San Juan Cruises

[mmouse37]

The Mayor of San Juan was just on the news pleading for help for her people.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency said this week that Puerto Rico has received 4.4 million meal kits, 6.5 million liters of water.

Yulín Cruz said help has not been reaching residents quickly enough. She said FEMA "has collapsed" in Puerto Rico.

"I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles," she said. "If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, we are going to see something close to a genocide," she said later.

MJ

 

[gotomu212]

The Mayor of San Juan was just on the news pleading for help for her people.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency said this week that Puerto Rico has received 4.4 million meal kits, 6.5 million liters of water
MJ

That sounds like a lot of meals and water, except there are 3.5 million people there and everyone on the island is badly affected. Basically one meal and two liters of water in nine days. It's a wonder there isn't more unrest.

 

[mom4fun]

I’m sure the decision on Disney’s part whether or not to change cruises going to Puerto Rico has to be very difficult. It looks especially tricky for January/ February cruises because all of the cruises have to match up just right and there are 5 interconnected. The first one that involves Puerto Rico starts in Galveston and the last cruise starts in Puerto Rico and ends in Port Canaveral. It would be impossible to do a Southern as it now stands, if they had to leave from one of there current embarkation ports like Miami or Port Canaveral. I find it highly unlikely that they would be able to choose a new foreign port for embarkation and even if they could, the Wonder has to make it back to Port Canaveral in 4 day’s on the last cruise.

 

[cruiser21]

The Mayor of San Juan was just on the news pleading for help for her people.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency said this week that Puerto Rico has received 4.4 million meal kits, 6.5 million liters of water.

Yulín Cruz said help has not been reaching residents quickly enough. She said FEMA "has collapsed" in Puerto Rico.

"I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles," she said. "If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, we are going to see something close to a genocide," she said later.

MJ

Puerto Rico was on the brink of default before this happened. Over 25% of the people on welfare. This is just the icing on the cake to an already bad situation. The officials in PR need to shoulder most of the blame. They obviously weren't prepared for a natural disaster. Everyone knows from past hurricanes that the FEMA response is not that quick.

 

[mmouse37]

Puerto Rico was on the brink of default before this happened. Over 25% of the people on welfare. This is just the icing on the cake to an already bad situation. The officials in PR need to shoulder most of the blame. They obviously weren't prepared for a natural disaster. Everyone knows from past hurricanes that the FEMA response is not that quick.

I didn't post to place blame...I am just showing that they are in dire straits after this storm and I am surprised cruise lines are planning on going there next week.

MJ

 

[tinkerone]

I certainly have not been following along with this thread but I have read the last few pages. I've seen a lot of RCCL beat down and am not sure why exactly. We have a B2B sailing coming up in a few weeks and while not sailing out of SJ we had a stop planned at SJ as well as many of the other ports that had a large amount of damage. RCCL informed us as soon as they knew how much damage and whether or not the ports we were to sail to were going to be up and running. Nothing was hid from us. I'm sure the logistics of having to reroute so many cruises would take a minute or two. They have kept sailings information on their website as up to date as they could. Here is what is posted at the moment.

ITINERARY UPDATES


September 29, 2017 at 2 PM EDT (next update Monday, 10/2 at 2 PM EDT)

Our thoughts and prayers are with our neighbors in San Juan and the other affected islands as they rebuild after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

To learn more about our humanitarian efforts, click here.

The following sailing is being cancelled:

Adventure of the Seas: September 30

Given the impact of Hurricane Maria, we are cancelling this cruise to utilize the ship for evacuation and humanitarian efforts. The ship will operate humanitarian calls in San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Croix to aid in the evacuation and donate critical supplies to each destination. The ship will bring evacuees to Fort Lauderdale before returning to San Juan on October 6 to prepare for the October 7th cruise.

We are very sorry for the impact this storm has had on your vacation. The cruise fare and fees will be 100% refunded to the original form of payment, and we are also offering a 25% future cruise credit, based on the cruise fare, if a new cruise is booked in the next 30 days. Pre-booked shore excursions will also be refunded to your original form of payment.

Future itineraries:

Given Hurricane Irma’s impact to St. Maarten and St. Thomas, as well as Hurricane Maria’s impact to San Juan, we are altering the following ports for future sailings until these islands have fully recovered.

As the recovery effort remains fluid and each island is working diligently to get back to normal operations, we will continue to communicate any port changes approximately four weeks prior to departure.

