Hurricane Maria

[KuffMUp]

LOL! I won't be buying what they're selling!

Celebrity is planning on calling on St. Croix on their 10/28 cruise. It is subbed for St. Thomas so perhaps St. Croix isn't as bad as it was feared. I am sure they have taken into consideration the damage otherwise why would they be headed there in a month's time?

[Ocean Boy]

Yeah, you're probably right. What was I thinking???

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We all have momentary lapses of reasoning from time to time.;)

[Schplinky]

Celebrity is planning on calling on St. Croix on their 10/28 cruise. It is subbed for St. Thomas so perhaps St. Croix isn't as bad as it was feared. I am sure they have taken into consideration the damage otherwise why would they be headed there in a month's time?

 

It may have been subbed after Irma but before Maria. I'd take a wait and see approach to that

[Morecruisesplz]

Suggestion - it would be most helpful if Royal could provide a list of hotels in San Juan that it has confirmed are open and taking reservations for its sailings over the next few weeks...perhaps with the daily hurricane update?

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you did your pre-cruise through Royal they would. Otherwise its up to you.

[bouhunter]

If you did your pre-cruise through Royal they would.

 

No reason to make that assumption.

[vacationers]

I called and they confirmed that my reservation for October 20th is still valid and that they will be open for business.

They were so rushed that I wasn't able to check about their status as of today.

I'm glad to know that you have stayed here several times and will stay again. We are totally unfamiliar with the area, and reviews aren't always reliable.

 

Old San Juan is still closed at this time and no power. While they are trying to get it fixed promptly yes the hotel might be open because they are using it for volunteers but no power etc. I will be there soon to volunteer along which some of my friends that are violenteering. there already. Otherwise only volunteers are allowed in at this time. Not sure byt then what will be happening. You will need to check when closer. There is also no phones at the hotel which would be your best bet.

[Schplinky]

Availability status at Hampton In has got worse. Used to be that they weren't accepting new reservations for this month but now it says this:

 

Due to Hurricane Maria, the hotel is no longer accepting existing or new reservations through October 31, 2017. Our hotel will be waiving cancellation penalties for reservations arriving Tuesday, September 19 through Sunday, October 31. We encourage guests with existing reservations to contact 1-800-HILTONS.

[leosmom08]

I just tried Hotel El Convento and couldn't get them via phone. I knew it was a long shot but I tried.

[thrifty99]

Our Oct 1st Eastern Caribbean on Allure leaving in less than a week had its itinerary updated this morning. We are now basically a Western Caribbean sailing paid at the higher Eastern prices unfortunately. I was hoping they would have just swapped out San Juan for Falmouth. I am not a fan of Cozumel. I guess the positive is that I have never been to Costa Maya. Anyone have good things to say about it?

 

Here is the history of our changes:

 

• Originally: Nassau, St. Kitts, St. Thomas
  
• Allure propulsion: Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan (swapped San Juan for St. Kitts)
  
• Hurricane Irma: Nassau, Labadee, San Juan (swapped Labadee for St. Thomas)
  
• Hurricane Maria: Nassau, Costa Maya, Cozumel (swapped Costa Maya and Cozumel for Labadee and San Juan)
  

[Honolulu Blue]

It may have been subbed after Irma but before Maria. I'd take a wait and see approach to that

 

It was. The letter is dated September 19, just before Maria blew through.

[JandRtravel]

Our Oct 1st Eastern Caribbean on Allure leaving in less than a week had its itinerary updated this morning. We are now basically a Western Caribbean sailing paid at the higher Eastern prices unfortunately. I was hoping they would have just swapped out San Juan for Falmouth. I am not a fan of Cozumel. I guess the positive is that I have never been to Costa Maya. Anyone have good things to say about it?

 

Here is the history of our changes:

 

• Originally: Nassau, St. Kitts, St. Thomas
  
• Allure propulsion: Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan (swapped San Juan for St. Kitts)
  
• Hurricane Irma: Nassau, Labadee, San Juan (swapped Labadee for St. Thomas)
  
• Hurricane Maria: Nassau, Costa Maya, Cozumel (swapped Costa Maya and Cozumel for Labadee and San Juan)
  

 

 

 

Cozumel is wonderful, just get out of the main part of town. I suggest getting a cab ride over to the other side. They have Coconuts (always a fun restaurant ) or go the best hidden beach Chen Rio, most only know of Cozumel from pier and shops area. I was married in Coz and travel frequently to island. It’s way more then shops selling crappy items and alcohol [emoji23]

 

If you like snorkeling/swimming, find a company that can take you to El Cielo. If you want something chill and fun, check out Money Bar.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited September 25, 2017 by JandRtravel

[mcsgabby]

I just tried Hotel El Convento and couldn't get them via phone. I knew it was a long shot but I tried.

 

Same here so I sent them an FB message.

[thrifty99]

Yes, I've been to Cozumel several times already - wanted something different. And it will be crowded that day. Here are the ships scheduled to be there as of now on Oct 5 - (realizing that some of these may change):

 

Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Freedom, Norwegian Escape, Carnival Vista, Harmony of the Seas, Allure of the Seas

[Schplinky]

In Cozumel, we head to one of the beach clubs that limits attendance, to avoid the crowds. Nachi Cocum is our favorite.

