latest update for ships sailing in Carribbean in 2017

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8082

I looked at some of the roll calls for sailings out of San Juan or Miami, and the impatience for quick answers is apparent from some posters.

Looks like Viking and many other cruise lines are still figuring out what changes they need and securing their changes to ports of call for the winter season. I know from experience there are only so many docking spaces for x number of ships on any given day at these islands. Many ships are doing their TA and heading to the same area in the next month or two. The Viking Sea is currently on its Northern TA right now.

Time is needed and changes will be communicated when they have definite solutions.

Thanks for being our virtual eyes and ears on this.

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You are welcome,

but it is Crusie Critic that is the doing the updates, I am just posting them here on the Viking forum for all of us .

There is a forum called Hurricane 2017 that had this link. It is located on the main page of CC.

Thanks Laura S. of CC for these updates.

Still no electricity up on PR ,only generators, and they only have one cell tower for the whole island today!

Communcations is very difficult to say the least.

Thank you Azulann. I wasn't aware of this link. It is very useful.

Our hearts go out to all people on the islands who have been affected by the hurricanes....as well as those on the mainland in the States. I cannot imagine what so many have been through and are dealing with now and into the future.

I believe that many of us who are scheduled to sail through these areas in the near future have no idea what to expect.....time will tell how this is all gong to roll out.....

I think the 1st thing for Viking is to figure out fairly soon is if the 10/13 cruise will end in San Juan and if the 10/27 cruise will being in San Juan.

We (3 couples) are on the 10/13 cruise & we all chose to book our own air to NYC and from SJU! Now we need to know if it is NOT going to end in SJ, where will it end so we can get flights re-booked at a decent price! 1 couple on SW and 2 couples on AA (using points). The later it gets, the higher the prices!

We already know we will not be going to scheduled ports of St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tortola and possibly Guadalope.

I think the 1st thing for Viking is to figure out fairly soon is if the 10/13 cruise will end in San Juan and if the 10/27 cruise will being in San Juan.

We (3 couples) are on the 10/13 cruise & we all chose to book our own air to NYC and from SJU! Now we need to know if it is NOT going to end in SJ, where will it end so we can get flights re-booked at a decent price! 1 couple on SW and 2 couples on AA (using points). The later it gets, the higher the prices!

We already know we will not be going to scheduled ports of St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tortola and possibly Guadalope.

After reading this article today about the state of affairs in PR, I would think "fairly soon" would not be until next week or later.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-20170921-story.html

Article did not say how long military/FEMA would be using the airport and port for emergency relief to evacuate folks and bring in supplies of water ,food etc.

Have you called your airlines to see if they know when they will be resuming commerical flights to PR? And what it will cost to change your flights to another city?

I can understand you are nervous about not knowing where your cruise will end, but at least you know where it will begin. Good tidings to you as you wait for Viking to figure out this itinerary and many more that involve San Juan PR.

I would be surprised if the airlines would want the PR nightmare of treating this event as a change fee bonanza.

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Would the travel insurance cover the extra airfare rebooking costs?

Got an email from Viking today . It said Miami is fully operational for cruise ships. They are still in conversation with island ports of call and the local partners as to when they will be ready for cruiseships.

I am going on the Viking Sea TA from San Juan to Barcelona March 27, 2018.Still a long way off.

I would not be surprised if the ship embark from another port , or maybe they will have enough infrastructure in San Juan to remain on their schedule. Even if the port is open , it does need running water, working sewers, and electricity .

Did anyone who is sailing out of San Juan sooner get the same message or a different one?

Azulann, I got the same email today. We sail out of San Juan on 12/16. Based on everything we are seeing on TV, Viking will have to wait awhile to determine whether San Juan can possibly have the port open by then. Mary Jane

We are on the 12/16 sailing with Mary Jane and I agree, it may be a while before we know. Viking has Sailings scheduled starting in a couple weeks that head to PR to begin the season....as of yesterday no determination had been announced. I honestly don't know how any cruise line can know at this point about San Juan - and many others ports.

I hope travel insurance would cover the extra costs associated with changing flights that are out of our control, but I have never had to exercise that option....and might even depend on the specific insurance insurance company/policy.

We are on the 12/16 sailing with Mary Jane and I agree, it may be a while before we know. Viking has Sailings scheduled starting in a couple weeks that head to PR to begin the season....as of yesterday no determination had been announced. I honestly don't know how any cruise line can know at this point about San Juan - and many others ports....

