Did they fix Nieuw Amsterdam's azipod or is she sailing with one operational?

[ann1bell]

I appreciate this thread. I am booked on the Feb. 1 sailing and figure I might hear about the status before Hal bothers to let me know. 

[tutumomickey]

1 minute ago, ann1bell said:

I appreciate this thread. I am booked on the Feb. 1 sailing and figure I might hear about the status before Hal bothers to let me know. 

 

I agree. We are also booked on the Feb. 1st (for 2 weeks). Getting first hand reports from the ship and input from those with more operational knowledge than me is better than just being in the dark. If this thread irritates you, don't follow it. Many of us find it interesting.

[wdw1972]

49 minutes ago, tutumomickey said:

 

I agree. We are also booked on the Feb. 1st (for 2 weeks). Getting first hand reports from the ship and input from those with more operational knowledge than me is better than just being in the dark. If this thread irritates you, don't follow it. Many of us find it interesting.

Couldn't agree more.  I'm on one of the upcoming cruises, and while I'm not "obsessing" over it, it'll be nice to know when a cruise gets selected.  In the meantime, the information provided by some of the posters here has been nothing short of fascinating - I now know a lot more about azipods than I ever did, lol - and that's a good thing!  There are plenty of threads I don't bother to open, so it's not too hard for anyone who doesn't want to read this one to do the same.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[kochleffel]

An hour late docking at San Juan today. The captain mentioned headwinds but there was also an issue with a power outage on shore after the earthquake this morning.

 

[SKMurphy]

Today is Jan 7, 2020.  Azipod problem on NA is still ongoing.  My brother-in-law is on the ship currently in San Juan.  It has had to modify it's planned route/times due to the azipod issue.  It is moving slower than normal and he has been told that they will be late arriving into Port Everglades on Saturday.  But with the earthquake in San Juan and no local power, I"m not sure if the NA will be impacted more. 

 

[fatcat04]

Lots of buses lined up on shore waiting for guests booked on excursions here in San Juan. We will wait for the initial crush to hop off and walk about as we have nothing specific planned. 

NA got some tug boat help coming in to make the sharp turn into the docking area.

Gloriously hot tropical day here today. 

[Mosaic]

BTW, very likely for many people to find out the issues and solutions HERE, before they find out from HAL...

[glenbrook]

After shocks felt all over island, power out and so I am surprised the ship did not skip this port.  Guess not since they skipped St. Martin. I would have not disembarked in San Juan if I were aboard. No need to feel the tremors of the after shocks. I hope my group on board is being careful. I had to cancel last week  due to an open wound that I received on another ship from a cruise line staff member in Sep. I too have been alarmed by the lack of information forthcoming from HA,  I was told the problem had been fixed by several travel agent resources.  Just praying now my group has a good time and gets home safely.

[fatcat04]

Dh went out to get a couple things at the CVS about an hour after we docked. I stayed on while our little one got her nap in. The port area seemed functional and has power restored from what he observed. He then walked up the hill and into the old lovely shopping and restaurant areas. We were specifically curious about Chocobar Cortez, a favorite of ours, and the little craft shops in that area of town. Sadly that area is still without power and many places are just closed up due to the outages.

 

I haven't heard how many excursions were impacted but I hate that this unfortunate event will so negatively effect the folks that rely do much on the cruise ship trade. For many reasons, not least of which a/c for these good people as it was toasty today, I hope the power comes back very soon.

 

Carnival Conquest was here when we pulled in and the big girl NCL Encore pulled in maybe an hour ago. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by fatcat04

[Jersey42]

@fatcat04:  Thanks for the posts and keep them coming as long as you are able.  We board this coming Saturday and everything you have been posting has been very helpful. I do feel for the Puerto Rican people and I hope the ships coming in at this time is a help rather than a hindrance. We were not planning on doing much in San Juan, but this time we will probably spend more than normal as I am sure every little bit helps.

[fatcat04]

3 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

@fatcat04:  Thanks for the posts and keep them coming as long as you are able.  We board this coming Saturday and everything you have been posting has been very helpful. I do feel for the Puerto Rican people and I hope the ships coming in at this time is a help rather than a hindrance. We were not planning on doing much in San Juan, but this time we will probably spend more than normal as I am sure every little bit helps.