[JandRtravel]

In Cozumel, we head to one of the beach clubs that limits attendance, to avoid the crowds. Nachi Cocum is our favorite.

 

 

 

Nachi Cocum is where I was married :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Nachi Cocum is where I was married :)

Really nice place to get married. Our daughter got married on Liberty and the entire group went to Nachi the next day. Good memories for us.

[Schplinky]

Nachi Cocum is where I was married :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Lucky you! Once we found it, we stopped checking out other places. There are maybe two rows of chairs, none of them too close to each other. I think it's heaven, especially when I see how tightly packed some of the other places are!

[JandRtravel]

Really nice place to get married. Our daughter got married on Liberty and the entire group went to Nachi the next day. Good memories for us.

 

 

 

Love! We had a group of 50 in town for it, had them all stay on North End at Peninsula Grand Condos, rehearsal dinner was at El Cozumelano resort and day after wedding was deep sea fishing. It’s a wonderful place to get married. It was 2.5 years ago for us and our friends and family still talk about it

[JandRtravel]

Lucky you! Once we found it, we stopped checking out other places. There are maybe two rows of chairs, none of them too close to each other. I think it's heaven, especially when I see how tightly packed some of the other places are!

 

 

 

Yes! And they have a cutoff for the amount of guests allowed to get in :)

 

The only other place I would recommend is Hotel B, but no beach. However snorkeling right off the edge of the property is great :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Love! We had a group of 50 in town for it, had them all stay on North End at Peninsula Grand Condos, rehearsal dinner was at El Cozumelano resort and day after wedding was deep sea fishing. It’s a wonderful place to get married. It was 2.5 years ago for us and our friends and family still talk about it

Very nice! Almost the same time frame for us, March 2015.

[JandRtravel]

Very nice! Almost the same time frame for us, March 2015.

 

 

 

Love! Ours was May 2015

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[keywest1]

Old San Juan is still closed at this time and no power. While they are trying to get it fixed promptly yes the hotel might be open because they are using it for volunteers but no power etc. I will be there soon to volunteer along which some of my friends that are violenteering. there already. Otherwise only volunteers are allowed in at this time. Not sure byt then what will be happening. You will need to check when closer. There is also no phones at the hotel which would be your best bet.

Thank you for the info! I called the number on the FB page for the specific hotel, so I made an erroneous assumption that I was actually talking directly to them. I'm sure my reservation is at the bottom of the priority list, and that's just exactly how it should be :)

[KuffMUp]

It may have been subbed after Irma but before Maria. I'd take a wait and see approach to that

No it was actually the third update for that itinerary and it was updated 9/23. They have each ships' itinerary updates through the end of the year. It is in a letter format and shows the original itinerary. The next update. And the most recent update. Maybe they have their wisher wound up?? :confused:

[KuffMUp]

And I checked RCCL's hurricane updates. As of today they have the 10/7 and 10/14 Adventure cruise going to St. Croix. That update is from 2 pm EDT. Who knows?

 

As for Cozumel, we went on a Segway tour in the town of El Cedral. There is actually a small Mayan temple there. It was a fun tour but watch the potholes and the cows in the road. The cows were docile (I wouldn't advise trying to pet them) but they don't spook as you motor by.

 

Costa Maya port area has a swimming pool, shops, bars. However, they are owned by the cruise lines. You can go outside the port area and take a bus or cab to the small town of Majahual. The beach bars will let you use chairs for buying drinks. The restaurants for the bars are across the street. If it is still there, we went to Pez Quadro that had swings for bar stools. Relaxing day and great food across the street.

[NJ&Ozzie]

Latest update for Puerto Rico.

NJ

 

This list gets updated as info arrives

• A National Guard team of Puerto Rico has just left for Maricao, Las Marías and Yauco.

•The Manatí mayor is ANGRY at the Gov. and is asking for help desperately. They need water urgently.

•Cellphones can all use T-mobile's network (when phones indicate strong signal) but they HAVE to turn on "data roaming" in order for them to work. Claro network customers need to reboot their phones in order to work....

• About 500,000 people have water service, or about 40% of customers. There are 30 thousand that will have water for 24 hours and then another 24 hrs without service until they change the valves so that other areas can have water as well. The rest will have water service all the time.

• The Mayagüez Medical Center is expected to be energized tomorrow.

• Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Nemesio Canales, Plaza las Americas Mall and Hato Rey USPS have electricity.

• Docks: San Juan is fully open during the day. Peñuelas Aguadilla and Aguirre are open without restriction. Guayama, fajardo, Vieques and Culebra are open during the day including for passenger boats.

•3 hours in line is the average waiting time to withdraw money from an ATM or bank teller.

•A few retailers and wholesalers like Costco have water for sale and also have cash-back service at the registers.

• 21 people were arrested for violating curfew. Other arrests have also been made (1 adult with 3 minors robbing a hardware store, 1 Walgreens in Santurce was robbed and set on fire, thieves are robbing car batteries and fuel from parked cars at night).

• 16 confirmed deaths directly related to the hurricane.

•Over 300 people slept in the Airport last night

•Gasoline is slowly starting to get distributed to working gas stations