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Oasis Class Ships Cannot Dock At San Juan

Frank47

By Frank47
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Frank47 Pre-Gold

Frank47

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Posted

From what I have read the port at San Juan Puerto Rico has been damaged since April of 2024, and Oasis Class ships cannot dock there. RC is still allowing customers to book that cruise and excursions when they are aware that they cannot dock there. After customers have paid in full for their cruise RC alerts them they will have to divert to Labadie Haiti... That is totally wrong.  This is not due to a storm or anything like that. I understand the contract. This is different.  They are well aware of the damaged dock.

Matt Pinnacle

Matt

Posted
Posted

I believe the reason why Royal is not cancelling outright all the visits is because it's a fluid situation, and cancelling pre-emptively would mean when the dock does get repaired, they wouldn't be able to "undo" the itinerary change.

It's similar to hurricanes. Royal prefers not to make a change until it's absolutely necessary to make he change. 

Just like a hurricane, if Royal thinks there's still a chance they can make it to a pre-assigned port, they'll stay the course until it's clear a change is needed.

Frank47 Pre-Gold

Frank47

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Posted
4 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

  

That's quite a non-update update from the USCG.

"Hey we've been working on it since April. Eventually we'll get around to fixing it"

 

LOL...   Well...  that's crazy.   Seems like they are not that concerned about RC not docking there.  

twangster Pinnacle

twangster

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

  

That's quite a non-update update from the USCG.

"Hey we've been working on it since April. Eventually we'll get around to fixing it"

 

Ports are regulated at the federal level.  The USCG is the branch of the federal government who implements federal oversight of maritime ports.  However the port, the piers and facilities are not owned by the federal government or the USCG.  The San Juan Cruise Port is a local authority who owns and operates the port.  Recall they contracted a 3rd party to operate and expand the San Juan cruise port which led to an increase in the passenger fees last year.  There was some controversy surrounding that with claims of bribery and kickbacks.  The San Juan cruise port has a history of such controversy.  

The dolphin was struck by another cruise line.  With that damage inflicted the USCG closed that pier to cruise ships until the San Juan port authority who owns the facility can implement repairs or produce an engineering assessment that says the dolphin isn't required, or that the remnants of the dolphin sitting on the bottom are not a hazard.  Until the owner of the pier provides an assessment, the USCG will not allow cruise ships to use that pier.

It's not the Coast Guard responsibility to fix the damage.  They're waiting on the port.  

Since San Juan outsourced the operation and management of the cruise port I imagine there may be some finger pointing going on.   Damages and repairs may not be within the scope of that contract.  Or they may be waiting for insurance companies to pay out.  Or they may be waiting for the cruise line that did the damage to pay.  

For whatever reason, no responsible party has provided the required assessment to the USCG so they can review it and begin the next steps.  

The USCG is simply letting everyone know they are waiting for the assessment. 

Perhaps the port has an assessment and they don't like what it says.  Maybe they are trying to find another engineering firm to provide a favorable assessment.  Maybe the pier is beyond repair or the costs are prohibitive.  We don't know, neither does the USCG.

twangster Pinnacle

twangster

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I wasn't blaming the coast guard for the issues. Just pointing out their press release really offered no light at the end of the tunnel.

I imagine the port has been deflecting by alluding to the CG being the source of the closure.  That's sort of true, but the ball is in the port's hand to resolve the closure.  I think the CG just wanted to point that out.

smokeybandit Pinnacle

smokeybandit

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, twangster said:

I imagine the port has been deflecting by alluding to the CG being the source of the closure.  That's sort of true, but the ball is in the port's hand to resolve the closure.  I think the CG just wanted to point that out.

If they're putting out a non-news release, they're probably tired of fielding questions about it.

ScottD Pinnacle

ScottD

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, bluer101 said:

We are sailing on Icon again in May 2025, do you think it will be affected? We are already doing Labadie and St. Maarten.

I don't think anyone can answer that- it's literally a week by week situation. I would HOPE by then, it would be fixed- but who knows

Southern Dan Diamond Plus

Southern Dan

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Missy P. said:

So far it seems that only Symphony of the Seas has been affected. Does anyone know if Adventure of the Seas will be affected as well?

It is only affecting Oasis Class ships, Adventure is okay to use different functioning docks in San Juan.

Rage Shifty Gold

Rage Shifty

Posted
Posted

The captain on Symphony told us last week that the pier is repaired, but that the work repairing the pier caused silt to deposit next to pier and its not deep enough for Oasis ships. Supposedly they're working on removing the silt.

WAAAYTOOO Pinnacle

WAAAYTOOO

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Rage Shifty said:

The captain on Symphony told us last week that the pier is repaired, but that the work repairing the pier caused silt to deposit next to pier and its not deep enough for Oasis ships. Supposedly they're working on removing the silt.

