Email from HAL with information about Caribbean cruises

[AlanAllyn]

Thanks for the reassurance about our cruise. I always appreciate the input from seasoned HAL cruisers! :D

 

This is our present itinerary. Two of our port calls are probably going to change, and possibly more if Maria causes a lot of damage.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

AT SEA

AT SEA

Road Town (Tortola), BVI

Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis

Castries, Saint Lucia (and Cruising Soufriere Bay)

Bridgetown, Barbados

Saint Georges, Grenada

Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

AT SEA

AT SEA

Fort Lauderdale, FL

We would not be upset if we had a different itinerary. We love being on a cruise. This will only be our second on HAL and we are very happy to be on HAL again. I will give my TA a call tomorrow and see if he has heard anything from HAL.

We are on that cruise, too. Do join our rollcall (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=24818540. I am hoping they add Curacao and Bonaire. I suspect that they were optimistic about announcing a change this week, considering the path of Maria.

[auntibe49]

We are cruising on the Konigsdam on 10/18. I do expect St. Thomas and St. Maartin to be changed to other islands. With hurricane Marie, coming, I hope it does not hit any islands that have already been impacted or any islands at all. We have been on many cruises to the Carribean, so any island that HAL changes to is OK with us. To us, a cruise is a cruise! I do pray that everyone on one islands that have been hit or may be hit by Maria, will be ok.

[JimAOk1945]

We are on that cruise, too. Do join our rollcall (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=24818540. I am hoping they add Curacao and Bonaire. I suspect that they were optimistic about announcing a change this week, considering the path of Maria.

 

Hi! I just added our names to the roll call. We have been to Curacao. It's a beautiful island and I wouldn't mind going there again. Bonaire would be new to us so it would be a welcome addition.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Thank you for posting the letter. I wonder why the writer did not sign their name.they signed the company name but are they nameless? :( It may be a particular oddiity of mine but I think if it is worth writing and sending to your 'customers, is it not worth taking owners ship of and signing ? JMO.. Who wrote the letter and/or okayed that it be sent?

 

OP it was vert good of you to share it with us.. thank you..

 

I agree about the signature/ownership, mainly because the timing of when information is released potentially benefits the cruise line to the disadvantage of the customer, considering final payment dates.

Edited September 19, 2017 by SetAnOpenCourse
mistake

[Fastfredcruise]

Until the hurricane season is over, irineraries will be up in the air.

[ellieanne]

Until the hurricane season is over, irineraries will be up in the air.

 

Itineraries are always up in the air. There is language in the cruise documents that say the itinerary & stops can be changed/substituted at any time for any reason.

 

On my end-of-season repositioning Canada/New England cruise last year, we missed two ports in a row because of bad weather. That was quite unusual for that itinerary. But you are right, it's far more likely for ports to be substituted or itineraries changed during hurricane season. And it's one of the big reasons why I would never cruise the Caribbean during hurricane season.

[JimAOk1945]

We never take a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season. We have taken several Caribbean cruises in December over the Christmas holidays. This is the first time we have been impacted by the weather. But we will enjoy whatever itinerary HAL comes up with. In the meantime, our heartfelt prayers are for the islanders in the hurricane's path.

[Fastfredcruise]

The weather impack will last way after the storm season is over. As cruises seem to fill up close to a year prior to the sail date, you should understand that booking in order to see a specific destination carries a risk. Your cruise will take place, but not necessarily were you want to go.

[JimAOk1945]

The weather impack will last way after the storm season is over. As cruises seem to fill up close to a year prior to the sail date, you should understand that booking in order to see a specific destination carries a risk. Your cruise will take place, but not necessarily were you want to go.

 

This is true. Some of the islands will not recover for a very long time.

[TXCruiser10]

Today on HAL's website is a Caribbean Update: "...For 2017 Eastern Caribbean cruises, we are currently assessing itinerary impacts and an update will be provided to booked guests next week. 2018 itineraries are also currently being evaluated and an update will be provided on October 5...."

I'm booked for Veendam Dec 8-22 and have not received any email, but looks like I will hear something next week.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Today on HAL's website is a Caribbean Update: "...For 2017 Eastern Caribbean cruises, we are currently assessing itinerary impacts and an update will be provided to booked guests next week. 2018 itineraries are also currently being evaluated and an update will be provided on October 5...."

I'm booked for Veendam Dec 8-22 and have not received any email, but looks like I will hear something next week.

