Empress Skipping San Juan - July 16, 2019

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, PlanetX said:

Onboard as well.  When did this get announced? Last word @ 10 am from Captain Gus was that they would be conferencing with RCI headquarters and would make an announcement by 12:30 if not sooner.  Plan was to continue to San Juan unless otherwise announced.

 

We were in our cabin on Empress when Captain made initial announcement,  so we could not hear it either. 😉

 

Had to walk around ship and ask for details

[PlanetX]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We were in our cabin on Empress when Captain made initial announcement,  so we could not hear it either. 😉

 

Had to walk around ship and ask for details

We've been sitting under a PA speaker waiting for the next update. 😀

[pezgirlroy]

9 minutes ago, DancerMama25 said:

 

Not sure where your info about the umbrellas down is coming from; I can’t find that anywhere.

There was a video posted on a Freedom of the Seas facebook group from a local news channel in Puerto Rico showing them being removed.  They were also fixing the cobblestone street at the time as it was damaged. The umbrellas have definitely been removed for the time being. It happened yesterday. 

[picantel]

I am on the Harmony now also. There has been no announcement yet about cancelling but we should know in less than an hour.

[orville99]

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

This has been ongoing for several days. We left Coco Cay at 2:00 the day before yesterday to get here by 3:30. We arrived around noon, even stopped to pick up the pilot.  I'm not sure why we didn't just stay longer in Coco Cay and cancel this stop on Sunday. 

 

John, I believe you were at Coco Cay with Mariner on Sunday (we were on Mariner). Just curious, but were they charging for a full day at the waterpark ($69/pp for us) or a half day given that you pulled out 3 hours before we did?

[picantel]

They just cancelled Puerto rico and will not add another port so on a 7 day cruise we have 2 ports and 5 sea days. Boring.

[PlanetX]

Just announced on Harmony, we’re skipping San Juan. Apparently this situation hasn’t improved, and there is a protest in Old San Juan scheduled for 5:30. 

[picantel]

My kid and I picked this cruise because of San Juan. We packed a mountain of cat treats because we love to walk along the ocean and spoil the hundreds of feral cats. This sucks. They mentioned refunding excursions but not port fees. I assume they will give those back.

[twangster]

Unfortunate for sure but I can completely understand.  Hopefully this doesn't last too long.

[cruisegal40]

We go in two months. Hope it comes to a good resolution for all.  We already got switch from St. T to SJ.  If this does prolong, hopefully they find a resolution as I agree with picantel. Would be boring with 5 sea days.

[coaster]

33 minutes ago, picantel said:

My kid and I picked this cruise because of San Juan. We packed a mountain of cat treats because we love to walk along the ocean and spoil the hundreds of feral cats. This sucks. They mentioned refunding excursions but not port fees. I assume they will give those back.

 

We stop at a cat sanctuary  near the fort when we go to SJ. We  make sure to give a monetary donation to them when we visit.

 

Save A Gato

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147320-d6487518-Reviews-Save_A_Gato_Cat_Sanctuary-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

Edited July 17, 2019 by coaster

[cruisr4fun]

26 minutes ago, picantel said:

My kid and I picked this cruise because of San Juan. We packed a mountain of cat treats because we love to walk along the ocean and spoil the hundreds of feral cats. This sucks. They mentioned refunding excursions but not port fees. I assume they will give those back.

Tell me more about feeding the cats...

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

John, I believe you were at Coco Cay with Mariner on Sunday (we were on Mariner). Just curious, but were they charging for a full day at the waterpark ($69/pp for us) or a half day given that you pulled out 3 hours before we did?

 

As far as I know they charged full price. We were always scheduled to leave early so we could get to SJ

 

I think we got $12.50 pp OBC for skipping SJ

🍹🍹🤣

Edited July 17, 2019 by John&LaLa

[KmomChicago]

10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

As far as I know they charged full price. We were always scheduled to leave early so we could get to SJ

 

I think we got $12.50 pp OBC for skipping SJ

🍹🍹🤣

 

Anyway how are you enjoying Empress?

