Port change with no notice

[LNugent]

Not wanting to wait until next year to get back on Crystal, i booked a Caribbean cruise for this November.  I have done Caribbean many times but thought this would be an easy way to check out NC  (easy to get to from Florida). I was checking Crystal site today and it showed my booked cruise with a stop in St Martin in lieu of St Barths (part of reason I booked).  I got no notice from Crystal. I hope it is just a mistake on the website. Bummer if not. Not a good start. 

[ryndam]

St. Barth, as several other world ports, appear to restrict the size of cruise ships as well as the number of cruise passengers/day that are allowed to anchor on any given day. Perhaps there’s a scheduling conflict, with Crystal coming late in the game. St. Martin ( the French side) is lovely. And also affords an opportunity for a day trip to Anguilla, if interested.

 

Rob

[seasack]

Same thing happened on the January 5th 2024 cruise on Serenity. I only found out checking on Crystal’s website no notice from my TA and or Crystal.
 

Still trying to find out what went wrong with the communication to me that there was a change, and there was a couple others too!

[LNugent]

I have been to St Martin. That’s not the point. I should have received notice from Crystal. 

[May B]

No notice for my Nov. 2nd cruise. I noticed it on a random glance at the itinerary. Our friends were looking forward to St Barts, so they’re disappointed. We’ve been to St Barts on a previous Crystal, so I didn’t care.

 

Surprised not to receive notification.

Edited August 20, 2023 by May B

[ijkh]

Talk to your TA.   They can watch for you and advise if that is of great concern.  

[Amber14]

1 hour ago, seasack said:

Same thing happened on the January 5th 2024 cruise on Serenity. I only found out checking on Crystal’s website no notice from my TA and or Crystal.
 

Still trying to find out what went wrong with the communication to me that there was a change, and there was a couple others too!

Same with us...Jan. 5 Serenity, no notification from anyone and discovered by looking at their website. It does make me worried that other ports may be substituted. 

 

On another note, we have several anchored ports. Did Crystal have problems making these ports? I assume they use lifeboats to tender in. 

[ctjon]

I would think the scheduling was relatively late and with more and more ships and more and more restrictions port changes will be common for the first couple of years.

We've always found the tendering on the life boats easy and comfortable and sometimes you end up closer to good spots than you do with docking

[tnm6217]

Wow. I'm on the November 2nd sailing and had no idea about this change. I understand that changes happen, but the fact that there was no notice provided to me or my TA does not spark joy. For comparison, Celebrity sent notice to my TA when the 2024 Bahamas port tax increased by $12/pp...

[Leejnd4]

Hmmm...wondering if your TA was notified?

 

My upcoming Paul Gauguin cruise just went through a major port change due to a large cruise ship coming into one of the tiny islands on the same day, so almost our entire itinerary was shifted to avoid this. I received no notice directly from PG, but I did get an email from my TA, who'd received a communication from PG. I do find it odd that it seems NOBODY'S TA communicated these Crystal port changes, which leads me to believe Crystal didn't notify the TAs.

 

This is definitely something that needs to be fixed, as many cruisers book private tours that will need to be cancelled/rescheduled if the itinerary changes.

[offtoalaska]

We're on Serenity's Jan 5 voyage and wish St. Barts had remained on the itinerary even though we've been there several times.  Not a fan of St. Martin although it is somewhat nicer IMO than St. Maarten.  

Seabourn made a similar change recently on one of their Caribbean trips but I did receive direct  notification.  I ultimately cancelled in favor of the Crystal voyage.  Still a good itinerary -  Les Saintes,

Jost Van Dyke and San Juan in particular.

[History&Wine]

Changes are some times required but Crystal need to tighten this up.

 

Take a look at the World Cruise segment starting May 14, 2024:

"A true Mediterranean immersion, this voyage starts in Athens and travels to an incredible array of islands and cities alike. Heading south, the first stop is the ancient walled town of Monemvasia. Next is the Island nation of Malta, followed by a tour of Italy's boot, visiting Palermo, Naples, and Civitavecchia, close to Rome. Glitzy Saint Tropez follows Ajaccio before disembarking in the ultra-luxe Monte Carlo."

 

Now look at the itinerary.  Nowhere is Malta listed, Malta is not on the map, yet the picture shown on this cruise is the capitol of Malta! 

 

Are we going to Malta?  Wish I knew...

[FlyerTalker]

If you really want to go to St Barths, take the Winair flight from St Maarten.  Not only can you see the island, but you'll get the great experience of landing at the SBH airport, which is known for its amazing approach.  IIRC, Winair has over 20 flights a day in each direction using Twin Otters.  Or there is St Barth Commuter, which usually runs 3 flights a day in a Cessna Grand Caravan.  Flight is about 15 minutes, block to block.

 

Plus, there are rent a car offices at the airport, so getting a car can be easy.

 

 

[saminina]

Another option is a 45 minute ferry ride.  Phillipsburg-Gustavia.

[FlyerTalker]

Or fly one way and ferry the other.

 

 

[Keith1010]

Don't just complain here.

 

Ask you TA(s) to followup with Crystal if this change(s) was made and no notification was provided to the TA's and/or yourself.

 

They should find out if this was a recent change and notification was planned to be made or if it was a change and someone dropped the ball with respect to notification.

