Anthem in January

[kitkat343]

My 4 year old daughter is obsessed with monkeys, so we pulled our 3 children out of school to take a NCL cruise last January.  After final payment, NCL cancelled the port in the Dominican Republic and the morning of Antigua "to help the environment". They continued to advertise the original itinerary , and wouldn't let us or anyone (even people who booked directly with them after the cancellations and weren't notified) to switch to an identical itinerary a few weeks later.  I've found a similar cruise on Anthem of the Seas (it goes to the DR and Antigua - that was the morning that was cut, which was a problem for us since the excursion we wanted to do to visit an island that is a giant tortoise habitat but it is only offered in the morning so we couldn't go) but our cruise is on Anthem of the Seas, scheduled to leave on January 7th.  Am I correct in my understanding that RC cannot sail this ship's itineraries this fall, and if so does anyone know what the plan is to fix it?  My husband barely wants to go on vacation with our kids to begin with, so I'll be in a lot of trouble if the itinerary on this cruise is screwed up also (RC at least has a legitimate reason for changing these itineraries but that isn't going to make him or the kids happy).   This is the forum on NCL's itinerary changes:  

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by kitkat343

[LINDAE3213]

Ports can change at any time for any reason...if the DR / Antigua are the main reason for the trip consider flying there directly for a land only vacation.

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Am I correct in my understanding that RC cannot sail this ship's itineraries this fall, and if so does anyone know what the plan is to fix it?

As of now only the late 2023 sailings to Bahamas are affected by Anthem’s engine issue. No indication that the longer January sailings are affected. 

[CleverUserNameHere]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

As of now only the late 2023 sailings to Bahamas are affected by Anthem’s engine issue. No indication that the longer January sailings are affected. 

 

Which sailings? We just booked Anthem December 3rd which goes to Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, CleverUserNameHere said:

 

Which sailings? We just booked Anthem December 3rd which goes to Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau

Read some of the Anthem related threads but it seems like most/all of them in Nov for now.

[Tatka]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

As of now only the late 2023 sailings to Bahamas are affected by Anthem’s engine issue. No indication that the longer January sailings are affected. 

Our Jan 7th sailing is not affected for now. For next several sailings RCI removed DR or substituted with SJ.

 

 

[Tatka]

You can also consider ships going to St Kitts or Roatan. There are more monkeys there.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Tatka said:

For next several sailings RCI removed DR or substituted with SJ.

Those are likely "regular" port changes, not due to engine issues.

[mets123]

19 minutes ago, Tatka said:

Our Jan 7th sailing is not affected for now. For next several sailings RCI removed DR or substituted with SJ.

 

 

Just the opposite. They used to go to San Juan but substituted DR in 2024.

[Tatka]

23 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Just the opposite. They used to go to San Juan but substituted DR in 2024.

 

I am talking about change that happened to one or several January 2024 cruises. Our January 7th cruise is still (for now going to DR), but other either dropped this port or go to San Juan. I am aware about  Anthem in San Juan in 2023. I was on January 2 cruise.

 

"

Received an email on Thursday that my Jan. 18, 2024 cruise has to drop Puerto Plata and instead replaced it with an evening stop in San Juan(4pm-11pm). Disappointing to have a new port canceled, but it is what is it. However, the next cruise on Jan. 29 dropped Puerto Plata as well but didn't replace it with another port. Additionally, the prior cruise(Jan 7) has kept Puerto Plata and their itinerary remains unchanged. I had assumed PP was dropped as RCCL didn't think the ship could arrive on time as its the first port, but since the previous cruise has kept it, it's a bit odd for the cancellation of Puerto Plata on two of the itineraries, but not all three. Thinking of changing to the Jan 7 cruise just to go to Puerto Plata, but I wonder if RCCL will eventually remove it from that itinerary, too?

 

Dear Guest,

To maintain a safe and comfortable speed along our journey, we’ll now visit San Juan, Puerto Rico instead of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Additionally, we’ve adjusted our arrival and departure times for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis. While we’ll lose a little time in Basseterre, we’ve added an extra two hours in Charlotte Amalie so you can 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 18^th, 2024 itinerary."

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Tatka

[Tatka]

43 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Those are likely "regular" port changes, not due to engine issues.

 

Still a change from DR.

(We are still hoping this will not happen to our crusie)

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

I am talking about change that happened to one or several January 2024 cruises. Our January 7th cruise is still (for now going to DR), but other either dropped this port or go to San Juan. I am aware about  Anthem in San Juan in 2023. I was on January 2 cruise.

 

"

Received an email on Thursday that my Jan. 18, 2024 cruise has to drop Puerto Plata and instead replaced it with an evening stop in San Juan(4pm-11pm). Disappointing to have a new port canceled, but it is what is it. However, the next cruise on Jan. 29 dropped Puerto Plata as well but didn't replace it with another port. Additionally, the prior cruise(Jan 7) has kept Puerto Plata and their itinerary remains unchanged. I had assumed PP was dropped as RCCL didn't think the ship could arrive on time as its the first port, but since the previous cruise has kept it, it's a bit odd for the cancellation of Puerto Plata on two of the itineraries, but not all three. Thinking of changing to the Jan 7 cruise just to go to Puerto Plata, but I wonder if RCCL will eventually remove it from that itinerary, too?

 

Dear Guest,

To maintain a safe and comfortable speed along our journey, we’ll now visit San Juan, Puerto Rico instead of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Additionally, we’ve adjusted our arrival and departure times for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis. While we’ll lose a little time in Basseterre, we’ve added an extra two hours in Charlotte Amalie so you can 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 18^th, 2024 itinerary."

 

 

 

Thanks - this is all very helpful to know since we haven't booked yet.  Weird they've changed the later cruises and not the 1/7 one, which is the one I was looking at.

[Tatka]

12 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Thanks - this is all very helpful to know since we haven't booked yet.  Weird they've changed the later cruises and not the 1/7 one, which is the one I was looking at.

Keeping fingers crossed.

We are not as port oriented as once were, but still want to see this new port.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Tatka