Just got email from RCCL that Anthem Thanksgiving cruise will skip Port Canaveral

[teddie]

7 hours ago, elizabethbp said:

I just got an email that Anthem this Nov. on the Thanksgiving cruise will skip Port Canaveral and we get 2 more hours in CocoCay.

 

That is totally fine with me, as I thought Port Canaveral was a waste of time, but not sure how others will react and not sure if this is just as  to this one cruise.

Same for the Anthem cruise directly following yours. I’m ok with it because I love sea days. 
Teddie

[rockon391]

8 hours ago, mkmaj said:

The November 12 cruise is skipping Nassau. I'd much rather skip port Canaveral.

I am on this and received no such communication.

 

I also booked this to only go to Atlantis in Nassau. If this is true I will be IRATE. 

[mets123]

4 hours ago, roe2ship said:

When did you get a notice about that and which port  did they elimanate?  Have not received notification of any changes

About April. Sorry, but it was the 1/29 sailing.

 

Dear Guest,

To maintain a safe and comfortable speed along our journey, we’ll now have a sea day instead of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Additionally, we’ve adjusted our arrival and departure times for a few of our ports. While we’ll lose a little time in some of these stops, we’ve added an extra two hours in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas to explore everything this beautiful destination has to offer! We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this. Nevertheless, we’re excited to sail away with you! Below, please find our revised Anthem of the Seas January 29^th, 2024 itinerary.

Day	Port of Call	Arrive	Depart
Mon	Cape Liberty, New Jersey		3:00 PM
Tue	Cruising
Wed	Cruising
Thu	Cruising
Fri	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas	9:00 AM	7:00 PM
Sat	Philipsburg, St. Maarten	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
Sun	Castries, St. Lucia	9:30 AM	5:00 PM
Mon	Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis	7:30 AM	3:00 PM
Tue	Cruising
Wed	Cruising
Thu	Cruising
Fri	Cape Liberty, New Jersey	6:00 AM

[mets123]

I wish someone would ask the captain at the 'Captain's Corner ' forum on the ship why this is happening. And do you think he would give an honest answer?

[sowhat]

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I received a couple notifications and they have skipped a port on each one.  Something must be up with Anthems propulsion system.  They have been doing these same itineraries for years without issue.

Why do you say this, on board Anthem  of the Seas now  , no issues. Please do not spread  false  information
So the answer  is NO!!

[swaffs]

I'm on 25/12 sailing and have until 15 October to make final payment. Never been to Caribbean so this is really keeping me up at night.. was to be our dream xmas holiday.

Skipping Nassau without any compensation feels like a deal killer to me..

 

[mkmaj]

5 hours ago, rockon391 said:

I am on this and received no such communication.

 

I also booked this to only go to Atlantis in Nassau. If this is true I will be IRATE. 

Unfortunately, it's true. Received it in an email.

[Cruise a holic]

15 hours ago, elizabethbp said:

I just got an email that Anthem this Nov. on the Thanksgiving cruise will skip Port Canaveral and we get 2 more hours in CocoCay.

 

That is totally fine with me, as I thought Port Canaveral was a waste of time, but not sure how others will react and not sure if this is just as  to this one cruise.

I agree, Port Canaveral a waste of time, we never get off the ship at that port.

[DigiPro]

55 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

I agree, Port Canaveral a waste of time, we never get off the ship at that port.

I’d be quite upset with that revised itinerary, only 2 ports.  I’d rather skip PC instead of Nassau, although I’ve been to Nassau many times.  Arriving so early in PC could be a positive if there is an early excursion to Disney.  It’s about 75 minutes to Magic Kingdom.  If the excursion can get you there at 9am, you’d have a good 5.5hrs to explore.  If Disney is of no interest, there’s Sea World or Universal.  And, of course, the spaceships.  Just trying to make lemonade out of this lemon.

[pyrateslife4me84]

4 hours ago, sowhat said:

Why do you say this, on board Anthem  of the Seas now  , no issues. Please do not spread  false  information
So the answer  is NO!!

That’s rather defensive. They are either cutting a port on multiple cruises because of engine issues, a desire to save fuel, or due to incompetence booking the ports. 
 

I wonder which company Royal wants to be here. 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 hours ago, sowhat said:

Why do you say this, on board Anthem  of the Seas now  , no issues. Please do not spread  false  information
So the answer  is NO!!

I provided one logical explanation.  I would be more than happy to hear any explanations that you have.  BTW, with how tight they have some of these schedules even something that causes a small reduction of speed that poses zero risk to safety can play havoc with being able to maintain the schedules.

