Will there be any safe Caribbean ports left this winter?

[TheHawk1]

We're booked on the Equinox in February, 2022 for a 12 day cruise.  Yesterday, the CDC added Barbados to its list of Level 4 - Do Not Travel advisories.  This means now that all 7 ports on our itinerary are on the Do Not Travel list. I received an email from Celebrity last week about the upcoming cruise, assuring me they are working with all these various governments to determine safety protocols and a "clear path" for cruising.  What does that even mean?

 

I get that cruise lines are in a difficult spot, trying to plan for the usually busy winter Caribbean season and not knowing what the status of Covid will be on any of the islands.  However, even cruise sponsored excursions don't appear to be that rigorous in their safety standards according to several recent reviews posted here.  All of this doesn't make it easy for passengers to plan on whether to sail or not.  I didn't wait two years since my last cruise to go on a vacation where we just float around at sea for 12 days with nothing to do. I'm curious how others are making their decisions whether to cruise or not this winter?

[Turtles06]

1 minute ago, TheHawk1 said:

  I didn't wait two years since my last cruise to go on a vacation where we just float around at sea for 12 days with nothing to do. I'm curious how others are making their decisions whether to cruise or not this winter?

We’re booked on a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette in December. If it turns out to be a 10-day cruise to nowhere, we’ll still be happy to be aboard a stunningly beautiful ship at sea. 

[WestLakeGirl]

Well, it can’t be a cruise to nowhere, they must make at least one port stop to satisfy US law

[Cg52]

We are booked in January on the Silhouette but will be cancelling, between the closed ports, what seems to be a lack if safety standards on tours (from posts read on here) and the unknown, we will wait and spend our vacation dollars when things are a little more certain. 

[jelayne]

We are sailing in 11 days on a B2B.  Some ports  that were ship only excursions are now open, but of course that could change.  We are vaccinated + booster and have planned only 2 outdoor excursions (me) 3 for DH.  If we don’t feel comfortable we will skip them.  We enjoy time on the ship so if we don’t get off it’s not a problem.

BTW where we live the vac rate is under 40% and no mask mandates, etc.  So a ship seems a lot safer.

Edited October 5, 2021 by jelayne

[Jeremiah1212]

12 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

I received an email from Celebrity last week about the upcoming cruise, assuring me they are working with all these various governments to determine safety protocols and a "clear path" for cruising.  What does that even mean?

 

It means they are trying to juggle COVID, port requirements, planning an itinerary and route that makes sense, one that has open port availability on the days they need it, making sure the port requirements are inline with boarding requirements, securing tour companies that are actually operating, the list goes on and on. We aren't cruising again until February but have picked a cruise for the ship rather than ports. Too many variables and uncertainty to even be concerned with ports at this point IMO. 

[Bo1953]

22 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

We're booked on the Equinox in February, 2022 for a 12 day cruise.  Yesterday, the CDC added Barbados to its list of Level 4 - Do Not Travel advisories.  This means now that all 7 ports on our itinerary are on the Do Not Travel list. I received an email from Celebrity last week about the upcoming cruise, assuring me they are working with all these various governments to determine safety protocols and a "clear path" for cruising.  What does that even mean?

 

I get that cruise lines are in a difficult spot, trying to plan for the usually busy winter Caribbean season and not knowing what the status of Covid will be on any of the islands.  However, even cruise sponsored excursions don't appear to be that rigorous in their safety standards according to several recent reviews posted here.  All of this doesn't make it easy for passengers to plan on whether to sail or not.  I didn't wait two years since my last cruise to go on a vacation where we just float around at sea for 12 days with nothing to do. I'm curious how others are making their decisions whether to cruise or not this winter?

You can consider cancelling and booking closer to sail date to find out how things are going and save the anguish and angst...over no port calls.

 

bon voyage

[C-Dragons]

We have an upcoming cruise to the Caribbean and don’t care where it goes or even if it stops. Too much lost time spent at home over the last year and a half. We need to achieve some semblance of normalcy which means getting back on board and out to sea. But everyone has their own comfort level so YMMV.