I am glad I can help. We have turned in for the evening with plans to watch sail away from our balcony. Cell service has been great so that is a good sign.

 

San Juan seems to our eyes darker than usual. So few cars out and whole streets where I know there are restaurants and bars are dark. Earlier today Dh passed a few small businesses running off generators. Gotta admire their spirit. These folks have been through a lot. 

 

I can however see the ubiquitous Senor Frogs is lit up and open for business.... Lol. 🐸

[Jersey42]

I just received a notice from HAL regarding our January 11th cruise.  No port changes, but they are reducing overall port time. The notice says:

 

ITINERARY CHANGE NOTIFICATION:
Due to operational reasons, the return to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, January 18th will be one hour later at 8:00 am. Please see attached for the revised itinerary.

 

When I looked at the revised itinerary, I saw they also changed port times for three of the four ports.

• Grand Turk arrives an hour earlier (7 instead of 8 )
• San Juan arrives two hours later and departs an hour earlier. (2 - 11 instead of noon - midnight)
• St Thomas arrives an hour earlier and departs two hours earlier.  (7 - 3, instead of 8 - 5)

None of this is a huge deal, but the 7:00 am arrivals do nothing for us and we would have preferred the later St. Thomas departure. I am also curious why they only mentioned the late arrival to Ft. Lauderdale, and you had to figure out the other changes on your own.

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Jersey42

[fatcat04]

Last night's departure from San Juan was uneventful. We left approx 11pm. We had an active tug assist on our port side aft with another tug at standby. We watched all the action from our balcony. Once our pilot departed, to much applause and waving from the audience that had assembled on our side of the ship, we moved back out into that stiff wind which made the ship list ever so slightly to port. I joked that we were walking uphill to our bathroom. Otherwise the seas were calm and the ship cruised along smoothly as we all slept soundly.  

 

We woke up bright and early to sunny peaceful St Croix having arrived before 7am and then cleared by customs by around 7:30. Short day today. 2 pm departure. 

 

We will be at sea from 2pm today until we get to HMC on Friday morning. 

[fatcat04]

22 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

I just received a notice from HAL regarding our January 11th cruise.  No port changes, but they are reducing overall port time. The notice says:

 

ITINERARY CHANGE NOTIFICATION:
Due to operational reasons, the return to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, January 18th will be one hour later at 8:00 am. Please see attached for the revised itinerary.

......

None of this is a huge deal, but the 7:00 am arrivals do nothing for us and we would have preferred the later St. Thomas departure. I am also curious why they only mentioned the late arrival to Ft. Lauderdale, and you had to figure out the other changes on your own.

 

Yeah, the 7am arrival here in St. Croix is very early for us. Other than excursions, there is a trickle of folks coming off the ship. We will be trickling off ourselves abt 10:30. 

[ORB]

We are also on the ship--we've enjoyed the cruise, and weren't as disappointed as some by the itinerary change as we'd never been to St. Croix.

 

Dinner table conversation with the small sample to which we've been exposed leads me to believe people were less perturbed by the itinerary change than by the fact we'd been on the ship about an hour before it was announced.  

 

Given that excursion tickets for St. Martin were not in our room when we boarded, it's clear somebody already knew well before the passengers did.

[JRG]

18 hours ago, fatcat04 said:

We were specifically curious about Chocobar Cortez, a favorite of ours

 

We too discovered this gem on our last visit.....some of the best hot chocolate made on earth and other fine things.

It's a great place to stop by before visiting the castle museum nearby ,  which is a must see.

 

Sometimes early in the morning in the old city there is not much open and this place is worth walking to if you are exploring.

 

[510picker]

Just received an email that our Feb 1 cruise has been cancelled 😞

[*Miss G*]

4 minutes ago, 510picker said:

Just received an email that our Feb 1 cruise has been cancelled 😞

 

Very sorry to hear that you have been affected but I am happy that the speculation can now come to an end.  Have they given you options?

[Skorpora]

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Very sorry to hear that you have been affected but I am happy that the speculation can now come to an end.  Have they given you options?

