Puerto Rico Earthquake

[Misty Morning]

Wonder if most recent earthquake in Puerto Rico will have an impact on cruise operations in San Juan?

[ridethetide]

47 minutes ago, Misty Morning said:

Wonder if most recent earthquake in Puerto Rico will have an impact on cruise operations in San Juan?

It appears that only the southern and southwestern coastal towns have been affected.  CNN just reported that all ports in the US Virgins and Puerto Rico remain open at this time. Puerto Rico just doesn't get a break...

[MNgardens]

According to this, much of the island is without power:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/us/puerto-rico-earthquake-tuesday/index.html

'Hours after a deadly 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico, people on the southern coast fear more homes could soon collapse and most of the people on the island remain without power.

Tuesday's quake -- the strongest and likely the most damaging of a series of quakes that have hit the island since December 28 -- left a man dead, caused dozens of homes and structures to crumble and cut power and water service to swaths of the island...'

[CanadianKate]

For now, I'm following this topic on Cruise Critic:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2722198-strong-earthquake-strikes-puerto-rico-damage-reported/

 

I'm to arrive 3 days early. I set that up so if there were weather delays, I'd be fine. Now I'm worried about shortages of potable water and electricity. For once, I'm hoping for a weather delay. 

(I also still don't have insurance for this cruise because I'm still working out the cost of new trip so I can find out from the insurance company how much I'm out of pocket for the cancelled cruise in order to put in my claim to Windstar for uncovered costs. Hopefully, that will get settled in the next day or two and if the cruise embarkation point changes, the trip insurance will cover the costs of those new flights, since my flights to San Juan are non-refundable.) 

[CanadianKate]

This tells quite the story:

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22autoUpdate%22%3A%5B%22autoUpdate%22%5D%2C%22basemap%22%3A%22grayscale%22%2C%22feed%22%3A%221day_m25%22%2C%22listFormat%22%3A%22default%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B17.801649818190572%2C-66.94244384765625%5D%2C%5B17.984611054282695%2C-66.61285400390625%5D%5D%2C%22overlays%22%3A%5B%22plates%22%5D%2C%22restrictListToMap%22%3A%5B%22restrictListToMap%22%5D%2C%22search%22%3Anull%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22timezone%22%3A%22utc%22%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%5B%22list%22%2C%22map%22%5D%2C%22event%22%3Anull%7D

 

76 quakes over 2.5 in the last 24 hours as of when I looked at it. Including one over 4 about 2 hours ago. 

[O2B@Cagain]

Kate: Puerto Rico is on a very active seismic section of our planet. Earthquakes are frequent throughout the Caribbean, believe it or not. Several articles explaining this have come out over the last couple of days, including this one: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-is-puerto-rico-being-struck-by-earthquakes

You can see that the area hit by the "big one" is very far away from San Juan, where Windstar docks.  It is not unusual for electricity to be off for periods of time in PR, as well as most Caribbean islands. The infrastructure is just too sketchy at best. PR will prioritize San Juan when there is a problem. Additionally, most hotels and restaurants will have generator power for extended outages.

 

I do think getting there early. Weather in the winter is always a problem. I was amazed last year to see people flying in for a transatlantic on the day of departure. It's not like you can catch up at the next port...😊

[sb44]

14 hours ago, CanadianKate said:

For now, I'm following this topic on Cruise Critic:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2722198-strong-earthquake-strikes-puerto-rico-damage-reported/

 

I'm to arrive 3 days early. I set that up so if there were weather delays, I'd be fine. Now I'm worried about shortages of potable water and electricity. For once, I'm hoping for a weather delay. 

(I also still don't have insurance for this cruise because I'm still working out the cost of new trip so I can find out from the insurance company how much I'm out of pocket for the cancelled cruise in order to put in my claim to Windstar for uncovered costs. Hopefully, that will get settled in the next day or two and if the cruise embarkation point changes, the trip insurance will cover the costs of those new flights, since my flights to San Juan are non-refundable.) 

Even with non refundable tickets the airlines are pretty good about allowing changes in the case of a natural disaster.  This is certainly a wait and see but I think San Juan can manage it as they are on the other side of the island. Those poor people just can't catch a break.

[Mendhamcruise]

So we are flying in to San Juan on January 31st and boarding Windstar Star Pride on February 1.  There is nothing posted on Windstar regarding any cancellations.  Is anyone else on this sailing and have any information ?

 

[new_cruiser]

The quake was on the Southern side if the island. Everything I've read says that the airport and port are operational and cruises are unaffected. San Juan is on the North side of the island. 

