Just cancel the San Juan based sailings already!

[saltydoge]

With the full appreciation Puerto Rico's tourism industry is the one economic bright spot in their multi-year recession, I cannot possibly believe cruise lines are still assessing whether San Juan is capable of hosting tourists.

 

We've all seen the devastation on social media and in the news — the floodwaters that haven't receded, the queues for rationed gas, the lack of electricity and running water and the airports that can barely accommodate relief flights. San Juan and the rest of Puerto Rico is not a vacation destination — it is a disaster area.

 

They don't need tourists, they need relief supplies.

 

When the hell are the executives at the cruise lines going to get this? Just take the losses and call up your re-insurance companies already — cancel the San Juan based sailings! They are not in a condition to receive visitors!

 

If you won't take it from me, then listen to what the Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company is saying on the record to the local newspapers.

 

 

"Right now there is no capacity to receive guests in the hotels. Most of those who are operating are housing military and federal personnel who have come to attend to the emergency, "said the director of the Tourism Company, José Izquierdo.

The official said - in written statements - that for the next 90 days Puerto Rico will be involved in a process of reconstruction and recovery before the island is able to receive more tourists. However, he hoped this will be before the high season starts, which kicks off in November after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

— Translated from

http://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/nota/nohaycapacidadpararecibirahuespedesenloshoteles-1247468/

[K.T.B.]

They won't cancel, they'll move the cruises to another port. Probably Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or Tampa. Also, the airport is operating on a very limited schedule right now as well. So cruises aside, odds are you wouldn't be able to fly in anyway.

 

But, yes, PR definitely needs as much help as people can give.

[travelmama06]

Our cruise is jan 7 from pr- return to Tampa - if we were to depart from Tampa I'm assuming we would have 3 sea days both ways ?? Hmm curious

[2ndhoney]

I get that it's a logistical nightmare to change the home port of these cruises, but San Juan is in no shape to deal with thousands of people who need hotels, transportation, food, etc. I feel that every effort should be made to help PR during this time and cruises take the hit financially - since we gamble when we take cruises during hurricane season, the cruise line takes the gamble as well. You'd think they would have some sort of Plan B if something like what has happened to PR happens.

 

I am supposed to leave on a 11/25 cruise out of there and I'd rather cruises stay clear of the island so that they can recover. If they want to do the humanitarian thing, send the ship there to evacuate people and bring supplies and just let the rest of us reschedule our trips. If they wait until a week before my cruise and tell me I have to find airfare to Florida instead (for the weekend after Thanksgiving) there is no way I can change my flights that quickly. No I did not get insurance and yes I can take the hit financially, but there are those that scrimp and save for their vacations and it is unfair to them for cruise lines to say "try to work with your airline to get here for your cruise" (I'm referring to RCL's announcement today for their 10/7 cruise, they should just cancel it)

 

It's very frustrating and I know my cruise is 2 months out. I want help brought to those islands that were hit hard and even though my vacation may not happen, I feel the cruise lines are being insensitive to the people of PR by having people descend on the island in vacation mode. If they offered a humanitarian cruise, I know many would rather do that to help out.

 

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thank you for listening, I just needed to vent.

[Aviator of the Seas]

Jerks.

[K.T.B.]

For cruises in November and later, odds are very good that the San Juan portion of the island will be as close to normal as possible. The key, of course, it the airport right now. From everything I've read, it got hit very hard, as did the port itself. I would think within the next 2 weeks we'll know what the exact situation is down there in terms of things getting back to normal.

[RJB]

Jerks.

What do you mean by that? Sounds pretty insulting to me. :(:(

[Aviator of the Seas]

What do you mean by that? Sounds pretty insulting to me. :(:(

 

It was insulting and I already reported myself to the moderators. What we need is to go back to business ASAP and this hysteria that's spreading around will only sink us further. WE DO NEED TOURISTS TO KEEP ON COMING, INCLUDING CRUISERS. We don't need cruise lines to cancel. We need them to keep coming. We have plenty of relief supplies. Literally boatloads and plane loads of it. Again, we need ships to keep calling and sailing from San Juan. That's about the only way YOU can help us.

[Darcy03231]

It was insulting and I already reported myself to the moderators. What we need is to go back to business ASAP and this hysteria that's spreading around will only sink us further. WE DO NEED TOURISTS TO KEEP ON COMING, INCLUDING CRUISERS. We don't need cruise lines to cancel. We need them to keep coming. We have plenty of relief supplies. Literally boatloads and plane loads of it. Again, we need ships to keep calling and sailing from San Juan. That's about the only way YOU can help us.

 

As a tourist and someone who has a cruise booked in October I want to come to PR! We've traveled there before and love being there.