[Snit13]

16 hours ago, picantel said:

They just cancelled Puerto rico and will not add another port so on a 7 day cruise we have 2 ports and 5 sea days. Boring.

Love sea days and have been to most if not all of the ports.  Do think it would have been nice for those who do enjoy port days if corporate had arranged another port but maybe no dock space was available.  Seems to be some ports that smaller ships like Empress could visit.  With current situations around USA and throughout the world planning department should be busy looking for Plan B.

[Snit13]

15 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

As far as I know they charged full price. We were always scheduled to leave early so we could get to SJ

 

I think we got $12.50 pp OBC for skipping SJ

🍹🍹🤣

With all of the your cruise travels, I find it difficult to visualize you and Laura on Empress.  I loved her when we sailed her to Cuba but seem to recall a small casino and no CK.  I know you are happy just to be sailing like I am.  Hope your "ton" dropped in Tortola helped the local island economy and brought pleasure to you two.  Happy Sails

[John&LaLa]

6 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Anyway how are you enjoying Empress?

 

We're enjoying the change of pace. I'll follow up next week

[Krazy Kruizers]

1 hour ago, Snit13 said:

Love sea days and have been to most if not all of the ports.  Do think it would have been nice for those who do enjoy port days if corporate had arranged another port but maybe no dock space was available.  Seems to be some ports that smaller ships like Empress could visit.  With current situations around USA and throughout the world planning department should be busy looking for Plan B.

 

I am surprised that they didn't try to see if there was room for the ship in St Thomas since there aren't as many ships in the Caribbean in the summer months as there are in the winter months.

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

 

I am surprised that they didn't try to see if there was room for the ship in St Thomas since there aren't as many ships in the Caribbean in the summer months as there are in the winter months.

 

Royal is doing some sort of protest against the USVI and skipping those too.

[springfire]

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

One of the largest protests in Puerto Rico’s history erupted into violent clashes late Wednesday night between demonstrators who said they will keep coming back to demand the governor’s resignation and officers in riot gear who shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the packed crowds.

Long after tens of thousands had peacefully marched through Old San Juan, hundreds of protesters gathered and blocked the narrow streets surrounding Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s Fortaleza mansion, clamoring for him to resign.

 

The above story is from the Miami Herald

 

Looks like a lot of ships will be skipping Puerto Rico until this situation is resolved.

Edited July 18, 2019 by springfire

[msmayor]

Having docked in San Juan on US Election Day about 10 years ago, I would welcome the 'skipping' of this port because of civil unrest.

 

We were docked from 3-11pm, so honestly didn't have much planned anyway - but stood at the rail of the ship after docking just watching the spectacle of massive crowds and traffic in the streets.  Cars honking horns, heads and bodies hanging out widows with signs for the election.  It was chaos, and I was happy not to be a part of it.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, springfire said:

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

One of the largest protests in Puerto Rico’s history erupted into violent clashes late Wednesday night between demonstrators who said they will keep coming back to demand the governor’s resignation and officers in riot gear who shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the packed crowds.

Long after tens of thousands had peacefully marched through Old San Juan, hundreds of protesters gathered and blocked the narrow streets surrounding Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s Fortaleza mansion, clamoring for him to resign.

 

The above story is from the Miami Herald

 

Looks like a lot of ships will be skipping Puerto Rico until this situation is resolved.

Allure just docked in OSJ about an hour ago, people are reporting pretty much business as usual

[springfire]

20 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Allure just docked in OSJ about an hour ago, people are reporting pretty much business as usual

Since the ship docked at 7am, I think it is a little early to say business as usual but I hope you are right and they have no issues.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, springfire said:

Since the ship docked at 7am, I think it is a little early to say business as usual but I hope you are right and they have no issues.

just repeating what is out there, debarking smoothly, tours progressing as per norm, individuals wandering into town to their favorite breakfast café................

Compared to the RCCL experience of the last 2 days, this is, what it is

[pezgirlroy]

I will say the Allure docking, makes those of us who are going to be on the Freedom feel better.