[CanadianKate]

2 hours ago, Mendhamcruise said:

So we are flying in to San Juan on January 31st and boarding Windstar Star Pride on February 1.  There is nothing posted on Windstar regarding any cancellations.  Is anyone else on this sailing and have any information ?

 

We are. Arriving on the 29th. 

I have no doubt the airport and port are running fine so there will be no delays. My concern remains water supply due to electricity supply issues. Yes, I know the quakes are on the other side of the island (60 miles away) but I also know that all electricity generation is done on southern side of the island. 

 

The quakes are slowing down and most are more than the shaking from a heavy truck driving by, so I expect things to improve. 

[O2B@Cagain]

Kate: I'm not sure where you heard that all the power is generated on the south of the island. San Juan is the main city and has plants near it. They do prioritize San Juan as that is the center of government. Also many of the major hospitals, etc are there. After Maria, Old San Juan was the first place to get power, and as I mentioned, generators are ubiquitous. I think you are over worried, probably because of the issues you have had with Windstar. 😉

 

Don't worry. Be happy...

[Redtravel]

On Star Legend in San Juan today.  There was another quake today. It did not pose any problems.

[Alturia]

We were at the San Juan airport on Saturday January 1, 2020 and there were no problems. All flights operating, water flowing, restaurants open, etc. We did feel the the 5.9 aftershock on Saturday morning.

[Alturia]

1 hour ago, Alturia said:

We were at the San Juan airport on Saturday January 1, 2020 and there were no problems. All flights operating, water flowing, restaurants open, etc. We did feel the the 5.9 aftershock on Saturday morning.

Sorry - that should be January 11, 2020 not January 1.

[CanadianKate]

On 1/9/2020 at 2:34 PM, O2B@Cagain said:

Kate: I'm not sure where you heard that all the power is generated on the south of the island. San Juan is the main city and has plants near it. They do prioritize San Juan as that is the center of government. Also many of the major hospitals, etc are there. After Maria, Old San Juan was the first place to get power, and as I mentioned, generators are ubiquitous. I think you are over worried, probably because of the issues you have had with Windstar. 😉

 

Don't worry. Be happy...

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power-earthquake.html

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51045229

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51045229

 

I'm worried because it is an ongoing situation (the plants were closed again to be reinspected after yesterday's 5.9 quake), because I'm not staying in Old San Juan, and because I will be there 3 days not transferring from the airport to the port. The main plant that is out supplies 25% of the island's power and as the NYT article points out, this isn't like there being a damaged plant on the mainland where other states can divert electricity to the affected area.

 

Now, not only am I leaving over 2 weeks earlier than originally planned, I'm also having to plan for completely different pre-cruise circumstances. I'm debating canceling my small hotel and changing to a larger, chain hotel that can be self sufficient. I'm embarking on a 12 day at sea adventure. To risk contracting a food-borne illness caused by pre-cruise surroundings is my worry.  That was not a concern when I was leaving from Barcelona. 

 

[O2B@Cagain]

The Caribbean always has infrastructure problems. It is not Europe. nor is it North America. I believe you are overthinking this, but I don't think I'm going to change your mind. Again, good luck.

[sb44]

7 hours ago, CanadianKate said:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power-earthquake.html

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51045229

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51045229

 

I'm worried because it is an ongoing situation (the plants were closed again to be reinspected after yesterday's 5.9 quake), because I'm not staying in Old San Juan, and because I will be there 3 days not transferring from the airport to the port. The main plant that is out supplies 25% of the island's power and as the NYT article points out, this isn't like there being a damaged plant on the mainland where other states can divert electricity to the affected area.

 

Now, not only am I leaving over 2 weeks earlier than originally planned, I'm also having to plan for completely different pre-cruise circumstances. I'm debating canceling my small hotel and changing to a larger, chain hotel that can be self sufficient. I'm embarking on a 12 day at sea adventure. To risk contracting a food-borne illness caused by pre-cruise surroundings is my worry.  That was not a concern when I was leaving from Barcelona. 

 

Why don't you call Windstar tomorrow and see if you can book into their precruise hotel. And ask them if they have any updates for you. If you used a TA ask them to do it for you. I don't think this group can do much for you but Windstar can certainly help.

[CanadianKate]

On 1/9/2020 at 10:58 AM, Mendhamcruise said:

So we are flying in to San Juan on January 31st and boarding Windstar Star Pride on February 1.  There is nothing posted on Windstar regarding any cancellations.  Is anyone else on this sailing and have any information ?

 

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