Adventure of the Seas:

10/7 – St. Croix to Martinique
10/14 – St. Croix to Antigua
10/21 – St. Maarten to St. Kitts
10/28 – St. Maarten to Martinique

We understand that limited hotel availability in San Juan may cause you to alter your travel arrangements. Airlines are being flexible with waiving change fees, so please check with your carrier, and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Allure of the Seas:

10/1 – St. Thomas & San Juan to Cozumel & Costa Maya
10/15 – St. Maarten & San Juan to Cozumel & Costa Maya

Enchantment of the Seas:

10/2 & 10/9 – Freeport back to Key West

Harmony of the Seas:

10/7 – St. Maarten, San Juan & Labadee to Nassau, Cozumel & Costa Maya
10/21 – St. Thomas, San Juan & Labadee to Nassau, Cozumel & Costa Maya

Serenade of the Seas:

10/20 – St. Thomas & St. Maarten to St. Kitts & Antigua

Oasis of the Seas:

10/8 – St. Maarten, San Juan & Labadee to Nassau, Cozumel & Costa Maya
10/22 – St. Maarten & San Juan to Nassau & Falmouth

Information on RCCL seems to be coming our as soon as they get it. I'm fairly sure that all of the cruise lines are having issues and while I know this is a DCL website and meant to promote DCL (and I love DCL) they have had issues in the past with sailings, think about hurricane Sandy (I think it was Sandy) where everyone was beating up on DCL because she decided to sail through it.
My point is, don't point fingers. They are all doing their best in a very bad situation. And it wouldn't hurt for each cruise company to send a ship out to help those in need, paid or not. Yup, there would be a few unhappy cruisers but there would be some thankful people who have no other options. So good on you RCCL for doing what you can, for what ever reason your doing it.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I certainly have not been following along with this thread but I have read the last few pages. I've seen a lot of RCCL beat down and am not sure why exactly. We have a B2B sailing coming up in a few weeks and while not sailing out of SJ we had a stop planned at SJ as well as many of the other ports that had a large amount of damage. RCCL informed us as soon as they knew how much damage and whether or not the ports we were to sail to were going to be up and running. Nothing was hid from us. I'm sure the logistics of having to reroute so many cruises would take a minute or two. They have kept sailings information on their website as up to date as they could. Here is what is posted at the moment.

ITINERARY UPDATES


September 29, 2017 at 2 PM EDT (next update Monday, 10/2 at 2 PM EDT)

Adventure of the Seas: The ship will bring evacuees to Fort Lauderdale before returning to San Juan on October 6 to prepare for the October 7th cruise.

Information on RCCL seems to be coming our as soon as they get it. I'm fairly sure that all of the cruise lines are having issues and while I know this is a DCL website and meant to promote DCL (and I love DCL) they have had issues in the past with sailings, think about hurricane Sandy (I think it was Sandy) where everyone was beating up on DCL because she decided to sail through it.
My point is, don't point fingers. They are all doing their best in a very bad situation. And it wouldn't hurt for each cruise company to send a ship out to help those in need, paid or not. Yup, there would be a few unhappy cruisers but there would be some thankful people who have no other options. So good on you RCCL for doing what you can, for what ever reason your doing it.

The problem with RCCL is that they expect a cruise ship to embark in San Juan a week from today. The poor cruisers have had flights and hotels cancelled. Rccl will not cancel and release heir funds so they can salvage their vacation days, nor will they allow those cruisers to switch to a different sailing. It is baffling. PR is a complete disaster and seems to be getting worse, not better. How can 3000 cruisers possibly
descend upon San Juan this week?

 

[cruiser21]

I didn't post to place blame...I am just showing that they are in dire straits after this storm and I am surprised cruise lines are planning on going there next week.

MJ

My point was the island was in bad economic shape before the hurricane. I don't see a recovery for years. I think at some point cruiselines will realize it's not safe to go there. I saw an interview with Kurt Shilling who is there doing relief work. He said he's seen the best and worst of humanity in the last 48 hours. I can only imagine what the "worst" is.. The money is and supplies are pouring in. It's just not being implemented well. That's mostly on local officials. She should probably start working with FEMA and stop complaining.

 

[tinkerone]

The problem with RCCL is that they expect a cruise ship to embark in San Juan a week from today. The poor cruisers have had flights and hotels cancelled. Rccl will not cancel and release heir funds so they can salvage their vacation days, nor will they allow those cruisers to switch to a different sailing. It is baffling. PR is a complete disaster and seems to be getting worse, not better. How can 3000 cruisers possibly
descend upon San Juan this week?

There are no easy answers for the cruise lines. They could cancel everything for the next month: half the customers would be thrilled to get a refund and move on. The other half upset that it was done too soon.

Prayers for all affected by the hurricanes. And now I'm moving on.

 

[AquaDame]

Puerto Rico was on the brink of default before this happened. Over 25% of the people on welfare. This is just the icing on the cake to an already bad situation. The officials in PR need to shoulder most of the blame. They obviously weren't prepared for a natural disaster. Everyone knows from past hurricanes that the FEMA response is not that quick.

I didn't post to place blame...I am just showing that they are in dire straits after this storm and I am surprised cruise lines are planning on going there next week.

