Dream missing Cancun

[mousey]

Hi Mousey-We will look for you. We are traveling with another Mom and son. I'm average height' date=' way over weight with grey hair. My son will certainly spot a kid that looks like Beckham! See you on board.[/quote']

Bob's Mom, So glad to hear from you. Looking forward to seeing you guys on board. I'm so excited about this cruise. We had such a great time last year. I'm a little overweight myself and if I didn't color my hair it would be dark brown with lots of grey! Hubby not overweight though he eats like a moose! Go figure! He's 6' tall and has dark brown hair. Our son is getting his hair trimmed before we go but his hair will still be long! Looking forward to seeing you in the Arcade 1st day at around 5:30 p.m.! What fun!

[Lisa&Neb]

Just off the Dram, Cancun is not open yet. will post a review soon.

[Babie]

Just off the Dram, Cancun is not open yet. will post a review soon.

 

Thanx for the update.

 

What was the compensation for missing the port?

[Gank1037]

I doubt if there was compensation offered for the March sailings that missed Cancun because it was not listed on the sales nor official itinerary. It is included in the April itins. which is probably why this is starting to get some more attention here on the board. The first itin. listing Cancun as a port is the April 1st sailing so hopefully we'll get a quick report back from someone on that sailing. My cousin went on a Carnival cruise 2 weeks ago and he said that, literally, NO port exists in Cancun other than small craft, and Cozumel is still in too rough condition to accept its former capacity of ships. I hate to say it, but the Mexican government's strategy of focusing on the airport in Cancun and the ports in Cozumel makes the most sense for the financial recovery of the region, but it sure takes a chunk out of my Dream sailing! :D Like other have said, it will still be an outstanding cruise.

[ute_fan]

Just to clarify the Cancun situation a little bit. There never was a pier at Cancun for the cruise ships - it was always a tender port. There was always very little clearance in the harbor where the ships docked. One of the crew members on the Sea last year told us that he had a friend who went diving underneath one of the cruise ships, and he could stand on the ocean floor and put his hands on the bottom of the ship -- about an 8 foot clearance. That contributed to the difficulties that the ships had in being able to make their stops at Cancun -- seems like it was about a 50% chance. Any rough weather at all, and Cancun would be cancelled.

 

A couple of previous posts indicated that the hurricane significantly altered the terrain of the ocean floor, and that they are going to have to do significant mapping before they can re-open Cancun to any ship traffic. It seems like I also remember reading that the big tenders that they used to get the cruise passengers into Cancun had been transferred over to Cozumel, and are being used in the tender operations there. It will be interesting to hear if they are really successful about adding this port back in starting April 1, but if I was cruising, I definitely wouldn't be counting on it.

[Babie]

The first itin. listing Cancun as a port is the April 1st sailing so hopefully we'll get a quick report back from someone on that sailing.

 

I'm on the April 1st itinerary. I'm planning on getting online a couple times during the cruise (I'm doing research for some friends for my April 8th Grand Princess cruise) and I'll update on the Cancun situation then.

[mousey]

I'm on the April 1st itinerary. I'm planning on getting online a couple times during the cruise (I'm doing research for some friends for my April 8th Grand Princess cruise) and I'll update on the Cancun situation then.

Okay, for what it's worth here is what little I know directly from NCL. I was told as I've mentioned in another post that the 4/8/06 Dream cruise out of Houston is supposed to be, again according to NCL, the first cruise that will be stopping in Cancun. Could be wishful thinking, whatever. I also made a mistake on one of my other posts (sorry sorry sorry) when I stated that we had booked a cruise and had gotten a confirmation. My husband just informed me that we DO NOT HAVE A CONFIRMED TOUR FOR CANCUN FROM NCL. In fact, he did not book a cruise there as he thinks we should wait to see what happens with the 4/1 cruise. We may not book anything for Cancun until when or if we get there. As I have said before, we know what could be happening (not stopping at Cancun) and are not going to be shocked or upset if we don't stop there. Fun, fun, fun no matter what is our family motto. I would ask the people that have been there recently a question. We stopped in Cancun in late March last year "05. What is the name of the big pier that is really long and has all the little shops in it? You can either walk all the way through the enclosed part or walk outside down the side of it. Is that pier open? I remember a lot of shops around there. I believe one of the shops was a Ron Jon's. That's the area I would like to know if it is open. Thanks for any responses!

[Babie]

Okay, for what it's worth here is what little I know directly from NCL. I was told as I've mentioned in another post that the 4/8/06 Dream cruise out of Houston is supposed to be, again according to NCL, the first cruise that will be stopping in Cancun. Could be wishful thinking, whatever. I also made a mistake on one of my other posts (sorry sorry sorry) when I stated that we had booked a cruise and had gotten a confirmation. My husband just informed me that we DO NOT HAVE A CONFIRMED TOUR FOR CANCUN FROM NCL. In fact, he did not book a cruise there as he thinks we should wait to see what happens with the 4/1 cruise. We may not book anything for Cancun until when or if we get there. As I have said before, we know what could be happening (not stopping at Cancun) and are not going to be shocked or upset if we don't stop there. Fun, fun, fun no matter what is our family motto. I would ask the people that have been there recently a question. We stopped in Cancun in late March last year "05. What is the name of the big pier that is really long and has all the little shops in it? You can either walk all the way through the enclosed part or walk outside down the side of it. Is that pier open? I remember a lot of shops around there. I believe one of the shops was a Ron Jon's. That's the area I would like to know if it is open. Thanks for any responses!