Also on the 12/16 Viking Sea to Brazil that is supposed to sail from San Juan. Fortunately we are flying Southwest, so no change fees. We booked a provisional round trip flight to/from Ft. Lauderdale in case we have to use the Miami port. I can't imagine the logistic nightmare trying to get all the necessary emergency stocks of food, material, etc. needed to repair the entire island. Have no idea just how much berthing space there is to accommodate this, and next there's the problem of warehousing supplies. Just when can SJU support humanitarian and rebuilding needs plus the extra demands for cruise ship provisions, fuel, etc.? My guess is it will take a long time, and VO and the other lines have to close ranks soon to organize the berthing space available at nearby ports, like maybe Miami.

We (3 couples) are on the 10/13 NYC to SJ cruise & we received the same VERY VAGUE email that you all got....BUT we are just 3 weeks from sailing & 5 weeks from coming back! I am not so concerned about the ports we will go to, as I am about if it ends in SJ or Miami. We booked our own air for this cruise because we have very good rates from Nashville to NYC and had AA miles for flying home from SJ.

So we need to know something about disembarkation location, in order that if we end up elsewhere, we can rebook at decent rates!!! BUT I learned absolutely NOTHING. It's not just our cruise that has concerns -- V has another boat-load of passengers who are supposed to board the Sea on the 27th at SJ....I can imagine those people are somewhat concerned -- when we cruise out of SJ, we fly in a day early & get a hotel. So those people will have to fly in on 27th & stay on ship -- guessing not many hotels will be up & running...

We don't really care WHICH ports we end up going to in Exchange for St. Maarten, Tortola & St. Thomas.....so I haven't asked them that question.

We (3 couples) are on the 10/13 NYC to SJ cruise & we received the same VERY VAGUE email that you all got....BUT we are just 3 weeks from sailing & 5 weeks from coming back! I am not so concerned about the ports we will go to, as I am about if it ends in SJ or Miami. We booked our own air for this cruise because we have very good rates from Nashville to NYC and had AA miles for flying home from SJ.

So we need to know something about disembarkation location, in order that if we end up elsewhere, we can rebook at decent rates!!! BUT I learned absolutely NOTHING. It's not just our cruise that has concerns -- V has another boat-load of passengers who are supposed to board the Sea on the 27th at SJ....I can imagine those people are somewhat concerned -- when we cruise out of SJ, we fly in a day early & get a hotel. So those people will have to fly in on 27th & stay on ship -- guessing not many hotels will be up & running...

We don't really care WHICH ports we end up going to in Exchange for St. Maarten, Tortola & St. Thomas.....so I haven't asked them that question.

Please keep everyone updated on the October itinerary.

Harry

Got an email from Viking today . It said Miami is fully operational for cruise ships. They are still in conversation with island ports of call and the local partners as to when they will be ready for cruiseships.

I am going on the Viking Sea TA from San Juan to Barcelona March 27, 2018.Still a long way off.

I would not be surprised if the ship embark from another port , or maybe they will have enough infrastructure in San Juan to remain on their schedule. Even if the port is open , it does need running water, working sewers, and electricity .

Did anyone who is sailing out of San Juan sooner get the same message or a different one?

I received the same message but I'm on the February 5 , 2018 cruise and unless there is another disaster, I'm not worried. Many parts of the island will still be closed, I know this from sandy experience.

Like Azulann, we are booked for the Viking Sea's TA (San Juan to Barcelona) March 27,2018 cruise. But, we have a much more immediate issue to ponder since, like Cruisin Kay D and company, we are also booked on the Viking Sea's New York City to San Juan October 13, 2017, cruise. We feel that the 5+ months between now and our departure on our TA in March will be enough time for everything to sort itself out as far as San Juan departure in the Spring.

However, it is another story for our final destination and point of disembarkation for the cruise coming up in 3 weeks. We received Viking's information letter for both cruises (they were identical except for the specific cruise name and booking number) that everyone else seems to have received. A similar notice was posted on the My Viking Journey section of Viking's web site. We are taking a laid- back approach and are willing to go on a "Mystery Cruise to Somewhere" when everything gets sorted out. Like many others, our only concern is where will we end up as, we too, have booked on our own a flight with Delta from Puerto Rico to Atlanta. We are reciting the "Serenity Prayer" on a daily basis.:halo:

I read on one of the roll calls, not sure if it was for the sailing on the 13th, but one of the immediate Caribbean cruises, that people are calling Viking directly to speak individually about these concerns. It sounds like there is some resolution that is reducing their concerns. Maybe it would be worth a call since your window is so close?

