Thinking of cancelling

[Badgeaz]

I think I'm gonna cancel my cruise to the eastern carribean. The damage from Irma could be catastrophic and I really don't want to switch to the western. My cruise is in 4 months. I have 5 more weeks before my final payment.

[tgloersen]

I'm also cruising in Jan to the eastern, not cancelling they will have enough rebuilt by then i believe.

[Dajbman22]

Why not at least wait until the end of this week and see what damage was done on which islands if you still have 5 more weeks?

 

Chances are if your cruise is not for another 4 months, they won't be changing your itinerary from Eastern to Western (although there is a chance one or two of your ports may have reduced facilities).

[Badgeaz]

I am gonna give it another week before I make the call.

[xriva]

You really need to look at two things: is the port (physical docking location) open and are the excursions you want available. My fear is that our Christmas cruise will arrive at a perfectly functional port, with a city or town behind it that is still decimated. So, you may go to an island with little to do.

 

I don't want to sound callous about this - I have friends and family still reeling from Harvey, and there are many places I would really like to visit in islands that are being engulfed at the moment. It's just many people tend to look at flooding and think "there goes my vacation" instead of "how can we help?"

 

We won't cancel (we're past final payment, anyway) and we really want a reason to get away for Christmas, and we have a really good itinerary, depending on how the islands survive the storm(s). So, we will find a way to spend some money on each of the islands we visit on our cruise, because many of them depend on tourism, so that's how we can help them rebuild. (It's not a vacation, it's a humanitarian visit. There's a way to justify rum punch!)

 

I would give it up until your final payment to decide, though.

 

Kevin

Edited September 6, 2017 by xriva
extended

[Badgeaz]

You were not callous at all. I had a few friends affected by katrina. So I totally understand. The carribean has been planned for my 50th birthday for over a year now. Maybe looking at it the way you are for your Christmas trip. I could enjoy my birthday and help from a tourist standpoint. But it depends on how bad the damage is

[easyboy]

I would suggest using the final payment date window of 5 weeks before deciding to cancel or not. Your assessment by that time may be different.

 

 

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[Peachypooh]

I think I'm gonna cancel my cruise to the eastern carribean. The damage from Irma could be catastrophic and I really don't want to switch to the western. My cruise is in 4 months. I have 5 more weeks before my final payment.

 

I bet within a week or so there will be videos online that show the extent of the damage. Two thoughts. One is that the islands depend on tourism so it would be good to support them However I don't know about you but I have limited funds and vacation time so I like to make it count. I have huge responsibilities at home with elderly family members, etc. so when I get away I like to have nice surroundings. In any event you have time to decide.

[Daddy's_Princess]

We are 88 days out from an Eastern Caribbean. I honestly don't care where they take me. I'm on a ship, I have a beverage package, and a spa.

 

I'm worried about the people and the animals on the islands. If we can dock, I'm happy to support the local economy by shopping local.

 

The pictures from St. Maarten are heartbreaking.

[garycarla]

I think I'm gonna cancel my cruise to the eastern carribean. The damage from Irma could be catastrophic and I really don't want to switch to the western. My cruise is in 4 months. I have 5 more weeks before my final payment.

 

I would surely wait at least 4 weeks before deciding.

[So_Tweetie]

We have two cruises booked for the Caribbean in mid November.

[mchelle77]

I cruised to Bermuda the week after the hurricane hit them last October. I know it's not the same category, but with only a week to clean up, they really made it hard to tell. I couldn't imagine canceling that far away from the trip date, but I guess you could always rebook and hope for a last-minute deal if you really don't want to chance it.

[Hrhbob]

We are on Escape Eastern Dec 2 sailing. I agree that we are on a luxury ship with UBP and SDP so regardless of itinerary, we will enjoy! Hope to get into USVI and Tortola to spend some tourist money to assist with recovery, but if we go Western, so be it.

[deliver42]

We are on the Dec.2nd Eastern also. I strongly doubt it will be the Eastern. I'm fully prepared to be going western. I'll be on a cruise and still will have one helluva time.

[boscobeans]

We have been to the Caribbean after storms and even an earthquake has decimated them and were happy to see the money we spent helping out.

We plan to be there again in February and will be glad to help out their tourism based economies.

 

bosco

[Laszlo]

My wife and I are on a 14 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the BA. I have a feeling its going to turn into a 14 Western which I'm not loving too much. St Maarten, St Thomas, Tortola are disasters. Not sure they will recover enough in a 5-6 months, I hope they do but I'm not counting on it

[mftinvermont]

We're cruising October 1 to the Bahamas on NCL out of New York. I won't cancel, it's beyond our cancel time, but just curious on what will happen....switch itineraries? Cancel the cruise? Go north?

Not only Irma hitting, but Jose right behind it, not sure what is going to happen.

