But...what about Nicaragua!

[JimnKaren]

I will be on Island Princess in mid-September, going to Ft. Lauderdale. We are 'scheduled' to be in Nicaragua on October 2. I was on Pacific Princess in May and our stop in Nicaragua became a stop in Mexico instead. My emails to customer service at Princess have resulted in one response. A phone call from a rep who indicated that they will not commit to not stopping in Nicaragua until our cruise is underway! What? Why?

 

The rep indicated that he would be 'surprised' if we actually stopped there. BUT, Princess Cruises is taking the high road. They don't want to offend the people of Nicaragua by letting them know that their cruise ships will not stop there due to the civil unrest. What? Why?

 

So, it appears that I will be stuck with whatever Princess Cruises decides to do. If we stop in Mexico, I cannot plan ahead. If we stop nowhere on that date, I can only sit on the ship and mope (I am good at that), or they can actually stop in San Juan del Sur and hope that none of their paying passengers get caught up in the horrors that have been a part of the country since April of this year. What? Why?

Jim

[paul929207]

We have had three scheduled stops in Nicaragua. We missed two because of high winds.

[neverbeenhere]

I will be on Island Princess in mid-September, going to Ft. Lauderdale. We are 'scheduled' to be in Nicaragua on October 2. I was on Pacific Princess in May and our stop in Nicaragua became a stop in Mexico instead. My emails to customer service at Princess have resulted in one response. A phone call from a rep who indicated that they will not commit to not stopping in Nicaragua until our cruise is underway! What? Why?

 

The rep indicated that he would be 'surprised' if we actually stopped there. BUT, Princess Cruises is taking the high road. They don't want to offend the people of Nicaragua by letting them know that their cruise ships will not stop there due to the civil unrest. What? Why?

 

So, it appears that I will be stuck with whatever Princess Cruises decides to do. If we stop in Mexico, I cannot plan ahead. If we stop nowhere on that date, I can only sit on the ship and mope (I am good at that), or they can actually stop in San Juan del Sur and hope that none of their paying passengers get caught up in the horrors that have been a part of the country since April of this year. What? Why?

Jim

 

 

One way or another you will have a good story to re-tell a thousand times to your friends and family.

[OCruisers]

Do hope you get to you get to stop in San Juan del Sur.

We totally enjoyed all of our port stops there.

They really appreciate their cruise ship visitors and would keep telling us to "Please Return"! :)

It's great to be at a port stop where you are very much really wanted. :D

[Alaskanb]

My response re Nicaragua from Princess via their Facebook page was along the lines of your safety is our first priority. My guess is that if the US state department warning about Nicaragua is still in place ships will not port there.

[sfaaa]

Nicaragua is currently experiencing civil unrest and political instability. The situation is unpredictable hence security is becoming a concern. I can understand why Princess is noncommittal.

[moki'smommy]

You know that little song in the muster drill? "It's SAFETY...." Princess is not going to knowingly endanger their ships or their passengers. If there is a State Department warning in effect at the time of the cruise, Princess will avoid any affected port. And yes, that decision can be made the day they were supposed to port there or months in advance.

[SharkieRools]

:confused: Even if Princess were to commit today, things can change and you could end up elsewhere. In fact this is true of all port stops.

[riffatsea]

We are not talking about gang violence in Nicaragua. We are talking about a civil war situation so surprising that Princess would not make a decision before the ship sails?

We are due to stop there in December so watching and waiting.

[Alaskanb]

Nicaragua is currently experiencing civil unrest and political instability. The situation is unpredictable hence security is becoming a concern. I can understand why Princess is noncommittal.

I agree.

Here is the current advisory https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/nicaragua-travel-advisory.html

[Potstech]

So ypu would prefer to visit Nicaragua during civil unrest than spending time in a safer place or even at sea? Yes yu are stuck with whatever Princess decides to do IF you take the cruise. The other option is to not take the cruise and make other travel arrangements for that time frame. As usual it is entirely up to you. Many would rather be safe than sorry or possible even worse.

[dickinson]

Doesn't sound like a place I would want to go (I read the link to the state dept in the above post). It is possible that at this point Princess is either just taking a wait and see attitude in case things resolve or is in the process of securing a different port. That takes a lot of time (shore excursions, etc). They don't announce anything til something is in place (assuming they are trying to put something in place). Princess can change ports at any time. You have to accept that as part of cruising and just go with the flow.

[Thrak]

We are due to port there on December 1st. I am almost positive we won't be stopping there. The only time we did stop there the beach had broken glass and what we saw of the town was in pretty bad shape. We didn't have any excursions planned there though. I really don't think Princess will be porting there any time in the immediate future. The US has pulled all non-essential personnel and the travel notices sound really dire. The really bad thing about missing the port though is that Princess isn't planning ahead so we will probably end up going to that "fabulous resort town" of Ensenada. Bleh. If they would plan ahead they could at least port at Puerto Vallarta instead but they will leave it until the last minute and give us Ensenada. We will probably just treat that as a sea day.

[Micahs Grandad]

The cruise contract we all have to sign allows them to take us where they wish.