MJ

My point was the island was in bad economic shape before the hurricane. I don't see a recovery for years. I think at some point cruiselines will realize it's not safe to go there. I saw an interview with Kurt Shilling who is there doing relief work. He said he's seen the best and worst of humanity in the last 48 hours. I can only imagine what the "worst" is.. The money is and supplies are pouring in. It's just not being implemented well. That's mostly on local officials. She should probably start working with FEMA and stop complaining.

Lets try to stay away from political finger pointing if we can and just the condition of the island/port as MJ was saying please! We're treading into political debate territory.

 

[cruiser21]

Lets try to stay away from political finger pointing if we can and just the condition of the island/port as MJ was saying please! We're treading into political debate territory.

I did not bring up the mayor of San Juan MJ did. I was not trying to make it political. I was simply pointing out that San Juan is not Houston or Florida. I would not expect a speedy recovery.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Carinival Fascination is sailing out of SJ this month.

• October 15, 22 and 29
  Departing on a 7 day cruise to Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts.
• November 12
  Departing on a 7 day cruise to Martinique, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts.
• November 19 through November 26
  Departing on a 7 day cruise to Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts.

NCL is also paying agents extra commission to sell the upcoming San Juan departures.

So, given these things, I think a January sailing is a safe bet with DCL.

 

[MUN]

I was simply pointing out that San Juan is not Houston or Florida. I would not expect a speedy recovery.

What do you mean by that?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What do you mean by that?

Without speaking for that user, you have an island that is wholly dependent on stuff being brought in via ship, with an expired Jnes Act exemption, and infrastructure that was already crumbling before the hurricane. Stuff cannot simply be trucked in from Missouri.

 

[cmwade77]

The hard part is the truckers are refusing or perhaps are unable to work to move things across the country.

 

[cmwade77]

Without speaking for that user, you have an island that is wholly dependent on stuff being brought in via ship, with an expired Jnes Act exemption, and infrastructure that was already crumbling before the hurricane. Stuff cannot simply be trucked in from Missouri.

There has been extension for the exemption that is now signed, but it took some time, presumably they wanted to make sure the cure wasn't worse than the disease, but who knows for sure why it took a couple of weeks to get that in place.

That being said, they still need a way to transport the relief across the country.

 

[AquaDame]

The hard part is the truckers are refusing or perhaps are unable to work to move things across the country.

It's likely more the latter....

http://www.politifact.com/punditfac...ews-posts-blame-puerto-ricos-truck-drivers-r/

http://www.snopes.com/puerto-rico-teamsters/

Getting back on topic it sounds like other cruise lines have successfully home ported there... now we just wait and see what happens in later December I guess? December 2nd was modified a bit ago.

• Tropical Weather Update
  October 3, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
  
  Based on the hurricane recovery efforts taking place in the Eastern Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line is making adjustments to the following itineraries:
  
  Disney Fantasy - October 7 and October 21 Sailings
  The October 7 and October 21 Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean sailings are being modified to include ports of call in the Western Caribbean. These revised sailings will now visit Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Castaway Cay.
  
  Disney Fantasy – November 4 Sailing
  The November 4 Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean sailing is being modified to include ports of call in the Western Caribbean. This revised sailing will now visit Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Castaway Cay.
  
  Disney Fantasy – November 18 and the December 2 Sailings
  The November 18 and December 2 Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean sailings are being modified to include ports of call in the Western Caribbean. This revised sailing will now visit Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Castaway Cay.
  
  Please know that further changes may be needed as Puerto Rico and the Eastern Caribbean islands continue to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. We will notify Guests should additional changes be necessary.
  
  Should you have any questions related to a future reservation, please call us at 1-855-347-2784 or 407-566-7054.
  

 

[Tulip2796]

The hard part is the truckers are refusing or perhaps are unable to work to move things across the country.

Let's remember the PR is not a country but instead a commonwealth of the US. And while some claim that truckers are refusing, unable is more likely. They themselves have limited supplies and have families to care for. People in some places are still getting water via PVC pipe from a stream. Most of the island has no power. It is not business as usual there.

 

[bumbershoot]

And while some claim that truckers are refusing, unable is more likely. They themselves have limited supplies and have families to care for.

Ayep.
***************

The 10/7 Royal sailing went off fine. The sailing on the 14th will be interesting since the ship won't be there to stay on the night before. And many hotels are still closed. But if there's one time the cruiseline KNOWS people are going to be flying in the day of, it's right now...

Of course this is about panamerica, not the OSJ port.


I think it's really important to remember that San Juan is not the same as many other areas of the island. It's got the big airport, it's where ships have been coming in with supplies, it's possible it's a bit more modern than other areas (though I don't know as I haven't been beyond OSJ and Condado...but a friend of mine from Ponce doesn't indicate that it's *not* modern there), and it's got the cruiseships that want to come in to bring tourists, so there's motivation.

 

[SteelersLover]

Carnival's announcement yesterday evening has the Fascination's southern itineraries cancelled this Saturday through January in efforts to assist fema. That's big. I'm in the 12/1 Magic out of SanJuan. Just playing the waiting game.