Hmmm.  That’s interesting.  We were at SJ last week and it didn’t look like the pier repairs were complete to me.  There are still missing “railing” sections between the dolphins…but maybe I wasn’t looking at what I thought I was looking at !  I’m sure almost anyone knows more about maritime dock rigging than me !

Rage Shifty Gold

Rage Shifty

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Hmmm.  That’s interesting.  We were at SJ last week and it didn’t look like the pier repairs were complete to me.  There are still missing “railing” sections between the dolphins…but maybe I wasn’t looking at what I thought I was looking at !  I’m sure almost anyone knows more about maritime dock rigging than me !

Captain was answering a question during the meet the staff get together. One guest was very irritated that we missed St. Maarten and during his explanation that is what he stated was the problem. Regardless kind of stunk as I don't care for Labadee or Falmouth. 

  • 2 weeks later...
barbeyg Diamond Plus

barbeyg

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, SplashOfWater said:

Just got the email that our Jan 5, 2025 Symphony itinerary has changed. San Juan will not be ready for in time for us. Instead of San Jan and St. Maarten, we will be visiting Labadee and Puerto Plata.  

😕 How disappointing. 

I figure we will get the same substandard replacement ports on 2/9/25.  St Thomas is booked up for the date we should be in San Juan, and this seems to be RCI’s go-to in that case. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Or even worse, Falmouth. 

SplashOfWater Diamond Plus

SplashOfWater

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

😕 How disappointing. 

I figure we will get the same substandard replacement ports on 2/9/25.  St Thomas is booked up for the date we should be in San Juan, and this seems to be RCI’s go-to in that case. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Or even worse, Falmouth. 

Yes, we are quite disappointed. We were looking forward to San Juan. I hope you have better luck.

ScottD Pinnacle

ScottD

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I just got notice my Jan 12 Symphony sailing is getting Falmouth 🤬and even worse Labadee 🤢.

Are you just not a beach person? I haven't done Labadee yet, but seems most people love it.  I'm not a HUGE beach guy, so I don't even love PDCC, just get off to eat and put our feet in the ocean for a few minutes. So I assume that would be the case with Labadee (even though the "roller coaster" thing looks fun

Ampurp85 Pinnacle

Ampurp85

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, ScottD said:

Are you just not a beach person? I haven't done Labadee yet, but seems most people love it.  I'm not a HUGE beach guy, so I don't even love PDCC, just get off to eat and put our feet in the ocean for a few minutes. So I assume that would be the case with Labadee (even though the "roller coaster" thing looks fun

In all honesty a small part of it is I'm not a beach person but I have had 2 bad experiences with Labadee. One where a man cornered me solo, I have trauma involving that. Another with raw chicken and other food.

In Falmouth we were hounded about buying weed at the port and that sort of turned me off. I'm willing to give it another chance as it was only one instance but I'm a lot more disappointed because I'm on Oasis right after with the same itinerary.

OCSC Mike Pinnacle

OCSC Mike

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, ScottD said:

Are you just not a beach person? I haven't done Labadee yet, but seems most people love it.  I'm not a HUGE beach guy, so I don't even love PDCC, just get off to eat and put our feet in the ocean for a few minutes. So I assume that would be the case with Labadee (even though the "roller coaster" thing looks fun

FWIW, as a non-beach guy, I have little interest in Labadee b/c the food offerings are severely lacking compared to PDCC (which you know I love). Haven't been there in forever and someone recently said the jerk chicken was good so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

We were supposed to go there in October 2023 but weather switched us to Cozumel.

ZinzMat Gold

ZinzMat

Posted
Posted

I get that itineraries can change, but if we're already going to PDCC, why add in Labadee too? I like the beach, but I don't want a week of beach stops. We booked for PR and St. Maarten because there are plenty of non-beach things to do. Sailing 2/23/25, crossing my fingers for anything but Labadee and Falmouth...

  • 2 weeks later...
Andrew A Gold

Andrew A

Posted
Posted

I think there will be class action lawsuits - they are still offering the cruise to Puerto Rico on 2/9 not knowing if the pier will be ready. This is pure business- they know there would be limited interest in the other ports. Keeping that information from people to trap them can’t be legal.

smokeybandit Pinnacle

smokeybandit

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Andrew A said:

I think there will be class action lawsuits - they are still offering the cruise to Puerto Rico on 2/9 not knowing if the pier will be ready. This is pure business- they know there would be limited interest in the other ports. Keeping that information from people to trap them can’t be legal.

All RC would have to do is point to the cruise contract you agreed to and that suit would be immediately dismissed.

Andrew A Gold

Andrew A

Posted
Posted

I think there will be class action lawsuits - they are still offering the cruise to Puerto Rico on 2/9 not knowing if the pier will be ready. This is pure business- they know there would be limited interest in the other ports. Keeping that information from people to trap them can’t be legal.

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