. Maybe offshore or straight to a beach that has been "cleaned" but stores and shopping will be slow to come back. Catamarans for excursions are going to have to come from somewhere in the states or other islands not affected and they are going to be busy as heck!

 

 

I pray for those people and hope the few friends I still have on the island made it through well. One did send me a couple of pics and it's just painful to see.

Edited September 14, 2017 by bobsfamily

[winddawn]

We are scheduled for a cruise on Carnival Sunshine the first week of December this year in the Eastern Caribbean. We have not yet made our final payment and with Irma happening, husband and I are not sure what to do. With all the devastation, I do feel spoiled by thinking, "but what about my vacation?!" so that is not lost on me. Since tourism is such a huge part of the revenue, I'm not sure if ports would reopen soon or if our itinerary would be changing. I cannot get through to Carnival support as they are understandably inundated with calls for departures happening this week.

 

Is it worth making the final payment and then possibly being rerouted or should we go ahead and cancel our December trip? Anyone else on the Carnival Sunshine in December 8-day cruise know what they are doing yet?

 

If I were in your shoes, I'd make final payment without hesitation and make up my mind that I'm going and will have fun no matter what changes may be in store. That's what cruising is all about--being laid back, going with the flow, embracing whatever each day offers, and taking satisfaction from knowing you left a few dollars behind in places where they're needed. Personal satisfaction may end up coming from knowing that you were able to call in an affected port and had the privilege of leaving behind much needed revenue for island locals. And then after that, being able to lay your head down at night with the satisfaction of knowing you made a difference that day by supporting locals struggling to regain their way of life through your tourism dollars. I can remember being on the first cruise that called in Grand Turk after a hurricane and what a difference was made in that one day by crew and passengers pitching in to clean up beach debris and spending money after to support the locals.