RCVoyager

You could be right. I think it will all come down to damage at SJU. Good luck.

The storm is over Puerto Rico now. It should be long gone by Saturday. Then the question will be how much damage to Puerto Rico and the ports you are scheduled to go to. I hope you have a great time. The most number of days I've been on a ship in a year is 26. I'm a little jealous of your 35.

You're welcome. When I say you have to finesse marinetraffic.com, I mean that you have to read it carefully. The cruise ships are in the big blue icons. Oftentimes there is an old reading for a particular ship (say 12 hours ago). Then when you go ahead in the general direction that ship was going you may see a smaller blue icon identified as "passenger vessel". Most of the time, that is the ship you are tracking from the 12 hour old reading. There is something in the website that doesn't always identify the ships by name.

Here are two more websites I really like: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ http://www.cruisetimetables.com/ Marine traffic is supposed to show you the location of all the ships, all the time. It does pretty well. You have to learn how to finesse it a little. cruise time tables shows the schedule of port of embarkation or port of call around the world sometimes more than a year in advance. I use them both almost daily.

Hey dj. Looks like you are new here. Probably the number 1 most discussed topic on this board is getting to your location the day before your cruise or buying insurance at the time of purchase. Obviously, it's way too late for that now. You may get lucky, based upon the timeline given, and I hope so. If so, have a great cruise, and please next time spend an extra day at the beginning in the home port of your ship.

I've mentioned this before, but RCCL and this forum is a lot like a family with RCCL being the parents. We, the children, sometimes have minor gripes about this or that, but always with the understanding RCCL (our parents) are trying to do the best they can with the information at hand. Then a newbie comes along in his/her first post with unreasonable complaints, and we all circle the wagons around RCCL. I really like that about this forum.

Most buildings are gone. The beach is gone. Not sure how those poor people will recover.

Original Poster. Sorry should have explained. by the way, thanks for the info on the Allure. I was not aware of her mechanical issues.

Totally agree on St. Croix. What a wonderful place. I would retire there if the wife would agree to it.

It's also worth mentioning, Cozumel is probably more than 1,000 miles from the area you are sailing to.

Thanks for the explanation rjac. Maybe not to the OP, but I believe this ship and cruise would be just fine. 99% of cruises go on as planned just fine. This particular ship and cruise have been affected by two issues that are not really in RCCL's control. There is not a speed regulation, but rather a limitation that is attributed to a mechanical problem. The repair is scheduled, and I'd be willing to bet those whose January cruises were cancelled due to the repair would gladly trade a cancelled cruise for a change or two in itinerary. I wouldn't want to be switched out of St. Thomas either, but nobody can control the weather. The OP didn't state exactly when her cruise was, but it sounds like she's made final payment which means she's probably within 60 days of sailing. Again, I understand her frustration, but she is sailing in hurricane season. It sounds like St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and other ports will be out of service for several months. Folks scheduled to port there over the winter will also probably be aced out because of a hurricane in September. At least they have some time to reschedule if a particular port is that important. I don't think the OP stated if she/he has much cruising experience. It kind of sounds like she/he doesn't. Cruising is wonderful in so many ways, but it's not magic. RCCL can't help a mechanical issue or the weather. One of the wonderful things about cruising is the the cruise lines understand the value (non magical) that passengers expect. And they deliver 99% of the time. I hope the OP can go with the flow. Sure be a little sad that you're not going to St. Kitts or St. Thomas. But, San Juan is amazing. Depending on which pier the Allure uses in San Juan, you are at most a 10 minute cab ride from 2 massive forts that are more than 400 years old. The shopping is good. There is a rain forest, and a big city with all sorts of great things to do for the day. For the most part, it's not a great beach place, but Labadee is. And it has all the great things to do mentioned by others. Relax, enjoy, and report back to us after it's over.

