Eastern Caribbean itinerary cancelled Apr - Sept

[How much longer?]

We just got back over a week ago from the Dawn out of San Juan, we went to St Thomas, St Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, St Lucia and Barbados, most were not impacted by the hurricanes and those that were we had a great time on, with the islands putting efforts into making sure tourists were coming back. I don't recall there being issues, but we did not do cruise sponsored excursions on the ship. Perhaps that is what is making the difference?

[FLAHAM]

Well, I guess I can spend the next four months dreaming of how to spend my $25 credit.

[kitkat343]

If its of any consolation to those of you who haven't been to those ports, we actually liked some of them. Costa Maya has a really nice excursion with Native Choice where you can visit Mayan ruins and then have a native lunch cooked by Mayan grandmothers. They'll let you cook too if you like.

 

In Roatan, Bodden adventures can take you all around the island to whatever attractions you'd like best. We like animals, so we went to Bodden's house where there are monkeys and birds, to the iguana sanctuary and went snorkeling.

 

Sorry about those of you who have already done this itinerary, plus we really like going into Belize itself and wouldn't be interested in a private island (but some people like the private islands).

[williecruz]

If one wants to keep up on progress in one Eastern port: Tortola, I highly recommended the Windtraveler blog written by the family that owned Aristocrat charters. They are Americans that just got back to Tortola and do a good job of giving a picture of what's happening as they rebuild ther lives. They certainly want to rebuild their Island and excursion business. It's clear that it's going to take awhile and makes me wonder why the cancellation decisions weren't made sooner.

 

 

Hoping this change does not extend into November as we are booked on Bliss/Eastern AND on Aristocat in Tortola--love that excursion--will be our third time sailing with them! They have a great business model and I was hoping the ships would start to go back soon so they could rebuild.

[Maya1234]

Hoping this change does not extend into November as we are booked on Bliss/Eastern AND on Aristocat in Tortola--love that excursion--will be our third time sailing with them! They have a great business model and I was hoping the ships would start to go back soon so they could rebuild.

 

Brittany Meyers Windtraveler blog will certainly give you a good indicator by 3-4 months out if they can get they can get up and running in time. Gotta say that both she and her husband Scott must have the patience and persevere of saints. Living aboard a boat with three very young kids....no wonder they can deal well with all those tourists! Lol.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Cozumel ... the Nassau of Mexico.

[smplybcause]

It is a shame about the change in itineraries, although understandable. $25 per stateroom is just a joke though, they'd be better off not bothering at all. That's like leaving a one cent tip in a restaurant if you're pissed off.

 

Also I hope they do let those that wish to cancel to do so penalty free. It's just the right thing to do.

 

Good luck folks who are booked on the affected voyages, whatever you decide to do.

Better than nothing. As far as I know I'm getting nothing for my Feb cruise that was moved western.

 

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[a1betpr]

I am pretty disappointed with this itinerary change as we just did the exact same Western Caribbean cruise in late 2016 and I am in no hurry to go back to Cozumel or Roatan or Costa Maya. But more concerning is this - we booked the Sept 30 Getaway Eastern Caribbean cruise a couple months ago and now that date doesn’t even show up when you do a search - that week gets skipped. My online account that used to show “Eastern Caribbean” as a vacation now shows “default itinerary” as the cruise, and no detailed itinerary shows up. I tried an online chat but that was a waste of time....I’ll have to call NCL tomorrow.

[Sotermarler]

Cozumel ... the Nassau of Mexico.

 

 

 

Ha, ha so true. We care for Cozumel.

 

 

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[ericasadventures]

I think this is totally unnecessary. I was just at many of the ports over the holidays, some of which were impacted by the hurricanes (San Juan, St Thomas, St Kitts, etc) and the ports were more than fine - I don't feel like I was impacted at all. Staying away and removing tourist revenue is the last thing they need.

[delaware32]

We were on the Dawn last Fall and when changes were made to our itinerary the website showed "default itinerary " until NCL updated . That maybe what's happening with the Eastern Caribbean cruise.

[teatoast]

Has anyone heard any update on this? Or any report from NCL? We're travelling the Getaway in August, eastern Caribbean.

[brookie848]

That’s a long ways out, thru sept, if affects multiple ships western ports will be more crowded than normal and recovering eastern ports not going to be happy as need pax to help recover

 

 

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I don't think the Western ports will be too crowded during this time. A lot of ships are not sailing the Caribbean in the summer -- they head to Alaska or Europe.

 

I agree that the Eastern ports are not going to be happy. We were in St. Thomas in November on the Dawn and the people we talked to were thrilled to have the ships back. I understand Tortola not being ready, but I wish they would do a St. Thomas/Antigua (we LOVED Antigua)/Nassau itinerary just to give some business back to the islands who need it.

[Julma]

Just sat down to book two cabins on the Getaway for this August, Eastern and this changes everything. We got off the Gem last week, which docked in St. Thomas. We had a wonderful day there. Have to start my search over and look at RCCL and Celebrity. I think NCL is making a mistake.

[Blwd01]

I am so annoyed by this. This is our first cruise and we picked the itinerary for a reason. We didn't want to do Mexico. I understand things happen, but, this is so frustrating.

[grest]

Will it make a difference in terms of options if final payment has been made?

[Julma]

Sounds like NCL will send a formal letter next week, but they should have stopped booking easterns for that time period as soon as the decision was made. You can still book them now and that's not right.

[NewEnglandNANA]

We got an email for our may 27 NCL Getaway cruise. They said it would be Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. I love that ship, but I don't have any interest in that itinerary, it was ok once, but not twice.

 

Interestingly, a second email came saying that they weren't making the announcement until next week.

We are on this cruise as well have not recieved any notification yet.

[IrieBajan54]

Cozumel ... the Nassau of Mexico.

 

Couldn't agree more. Eastern is head and shoulders better than Western.

[vlapinta]

I too am very dissapointed. I booked 3 cabins and am paying for all to celebrated my 60th. I just cancelled a Mexican trip in September. I have no desire to go to Mexico and now have no choice. Annoyed also that NCL decided this after final payment. I would never have imagined they would do this with other ships already back doing an Eastern itinerary!

[Something fun!]

It sounds like the affected ports can handle the smaller ships but not the larger ones yet.

[ksmcdonald]

Does “Eastern Caribbean” include Bahamas? I’m thinking the ships leaving out of NYC will not have enough time to get over to the Western Caribbean. Most of those cruise are Eastern.

 

 

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[CP3o]

It sounds like the affected ports can handle the smaller ships but not the larger ones yet.

 

RCCL Allure is going to San Juan and St. Martin.

[Mbtor]

Has anybody who didn't book with a TA received an email or had their itinerary updated online? MyNCL is still showing eastern and i can even book excursions. I can understand a delay in updating online but if they knew about this since last week some communication should have been sent by now and at the very least the ability to book excursions should have been disabled.

[deweytrader]

Just got the email from NCL - now Western Caribbean. They say it will take a couple of days to update their system and all eastern carr shore excursions already purchased will be refunded etc. etc. Small $25 or $50 onboard credit depending on room type booked. I am on the 4/15/18 Getaway sailing...