Goodness!!!

[CruisingLover]

What in the actual heck?!

 

2 of the excursions I booked just last week have been canceled 😕 One was in San Juan and the other was in Grand Turk. I received an email about the San Juan cancellation but haven't for the Grand Turk yet. I only know it's cancelled because it's not on my cruise itinerary anymore and not even offered on the cruise site. 

 

Unfortunately it's too late to cancel the cruise but it looks like we'll either be staying on the ship the entire time, or going out and exploring on our own 🙄

[Sea Hag]

Covid-related? That's all I can think, and usually if something's going wrong these days it's that.

[CruisingLover]

The San Juan one said "operational reasons"

[Waynetor]

"operational reasons" is the catch-all reason Princess uses when they don't want to tell you the real reason.   It is also commonly used when a port stop is being canceled.

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Assuming you are Regal for the New Years cruise, you are one of five scheduled for San Juan on Jan 3.  You and Rotterdam at Grand Turk. We’re they cancelling the port, or the excursions?   EM

[Ellaleah]

I was in San Juan 2/19 and there were several tour guides at the port.  I’m not sure how appealing this is to you or if they are there now.  Very inexpensive!

[geoherb]

I did not find out until boarding the Caribbean earlier this month that one of my snorkeling excursions was canceled and the other one had changed from starting in the afternoon to starting early in the morning. I ended up canceling that one and replacing it with one that started a little later in the morning. I walked around in Costa Maya rather than booking a different excursion. I stayed on the ship in Belize and Nassau, which is a perfectly fine alternative if there's nothing compelling you want to do.

 

That said, San Juan is great to explore on your own. The National Park Service's website has info: San Juan National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

[mycruisey]

Possibly because PR is on the high alert list for covid.  My friends who just got off the Enchanted said that ports were canceled at the last minute and some only allowed passengers to disembark into the port area but not the city.  Changed day to day

[satxdiver]

I had heard that Grand Turk and the TCI are closed at present time.  Some ports are closed if the cruise ship has a number of COVID cases aboard and the ship forced to make it a sea day.  Some ports only allow sanctioned tours and do not allow pax to go beyond the port area.  Things are changing daily with regards to COVID and most recently the omicron variant.   

[HaveDogWillTravel]

The excursions desk might tell you why they were cancelled once you board. 
According to the excursion desk on my recent sailing last month 2 out of 3 of my excursions (in Mexico) were cancelled because Princess did not fill enough slots and they aren’t allowed to mix us with non Princess customers. Fun alternatives were offered and we had a great time. 

[CruisingLover]

On 12/22/2021 at 8:20 PM, Essiesmom said:

Assuming you are Regal for the New Years cruise, you are one of five scheduled for San Juan on Jan 3.  You and Rotterdam at Grand Turk. We’re they cancelling the port, or the excursions?   EM

Just the excursion, as far as I can tell

[CruisingLover]

22 hours ago, satxdiver said:

I had heard that Grand Turk and the TCI are closed at present time.  Some ports are closed if the cruise ship has a number of COVID cases aboard and the ship forced to make it a sea day.  Some ports only allow sanctioned tours and do not allow pax to go beyond the port area.  Things are changing daily with regards to COVID and most recently the omicron variant.   

I'd rather they just cancel the darn cruise already then! Instead of making all the passengers wonder and then, possibly, not be able to even get off the ship. 

[Daniel A]

I read a while ago that once Grand Turk reopened to cruise ships they were only permitting one ship to dock at a time during the initial phase of reopening the port.  The port schedule shows two ships in on January 4.  Other cruises were diverted to Amber Cove when more than one ship was booked for the same day.

[pms4104]

3 hours ago, CruisingLover said:

I'd rather they just cancel the darn cruise already then! Instead of making all the passengers wonder and then, possibly, not be able to even get off the ship. 

We are still in a pandemic ...

 

Nothing is as expected ...

 

Nor is anything predictable ...

 

What did you expect, as we enter the 5th wave/surge?

 

Really, if this is so upsetting and unacceptable, just cancel the cruise and take the $$$ loss.

[MissP22]

On our March trips we fully expect that many excursions or even stops altogether might be cancelled at any moment.

In our case is not earth shaking but just disappointing.

In today's environment it's almost a given to have it occur. 

[kitkat343]

We always start our search for tours using the cruise tour listings, then go on tripadvisor and find private operators who duplicate any cruise tour we are interested in.  It's cheaper, and we don't waste time waiting for people on a large ship tour.  Given the uncertainty, I'd at least research backup options with private tour operators if the ship tours are cancelled (this won't help you if they move to bubble tour requirements) but given the mess we are in now, the more planning you do - or the quicker you can change your plans, the more likely you will be able to enjoy your holiday.  The private shore excursions I took in the Caribbean prior to covid did not generally require deposits, and charged no fees if the ship doesn't dock.  But obviously check their cancellation plan.

[skynight]

On 12/24/2021 at 8:04 AM, CruisingLover said:

I'd rather they just cancel the darn cruise already then! Instead of making all the passengers wonder and then, possibly, not be able to even get off the ship. 

At this time those that choose a cruise should be prepared for no ports and the unexpected. It's the way it is. Cancelled voyages probably not in the cards.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Ah... The infamous "cruise to nowhere"!  I'm game.