Any insights from anyone?

 

**Our hopes and best wishes go out to everyone in the path of these horrible storms**

Edited September 6, 2017 by mftinvermont

[mking8288]

We're cruising October 1 to the Bahamas on NCL out of New York. I won't cancel, ... Any insights from anyone?

 

**Our hopes and best wishes go out to everyone in the path of these horrible storms**

We are behind you by a few weeks on the BA and insured, not going to cancel either - plan for the worst & hope for the best ... Nassau & GSC being a popular stop. But, Irma has a mind of her own - until it passed over Bahamas - nothing can be certain.

 

Making a wild guess - still 2 to 3 weeks out, BA could do Bermuda, which would be nice ... if Jose & others don't visit. Dawn is still sailing to BDA but assuming Dockyard is available (might not, taken by other lines, etc.) IMO, should be less moaning & groaning than a N.E. Canada run (have a feeling foilage will be early this year).

[mftinvermont]

We are behind you by a few weeks on the BA and insured, not going to cancel either - plan for the worst & hope for the best ... Nassau & GSC being a popular stop. But, Irma has a mind of her own - until it passed over Bahamas - nothing can be certain.

 

Making a wild guess - still 2 to 3 weeks out, BA could do Bermuda, which would be nice ... if Jose & others don't visit. Dawn is still sailing to BDA but assuming Dockyard is available (might not, taken by other lines, etc.) IMO, should be less moaning & groaning than a N.E. Canada run (have a feeling foilage will be early this year).

 

Thanks!

[JayfromBNA]

I'm on the 7th October Escape voyage, Eastern Caribbean. Photographs are devastating. I'd be shocked if the islands are ready by then, but if they are, I will happily go and spend my money in local places.

[suz1607]

I think I'm gonna cancel my cruise to the eastern carribean. The damage from Irma could be catastrophic and I really don't want to switch to the western. My cruise is in 4 months. I have 5 more weeks before my final payment.

If you can go by past history -- on St Martin the French government helped and the French side was rebuilt in a speedy [ for the islands] fashion while the Dutch side still had obvious damage some years later. I really think it depends on the island government and how much infrastructure and shoreline damage was done. You should be able to make an informed decision in about 6 weeks. However, in 4 months you will see damage. This is unavoidable and would be the case anywhere. The main question should be the damage to the roads.

[HokiePoq]

We are 88 days out from an Eastern Caribbean. I honestly don't care where they take me. I'm on a ship' date=' I have a beverage package, and a spa.

 

I'm worried about the people and the animals on the islands. If we can dock, I'm happy to support the local economy by shopping local.

 

The pictures from St. Maarten are heartbreaking.[/quote']

 

They sure are. I'm hoping there is no loss of life there but the damage is terrible.

I can't help but wonder, though, if the America's Cup boats were moved.....will miss them if they've been destroyed and worry about the livlihood of all there who depend on tourist dollars. The statements I've read have been from the French side and we've always stayed on the Dutch side. I imagine damage is the same although I don't know about the infrastructure.

We are past final payment on our cruise so change is not an option. We'll find some way to enjoy the day and hopefully help recovery in a small way.

[Kruizin'Kath]

We sailed to Bermuda the Friday after the hurricane hit last year. We didn't even know if we were being diverted to Canada until we sailed. We took a private 8 hour tour of Bermuda, and other than some downed palm trees and one closed road, you wouldn't even have known a hurricane hit days before!

[zqvol]

I'm also cruising in Jan to the eastern, not cancelling they will have enough rebuilt by then i believe.

 

You've clearly never seen how slowly construction moves in the Caribbean.

[asubaru]

I admire your attitude!

 

Even with damage, some excursions ((including self-guided, NCL and private) will likely be worth taking. I think feedback on Cruise Critic ,from those who will have visited the damaged islands/areas, will be more telling than pictures.

 

Rebuilding and restoration may take years in some areas. I recall touring St Thomas in the late 90's and locals saying how they were still recovering from Hugo (which hit about 10 years earlier) They also mentioned that some of the housing and buildings would not be replaced/rebuilt. I was very surprised at how much destruction was still visible 10 years later. St. John's Underwater Trail @ Trunk Bay was damaged, never to be the same.

 

I have a So Carib cruise in January and feel fortunate I'll be able to read a lot of feed back regarding excursions on the damaged islands.. I'm sure some islands will be fine.

 

You have Tortola (love sailing/snorkeling) around there and St Thomas, so you should have some fun things available to enjoy. You're also sailing on a GREAT ship:) I hope you have smooth sailing and sunny skies!

 

 

I'm on the 7th October Escape voyage, Eastern Caribbean. Photographs are devastating. I'd be shocked if the islands are ready by then, but if they are, I will happily go and spend my money in local places.