 

7 minutes ago, 510picker said:

Just received an email that our Feb 1 cruise has been cancelled 😞

Oh no 🙁. So sorry to hear that. Can you switch to another other ship on a similar itinerary if the timing and available cabins lineup?

[quilty964]

Oh no...so sorry to hear that your cruise has been cancelled.  I hope you have some other options...

[NavArch64]

At least HAL has a plan and it has been communicated to affected guests. Better to have a very safe ship than an almost very safe ship.

[510picker]

Just got off the phone with HAL. The gentlemen I spoke with said I was the first person he talked to since the cancellation. He was very confused with the information he was reading and he had to put me on hold to speak with his supervisor. The final word I got was, suite guests, international guests and casino rate guests were being automatically rebooked to the Zuiderdam sailing on the same day. I told him I was a casino rate guests and he said he didn’t have any other information and would probably hear something by Friday. I’m sure there is lots of scrambling going on right now. 

 

The info below was copied from the email I received. 
 

If you rebook to any other winter or spring 2020 7-day Caribbean or Mexico voyage by January 24, 2020, we will protect your rate in the equivalent stateroom category and you will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid to use on another future voyage. 

If you’d like to rebook to another destination or elect not to rebook a replacement cruise at this time, you will receive a Future Cruise Credit of 50% of the cruise fare paid and all monies paid to Holland America Line will either be transferred to your new sailing or refunded in full. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by 510picker

[fatcat04]

Lovely day in St. Croix. We had never been to this beautiful island and are so glad this itinerary change turned into a happy accident for us. Explored the town, did some shopping, found a local hole in the wall, Maggie's Snackett, and had some great goat stew, beans, rice, and cold beer.

 

We left about 2pm and have been cruising at around 18 knots. We missed most of an announcement from the Captain (despite keeping our bow cam channel on, grrr) concerning tomorrow's forecast.  The gist dh got from one of the officers he met in the lido was that we would have some pretty significant wind and waves tomorrow.

 

We have ginger pills and ginger snaps at the ready. I rarely feel the motion of the ocean on a big cruise ship (I've had one bad night out of 80 cruise days so far, fingers crossed) but dh does ocassionally so we come prepared. Hope this does not impede our ability to get to HMC on time and then of course tender in but that is always the risk you take and better safe than sorry. but the ship has been sailing smooth as glass for hours now so off to sleep. 

 

Will update again tomorrow.

[HappyInVan]

2 hours ago, 510picker said:

If you rebook to any other winter or spring 2020 7-day Caribbean or Mexico voyage by January 24, 2020, we will protect your rate in the equivalent stateroom category and you will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid to use on another future voyage. 

If you’d like to rebook to another destination or elect not to rebook a replacement cruise at this time, you will receive a Future Cruise Credit of 50% of the cruise fare paid and all monies paid to Holland America Line will either be transferred to your new sailing or refunded in full. 

 

 

Very decent of HAL. Glad that they decided to fix it sooner rather than later.

[RunningTheWonder]

We didn't get nearly as good of an offering. First off, ours was the 14 day collector cruise, but they only cancelled the first 7 days of the cruise and moved us over to the Zuiderdam, without even asking. This changes our ports (this was a dive cruise), changes our cabin (which we hand selected for this particular cruise), changes our dining plans (no Tamerind on this ship), and generally messes up our plans with a ship that we aren't comfortable sailing and intentionally never booked in the first place! 

 

They did offer to let us change BACK to the Nieuw Amsterdam on the 8th, if we let them know within two days. Just what I want to do - change ships in the middle of a 2 weeks cruise! No thank you HAL! I booked a 14 day cruise, not two 7 day cruises aboard different ships. Of course, all of our shore excursions for the entire sailing have been cancelled, so we would have to try to find somewhat equivalent ones on our own.

 

So what did they offer for this "disruption"? They are offering 50% of the fare for the first half of the cruise (the 7 days that was "cancelled") in future cruise credit, plus $50 in shipboard credit. So for shifting us to a lesser ship, with a lesser itinerary, with a lesser cabin, we get a 25% future credit + $50.00. Sorry, but this one just isn't sitting right with me! Guess who I'll be on the phone with in the morning?

Edited January 9, 2020 by RunningTheWonder