 

What I don't want to do is to come to PR and have no place to stay pre/post cruise, no food, no water, no power and worry about my safety. I don't want to be a drain on already limited resources. I don't want to worry about whether or not my flight is going to make it to the island and, if I do make it there, will I make it back out again. I don't want to worry that if my husband has another heart attack while there, there are no resources to treat him. I don't want to worry if something else goes wrong medically or if we have an accident the hospital doesn't have the necessary power/medicine to treat us.

 

As of right now I'm on my 4th set of hotel reservations and have been informed that our airline carrier has canceled all flights to PR through 10/6 and suspended all flights thereafter. We're in a wait and see mode.

[chulita]

Was scheduled on RCCL-Adventure of the Seas. Just received notification from JBU that my flights were cancelled. Basically, the rep I spoke to said it is running like a primitive airport-2 operating gates; no running water; no electricity; hand written boarding passes; no air traffic control tower-*** & RCCL wants to shuttle us back and forth from airport to pier. The agent did say upon return on 14th it can take up to 10 days to be able to leave island! It's insane; retarded and insensitive. PR is a disaster zone. It is in no condition to accept more people when people are trying to evacuate. Just leave the ship in FLL port after you disembark evacuees and allow ship to sail from there. I think most if not all of the passengers will be ok with that decision. Otherwise, RCCL better be ready for all the law suits they will receive.

[lostchild]

Was scheduled on RCCL-Adventure of the Seas. Just received notification from JBU that my flights were cancelled. Basically, the rep I spoke to said it is running like a primitive airport-2 operating gates; no running water; no electricity; hand written boarding passes; no air traffic control tower-*** & RCCL wants to shuttle us back and forth from airport to pier. The agent did say upon return on 14th it can take up to 10 days to be able to leave island! It's insane; retarded and insensitive. PR is a disaster zone. It is in no condition to accept more people when people are trying to evacuate. Just leave the ship in FLL port after you disembark evacuees and allow ship to sail from there. I think most if not all of the passengers will be ok with that decision. Otherwise, RCCL better be ready for all the law suits they will receive.

 

I don't how know how most of the passengers would be okay with that. I think most just hope that by the time they got back, the flights would be normal and they get to fly home on time. There is just no way thousands of passengers could find hotels for 10 days on Oct 14. Just a few days ago, Marriott CEO said there are still hundreds of guests trapped in their hotels and they are trying to get them out. All 16 of their hotels will need many months to recover (his words).

[jswdlw]

For cruises in November and later, odds are very good that the San Juan portion of the island will be as close to normal as possible. The key, of course, it the airport right now. From everything I've read, it got hit very hard, as did the port itself. I would think within the next 2 weeks we'll know what the exact situation is down there in terms of things getting back to normal.

 

 

The Keys are still a mess. If you are looking for a beach, stay on board. Most museums and downtown attractions are open. It will take more time to get the beaches in shape, so there is really no reason to head out. Just stay in town. The trolley companies and conch train are open. Forget about scooters/gold cart rentals for a couple more weeks as the roads get cleared.

[trouble1964]

WE DO NEED TOURISTS TO KEEP ON COMING, INCLUDING CRUISERS. We don't need cruise lines to cancel.

 

I'm on a sailing that is scheduled in Mid November. I am afraid that I will be "in the way" and I will feel guilty for being on vacation while there is so much devastation around. Do you know if there will be any things that we can bring to replace things that people lost, such as household, toys, clothes, Bibles, etc? I would much rather be able to do SOMETHING other than gawk. This will be my 4th time in PR, and we had not planned an excursion.

[Aviator of the Seas]

I'm on a sailing that is scheduled in Mid November. I am afraid that I will be "in the way" and I will feel guilty for being on vacation while there is so much devastation around. Do you know if there will be any things that we can bring to replace things that people lost, such as household, toys, clothes, Bibles, etc? I would much rather be able to do SOMETHING other than gawk. This will be my 4th time in PR, and we had not planned an excursion.

 

Just do what you would normally do on any cruise. You will not be in the way. The devastation is being overhyped in the media. Yes, the damage was serious, but you won't see much of it by the time you come down in November. Right now people are handling it well here and they won't resent anything. We need YOU to come down. Please.

[bouhunter]

Just do what you would normally do on any cruise. You will not be in the way. The devastation is being overhyped in the media. Yes, the damage was serious, but you won't see much of it by the time you come down in November. Right now people are handling it well here and they won't resent anything. We need YOU to come down. Please.

 

We're scheduled to visit SJU on a cruise in December and hope it happens. We will get off the ship, enjoy Old San Juan, and support the local businesses as always. We have hotel reservations before and after a January San Juan cruise and plan on being there. It will be our 9th time flying to San Juan and we look forward to it as much as ever.