[ETHTrader]

I am scheduled to be on the Millenium on Dec 13th for 10 night cruise to the Carribeans.

 

I honestly don't care if we make any port calls or not. I booked a suite and plan to enjoy the Retreat (if port calls are cancelled)

[C-Dragons]

11 minutes ago, ETHTrader said:

I am scheduled to be on the Millenium on Dec 13th for 10 night cruise to the Carribeans.

 

I honestly don't care if we make any port calls or not. I booked a suite and plan to enjoy the Retreat (if port calls are cancelled)

Personally, I would be enjoying the Retreat regardless of any port cancellations. 😁

[JJMD]

17 minutes ago, ETHTrader said:

I am scheduled to be on the Millenium on Dec 13th for 10 night cruise to the Carribeans.

 

I honestly don't care if we make any port calls or not. I booked a suite and plan to enjoy the Retreat (if port calls are cancelled)

I am, with my spouse, on this cruise too.  There isn’t a roll call for it??

[Turtles06]

56 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Well, it can’t be a cruise to nowhere, they must make at least one port stop to satisfy US law

 

I know. I  was speaking figuratively.  

[TheHawk1]

17 minutes ago, ETHTrader said:

I honestly don't care if we make any port calls or not. I booked a suite and plan to enjoy the Retreat (if port calls are cancelled)

I'm only booked for a regular Ocean Balcony cabin, not a suite, so I might not enjoy 12 days in that room as much LOL.

 

I agree that some time onboard just relaxing is nice and certainly beats a Canadian winter.  But our itinerary already had 4 At Sea days, which is plenty for me.  I'd like to go to a beach or sail on a catamaran for a few hours and right now I'm not sure if those types of activities will be that enjoyable, even if the cruise lines figure out a way to make them possible.

[jalves]

The OP noted that Barbados was recently moved to Cat 4.  However, in the news story I read, other caribbean islands have actually improved.

[Turtles06]

12 minutes ago, jalves said:

The OP noted that Barbados was recently moved to Cat 4.  However, in the news story I read, other caribbean islands have actually improved.

 

I can't speak to other itineraries, but all five of our scheduled ports in December are on the Level 4 -- Do Not Travel list, according to the State Department's STEP enrollment that I just completed:   St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, and Antigua.

[TheHawk1]

15 minutes ago, jalves said:

The OP noted that Barbados was recently moved to Cat 4.  However, in the news story I read, other caribbean islands have actually improved.

I'm sure it depends on the location.  Antigua, one of our stops, just declared a state of emergency last week.  St. Lucia, another port, has one of the lowest vaccination rates of any country.  Perhaps if they can get enough vaccines to these places in the next couple of months, the situation might improve by the end of the year?

[mom says]

OP, according to the CDC, the US is also a category 4, and Canada is  3. So exactly what do you consider safe? The pandemic is a very fluid situation, with case rates fluctuating (some more than others) over time in every country. You will need to assess your own comfort level with this lack of surety.

[canderson]

For what it's worth, the D.R. was at Level 2 the other day.  Still is.

 

But as mom points out, the U.S. is at level 4.  Canada must have just been reduced to 3 in the last couple of days.

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, TheHawk1 said:

I'm curious how others are making their decisions whether to cruise or not this winter?

Well I can tell you what my decision making process was for a cruise we took a few weeks ago. Since this was our first post Covid cruise, I wanted to play it as safe as possible and selected a short itinerary that only visited one port (the cruise line’s private island). From the moment I booked it, I got myself in the state of mind that there would provably be changes, not only in the itinerary, but also in the health and safety protocols (and there were MANY changes), and that rolling with the punches was the price to pay at this point in the pandemic if I wanted to cruise. 

 

Long story short, we had a fabulous time. Sailing at less than half capacity was wonderful. And to be as honest as possible, sailing with fellow cruisers who were 100% vaccinated, who had taken Covid tests, who were required to take daily temperature checks, who were required to wear masks indoors, and who had to abide by a litany of protocols, made me feel safer than I’ve felt during the last year dealing with the pandemic. 
 