 

That time frame may change depending on what Marie does. Dominica has been blasted, and I think some posters were suggesting that as an alternative port. I like that HAL is trying to sort this out quickly. All the cruise lines must be scrambling to assess itineraries and work out alternatives.

 

For those of you who didn't get an email from HAL, check your spam folder. I know that's obvious advice, but a lot of people (including me) don't check it very often. If the email isn't there and you don't hear from HAL by the dates they've posted, contact HAL or your TA to make sure you're on the communication routing list.

 

I checked Cunard's hurricane FAQs the other day and the answers were pretty much all the same. Nicely worded, but it came down to "we don't know, we're working on it, and remember that the fine print says we can make changes as we see fit." I don't blame them for being vague. They truly don't know how this will all work out. That's the situation for all the cruise lines.

[Fastfredcruise]

I think the update will be delayed until they see the impact of hurricane Maria.

[innlady1]

I think the update will be delayed until they see the impact of hurricane Maria.

 

 

 

I would assume that, too.

 

 

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[nbsjcruiser]

I think the update will be delayed until they see the impact of hurricane Maria.

 

Yep - I had hope that St Croix might be an option for our cruise in November and that San Juan would be ok. Looking at the path of Maria I don't see how either port will be in acceptable enough condition by November.

[hugger]

Did you folks receive your emails directly from HAL or through your TA if you're working with one? I'm still waiting to find out what will happen with our cruise. We are scheduled for Dec 8-22, 2017 Southern Caribbean on the Veendam. Tortola and St Martin are on our itinerary. I guess it may be too soon to hear about anything this far out. I imagine HAL is working very hard to make changes.

We are on the same sailing with you - we did get our email from HAL. I assume that there will be itinerary changes. Especially now that Maria has turned into a Cat 5 and hit or rehit several islands on our itin. My heart is breaking for the residents of the islands.

We booked this particular cruise for the itin. However, living in Florida we KNOW that things like this can happen and are open to where ever HAL decides to go. We'll be at sea on a ship that's what we enjoy. We will have to go visit after the recovery I guess. In the meantime HOPE to see onboard :)

[hugger]

Today on HAL's website is a Caribbean Update: "...For 2017 Eastern Caribbean cruises, we are currently assessing itinerary impacts and an update will be provided to booked guests next week. 2018 itineraries are also currently being evaluated and an update will be provided on October 5...."

I'm booked for Veendam Dec 8-22 and have not received any email, but looks like I will hear something next week.

We are sailing with you on the Veendam - will be interested to see a NEW Itin!

We love being onboard so are fine with most anything.

Wish the changes weren't having to be made as a result of such destruction in the islands.

It will take years for the residents to recover from these Cat 5 hurricanes.

[NCTribeFan]

HAL's "update" hasn't changed since last week. The reference to "next week" meant "this" week.

 

Again, I expect they'll wait and see.

 

I absolutely love Old San Juan. I would move there if their economy weren't in such terrible shape. I wish HAL would put a ship there. They could do some amazing itineraries with San Juan as a home port. And it would give me another excuse to fly down and spend a couple of pre and/or post-cruise days there.

 

Appears Dominica got hit pretty hard. It's my favorite Caribbean island (so far). Makes me sad.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

I hope to book within the next two weeks an Eastern or possibly Southern Caribbean cruise sailing this October or November. Is it likely that when HAL decides about modified Eastern itineraries, it will do so across the board, as opposed to one at a time, which would make it difficult to compare? How will they make the changes known, considering that the letter (as well as the statement on the website), says only that they will notify booked guests? Any reasonably educated/informed suggestions?

[3rdGenCunarder]

I hope to book within the next two weeks an Eastern or possibly Southern Caribbean cruise sailing this October or November. Is it likely that when HAL decides about modified Eastern itineraries, it will do so across the board, as opposed to one at a time, which would make it difficult to compare? How will they make the changes known, considering that the letter (as well as the statement on the website), says only that they will notify booked guests? Any reasonably educated/informed suggestions?

 

Website updates may take a while, especially the little maps. I think their first priority will be booked passengers so they can deal with cancellations (and maybe talk people out of cancelling). It takes a couple days for price changes related to promotions to be loaded, and this is a lot more complicated. My guess--purely a guess based on seeing how the site gets updated for other things--is maybe a week after they start telling booked passengers. Watch for the booking function to be unavailable and check back after that. (Or call ship services and see what they can tell you.)