 

It's awful Maria hit PR, but it's almost stupid that people are acting like this is the end of the world and it will be forever before SJU is worth visiting again................WE WILL BE THERE in December and again in January.

[alfaeric]

Just do what you would normally do on any cruise. You will not be in the way. The devastation is being overhyped in the media. Yes, the damage was serious, but you won't see much of it by the time you come down in November. Right now people are handling it well here and they won't resent anything. We need YOU to come down. Please.

 

IMHO, the overhype is relative.

 

Some of what they are saying is sensational, for sure. Not *that* many homes are completely gone. There are, for sure. But large cities like Ponce had relatively little damage.

 

But they are missing other stuff. Like how some of us are trying to find ways to get our families out, because of power problems. The person helping us spent all night in a line just to get ice. All my family has is water. No power, no phone, and no food. That situation is really hard to deal with.

 

We are hopeful that by the time we can get down there, it will be ok enough to not require them to come out for a while.

 

It's really hard to have family where you can do nothing to help their situation.

 

OTOH, I do agree that people in November should just plan on going. Get the money flow system back going.

 

(I hope all is well for you and your family, Aviator. Ours are alive, and the home is fine. But it's hard to say if they are really OK or not)

[saltydoge]

Just do what you would normally do on any cruise. You will not be in the way. The devastation is being overhyped in the media. Yes, the damage was serious, but you won't see much of it by the time you come down in November. Right now people are handling it well here and they won't resent anything. We need YOU to come down. Please.

 

Ocean Park is still flooded with water. Mobile service is still out. Half the island doesn't have clean drinking water. San Juan's airport is the primary landing space for supplies and personnel coming in via air.

 

Respectfully, when the infrastructure to support visitors (power restored to hospitals, uninterrupted supply lines island-wide, communications and mobile phone towers powered) is back up-and-running, I'll be back. In the meantime, the travel industry should do what they're good at — adapt to changing circumstances and prepare to accommodate government personnel, engineers, military and contractors that should be overwhelming the island to rebuild (if only we had the leadership to make this happen).

[Vineyard View]

AoS -good to hear your optimism and update.

The news we all see certainly does seem positive.

 

Those of us who are sailing out of and into SJ - many are in a position of not truly knowing what some of our Hotels are going to be positioned to take in the coming months - nor if our ships are going to continue as planned.

 

So a planned extended stay prior to or after does feel like taking resources, including hotel rooms, away from others who are in much greater need.

[elcuchio24]

As soon as the airport is able to land planes safely and the dock is safe to port at, they should be porting out of SJ again. They need $$$$$

[Littleclover]

We're supposed to be sailing out of PR on 10/15 and have no idea of what's going on. No hotel to stay at. Airport is jam packed and flights are limited. Not exactly sure how you expect people to travel there when people are trying to leave. My BF mother and brother live there and they wait 5hrs in line a day to purchase food that has to be cooked that day since there is no power. Sorry but no, I do not want to sail out yet have no idea if we will or will not.

[Vineyard View]

As soon as the airport is able to land planes safely and the dock is safe to port at, they should be porting out of SJ again. They need $$$$$

 

NO Hotels are open yet. it’s not just the airport nightmare.....it is nothing short of that right now. I am all for helping with $$$, but not until the basic necessities of the people of Puerto Rico are being met, does it make sense for an influx of outside people to take that away for those who so need it. I pray it is soon and not for my vacation, but for all those in Puerto Rico.....

[slimtny]

NO Hotels are open yet. it’s not just the airport nightmare.....it is nothing short of that right now. I am all for helping with $$$, but not until the basic necessities of the people of Puerto Rico are being met, does it make sense for an influx of outside people to take that away for those who so need it. I pray it is soon and not for my vacation, but for all those in Puerto Rico.....

 

Not true. The La Concha posted they are now open.

[alfaeric]

NO Hotels are open yet. it’s not just the airport nightmare.....it is nothing short of that right now. I am all for helping with $$$, but not until the basic necessities of the people of Puerto Rico are being met, does it make sense for an influx of outside people to take that away for those who so need it. I pray it is soon and not for my vacation, but for all those in Puerto Rico.....

We also got word that El Convento is planning on opening in November. If that helps people plan that far out.

 

We are planning a "rescue" trip later in October, found an open hotel (in Ponce) and a car.

 

Still sucks enough that many people are trying to get their relatives up to the mainland.

[Darcy03231]

We're at the AC Hotel and they're open.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for the corrections. I am very glad to hear that Hotels are beginning to open.