What's up with the Star???

[davidrod]

I have been closely following the Star Princess this week, trying to figure out where it is going now that Princess Cays and Cayman were unavailable.

 

To my surprise, the ship made a stop in Cayman yesterday after stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel. But now when I checked this morning it is in Montego Bay instead of Ocho Rios.

 

Is this normal for Princess to change their itineraries like this? I can understand that with the hurricanes, there is a high level of incertainty regarding Grand Cayman, for I don't know what to make of this last move.

 

As an avid reader of these boards, I soon learned AFTER my first cruise that you do NOT want to book the excursions through the ship as they charge wayyy to much for the exact same excursions.

 

Being a control freak (otherwise I wouldn't even be reading these boards) I like to have all of my excursions planned out way before I get on board, many times pre-registering (and pre-paying) for many of them.

 

How do we go about this???

 

I mean, I don't want to be stuck having to pay for an excursion in Ocho Rios that I wouldn't be able to use, and then having to pay the ship full price for an excursion in Montego Bay...

 

On a positive note, I gotta say I'm happy about this since I have been in Ocho Rios before, and since I hate days at sea, 4 ports (2 of them new for me) look better than ever.

Can't wait... 3 more weeks to go....

[KAJOKG]

All cruise lines change ports of call from time to time for a variety of reasons, but never just on a whim. Reasons are always valid, and if you are booked on an excursion which is cancelled, your payment is refundable. We were in Grand Cayman last week...we did not take an excursion there, but we walked around town and everything in that area is okay. In fact, we were surprised at how quickly the port area was cleaned up! I did hear that there are still many, many folks without electricity. When you travel anywhere, land or sea, you just have to prepared to go with the flow. Some of our better experiences in our travels turned out to be pleasant surprises.

[Toto2Kansas]

When you choose to book your own independent excursions, that is the change you take with skipping a port. It is one reason why many will book ship excursions only, as the ship will refund your money should this excursion be cancelled by them for any reason.

Especially if independent excursions need a CC upfront. Make sure any that you book can be cancelled if the ship does not visit that port, otherwise you are just outta luck.

[karen2cruz]

Davidrod- I understand your concern and I plan way in advance too. In fact, Princess just switched around the Golden itinerary (in January only). So, I just notified the dive ops we're using to inform them of the change and to watch to see if there are any others.

 

Most companies which get their business from cruise guests will not charge you if the ship does not come to the port. Besides these are Caribbean cruises, they are way laid back and as they say there "no problem, mon".

[Team P]

Have you contacted princess to see if any of these changes are official or will be in the future? We are on the Nov 21st sailing of the Star and I read to day that we are scheduled to be in Grand Cayman from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm which on my princess itinerary it still shows 12:00 noon to 5:30pm...Who knows... I actually still have Princess Cays showing on my schedule too??? I am so curious....

[DEERINH2O]

TeamP

 

We are also on the 11/21 sailing of the Star. My Personalizer shows 12 -7, where do you see 8-5?

Now I am really confused, I know that when you book a cruise, changes happen, I would just like to know where in the heck we are going and at what time.....

I have excursions booked for both GC and Ocho, though I won't get charged if I don't show, but I would hate to be without anything because we change on a daily basis.

[joanne1]

I see there are 2 threads going on this topic - they started going to Grand Cayman this week.

 

As for Ocho Rios . . . interesting - when I checked the cam last night it said that it was heading for Ocho Rios. I will have to ask my daughter (a dancer on the ship) when she calls . . . but it probably won't be until tomorrow or Sunday. I will post if I hear anything.

[Team P]

I read the info about the hours in Grand Cayman on the Cayman port sight. The link can be found under a post on the Cayman Islands. If you click on Star on Nov 25th you see that the port has us scheduled for 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. I wonder what is going on in OCHO