 

Having said that they are not going to put their passengers in harms way

[Mike45LC]

My guess is that Princess has pretty much decided to skip Nicaragua, but that it is keeping the option open. If I were you, I'd get the moping over with before the cruise, and plan on having fun whether it is a day-at-sea or an as-of-yet unannounced stop in some Mexican or other port.

 

Check online for reports from people on the same itinerary to see what they are doing, and that is likely what your cruise will do.

 

If you are a war-correspondent, this could be disappointing, but I'd prefer the cruise line to place our safety first on a vacation.

 

Have a great time, and be safe!

[riffatsea]

My cruise already is scheduled for Puerto Vallarta so not sure where they would stop instead? Maybe just go slower and an extra day at sea???

[elliair]

The rep indicated that he would be 'surprised' if we actually stopped there. BUT, Princess Cruises is taking the high road. They don't want to offend the people of Nicaragua by letting them know that their cruise ships will not stop there due to the civil unrest. What? Why?

 

So, it appears that I will be stuck with whatever Princess Cruises decides to do. If we stop in Mexico, I cannot plan ahead. If we stop nowhere on that date, I can only sit on the ship and mope (I am good at that), or they can actually stop in San Juan del Sur and hope that none of their paying passengers get caught up in the horrors that have been a part of the country since April of this year. What? Why?

Jim

 

Reconsider travel to Nicaragua due to crime, civil unrest, and limited healthcare availability. Here's your what? Why?

 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Nicaragua.html

[pms4104]

Maybe an overnite in Puntarenas Costa

Rica?

[Thrak]

Maybe an overnite in Puntarenas Costa

Rica?

 

I wouldn't mind porting in Puerto Vallarta. I might be tempted to take the day trip over to Las Caletas and just hang out on the beach with a drink in my hand while my wife played in the water. We did that once and it was a very enjoyable day. One young lady overdid it a bit though. She was a young adult with her parents who were embarrassed. We all thought she was going to start giving a lap dance to one of the crew while they were entertaining us on the way back to port! Too much included booze and sun I guess. Everybody was relieved (especially the crew member!) when she was persuaded back down off the bow of the catamaran.

[cruzsnooze]

 

So, it appears that I will be stuck with whatever Princess Cruises decides to do. If we stop in Mexico, I cannot plan ahead. If we stop nowhere on that date, I can only sit on the ship and mope (I am good at that), or they can actually stop in San Juan del Sur and hope that none of their paying passengers get caught up in the horrors that have been a part of the country since April of this year. What? Why?

Jim

Sounds like you need to cancel this cruise and find one that makes you happy.

[Colo Cruiser]

Princess-safety is our first priority.

[fishywood]

Nicaragua is current under a Level 3 (scale of 1 to 4) advisory. US Government employees in Nicaragua are under orders to remain indoors between sunset and sunrise, and all US citizens in Managua are advised to have sufficient plans for immediate escape with the assumption there will be little or no assistance from the US Embassy. Makes you wonder what Level 4 would have to be.

 

Actually wonder not: for those considering alternate ports in Mexico Acapulco, Mazatlan and Manzanillo are all under Level 4. Though for Mazatlan there are no restrictions for US citizens travelling to the cruise port or airport--just anywhere beyond the historic city center. Thank you for that, but no....

 

Baja California is under Level 2 advisory though with no restrictions in the tourist areas. But US Government employees again are advised against intercity highway travel at night "due to poor cellular service". Though it wasn't long ago that the city of Ensenada itself was under Level 3 advisory. But what alternative is there for the required foreign port call for Hawaii and California Coastal cruises from Los Angeles? So much for If there is a State Department warning in effect at the time of the cruise, Princess will avoid any affected port.

[caribill]

I can understand that Princess would wait as late as possible to cancel a port on the announced itinerary. They would do this so that those who booked the cruise for the announced itinerary would get that itinerary if at all possible.

 

A few years ago I had a Princess itinerary that included 2 days in Alexandria, Egypt. For many who booked the cruise this was the main reason. About three months before the cruise, the revolution occurred. Around final payment date, Princess revised the itinerary. Many cancelled because the ship would not be going to Egypt. We kept the booking because we liked the alternate itinerary.

 

A number of people booked the cruise then because they liked the new itinerary.

 

Well, about a month before the cruise would start the situation in Egypt calmed down and the original itinerary was reinstated including the stop at Alexandria. There were a number of very unhappy people who had booked the revised itinerary and did not want the original itinerary. They could not cancel without severe financial penalty as it was way past final payment date.

 

Those of us who had booked the original itinerary and had not cancelled when the itinerary was first changed were very happy and had a great and safe cruise.

[satxdiver]

In a lot of these third world countries the political situation can change literally overnight. Egypt with its long long history of civilization is now finding the political climate not that stable. As for Nicaragua we have been able to visit that port twice with the latest being this past spring. The first time we took a ship tour to see Granada and the volcano which was interesting but the poverty that we saw was sad. This spring on out second visit we just stayed in San Juan del Sur and walked around a bit before returning to the ship. Sorry for those that will miss the port due to political unrest.

[Thrak]

I'm likely the odd man out but I would enjoy a cruise that went nowhere. If I could sail for 10 days or more and never had a port stop except for the last one back where I started it would be a good cruise for me. I just love cruising. :D