tflint Posted January 8, 2006 #1 Share Posted January 8, 2006 We are sailing on the Radiance on Jan. 22 and just got an e-mail confirmation about shore excursions from Royal Caribbean that says that "due to the decision by the Port of Ocho Rios" we will no longer be stopping there. I don't know if this is just this sailing or something else. We called Royal Caribbean and asked what was going on and they said they didn't know but the ship was now stopping at Costa Maya. Anybody have any idea what is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvcruzin Posted January 8, 2006 #2 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Wow. I looked and didn't see any info. It could be a number of things including the possibility of too many ships in port that day. It's a shame they replaced it with Costa Maya.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLC@SD Posted January 8, 2006 #3 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Wow. I looked and didn't see any info. It could be a number of things including the possibility of too many ships in port that day. It's a shame they replaced it with Costa Maya.:( Including Radiance, Cruiscal shows four ships at Ochos Rio on Jan 22nd. Coral Princess, Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Jewel will be there. http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senior lady Posted January 8, 2006 #4 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I'd take Costa Maya anyday over Jamaica. We don't even get off the ship there anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hstrybuf Posted January 8, 2006 #5 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I'm one who enjoys both ports. I know I would have been disappointed if we didn't go to Jamaica the one and only time it was on our itinerary, but Costa Maya is by far my favorite of the two. Sorry you won't be going to Jamaica and I have no idea what is going on yet. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised and enjoy Costa Maya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glentally Posted January 8, 2006 #6 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I'd take Costa Maya anyday over Jamaica. We don't even get off the ship there anymore we loved costa maya. Hope they do that on our freedom cruise! Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwlane Posted January 8, 2006 #7 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Anybody have any idea what is going on?Rhapsody started going to MoBay every other week last May, but for whatever reason they actually ported at OR. Then they dropped Jamaica completely after October. So, some sort of conflict is going on between the involved parties. I agree that Costa Maya is an upgrade over Jamaica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jana616 Posted January 8, 2006 #8 Share Posted January 8, 2006 We are also sailing on the Radiance 1/22 and this is the first we have heard of it. I am SO mad. Especially because they also changed our itinerary from Labadee to Bahamas early after we booked it. Isn't that a bit ridiculous? Is there anything I can do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hstrybuf Posted January 8, 2006 #9 Share Posted January 8, 2006 jana, there isn't anything you can do. It's in the cruise contract that they can do this for whatever reason at any time. You have absolutely no recourse but to accept the change and try to make the best of it. Sorry, but that's the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulabr Posted January 8, 2006 #10 Share Posted January 8, 2006 you are better off staying out of Jamaica, Costa Maya is better, they have a lot of unrest and I can say I never felt safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corkpopr Posted January 8, 2006 #11 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Jamaica is the worst stop in all the carribean and should be dropped from all but Carnival (because who would take a carnival cruise) would love the extra sea day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjerryw Posted January 8, 2006 #12 Share Posted January 8, 2006 If they told me Jamaica was being dropped in favor of another port my post would be preceded by a smiley face :) , not a mad face....:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Illbcruzn4life Posted January 8, 2006 #13 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Jamaica is the worst stop in all the carribean and should be dropped from all but Carnival (because who would take a carnival cruise) would love the extra sea day! Is someone feeling a bit snobbish today?? Illb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetmommieof4 Posted January 8, 2006 #14 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Jamaica is the worst stop in all the carribean and should be dropped from all but Carnival (because who would take a carnival cruise) would love the extra sea day! Don't understand what you're getting at????? What are you trying to say about Carnival? I've sailed on Carnival and RCCL. Have a Princess cruise booked. Yes every cruiseline is different but I don't think your rating system is correct. Have you ever been on a Carnival Cruise?? I personally enjoy all of my cruises! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhinsAndGills Posted January 8, 2006 #15 Share Posted January 8, 2006 See, I love Jamaica. I love the atmosphere and have stayed for extended periods of time in Jamaica. I guess I've never felt threatened or likewise, but hey, to each his own... I would be VERY upset at losing Jamaica. Unfortunately I think it's too late for you to change your cruise without considerable penality. On our last cruise, Cozumel got changed to an at sea day and I was SO EXTREMELY UPSET. I don't like at sea days and one of the reason I booked my cruise was for Coz. However, low and behold, I ended up having a SPLENDID at sea day. Besides our Jamaica stop, it ended up being my favorite day! :) Let us know all about your trip to Costa Maya. I understand your disappointment, and I hope you'll end up pleasently surprised like I did! