Tortola gone

[mtlcpl91]

The powers that be have just removed Tortola from My Explorer cruise out of NJ on Feb 1 2009, and replaced it with all included day at sea.

Anyone with opinions and/or comments please fell free to add.

[HorrorFan]

The powers that be have just removed Tortola from My Explorer cruise out of NJ on Feb 1 2009, and replaced it with all included day at sea.

Anyone with opinions and/or comments please fell free to add.

RCI is playing with a lot of their itineraries. Not much you can do except cancel, but even that isn't an option for most if you already booked flights.:(

[scottie99]

As a Brit who visited Tortola on HAL cruise last year, I can say you are better off with a sea day.

I thought the place was a dump!

[Bobal]

Well I for one am not happy:mad:. Firstly, I want to visit as many places as possible and this (whether a dump or not) would have been one more place to tick off the list (I'd even decided what I wanted to do while there) but also I've only just found this out when I've gone into the itinerary and seen it's disappared. Couldn't RCCL at least have the courtesy to let us know.

[wvufan]

I was scheduled on the Explorer for a 12 night cruise out of Bayonne in Jan 2010. They cancelled the first port (San Juan) and I eventually cancelled that cruise and booked on another line.

 

One of the problems with Tortola is that it is a long reach from there to Bayonne or Baltimore, and they often had to leave by early or mid afternoon to get home on schedule. So, it was hard to get to the Baths which is one of the most gorgeous places in the Caribbean.

 

Now, with both Celebrity and RCL sailing slower for better fuel mileage, you can look for ports to be eliminated or the hours in port to be shortened.

 

I wouldn't mind it so much if we weren't already being charged a fuel supplement.

 

We loved Tortola-great snorkeling at Brewer's Bay.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[gatour]

As others have said, RCCL have been doing this a lot recently. My Med cruise in March has had an itinerary that could only be related to fuel burn issues.

 

Not much you can do except to cancel the cruise and write a letter as to why you canceled.

 

Btw, I kind of liked Tortola, but my wife and parents who were traveling with us weren't too impressed. We basically took an island tour and I thought it was okay, but it gave me ideas on where to go on our own the next time we are in Tortola. I think that would improve my wife's idea of Tortola.

 

Bobal, I also understand your pain. I am also in a bucket list type mode. One cruise I try to encompass new islands or completely new itineraries while the next is usually the old standby's of eastern or western Caribbean.

[jst]

To Scottie99,

If you want to see a dump fo to Belize!!!

You obviosly didn't tour the island properly, it is very beautiful:)

[traveler/]

If my flight is changed, I get an email from the airline indicating the change.

I think RCL should notify any booked passengers ASAP when there is an itinerary change, be it port or arrival/departure.

[struther1]

I received the word yesterday that it was removed from my Explorer cruise of 2/22. I love sea days. No problem with me..I will be on a cruise and away from the weather in Ohio

[01821]

If my flight is changed, I get an email from the airline indicating the change.

I think RCL should notify any booked passengers ASAP when there is an itinerary change, be it port or arrival/departure.

 

 

Pur TA notified us right away about Tortola being cancelled, and we got $50 OBC, I believe because the cancellation was after final payment.

[startraveler]

We did a non-RCI cruise which included Tortola, and I'll have to say, I'll be hard-pressed to remember anything specific about the place. We did an island tour, but there wasn't anything good or bad that stood out (aside from finding where to get my U.S. passport stamped.)

 

If you haven't been to Tortola before, then missing it may be a bad thing. But on a ship with things to do, having an extra sea day may be a good thing, allowing you to catch-up on the things you want to do but couldn't.

[mtlcpl91]

It was just that we found out about the itinerary change on the site before Royal Caribbean or our T/A emailed us the updated itinerary. RCCI knows that you will spend your money on the ship that extra sea day, plus they can reduce speed because now they have an extra day to get back to New Jersey. I guess its a win/win situation for them once again.

[cage keeper]

I found out about this cancelation a couple of weeks ago from our M&M group. Still haven't heard anything from RCL of TA.:rolleyes:

[Shanafan]

The powers that be have just removed Tortola from My Explorer cruise out of NJ on Feb 1 2009, and replaced it with all included day at sea.

Anyone with opinions and/or comments please fell free to add.

Want to join us? We are doing a 3 couple catamaran out of Tortola in December. We have only been there once, and when a friend told us their Dad had a sailboat there we "hired" him as our captain and rented a catamaran. I am excited to go to all the BVI's and see the one island we finally went to and it was rainy and nasty and the cruise company cancelled all the excursions to. Can't wait to have another painkiller at Pussers!

[sisocialworker]

I received the word yesterday that it was removed from my Explorer cruise of 2/22. I love sea days. No problem with me..I will be on a cruise and away from the weather in Ohio

 

my DW is originally from Huber Heights and feels the same way...still we would have liked at least an email that is was being removed and an OBC wouldn't hurt either:rolleyes:

[snowbird1]

We had major changes to our IND TA cruise coming up next April. There were drastic changes and a lot of people cancelled the cruise completely once the word got out. I have no idea why RCCL seems to lead the pack in doing this. They want to fill the ships for these sailings but then they cut the ports people want to visit so it is almost like cutting your nose off despite your face (if you will).

[ali07]

That's too bad... I would be annoyed. If you are really interested in going to Tortola, Celebrity Solstice has cruises going there (out of Fort Lauderdale...we're trying it in March).

 

Whatever you do, hope you have a nice trip with no bad weather.:)

 

Ali

[Mango Tango]

We're on the Grandeur repo cruise Nov. 2009. We're scheduled to go to Tortola. As of right now, it's still listed as a port on RCCL's website. I hope they don't change that. We were in Tortola in January and took the ferry over to Virgin Gorda and went to the Baths. We were thinking of going there again. Hopefully, we will be able to.

[aqhacruiser]

RCCL called us a few weeks ago and notified us Tortola was dropped from our 11/30/08 and we are getting OBC most likely because it was very close to final pmt and many had tours booked already. San Juan has been dropped off my 4/26/09, 10/29/09 and 1/14/2010 also. We are waiting to see if Tortola disappears from our 4/26/09 along with San Juan as that's a 13 night cruise and if we lose Tortola too it will be 3 seadays out and 3 seadays back. Good thing we love sea days!:) BTW we do not get any OBC for the cruises they dropped San Juan from in 2009 as we were notified months in advance.