Lrupri57

When we arrived in Key West the downtown area was not in terrible shape but had a lot of trash. We saw quite a few boats beach on the shore line and some sunken ones. The monument for the most southern part of the Unites States that had just been repainted a month before was sandblasted by Irma. Havana was in pretty good shape, people were glad to see us in both ports, they rely a lot on the tourist trade

Emailed Carnival, leaving tomorrow on the Princess, they removed our stop at Key West, leaving us just the two days in Havana. I hoping they put Key West back on. No reply so far.

My place in Ocala survived very well, but there are a lot of trees down, It is 90 miles from here to the cruise port in Tampa. I'm not a big fan of adding a fun day at sea to make up for Key West but w'll see if they give us a make up voucher.

Well, on the way to Florida, Manny Valdes, my personal planner at Carnival called. I thought, figures, I'm almost to Florida and they are going to cancel. NOPE ... Key West is out due to damage and the time frame before they are ready again, but CUBA is a GO, we are leaving Monday and will have one more day at sea. So it will be Cuba on the 28th and 29th. I'm hoping they will give a discount voyager toward another cruise because of losing Key West. That's happened twice for me, 20% refund and 20% off of a future cruise, both of these were because of noise, noisy pump on the swimming pool above us that they could not change until we reached port, the other for very early galley noise. Check your cabin locations when you book. But to be fair, they made it right. If you want to try Manny, it is Mvaldes@Carnival.com, he is really good!

Okay it is almost 1:00 am, I took a sleeping pill at 6:00 pm, went to bed at 7:00 pm and i'll be leaving for Florida in about 10 minutes, wish me good luck, Cuba here I come.

Got another email from Carnival offering excursion, I signed up for the 8 hour one that visits a lot of the shops and cigar makers, I'll believe this trip to Key West and Cuba when I get there, the 25th is coming fast. I will be leaving for Florida tomorrow morning as I want to check out my home in Ocala.

With my cruise on Carnival Paradise to Key West and Cuba one week away, this is the email I got from Carnival today.

Nothing has been announced on changes for sailings from the 18th on…

As soon as we know something we will reach out to you.

Sincerely,

Manny Valdés

Personal Vacation Planner |Carnival Cruise Line

Sure, the link is https://nyti.ms/2f01Ej5

The Key West tourism council has recommended people not to make travel plans to Key West for some time.

The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Cuba while Hurricane Irma recovery efforts are underway. Large parts of the country, including many areas of the capital Havana, are without power and running water. Transportation is difficult and many roads remain impassable due to downed trees and power lines. While Cuban authorities are working to clear the debris, it will be several days before roads are fully open in Havana. Outside the capital, north central Cuba suffered severe damage and should be avoided until further notice. On September 6, the Department authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. government employees and their family members due to Hurricane Irma. This is an update to the Travel Warning for Cuba issued September 6, 2017.

Got A Email from Carnival, as of now the cruise is going BUT if things change they will let me know what my options are. My girlfriend was getting close to be added to the cruise, but if they drop Cuba she wont', She could have been added for $189.

Thanks, good to know, doubt that we go to Cuba, I.m sure Key West is out, they have enough to deal with, don't need tourist, besides who would there be to run any businesses that survived.

Me too, left hanging out there. With a cruise to Cuba you have to make additional plans, change dollars to pesos, people to people affidavits, ect.

No, I am Platinum on Carnival, have gone on other cruises with other lines. I have gone on the Queen Mary II to Europe twice. My point is that Carnival had contacted me about this cruise because my Carnival vacation planner had known I wanted to do a Cuban cruise, he talked me into it although it was against my thoughts about a Hurricane cruise, at that time they only had two, mine and the one they just cancelled. I even booked it for me only, my lady friend can't go because she is running for office. I have protection with my Carnival card. I just don't like the waiting, I'll have to leave in the middle of next week, I need to check on my winter home in Ocala, no news there.

I understand that, however I only booked this cruise during Hurricane season because it was going to Cuba, paying a much higher price for it. To receive a lower value cruise without compensation is not acceptable.:evilsmile:

I will not be happy if they change my high dollar 5 day cruise to Cuba to something else, $1,550 for 5 days.

I'm suppose to go out of Tampa on Sept. 25th then on to Key West on the 27th, Havana, Cuba on the 28th and 29th, Carnival has not given me any update, but the current cruise on the Paradise has been given vouchers. I certainly don't want to go from Ohio to Florida and then have the cruise cancelled. I'm going by myself and it was $1,550 for 5 days. That is over $300 a day, a lot of money to have them change your ports