Itinerary Changes Eurodam 27Mar24

[Anubi]

We are on the Eurodam and HAL has switched the dates we visit Curacao and Bonaire and that's fine with us.  The problem is, according to Cruise Port Schedule,  Eurodam, Rotterdam and Carnival Horizon are all still scheduled for Thursday 02Apr and Bonaire only allows one ship per day. 

 

I checked with HAL and they have updated our itinerary with the change but when I check the Rotterdam itinerary for 29Mar, it also shows Rotterdam in Bonaire on 02Apr and Carnival Horizon itinerary for 30Mar is also showing the Horizon on 02Apr.  I have read that several HAL cruises have lost Bonaire and get an overnight in either Curacao or Aruba.  Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out if we have Bonaire or do I have to wait for confirmation.

[KAKcruiser]

The website bonaire.portcall.com shows the cruise ship schedule.  They are showing the Rotterdam in Bonaire on April 3.  However HAL is still showing it as April 2.  

[Anubi]

3 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

The website bonaire.portcall.com shows the cruise ship schedule.  They are showing the Rotterdam in Bonaire on April 3.  However HAL is still showing it as April 2.  

Thanks so much!!  I will keep monitoring this.  Problem is, it still shows Horizon on April 2.  

Edited September 6, 2023 by Anubi

[KAKcruiser]

I know.  It also shows a Royal Caribbean ship on April 3 with the Rotterdam.  I don't know how they will resolve this situation.  And, HAL doesn't advise any changes until way after the last minute.

[Anubi]

1 minute ago, KAKcruiser said:

I know.  It also shows a Royal Caribbean ship on April 3 with the Rotterdam.  I don't know how they will resolve this situation.  And, HAL doesn't advise any changes until way after the last minute.

Hopefully, it will be before final payment.  

[cbr663]

I would expect that 2 of those ships will be cancelled.  It's frustrating as HAL knows this and for some reason isn't releasing the details yet.

 

I am seeing lots of people complaining about itinerary changes.  I understand the frustration.  We had a Norway cruise booked for next year and HAL made changes so we transferred it to a 14 day British Isle cruise and it has also been affected by many changes.  So much so that it isn't the same cruise at all and we will be cancelling it.  We also booked a California Coastal cruise and the HAL rep had to share with me 3 changes while booking.  

 

As more and more port cities push back against cruise ships I think you are going to see more and more this.  Personally, I think our cruising days are going to become less as right now we simply don't feel comfortable booking a cruise and then having to deal with so many port changes.   

[Anubi]

2 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

I would expect that 2 of those ships will be cancelled.  It's frustrating as HAL knows this and for some reason isn't releasing the details yet.

 

I am seeing lots of people complaining about itinerary changes.  I understand the frustration.  We had a Norway cruise booked for next year and HAL made changes so we transferred it to a 14 day British Isle cruise and it has also been affected by many changes.  So much so that it isn't the same cruise at all and we will be cancelling it.  We also booked a California Coastal cruise and the HAL rep had to share with me 3 changes while booking.  

 

As more and more port cities push back against cruise ships I think you are going to see more and more this.  Personally, I think our cruising days are going to become less as right now we simply don't feel comfortable booking a cruise and then having to deal with so many port changes.   

We booked this cruise because of Bonaire and its cancelled or if HAL hasn't cleared this up by final payment, we will cancel the HAL cruise.  

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, Anubi said:

We are on the Eurodam and HAL has switched the dates we visit Curacao and Bonaire and that's fine with us.  The problem is, according to Cruise Port Schedule,  Eurodam, Rotterdam and Carnival Horizon are all still scheduled for Thursday 02Apr and Bonaire only allows one ship per day. 

 

I checked with HAL and they have updated our itinerary with the change but when I check the Rotterdam itinerary for 29Mar, it also shows Rotterdam in Bonaire on 02Apr and Carnival Horizon itinerary for 30Mar is also showing the Horizon on 02Apr.  I have read that several HAL cruises have lost Bonaire and get an overnight in either Curacao or Aruba.  Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out if we have Bonaire or do I have to wait for confirmation.

We are booked on the Rotterdam same itinerary Departing March 8 2023. We have been informed via email that the ship will not call on Bonaire and the call in Willemstad Curacao will be extended overnight until to 11:00 pm the next day. I can't say that we are happy with it , but we really have no choice, other than to cancel the cruise.

[KAKcruiser]

But why would they reschedule the Eurodam and Rotterdam if they were going to cancel them?

[Anubi]

2 minutes ago, horseymike said:

We are booked on the Rotterdam same itinerary Departing March 8 2023. We have been informed via email that the ship will not call on Bonaire and the call in Willemstad Curacao will be extended overnight until to 11:00 pm the next day. I can't say that we are happy with it , but we really have no choice, other than to cancel the cruise.

When did you get the email?  Just wondering if we will get one soon.  

[horseymike]

1 minute ago, Anubi said:

When did you get the email?  Just wondering if we will get one soon.  

8/22/2023

[Anubi]

4 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

But why would they reschedule the Eurodam and Rotterdam if they were going to cancel them?

And there is the million dollar question.  LOL

[Anubi]

1 minute ago, horseymike said:

8/22/2023

Ok, so hopefully by the end of September we might hear something.  Thx 

[horseymike]

21 minutes ago, Anubi said:

And there is the million dollar question.  LOL

Both cruise lines are owned by CCL. I would venture to say the bottom line $$$$$ determines which ship actually goes to Bonaire, the initial itinerary offered almost seems like a bait and switch to me. Of course in the fine print of the contract it states their right to change itinerary at any time for any reason.