Hope you have a fantastic Cruise! 

 

 

[Silkroad]

1 hour ago, TheHawk1 said:

We're booked on the Equinox in February, 2022 for a 12 day cruise.  Yesterday, the CDC added Barbados to its list of Level 4 - Do Not Travel advisories.  This means now that all 7 ports on our itinerary are on the Do Not Travel list. I received an email from Celebrity last week about the upcoming cruise, assuring me they are working with all these various governments to determine safety protocols and a "clear path" for cruising.  What does that even mean?

Thanks for the heads up that Celebrity has sent letters. We’re also booked on a12 day cruise on Equinox, though we depart in early December. Though our cruises are obviously similar, and ours departs sooner, we haven’t received a letter from Celebrity. It’s possible our TA simply hasn’t had time to pass it on. IMO there’s time (especially for you) for these island countries to recover from their current spikes and drop off the Level 4 list. If not, I’m sure Celebrity will do their best to approximate the experience we expected when we booked. 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

We're booked on the Equinox in February, 2022 for a 12 day cruise.  Yesterday, the CDC added Barbados to its list of Level 4 - Do Not Travel advisories.  This means now that all 7 ports on our itinerary are on the Do Not Travel list. I received an email from Celebrity last week about the upcoming cruise, assuring me they are working with all these various governments to determine safety protocols and a "clear path" for cruising.  What does that even mean?

These islands (with rare exception) have been at Level 4 for some time, and you will note that Celebrity is making port at many of them on their Caribbean itineraries.  If the Key West hadn't banished cruise ships, they'd be at level 4, too - same as the rest of the country.

 

As for "what does that even mean", the cruise lines have been negotiating protocols with each of the various ports with regard to what access passengers will have to an island, and what protocols will be in place for such visits.  For example, on some islands, it is necessary to take only excursions approved by Celebrity and/or the governmental agency on the island responsible for these things.  On some islands, certain vaccination or PCR testing is required before making port.  That's what it means.

[PTC DAWG]

19 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

 

Long story short, we had a fabulous time. Sailing at less than half capacity was wonderful. And to be as honest as possible, sailing with fellow cruisers who were 100% vaccinated, who had taken Covid tests, who were required to take daily temperature checks, who were required to wear masks indoors, and who had to abide by a litany of protocols, made me feel safer than I’ve felt during the last year dealing with the pandemic. 
 

 

 

 

I agree with all of that except the mask wearing, recently disembarked the Allure of the Seas, they required it indoors, compared to the Celebrity Equinox cruise I took in August who did not require masks of passengers anywhere...the Equinox cruise was by far more enjoyable to me.  I won't sail on a line that requires masks on the ship again...

 

The crew outside on the Allure was suffering in the heat...I felt bad for them.  

 

Thanks again to Celebrity again for they way they chose to restart cruising and satisfying the CDC.  

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

I'm curious how others are making their decisions whether to cruise or not this winter?

We have a March 2022 cruise that was L&S'd from March 2021 and was booked originally in early 2020. Consequently, it's dirt cheap compared to today's prices for the same cruise, and we also have just under $3000 in FCC tied up in it. Consequently, we are loathe to cancel and continue to simply monitor the ever changing situation. Fortunately, the change to 60-day final payment gives us a bit more breathing room before making our decision.

 

A twelve-night cruise would be long for some passengers with no port stops, but we could certainly manage. However, I doubt very much that we would face that situation a bit over five months from now. 

[ETHTrader]

1 hour ago, JJMD said:

I am, with my spouse, on this cruise too.  There isn’t a roll call for it??

 

Nope. I really scrolled through the last page looking for a roll call.

 

If that means this might be a ghost ship, then I guess we booked a private yacht for ourselves 😎

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, TheHawk1 said:

I'm sure it depends on the location.  Antigua, one of our stops, just declared a state of emergency last week.  St. Lucia, another port, has one of the lowest vaccination rates of any country.  Perhaps if they can get enough vaccines to these places in the next couple of months, the situation might improve by the end of the year?

There is an idea to get to the cancelled ports... deliver vaccines!

 

bon voyage