Does this always happen?

[Kac G]

We were on Enchantment of the Seas 12/24-12/29/05 and were supposed to stop at Grand Caymen on 12/27. Were really looking forward to our excurison. Snorkeling, stingkrays, and lunch at seven mile beach. We suggested this excurison for our group because the people we were with it was their first cruise, they had never snorkeled and the kids had never swam in the ocean before. We also had heard that if you do a ships excursion tendering would be easier. Anyways, we spent hours sitting off shore looking at Grand Caymen while the captain tried to decide if we were going to tender or not. Rough seas. I kept reminding my husband that it was not the cruise lines fault - they can't control the weather - and he was not going to make a complaint to be compensated in some way (we knew we would be refunded our money). We waited from 8:30 in the morning until some time after 12 noon when it was finally announced we would not be going ashore. They also made an announcement that RCCL would try for another port the next day (which would have been a day at sea). That got our hopes up. It turned out the port was Key West. Very disappointing. No exciting excurisions there. We've driven there! Our snorkeling attempts in the keys have not been good. Colder water, cloudy, rough, etc. We dock in Key West at a dock away from the main part, would have to take some kind of transportation to get to tourist area. And EVERY ONE ON THE SHIP HAD TO SEE IMMIGRATION BEFORE ANYBODY COULD GET OFF. When they first announced this I thought it must surely be a mistake. It was because we were back in U.S. Immigration did not get on the ship until after 10- it might have been 11 A.M. Apparently everyone say immigrationn except for one family. They kept paging for them to come and see immigration in the dining room. Anyways, we were finally cleared to leave the ship around 12:30 or 1:30 (can't remember exactly) and then went and stood in line for trollys to get into town. Then we were glad we didn't attempt to do an excursion - it would have been a really quick one! We just wondered around and shopped - which was fine with the two 16 year old girls that were with us. All in all it was so disappointing I wonder if I want to go on a cruise again. I'm thinking I would just like to fly to an island and stay there for a while instead on trying to get on these islands from a ship. Has anyone else had good experiences with substitution ports of call?

Sorry for the rambling,

Thanks.

[wrp96]

It is not that easy to substitute a port of call. The usual thing to do when they miss a port like Grand Cayman is just make it another sea day. Be glad you got another port substituted. If you really want to see a particular port, it is best to just fly there. A good portion of the time you will hit every port, but especially with tender ports like Grand Cayman you are at the mercy of the weather. Anecdotally from these boards, I'd say that Grand Cayman is missed about 1/3rd of the time. Eastern Caribbean ports tend to be missed a lot less than certain Western Caribbean ports - but that is because most of them you dock at instead of tendering.

 

And the immigration thing is the pits but it isn't the cruise line's fault. They have to do this any time they hit a U.S. port after going to a foreign port. I've had to do that in St. Thomas after going to Nassau.

[JLC@SD]

We were on Enchantment of the Seas 12/24-12/29/05 and were supposed to stop at Grand Caymen on 12/27. Were really looking forward to our excurison. Snorkeling, stingkrays, and lunch at seven mile beach. We suggested this excurison for our group because the people we were with it was their first cruise, they had never snorkeled and the kids had never swam in the ocean before. We also had heard that if you do a ships excursion tendering would be easier. Anyways, we spent hours sitting off shore looking at Grand Caymen while the captain tried to decide if we were going to tender or not. Rough seas. I kept reminding my husband that it was not the cruise lines fault - they can't control the weather - and he was not going to make a complaint to be compensated in some way (we knew we would be refunded our money). We waited from 8:30 in the morning until some time after 12 noon when it was finally announced we would not be going ashore. They also made an announcement that RCCL would try for another port the next day (which would have been a day at sea). That got our hopes up. It turned out the port was Key West. Very disappointing. No exciting excurisions there. We've driven there! Our snorkeling attempts in the keys have not been good. Colder water, cloudy, rough, etc. We dock in Key West at a dock away from the main part, would have to take some kind of transportation to get to tourist area. And EVERY ONE ON THE SHIP HAD TO SEE IMMIGRATION BEFORE ANYBODY COULD GET OFF. When they first announced this I thought it must surely be a mistake. It was because we were back in U.S. Immigration did not get on the ship until after 10- it might have been 11 A.M. Apparently everyone say immigrationn except for one family. They kept paging for them to come and see immigration in the dining room. Anyways, we were finally cleared to leave the ship around 12:30 or 1:30 (can't remember exactly) and then went and stood in line for trollys to get into town. Then we were glad we didn't attempt to do an excursion - it would have been a really quick one! We just wondered around and shopped - which was fine with the two 16 year old girls that were with us. All in all it was so disappointing I wonder if I want to go on a cruise again. I'm thinking I would just like to fly to an island and stay there for a while instead on trying to get on these islands from a ship. Has anyone else had good experiences with substitution ports of call?