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetmommieof4 Posted January 8, 2006 #16 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I feel the same way as the above poster. My family went on a cruise last year and we LOVED Jamaica. We are going on a cruise again in December and my dh was upset that we won't be stopping in Jamaica. Let us know if you find out anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted January 8, 2006 #17 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I'm not sure this is the reason, but is a possibility I thought I'd toss out. Jamaica is currently about to start a major expansion of it's cruise ship docks at both cruise ports(Ocho Rios, Montego Bay) because they don't have room for all the cruise ships that want to dock there. Part of the reason in Montego Bay is to make room for Freedom of the Seas. With any expansion project, construction will usually temporarily reduce capacity depending on the design and methods used. Maybe they just won't have enough room for all the ships for the next few months, and RCCL didn't grease enough palms to have Radiance get priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted January 8, 2006 #18 Share Posted January 8, 2006 While I'm one of the people that really likes Jamaica, I wouldn't have been happy to have been in Ocho Rios at the same time as 4 other ships. That's just too crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper Posted January 8, 2006 #19 Share Posted January 8, 2006 We are booked on the Jan 22 Radiance sailing as well, and I found out yesterday while checking out the Purchase section of the shore excursions that there was a switch (there was a date switch for Grand Cayman as well, and you can view the altered itinerary in my post in the Meet and Mingle section for our sail date). I too am disappointed as I had booked a tour with Phil Layfayette because of the raving reviews on cruisecritic. We were very much looking forward to the river tubing and I don't believe anything of the sort is available in Costa Maya. We are not people to enjoy lying on a beach so I'm not sure what else may be available except some very overpriced excursions on RCIs website. Oh well, I guess we should pray that is the last of the changes since we sail in two weeks, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if something else came up. A curiosity though that I would like to pass on, when I checked Grand Cayman's Port Authority site a month ago for the number of ships in port, they had us arriving on Friday when our itinerary had clearly showed Thursday. If you see the altered itinerary as of yesterday though, you'll note that GC has been changed to Friday. I wonder if RCI knew about changes a month (or even more) ago and neglected to pass this info on to their clients. I know they say they can change itineraries, but if they knew changes were going to occur, and we had already had changes to our itinerary once before, you would think it would be good customer services to notify us promptly. Anyway, just an FYI...... now the searching of the boards for things to do in costa maya...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffie Posted January 8, 2006 #20 Share Posted January 8, 2006 We are not people to enjoy lying on a beach so I'm not sure what else may be available except some very overpriced excursions on RCIs website. ...... now the searching of the boards for things to do in costa maya...... Pepper, thanks to the great reviews we saw here on CC, we did the Mayan Ruins excursion with David and Ivan in Costa Maya. http://www.chacchobenruins.com/ If you would enjoy visiting ruins, they run a great tour! Afterwards we had time to go to the beach in Majahual and have a great lunch. Here is a link to some of our pictures of Costa Maya: http://community.webshots.com/album/527685047YCNWgf I hope you enjoy Costa Maya as much as we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasetf Posted January 8, 2006 #21 Share Posted January 8, 2006 you are better off staying out of Jamaica, Costa Maya is better, they have a lot of unrest and I can say I never felt safe. They also need an "Adopt a Highway" plan to clean up all the garbage along the roadsides. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepper Posted January 8, 2006 #22 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Pepper, thanks to the great reviews we saw here on CC, we did the Mayan Ruins excursion with David and Ivan in Costa Maya. http://www.chacchobenruins.com/ If you would enjoy visiting ruins, they run a great tour! Afterwards we had time to go to the beach in Majahual and have a great lunch. Thanks for the info and the link. I am going to inquire if they can accommodate a tour for that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted January 8, 2006 #23 Share Posted January 8, 2006 A curiosity though that I would like to pass on, when I checked Grand Cayman's Port Authority site a month ago for the number of ships in port, they had us arriving on Friday when our itinerary had clearly showed Thursday. If you see the altered itinerary as of yesterday though, you'll note that GC has been changed to Friday. I wonder if RCI knew about changes a month (or even more) ago and neglected to pass this info on to their clients. I know they say they can change itineraries, but if they knew changes were going to occur, and we had already had changes to our itinerary once before, you would think it would be good customer services to notify us promptly. Anyway, just an FYI...... now the searching of the boards for things to do in costa maya...... If as I surmise it is due to Jamaica expanding their cruise ports, and RCCL was one of the people talking Jamaica into it, then announcing changes before Jamaica did would be stepping on their feet, but preparing for those changes behind the scenes would be prudent. Jamaica only announced the expansion 12/31, so RCCL made the official changes after that. I do think RCCL has a habit of keeping changes I'd like to know hidden that their competition doesn't (like drydock dates and planned changes in drydock) I can understand this change timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer Posted January 8, 2006 #24 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Jamaica is a beautiful island (one of the most stunning ports to pull up to, IMO) but it's not the end of the world if you don't make it there. I personally love Jamaica, but for everyone who loves it, there are probably two who don't. It can be a wonderful experience or a frightening one, depending on who you run into on any given day there. If you are still feeling badly about the change, go over to the Jamaica boards and read through the posts....it can be a scarey place for some. The Radiance is a beautiful, wonderful ship, and you are guaranteed to have a fabulous time. Don't let this get you down too much. Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamandamn14 Posted January 8, 2006 #25 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Jamaica is a beautiful island (one of the most stunning ports to pull up to, IMO) I didnt think it was that good to pull into, just a line of taxis waiting for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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