In your experience, how close to a cruise does Princess wait to make itinerary changes?

[jat1977]

Haven't sailed with Princess before but have a cruise scheduled for next month.  Our itinerary includes Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.  I know Grand Cayman has remained closed to cruise ships thus far, and I saw that Carnival took it off itineraries for several of its upcoming cruises in February and beyond.  I also saw that Carnival kept Ocho Rios on the itinerary for some ships and just replaced Grand Cayman with Costa Maya, but then for others, it completely changed the itinerary to replace both Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman with either another Mexican port, Honduras, or Belize.  Since Carnival owns Princess, I'm sure an itinerary change is coming, at least for Grand Cayman, but not sure how close Princess gets to a scheduled cruise before that happens.  Our cruise is less than 3 weeks away, and I'm trying to plan for shore excursions, but waiting for the change so I know which ports to look at.  I saw that Grand Turk just reopened and I'd love for that to be our replacement (missed it twice), but I know that's likely wishful thinking.  😄

*I'm aware that cruise lines can change an itinerary even when we are on board, but I'm specifically wondering about timing of pre-cruise changes.  

[memoak]

Itinerary changes in this day and age are impossible to predict. Things are changing just too fast

[Honolulu Blue]

In my one experience with Princess on the Regal, Grand Turk was changed to Princess Cays about a month before our cruise.  But itinerary changes can happen any time these days.

[donaldsc]

Considering what is going on today, they could make an itinerary change the morning of the day you are expecting to dock at a place.

 

DON

[geoherb]

For my cruise last month on the Caribbean Princess, they changed us from going to Princess Cays to going to Nassau 12 days before the cruise. The most disappointing thing about the timing of the announcement was that Princess had made this change for the subsequent western itineraries of the CB about a month before. I thought that my cruise had been spared.

 

Princess made changes to two other ports (Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman) about two months before the cruise. We went to Belize and Costa Maya instead. I booked the cruise six weeks before it and only found out about the earlier changes to the itinerary from reading the roll call.

 

 

[BellsRUs]

We were on the Enchanted earlier this month. The day before we were to stop at St. Thomas the captain announced that we were not being allowed to stop because of Covid cases on board. They arranged for us to stop at Grand Turk instead. 
 

I’m  wondering about our next cruise, as we are scheduled  to stop in Puerto Rico, but from what I’ve read, PR requires everyone to have a Covid test within 48 hours of the stop. 

[toofewcruises]

2 hours ago, jat1977 said:

Haven't sailed with Princess before but have a cruise scheduled for next month.  Our itinerary includes Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.  I know Grand Cayman has remained closed to cruise ships thus far, and I saw that Carnival took it off itineraries for several of its upcoming cruises in February and beyond.  I also saw that Carnival kept Ocho Rios on the itinerary for some ships and just replaced Grand Cayman with Costa Maya, but then for others, it completely changed the itinerary to replace both Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman with either another Mexican port, Honduras, or Belize.  Since Carnival owns Princess, I'm sure an itinerary change is coming, at least for Grand Cayman, but not sure how close Princess gets to a scheduled cruise before that happens.  Our cruise is less than 3 weeks away, and I'm trying to plan for shore excursions, but waiting for the change so I know which ports to look at.  I saw that Grand Turk just reopened and I'd love for that to be our replacement (missed it twice), but I know that's likely wishful thinking.  😄

*I'm aware that cruise lines can change an itinerary even when we are on board, but I'm specifically wondering about timing of pre-cruise changes.  

I wish I knew!  I am on the 1/31 cruise and we still don't know anything!  From what I have read, we are unlikely to stop at Grand Cayman... but it would be nice of Princess to let us know that ahead of time!

[partybarbie]

Last week, my October Hawaii cruise has replaced Lahaina, Maui, with Kona.  I have also had Costa Maya replaced with Cozumel (same day, on the cruise).  It really can happen at any time. Per the passenger contract, none of the ports are guaranteed. 

[jat1977]

23 minutes ago, toofewcruises said:

I wish I knew!  I am on the 1/31 cruise and we still don't know anything!  From what I have read, we are unlikely to stop at Grand Cayman... but it would be nice of Princess to let us know that ahead of time!

Yes, I agree.  Hoping we both get some confirmation soon!

