Ships will not be visiting St. Maarten, St. Thomas, or Key West while they rebuild

[JLMoran]

I got an update from Capt. Bob Cass, who owns and runs Soualiga Destinations in St. Maarten. This was in response to an email I sent yesterday simply to express my hope that he and his crew were all well and safe:

Quote

 

As you have seen in the news, Irma made a direct hit in St. Martin on Sept 5-6. It totally devastated the island. We were lucky and only lost 3 of our 11 boats and everyone is safe.

I personally was able to get evacuated yesterday [Sept 17] by fishing boat to St. Kitts where I was able to get on a flight to Chicago with my dog and drive a rental car to Long Island NY. I am lucky to get out with the shirt on my back and a few important belongings and papers.

My house withstood the storm with minimal damage but most others were destroyed. The night of the storm was particularly scare and the days and nights following teh storm were also dangerous because of looting.

We are hoping to be back in business by the middle of December 2017 as long as the cruise ships start coming back but that all depends on how quickly the island rebuilds infrastructure.

Thanks again for your kind words and concerns.

Capt. Bob

 

He also said that he thinks Maria might pass to the south and may not be too bad. Granted, that's now two days ago and the track has been updated, but I didn't hear any comments in last night's news broadcast about St. Maarten being under threat, only St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. Might just be US-based focus of that broadcast, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that he's right.

[KLA]

10 hours ago, JLMoran said:

I got an update from Capt. Bob Cass, who owns and runs Soualiga Destinations in St. Maarten. This was in response to an email I sent yesterday simply to express my hope that he and his crew were all well and safe:

He also said that he thinks Maria might pass to the south and may not be too bad. Granted, that's now two days ago and the track has been updated, but I didn't hear any comments in last night's news broadcast about St. Maarten being under threat, only St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. Might just be US-based focus of that broadcast, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that he's right.

We had a booking with Captain Alan to snorke in SXM in mid-October, and it sounds like their whole operation was destroyed. :( boats, marina, and all.

[JLMoran]

Just checked the latest on Maria. St. Maarten is "only" on a tropical storm warning / hurricane watch. So with luck they'll be spared any further devastation.

Unfortunately, now St. Kitts and Nevis are on hurricane warning along with Puerto Rico, the USVI and British VI. This hurricane season really is shaping up to just decimate the entire eastern Caribbean. ?

[mom2mybugs]

On 9/18/2017 at 12:51 PM, JLMoran said:

I'm also wondering what will happen for our Eastern Caribbean cruise, especially now that Maria is on a track that will not only hit St. Maarten and the other Virgin Islands for a second round of devastation, but is also on target to give Puerto Rico a far more devastating blow than the relative "glance" it took from Irma. At first I was thinking that only the St. Maarten stop on our trip would be impacted, but now it could potentially be St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and Labadee.

Granted, our cruise isn't until March 31 next year, and a lot can happen in six months. But I'm seriously starting to wonder if our 8-night Eastern Caribbean out of FLL on Freedom could end up becoming an 8-night Western instead, or even somehow be shifted to a Southern Caribbean itinerary of some sort.

And in the end it really doesn't matter, because it doesn't change the fact there are a ton of souls out on those islands who are maybe only just now starting to feel some hope of recovery from this, and now find themselves with another massive storm coming their way. 

I thought of you when I was thinking about my trip and glad it is scheduled to be western.   Jane

[azfish]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates

 

we're sailing on oasis 10/8, st Martin replaced with Nassau. We were refunded on our st Martin shore excursion and there are no shore excursions offered (yet?) for Nassau.  With Maria threatening Puerto Rico, likely that'll be off the itinerary soon. 

Not clear if RC is offering cruise credit for 10/8 oasis or not, but I'll still go even if we only stop at Nassau and Labadee.

What are the chances of oct 8 sailing of oasis being cancelled? 

non refundable airfare and hotel before and after cruise will make rescheduled cruise pricey, but I won't complain considering the devastation and suffering of millions in hurricane affected areas. It's also an accepted risk taken by saving $ on the non refundable reservations.

i am impressed with RC's humanitarian efforts to provide relief of supplies and transportation to affected locations. Makes me happy to accept itinerary changes, or rescheduling if necessary, and not demand refunds, but rather applaud RC and be happy my vacation  $ assists RC humanitarian efforts.

[jticarruthers]

I would say no chance of the 10/8 sailing being cancelled, there is nothing wrong with the ship and so no way is RCI just going to not do a cruise that week (Espcecially this far out).

Good chance that the itinerary changes some more though as they look around for alternate ports of call to build a sailing plan around.