 

They can and should provide feedback to Marketing that when a change is made that both the TA and guest should be notified.

 

Please do this.

 

Keith

 

 

[cruiseaholic78]

Delete

Edited August 21, 2023 by cruiseaholic78

[Amber14]

13 hours ago, offtoalaska said:

We're on Serenity's Jan 5 voyage and wish St. Barts had remained on the itinerary even though we've been there several times.  Not a fan of St. Martin although it is somewhat nicer IMO than St. Maarten.  

Seabourn made a similar change recently on one of their Caribbean trips but I did receive direct  notification.  I ultimately cancelled in favor of the Crystal voyage.  Still a good itinerary -  Les Saintes,

Jost Van Dyke and San Juan in particular.

We booked it because of the smaller island ports that we haven't been to...Les Saintes, Jost Van Dyke, St. Barts, St. Johns. I certainly hope none of the other ports are substituted.

[Texas Tillie]

My philosophy has always been, if you absolutely have to visit a specific port, don’t expect to do it on a cruise. Many times you get there, but not always. 
 

Patty

[LNugent]

15 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

If you really want to go to St Barths, take the Winair flight from St Maarten.  Not only can you see the island, but you'll get the great experience of landing at the SBH airport, which is known for its amazing approach.  IIRC, Winair has over 20 flights a day in each direction using Twin Otters.  Or there is St Barth Commuter, which usually runs 3 flights a day in a Cessna Grand Caravan.  Flight is about 15 minutes, block to block.

 

Plus, there are rent a car offices at the airport, so getting a car can be easy.

 

 

I have been to St Barth several times. I was just there past December on Ritz Carlton Yacht and in the past on Crystal. Again, not the point. I expected a notice with explanation from Crystal. 

[LNugent]

8 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Don't just complain here.

 

Ask you TA(s) to followup with Crystal if this change(s) was made and no notification was provided to the TA's and/or yourself.

 

They should find out if this was a recent change and notification was planned to be made or if it was a change and someone dropped the ball with respect to notification.

 

They can and should provide feedback to Marketing that when a change is made that both the TA and guest should be notified.

 

Please do this.

 

Keith

 

 

Hmmmm….”don’t just complain”. I would call this a critique. Is this site not called Cruise Critic. I am a huge fan of Crystal and know they would want feedback when a guest is unhappy. In addition, I have contacted my TA as I am a seasoned cruiser and traveler 

[Keith1010]

6 minutes ago, LNugent said:

Hmmmm….”don’t just complain”. I would call this a critique. Is this site not called Cruise Critic. I am a huge fan of Crystal and know they would want feedback when a guest is unhappy. In addition, I have contacted my TA as I am a seasoned cruiser and traveler 

My view is this is a very legitimate issue which should be posted here. What I am saying is that in addition to posting it here this needs to be fed back to the TA's so they can feed it back to Crystal. IMHO it is a very legitimate issue ( and a complaint is not to put down what was posted) but rather say get it teed up to Crystal too because when changes are made to the itineraries those booked and their TA's need to know about the change. 

 

Keith

[May B]

17 hours ago, Leejnd4 said:

Hmmm...wondering if your TA was notified?

 

My upcoming Paul Gauguin cruise just went through a major port change due to a large cruise ship coming into one of the tiny islands on the same day, so almost our entire itinerary was shifted to avoid this. I received no notice directly from PG, but I did get an email from my TA, who'd received a communication from PG. I do find it odd that it seems NOBODY'S TA communicated these Crystal port changes, which leads me to believe Crystal didn't notify the TAs.

 

This is definitely something that needs to be fixed, as many cruisers book private tours that will need to be cancelled/rescheduled if the itinerary changes.

TAs were not notified. St Barts isn’t a place known for its private tours, I don’t think.

[May B]

16 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

If you really want to go to St Barths, take the Winair flight from St Maarten.  Not only can you see the island, but you'll get the great experience of landing at the SBH airport, which is known for its amazing approach.  IIRC, Winair has over 20 flights a day in each direction using Twin Otters.  Or there is St Barth Commuter, which usually runs 3 flights a day in a Cessna Grand Caravan.  Flight is about 15 minutes, block to block.

 

Plus, there are rent a car offices at the airport, so getting a car can be easy.

 

 

Mr B likes to go to airports. Of course Maho Beach is his favorite, but he did also walk to SBH. Thx for supplying the three-letter code! I like your idea of flying over there from SXM, for anybody who wants to visit. Best if you have a sense of adventure. It’s not without a small amount of risk, to get back to the ship, of course.

 

Marigot will be a tender port for us. 

[May B]

9 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Don't just complain here.

 

Ask you TA(s) to followup with Crystal if this change(s) was made and no notification was provided to the TA's and/or yourself.

 

They should find out if this was a recent change and notification was planned to be made or if it was a change and someone dropped the ball with respect to notification.

 

They can and should provide feedback to Marketing that when a change is made that both the TA and guest should be notified.

 

Please do this.

 

Keith

 

 

Thx, Keith. Since it didn’t bother me, I didn’t think of reporting it. It happened at least a month ago. I noticed it when friends decided to join us. They’ve never been to St Barts.

 

Coincidentally, with these same friends, we took the island bus from St Maarten over to Marigot, to look for a friend their brother hadn’t heard from after the pandemic  … and to get euros out of the ATM. Mr B loves taking public transit.