[pyrateslife4me84]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I provided one logical explanation.  I would be more than happy to hear any explanations that you have.  BTW, with how tight they have some of these schedules even something that causes a small reduction of speed that poses zero risk to safety can play havoc with being able to maintain the schedules.

Exactly. If they have to cruise at 20 mph instead of 25 mph, most passengers won’t feel a difference but you aren’t getting to Canaveral in a day and a half. 
 

I do wonder—this seems to happen a lot with the 7-day itinerary. It should either be an 8-day or they should drop Canaveral altogether. 

[dianawill]

16 hours ago, Kilianblythe1180 said:

I'm on the Nov. 12th sailing and missing Nassau is disappointing as is now leaving Orlando at 4:30 instead of 8:00.  Also the Cococay day has moved to being with Liberty to now Allure, meaning more people.

 

Overall, sadly disappointing.  Still will likely have a great cruise!

I seem to remember being hit with an extra charge for Nassau port fees? I cannot find a detailed listing for the cruise but the notice that Nassau will be skipped, did not mention refunding the Nassau port fees? Any idea?

[Ourusualbeach]

9 minutes ago, dianawill said:

I seem to remember being hit with an extra charge for Nassau port fees? I cannot find a detailed listing for the cruise but the notice that Nassau will be skipped, did not mention refunding the Nassau port fees? Any idea?

The increase in port fees for Bahamas ports started with visits Jan 1, 2024 and onwards.  There were no increases for 2023 visits

Edited September 28, 2023 by Ourusualbeach

[dianawill]

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The increase in port fees for Bahamas ports started with visits Jan 1, 2024 and onwards.  There were no increases for 2023 visits

But there is a port fee for Nassau, even without the increase. I think the amount is around $350, prior to the increase

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, dianawill said:

But there is a port fee for Nassau, even without the increase. I think the amount is around $350, prior to the increase

It was under $20 per person.  The cruise line is under no obligation to refund that.  The bulk of what is listed as port fees and taxes is not the port stop but the embarkation and debarkation port fees and taxes

[dianawill]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It was under $20 per person.  The cruise line is under no obligation to refund that.  The bulk of what is listed as port fees and taxes is not the port stop but the embarkation and debarkation port fees and taxes

$353 port tax for a port that we not stopping in? 

[dianawill]

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It was under $20 per person.  The cruise line is under no obligation to refund that.  The bulk of what is listed as port fees and taxes is not the port stop but the embarkation and debarkation port fees and taxes

Even if it is $40, just for Nassau, why am I charged for a port we not stopping in? I'd settle for a few drink vouchers or OBC.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, dianawill said:

$353 port tax for a port that we not stopping in? 

Port fees and taxes includes charges from your embarkation and debarkation port which make up the bulk of the fees.  Bahamas tax as I mentioned was no more than $20 pp

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, dianawill said:

Even if it is $40, just for Nassau, why am I charged for a port we not stopping in? I'd settle for a few drink vouchers or OBC.

Because the cruise line is under no obligation to return it.

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, DigiPro said:

I’d be quite upset with that revised itinerary, only 2 ports.  I’d rather skip PC instead of Nassau, although I’ve been to Nassau many times.  Arriving so early in PC could be a positive if there is an early excursion to Disney.  It’s about 75 minutes to Magic Kingdom.  If the excursion can get you there at 9am, you’d have a good 5.5hrs to explore.  If Disney is of no interest, there’s Sea World or Universal.  And, of course, the spaceships.  Just trying to make lemonade out of this lemon.

Did it once hardly any time.  Ship only provides transportation.  Ticket prices for a couple of hours insane.  If we go to Disney, we do independent of cruise.  Then we might take a cruise a few days later from Port Canaveral.  Remember if you don’t get transportation from cruise line and for whatever reason get delayed, you can miss the 🛳️ 

[rjrpar]

15 hours ago, mets123 said:

I got the same notice a couple of months ago about our 1/7/24 11 night Anthem cruise. Same bs, now going to only 4 ports instead of the usual 5 ports. They want to make our guest experience better. What's the chance of getting some,OBC to compensate?

We are on this same cruise and haven’t heard anything about dropping a port.  Just got our final invoice yesterday and it’s showing the same 5 original ports????

[toad455]

I'm now fully expecting Puerto Plata to get cancelled on my Jan. 7 cruise soon.

[GimmeOcean]

9 hours ago, mets123 said:

About April. Sorry, but it was the 1/29 sailing.

Seems odd that they knew about this in April and are only now getting around to canceling ports on Oct/Nov sailings (and not December as of yet). Very confusing. Maybe those changes were for a different reason.

[pyrateslife4me84]

Nassau now removed for the December 3, 10, and 17th sailings.