I've been cruising for 25 years, and I've never heard of "speed regulations". Maybe someone could expand on that. I can tell you the RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, and all the others consistently deliver as promised, and in many cases go way above what is required of them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but that's been my experience. These itineraries are typically scheduled more than a year in advance, and in 99% of cases are itineraries that have been done hundreds, if not thousands, of times. All kinds of issues come up from acts of God to mechanical problems to regulation changes. The lines are typically good at advising and compensating passengers. It looks like your cruise substituted San Juan for St. Kitts. Maybe there is a new unforeseen law in St. Kitts, I don't know. San Juan is an amazing place with so much history. Then they dropped St. Thomas for Labadee due to the hurricane. Most people find Labadee to be a really nice day in port. It's not like they're dropping you off in down town Port-au-Prince. I hope you'll give the two new ports a chance. I would also be disappointed not going to St. Thomas and St. Kitts. But, San Juan is fantastic, and they take good care of passengers in Labadee. As a side note, I would love for RCCL to use St. Croix more during the reconstruction of St. Maarten. It is a great place to visit.

I just read an article of how bad things are on St. Maarten. Destruction is everywhere. Looting and crime are rampant. 100 prisoners escaped from a prison. Relief supplies being stolen upon arrival. There will have to be some law and order before anything else. Scary stuff.

I don't know who had to pay what. It was widely reported in Houston that those on board for up to 5 extra days did not have to pay, and in fact were given free internet and telephone. Back to my point, I hope they didn't force anyone out into an evacuating city.

I think the cruise lines have done a really good job, for the most part, in Houston and in Florida during these two storms. However, I don't think the cruise lines should have forced passengers off the ship into an evacuating city. I like the idea of coming in a day early and letting anyone off who wants to get off, but they should have taken the remainder out of the way of the storm in my opinion.

I agree, but I'll mention to please be sure the 3 youngsters are familiar with all the aspects of safety being separated from you by so many rooms. Glad your 19 year old is a male. I know it's not pc to say, but I was nervous enough with daughters 19 and 17 being across the hall last year. I would not have been comfortable with them being further down the hall... let alone a half a ship away. I don't say these things to scare you, but you and your kids need to be vigilant on a ship just as you would in the a safe part of a city at night.

Just need to go to the Guest Services desk to get an extra key to one of the rooms. Did it last June.

Probably not the right time to talk about it with people's lives on the line, but I would much rather go to St. Croix than St. Marteen to begin with. If the upcoming Independence itineraries switch, I will book one as soon as I can.

Jose appears to be a non issue as it will turn North and head into the Atlantic. However, all the Florida weekend turn arounds are in trouble from Irma. Many have already altered their schedules.

ABC Islands are in the clear. In fact, that is currently the one safe place in the Caribbean for ships to be. I saw RCCL changed the Adventure's current itinerary from a Sea day Thursday and St. Maarten on Friday to Bonaire on Thursday and Sea day on Friday. Other than that, I think the Adventure will be ok. The storm will be clear of San Juan before Saturday's turnaround. The cruise lines can work around most storms... unless the home port gets hit. It happened in Galveston last week, and it's about to happen to Florida on the weekend. With Galveston there were less than half dozen ships affected. Between Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Port Canaveral, this is going to affect dozens of sailings on several cruise lines. It looks like a real mess. Hopefully no one gets hurt.

I don't disagree with you. However, two families I know (parents, adult children, grandchildren) plan their cruises (about 1 every other year per group) in the fall because otherwise they wouldn't be able to afford to go. So far, neither has had a bad experience. While it's true that both families are playing with fire, I think I'd do the same if that was the only way I could get to go to the Caribbean with my family.

It's looking like Saturday/Sunday departures in Florida this weekend could be a problem as the hurricane could be there at the same time as the cruise changeover. Could be another storm coming right behind it too. September 10th is the annual peak, and it appears to be holding true this year.

I think the 10% to the US from this position is probably correct. However, the one thing that causes them to be steered to the US from here is strong high pressure over the Atlantic (often called a Bermuda High). It is in place in spades right now. Additionally, while I'm concerned for the US, I'm also concerned for the islands my family and I love so much. All of the Leewards, Pureto Rico, Hispanola, and Turks and Caicos are in the cross hairs.

That would be unusual as most storms begin to turn North way before the ABCs. Although Harvey was unusual too.

Looks like high pressure to the North us blocking this storm from turning North as many do.