Any Key West updates?

[travellovers2]

9 hours ago, vintagegarage said:

You can learn about a lot of things to do in Nassau and Bimini that you may not have thought about, including details about the tram in Bimini by reading my trip report from Carnival Magic at:

 

 

 

Thank you for the trip report on Bimini. We are not stopping in Nassau, but we have been there so many times that we usually don't get off the ship anymore. Sometimes we walk to Señor Frogs for a drink and some music then go back on the ship. 

 

You mentioned a "tourist area" in Bimini. Do they have souvenir shops and restaurants? Is that close to the Hilton Hotel?

[AKJonesy]

17 hours ago, Aj101 said:

 

Sadly, protests sound about right.  That's all I am going to say.

[wnyork49]

We were scheduled to stop in Key West on the Statendam in December. Received an email today changing stop to Bimini. Not even close to the same thing. I believe there would be only an 80% refund if we canceled. Key West was the only reason we booked this cruise. Not happy

 

[Homosassa]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:45 AM, wnyork49 said:

We were scheduled to stop in Key West on the Statendam in December. Received an email today changing stop to Bimini. Not even close to the same thing. I believe there would be only an 80% refund if we canceled. Key West was the only reason we booked this cruise. Not happy

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

If you are new to cruising, a rule of booking a cruise is to be flexible (same rule as for any traveling).

 

Never book a cruise because of a "must go or my life is ruined" port.

 

Yes, the statement is overly dramatic, but so are many of the posts that follow a itinerary change.

 

Many things can cause a change in itinerary (ports deleted, ports added, dates and times changed).  If there is a "must do or die" port, book a land vacation and then pray there is nothing that interferes with those plans.

[MISTER 67]

On 1/30/2022 at 10:49 PM, Sunchaser46 said:

We have a scheduled Key West port stop during our mid March cruise on the Rotterdam. Wondering if anyone has heard any news about Key West accepting large cruise ships and if not has anyone had a last minute port switch?

We were in Key West twice this summer on the Celebrity Equinox which is larger than the Rotterdam.

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

We were in Key West twice this summer on the Celebrity Equinox which is larger than the Rotterdam.

However they are only allowing large ships into 1 of the 3 docks, the privaty owned one. So if that one is in use on thst day, it could not use the others.

[MISTER 67]

24 minutes ago, ldtr said:

However they are only allowing large ships into 1 of the 3 docks, the privaty owned one. So if that one is in use on thst day, it could not use the others.

Yep, the Equinox was the only ship in port.

 

[Sir PMP]

It looks like there is a Celebrity in town now, Sunday 9-18

[KroozNut]

We're scheduled for a stop in Key West next March on the NA. Hope we get to go because we're really looking forward to that visit.

[njfredd]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:45 AM, wnyork49 said:

We were scheduled to stop in Key West on the Statendam in December. Received an email today changing stop to Bimini. Not even close to the same thing. I believe there would be only an 80% refund if we canceled. Key West was the only reason we booked this cruise. Not happy

 

We are also scheduled for this cruise and equally disappointed about the cancellation of Key West as a port stop. My Irish skin has no tolerance for the "wonders" of Bimini Beach 🥵

 

However, I think from my perusal of other CC dialogues, I figured out what caused the cancellation. There appears to be a be a very significant (in regard to numbers of participants) boat race taking place in Key West the week that the NS was scheduled to arrive in port. It appears that due to this activity the cruise port that our ship was scheduled to use elected to close down on the days that indicated the most activity (actual race days - semifinals are on the day that the NS was scheduled to be in port). 

 

Not sure who was responsible for the late notice, the cruise port or HAL (in my mellow years will not pass judgement - but will throw shade at HAL anyway) but does not appear to be completely arbitrary. Looks like I will go on land for mandatory "I have been to Bimini" photo, and then a relaxing day on board the ship, dreaming about the Duval Street crawl that will never be (at least for now). 

[Homosassa]

10 minutes ago, njfredd said:

We are also scheduled for this cruise and equally disappointed about the cancellation of Key West as a port stop. My Irish skin has no tolerance for the "wonders" of Bimini Beach 🥵

 

 

The sun is just as strong in Key West as it would be in the Bahamas.

[njfredd]

23 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The sun is just as strong in Key West as it would be in the Bahamas.

Not on the pub crawl that I had planned for Key West🍸🍹🍸!!! Cover planned wherever I planned to go. Bimini, on the other hand 🥵no matter where one goes - will rather stay on the ship - after mandatory photo op, of course.

[echoshipmate]

We are on NA Oct 25, a 5 day from FLL, had a port change TO Key West instead of Grand Turk. Always something, ok with the change, it is what it is. All good!

Doug

[Guest ldtr]

15 minutes ago, echoshipmate said:

We are on NA Oct 25, a 5 day from FLL, had a port change TO Key West instead of Grand Turk. Always something, ok with the change, it is what it is. All good!

Doug

Well there are no competing large ships scheduled in Key  West on either October 26 or 27 so I assume your cruise is slotting in one of those 2 openings.

[echoshipmate]

20 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Well there are no competing large ships scheduled in Key  West on either October 26 or 27 so I assume your cruise is slotting in one of those 2 openings.

Thanks, yes, we are there the 26th.

[AFNavigator]

1 hour ago, echoshipmate said:

We are on NA Oct 25, a 5 day from FLL, had a port change TO Key West instead of Grand Turk. Always something, ok with the change, it is what it is. All good!

Doug

That's a pretty major change, location-wise.  Bimini (and Nassau where they rerouted our Eurodam cruise last Dec) are somewhat similar cruise distances from Port Everglades as is Key West.  Grand Turk is much further away.