[CruisinFinsUp]

https://www.visitcaymanislands.com/en-ca/travel-requirements/faqs

 

The Cayman Islands currently is in their definition of "phase 5"  The next stage is full opening from the looks of it.  Perhaps the folks at Princess are hoping that in 3 weeks the Cayman government will update policies, and they will be permitted to cruise there, and until they know they are not, they are not changing the itinerary.      

The Carnival Cruise Line folks took a different approach and cancelled and rebooked their ships.    

 

The Carnival brand has completely different rules and protocols than Princess.  I've found few similarities in the policies between the two.   Even the covid protocols and policies are somewhat different.    

 

Each of Carnival Cruise Line and Princess are wholly owned subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation PCL, and they operate independently of one another, along with all the other brands they own.   https://www.carnivalcorp.com/corporate-information/our-brands

 

[flahagan]

I was wondering the same thing.  I'm on the Enchanted Princess TA April 9, 25 days Ft. Lauderdale - Copenhagen including Baltics and St. Petersburg.  I can't imagine sailing the Baltic and/or staying 2 days in Russia with the threat of war looming.  Of course, it could all be a bad memory by then.  If not, I'm hoping Princess will alter the itinerary to maybe the British Isles and still end in Copenhagen for already booked flights.  I guess it will be a surprise.

[jat1977]

1 hour ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

https://www.visitcaymanislands.com/en-ca/travel-requirements/faqs

 

The Cayman Islands currently is in their definition of "phase 5"  The next stage is full opening from the looks of it.  Perhaps the folks at Princess are hoping that in 3 weeks the Cayman government will update policies, and they will be permitted to cruise there, and until they know they are not, they are not changing the itinerary.      

The Carnival Cruise Line folks took a different approach and cancelled and rebooked their ships.    

 

The Carnival brand has completely different rules and protocols than Princess.  I've found few similarities in the policies between the two.   Even the covid protocols and policies are somewhat different.    

 

Each of Carnival Cruise Line and Princess are wholly owned subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation PCL, and they operate independently of one another, along with all the other brands they own.   https://www.carnivalcorp.com/corporate-information/our-brands

 

Thanks for this. Last I checked, Grand Cayman was still at level 4 so that must be recent.  And it is helpful to know that Carnival and Princess's protocols and policies are different. 

[Tak8]

I tend to be a planner with excursions, both private and Princess, but I don't see booking much in advance.  As others have noted, too much uncertainty of stopping at particular islands/countries.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, flahagan said:

I can't imagine sailing the Baltic and/or staying 2 days in Russia with the threat of war looming

St Petersburg has been shut to cruise ships since last year, so that visit is already in jeopardy. 

The Baltic is nowhere near the Ukraine, so why would cruises not go there ?

[philv]

I have Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman on itinerary for second week of b2b starting Feb 6. I booked an excursion for Ocho Rios but am leaving GC open. Chances aren't good for GC from what I've been reading and an at sea day may be substituted. I would prefer a port but we'll see. We can always book excursion on board for wherever we end up.

Edited January 27, 2022 by philv

[generichandle]

I was on CB in the Irish Sea a few years ago. 80mph winds and 45ft seas caused the Captain to cancel Irish port. We all understood. Then we were stuck in port at Rekjevik 18 extra hrs for same storm. 

 

My point is, they must consider safety 1st regardless. Sometime they can 'see it coming' and others are 'last minute'. But begin on ship is also great, so enjoy and do not worry. It's for fun, not survival, that we sail. So far, that has worked!

[geoherb]

In my earlier response, I was talking about changes to ports made before the cruise for operational reasons, not ones caused by weather. We've had our share of those as well. Hurricane Bertha in 2014 made us miss Princess Cays. We had a lovely day at sea. We skipped it on a previous cruise as well because of high winds. Both of our fall transatlantics changed itineraries during the cruises due to weather. In 2018, we skipped Bergan, Belfast, and St. John's and went to Vigo and Ponta Delgada instead. In 2019, we missed Portland (England) due to weather and then missed Ponta Delgada. The latter was due to Hurricane Dorian. 

[judithzuz]

16 hours ago, flahagan said:

Of course, it could all be a bad memory by then.  If not, I'm hoping Princess will alter the itinerary to maybe the British Isles and still end in Copenhagen for already booked flights.  I guess it will be a surprise.

I like your ideas as a possible alternative, although I would hate to lose the Baltic. Another possibility is Norway Fjords.