I doubt there is any further information for those of us on

Later sailings, but it seems like a fair phone call for those of you with immediate concerns. Worse case you will be in the same place you are now. Better case may be some answers. I truly wish you the best - and know we will be following your journey.

We had a trip to St John (fly into st Thomas ) for Late November. We altered our plans and are now headed to Play Del Carmen. AA did not charge us a change fee for swapping out flights.

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For those on Viking Sun, Key West is now open, as is Miami, so I am thinking we should be Ok. A friend just returned from a cruise to Cuba, so it looks like we are set to go in November.

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No further information as of today! We are still WAITING (patiently, sort of) !!

We are on the Viking Sea departing San Juan on November 6. We have only received the form letter from them at this point and wondering what the resolution people are getting when they call Viking directly.

San Juan disembarkation: I know that Viking is using the little terminal at Old San Juan, but I read a statement from a Carnival official who said that terminal was seriously damaged and Carnival cruises are not docking there in the near future, & instead going to Miami. If Miami (or Ft. Lauderdale, Port Canaveral orTampa) is possibly the plan for those disembarking on 10/27 (& those boarding on 10/27), the sooner we all know it, the better!!!

St. Maarten Info: I received information by email last night from a woman who lives on St. M and has a business in downtown area near cruise port. She said all tourism vendors & downtown businesses have been advised by island officials to be ready for the 1st cruise ship, arriving on November 11. I also saw a report in an online island newspaper of a meeting yesterday (or day before) with tourism providers, shop owners, restaurant & bar owners informing them of that date (11/11) to be ready for cruise ships.

St. Thomas & BVIs: Read this morning that ferries to/from St. Thomas & BVIs will begin running this weekend or next week, but imagine that is primarily for residents & businesses....article did not say this was for tourists....

Like Azulann, we are booked for the Viking Sea's TA (San Juan to Barcelona) March 27,2018 cruise. But, we have a much more immediate issue to ponder since, like Cruisin Kay D and company, we are also booked on the Viking Sea's New York City to San Juan October 13, 2017, cruise. We feel that the 5+ months between now and our departure on our TA in March will be enough time for everything to sort itself out as far as San Juan departure in the Spring.

 

However, it is another story for our final destination and point of disembarkation for the cruise coming up in 3 weeks. We received Viking's information letter for both cruises (they were identical except for the specific cruise name and booking number) that everyone else seems to have received. A similar notice was posted on the My Viking Journey section of Viking's web site. We are taking a laid- back approach and are willing to go on a "Mystery Cruise to Somewhere" when everything gets sorted out. Like many others, our only concern is where will we end up as, we too, have booked on our own a flight with Delta from Puerto Rico to Atlanta. We are reciting the "Serenity Prayer" on a daily basis.:halo:

Contact Viking directly, the fact that the airports are being used to get people off the island may affect your travel plans after the cruise

Contact Viking directly, the fact that the airports are being used to get people off the island may affect your travel plans after the cruise

The best option. Call them or better yet email them:

Tellus@Vikingcruises.com.

They will respond to you. They responded to me with a phone call.

Got an email from Viking today . It said Miami is fully operational for cruise ships. They are still in conversation with island ports of call and the local partners as to when they will be ready for cruiseships.

I am going on the Viking Sea TA from San Juan to Barcelona March 27, 2018.Still a long way off.

I would not be surprised if the ship embark from another port , or maybe they will have enough infrastructure in San Juan to remain on their schedule. Even if the port is open , it does need running water, working sewers, and electricity .

Did anyone who is sailing out of San Juan sooner get the same message or a different one?

Basically , I received a general message. We're going to San Juan on February 4 for cruise on the fifth. I already arranged to stay at the Sheraton old San Juan which is across from the pier. I think that by February, the piers will be open and the hotels in San Juan will be repaired. They'll want tourist there as quickly as possible to help the economy. The problem will be the island tours in the mountains, roads are narrow and not well maintained in good times. My heart goes out to all those on the island.