Sorry for the rambling,

Thanks.

 

Yes,we were taken to Bahamas instead of Haiti, due to political unrest. We thought that was actually better.

 

Three or four times we have had to skip ports altogether due to bad weather.

 

Key West for Grand Cayman was not a good trade for you, especially because of having to clear US Customs. Hope the rest of the cruise went better.

[phabric]

We will be on the Enchantment Dec 23-28/06 with Key West and Grand Cayman. There will be 13 of us and 5 have never cruised before so hope we will be able to do Grand Cayman. I have heard Grand Cayman is the most missed port.

 

How was the ship decorated for Christmas. Did they do anything special for Christmas. When was formal night, I have read it is the 2nd night in our case it would be Key West, I was wondering if they would switch it to Christmas Day which would be a sea day. Did people dress up for Christmas Day. Would like to hear your comments about your cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been to Grand Cayman many, many times. And we have been fortunate to have calm seas and were able to tender in. But I have read on various boards about many cruises that were not able to tender to Grand Cayman because of the rough seas.

 

Sorry that you didn't get there.

 

We have had similar problems with Key West - people not showing up for immigration and holding the entire ship back from getting off.

 

In May, when we were shceduled to be in Key West, we were the only ship there and we were also out at the old navy dock and had to use the trollyes and trains to get into town. Much prefer Mallory Square dock.

[MikeT718]

Keep one thing in mind if you read your cruise CONTRACT all it allows for is the ship (a place to sleep) most food and some entertainment..Ports of call can be changed at the discresion on the cruise line / Captian for any of a number of reasons:eek:

When they do this they will generaly credit back to your ship board account port charges

[clackey]

We missed Calica on our first cruise because of mechanical problems, then the next year we couldn't tender in Belize because of weather so they took us to Calica. Last year was the only cruise where we got to stop at all scheduled ports. I still wouldn't miss it for the world.

[Musicman1024]

On my cruise on the Zenith a couple of years ago, we had Nassau substituted for Haiti because of all the political unrest going on at the time. I really think that was a trade up. Our next stop was Grand Caymans, which we couldn't tender into because of high seas. That became a sea day with an open bar that night as compensation.

 

You just have to be able to go with the flow and enjoy whatever comes your way.

 

Hope the rest of your trip was great.:D

[catmand]

No disrespect meant by this but if you or your husband are not prepared to possibly have some changes then maybe a cruise vacation isn't for you. For us (and I would bet a majority of the folks who post here) the ship is our main destination, everything else (the ports) are an added bonus. We are sailing to Hawaii in about 8 weeks. My wife has never been. Our itinerary is 8 sea days (there and back) and 5 stops at 4 islands over 5 days. We are in Maui from 7am until 3pm. That is certainly NOT the way to do an Hawaiian vacation compared to spending a week there and seeing a couple of the islands. But as I said, take the sea days, add a little Hawaii and we have a great vacation.

The cruise ship is a floating hotel and all it provides should be your number one reason for taking a cruise, not the shore destinations or you may be very disappointed.

[chasetf]

Has anyone else had good experiences with substitution ports of call?.

We have had a number of "substitutes"... some of which have been a day at sea. If the weather is so rough we cannot get in safely, it is raining so hard I cannot imagine having fun in port in that kind of weather, it has been enjoyable to just spent the day on the ship. :)

 

In Tahiti we bypassed the Rarotonga, Cook Islands because of a tropical storm and went west to Rangiroa. The island was beautiful and had to say we did not miss much (a storm) :eek: at the Cook Islands.

[cruisinbuddy]

We've missed Grand cayman. Water was to rough to tender. When the Captain decided to forego it he almost flipped the ship turning so hard & fast. We had a day at sea and bee-lined it fir Cozumel.