 

I would do screen captures of the itineraries you like, and save them. When you check back later, you can see if they have changed. At this point, I would expect a Southern Caribbean to have fewer changes than an Eastern. The ABC islands are in good shape.

[English_in_Spain]

Website updates may take a while, especially the little maps. I think their first priority will be booked passengers so they can deal with cancellations (and maybe talk people out of cancelling). It takes a couple days for price changes related to promotions to be loaded, and this is a lot more complicated. My guess--purely a guess based on seeing how the site gets updated for other things--is maybe a week after they start telling booked passengers. Watch for the booking function to be unavailable and check back after that. (Or call ship services and see what they can tell you.)

 

I would do screen captures of the itineraries you like, and save them. When you check back later, you can see if they have changed. At this point, I would expect a Southern Caribbean to have fewer changes than an Eastern. The ABC islands are in good shape.

 

My bold

 

The trouble with Southern Caribbean cruises (like ours) is that, unless there are to be a lot of sea days, they need Eastern islands to call at on the way down and on the way back.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Website updates may take a while, especially the little maps. I think their first priority will be booked passengers so they can deal with cancellations (and maybe talk people out of cancelling). It takes a couple days for price changes related to promotions to be loaded, and this is a lot more complicated. My guess--purely a guess based on seeing how the site gets updated for other things--is maybe a week after they start telling booked passengers. Watch for the booking function to be unavailable and check back after that. (Or call ship services and see what they can tell you.)

 

I would do screen captures of the itineraries you like, and save them. When you check back later, you can see if they have changed. At this point, I would expect a Southern Caribbean to have fewer changes than an Eastern. The ABC islands are in good shape.

 

Thank you. I have booked on the HAL website in the past, but could you please explain "watch for the booking function to be unavailable"?

 

Might it be a good idea to have a single thread for changed itineraries for the upcoming season, in which booked passengers share the information after HAL has notified them?

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thank you. I have booked on the HAL website in the past, but could you please explain "watch for the booking function to be unavailable"?

 

Might it be a good idea to have a single thread for changed itineraries for the upcoming season, in which booked passengers share the information after HAL has notified them?

 

Sometimes when you go to the HAL site, there will be a message (usually in red) warning that some functions, like booking cruises or excursions, will be unavailable for a specified period of time. Sometimes it's maintenance, sometimes it's other things, like price changes. Or you may see cruises disappear from the planning function. In the past, when a cruise has been chartered a bit late in the game, and HAL is offering a handful of alternates for people already booked, the chartered cruise and the alternates disappear until the shuffling is done. So that's another hint that they're working on things.

 

I hope that HAL will mark itineraries "updated" after the changes are made. I expect that people will report changes here as they learn of them. Check the roll calls for cruises you're considering. Someone will surely report an itinerary change there.

 

Hope this helps.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Some of the business they lose this season will be solely due to prospective customers not having information. Specifics about itinerary changes, and also guidance on when and how to find that information when it is finally available. They are not doing a good job regarding the latter, IMHO. I find the website statement about the Caribbean lacking, in terms of advising those yet to book.

[English_in_Spain]

Some of the business they lose this season will be solely due to prospective customers not having information. Specifics about itinerary changes, and also guidance on when and how to find that information when it is finally available. They are not doing a good job regarding the latter, IMHO. I find the website statement about the Caribbean lacking, in terms of advising those yet to book.

 

How can HAL, or any other cruise line, give us information on what is going to happen to future cruises until they can assess the damage to the islands.

 

I am booked on a cruise at the beginning of December and a lot of our ports of call have been affected. As difficult as it is I understand that, at this stage, HAL cannot say which islands we will call at.

[NCTribeFan]

They've updated their notice. I'm not going to copy and paste because I'd like to think everyone here is capable of going to the website and reading it themselves.

 

The notice is also expanded to include a few Q&A.

 

I really don't understand why people have difficulty understanding that the cruiselines simply DO NOT KNOW at this point which ports they can call at and which they cannot. There's an active hurricane in the region right now with islands still without power and very little outside contact.

 

I personally prefer that the cruiseline wait until they're sure what changes need to be made rather than announce changes and then have to change the changes, like Carnival is doing!

 

I like to make my plans in advance but if I can't, I can't. I'll take whatever changes HAL makes to our itinerary and I'll deal with it. I most definitely am not going to cancel!