Edited September 6, 2023 by horseymike
ommission.

[Anubi]

42 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

I would expect that 2 of those ships will be cancelled.  It's frustrating as HAL knows this and for some reason isn't releasing the details yet.

 

I am seeing lots of people complaining about itinerary changes.  I understand the frustration.  We had a Norway cruise booked for next year and HAL made changes so we transferred it to a 14 day British Isle cruise and it has also been affected by many changes.  So much so that it isn't the same cruise at all and we will be cancelling it.  We also booked a California Coastal cruise and the HAL rep had to share with me 3 changes while booking.  

 

As more and more port cities push back against cruise ships I think you are going to see more and more this.  Personally, I think our cruising days are going to become less as right now we simply don't feel comfortable booking a cruise and then having to deal with so many port changes.   

 

7 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Both cruise lines are owned by CCL. I would venture to say the bottom line $$$$$ determines which ship actually goes to Bonaire, the initial itinerary offered almost seems like a bait and switch to me. Of course in the fine print of the contract it states their right to change itinerary at any time for any reason.

Every cruise line uses that small print to their advantage and they have that right.  But you can't blame the ports either for not wanting that many people all at once. Norway is also starting to refuse to allow cruise ships into the fjords.  I know that because we booked Norway for 2025 and its hard to get into certain fjords as of 2025.  We had to book one week on MSC and two weeks on HAL to get to the ports we wanted.      

[OlsSalt]

WSJ today addresses this issue of many ports starting to restrict both size and numbers of cruise ships- a global issue.  I blame the behemoth ships for being the last straw.

 

But it was brewing even before the 6000 passengers ships started showing up. Bigger is simply not better in cruise world. 

[horseymike]

14 minutes ago, Anubi said:

 

Every cruise line uses that small print to their advantage and they have that right.  But you can't blame the ports either for not wanting that many people all at once. Norway is also starting to refuse to allow cruise ships into the fjords.  I know that because we booked Norway for 2025 and it’s hard to get into certain fjords as of 2025.  We had to book one week on MSC and two weeks on HAL to get to the ports we wanted.      

I don’t blame the ports at all. We have been to Bonaire a few times and it seems to me there is only room for one ship 🚢. Hence my concern with regard to the scheduling by the cruise line s.

[Anubi]

5 minutes ago, horseymike said:

I don’t blame the ports at all. We have been to Bonaire a few times and it seems to me there is only room for one ship 🚢. Hence my concern with regard to the scheduling by the cruise line s.

We love Bonaire, its our favourite Caribbean island.  It doesn't have all the usual stores and we love the local market and stores...and it has the BEST snorkelling in the Caribbean.  

[VMax1700]

This article is currently in UK news media.  Only 60,000 tonnes and only 987 pax at max capacity, but the town of 2,240 residents was up in arms about it.  

So, just not the behemoths causing aggravation, but relatively smaller vessels too.

Interesting is that the harbour authority was happy to see the ship whereas the residents, in general, were not.  

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fowey-cornwall-cruise-ship-port-b2404537.html

 

[cbr663]

6 hours ago, horseymike said:

Both cruise lines are owned by CCL. I would venture to say the bottom line $$$$$ determines which ship actually goes to Bonaire, the initial itinerary offered almost seems like a bait and switch to me. Of course in the fine print of the contract it states their right to change itinerary at any time for any reason.

 

Bait and switch is how it feels to me also.  

[cbr663]

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

WSJ today addresses this issue of many ports starting to restrict both size and numbers of cruise ships- a global issue.  I blame the behemoth ships for being the last straw.

 

But it was brewing even before the 6000 passengers ships started showing up. Bigger is simply not better in cruise world. 

 

Ports pushing back against cruise ships is a very strong headwind facing the industry imo.  It honestly makes me wonder why the industry continues to order larger and larger ships when you have communities referring to cruise passengers as locusts.  

 

I agree, bigger is not better in the cruise world.

[KAKcruiser]

The March 29 nine day sailing of the Rotterdam to the ABC Islands has been changed.  Bonaire was switched from April 2 to April 3.  Aruba was switched from April 3 to April 1.  But Curacao was switched for Grand Turk.  This makes no sense.  Why not just switch Bonaire and Aruba and leave Curacao alone?  Or schedule Curacao for April 2 when there are no ships in port. Grand Turk is a very poor substitute for Curacao.    

[wdw1972]

Agree Grand Turk is a poor substitute for Curacao, but I'm reasonably certain these changes are not at the whim of HAL.  Their intent would be to provide the itinerary as booked.  They have no control over the ports, who are causing changes all over the world - mainly due to ports no longer welcoming cruise ships or multiple ships on the same day.  So, it's a domino effect - lots of changes.

 

I'm on the March 8th sailing of this itinerary and we lost Bonaire, but now have an overnight in Curacao.  I'm much happier with that than I would be with your new itinerary!  One of the earlier sailings lost Bonaire and got an overnight in Aruba - yuck.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[KAKcruiser]

I agree that HAL is at the mercy of the ports.  The limitation on ships coming into Bonaire is what started the problem.  However, when there are no ships in port in Curacao on April 2, I don't see what excuse there is for not stopping there as originally intended.