 

They've also told me that Cancun is on the itinerary for April 1st, so one of us has not been told the truth. I know that I called as a TA and spoke with someone, but I suppose we'll see either way :D

 

It's listed on our documents and I understand the current cruise and the next one did not have it listed. The April 1st if the first cruise with Cancun a listed stop in the documents.

 

I've only been to Cancun once, but I don't recall a long pier. We tendered into a small pier (there was a bungee jump platform connected to the little pier) there might have been 3 or 4 shops if that... There were several people set up in a market type setting on the beach, and a few shops off the beach, but not a long pier.

 

Are you maybe thinking of Puerta Maya in Cozumel. That sounds like the Puerta Maya pier in Cozumel. It isn't open. In December, they tendered us into the front part of the Puerta Maya pier. All the shops on the pier were gone. There's quite a bit of shopping once you get off the pier itself, but most of it too was still closed.

[Bob's Mom]

For what its worth...I've have been confirmed on a NCL excursion in Cancun on the April 8th cruise.

[mousey]

Hi Bob's Mom! Looking forward to seeing on the Dream. Hopefully we will stop in Cancun. I'm prepared to have fun either way! Honeymooned in Cancun back in 1986 and partied there about 5 years later. So I'm kind of in a "been there done that" kinda place. However, I'm with you, I would rather stop there than have another day At Sea. We usaullay won't take a cruise that has more than 2 days At Sea. See ya in the Arcade 1st night out!

[Lisa&Neb]

Cancun is closed as of last week. 2 reasons I heard from Staff on the dream.

 

1. The ocean floor has changed adn they need to re-plot it as to not run into something (good enough reason for me).

 

2. The tender boats NCL had for Cancun are in Cozumel because the pier is gone there. So it is keep cancun open or keep Cozumel open. They are going with Cozumel as more ships stop there.

 

Ther eis no "New" or "extra" stop for the dream, jsut a day at see. You get you $12+ back pp for port charges.

 

A side note...... NO NOT SNORKLE in COZUMEL. the Hurrican destroyed all the coral, you will be looking at sand witha few small corals and fish left..... save the money and go the Shark/ray alley in Belize. The only snokel I will do on this itinerary again!!!

[BiggyCruise]

Is it legal for NCL to continue to advertise a port in the itinerary that it knows in advance it cannot stop at?

[ute_fan]

BiggyCruise -- That's a good question. I think the problem is that Cancun is taking so much longer to recover than anyone originally anticipated. Originally, when Cancun was removed from the itineraries through the end of March, the Mexican govt. was projecting that all of Cancun, presumably including the ability for a cruise ship to call there, would be open by April 1. They were trying to get the city back in shape for all the spring breakers that traditionally call there, but it's been a much slower process than they anticipated.

 

Frankly, I'd personally rather have an extra day at sea than stop in Cancun anyway. I know there are lots of people who love it for a land-based vacation, but we weren't impressed with it as a cruise ship stop.

 

According to other posts on these boards, you're buying a 7-day cruise, which may or may-not include the scheduled ports of call, due to weather or other issues. Stopping at certain ports of call is never guaranteed. Cancun was an "iffy" port of call anyway, due to the shallow harbor.

 

Is it legal to sell the itinerary if they know they're not stopping there? I'm not an attorney, so I'm passing on that decision. Is it ethical to go on listing the port on the itineraries and booking shore excursions IF the determination that they're not stopping at Cancun has been made? I'd say no, but that isn't that same thing as illegal, and I don't know for sure if that determination has been made.

 

Back when the Dream missed 2 of the 4 ports due to a combination of engine trouble/Hurricane Wilma, a couple here in Utah took the matter to the Utah Consumer Protection Division, claiming that they were scammed. NCL did settle with the passengers from Utah. I had some real problems with the way the news stories were reported, as they made little or no mention of the fact that a significant part of the itinerary distruption was due to Hurricane Wilma, but I guess it worked for the complaining passengers since NCL reimburse them $200.

[cruiser-dude]

Is it legal for NCL to continue to advertise a port in the itinerary that it knows in advance it cannot stop at?

 

Yep. Their legal yada-yada states (simply speaking) that they can decide to cancel any ports at any time for any reason. It's not truthful to advertise something they know they can't do, but it's not illegal and their fine print covers this.

[sjbdtz]

I'm new to this board

 

 

You've been busy! This was your 76th post!!!! ;)

[mousey]

You've been busy! This was your 76th post!!!! ;)

Yeah! It's fun. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I usually get on about twice a day! After I get back from our cruise and give a review of the Dream I probably won't even get on this board unless we decide to sale NCL again. I'm really don't use the internet that much - too busy being a soccer, basketball, karate, baseball mom!

[onthegomom]

We (my husband, two children and myself) were on the March 11 sailing of the Dream and we received the port taxes of $12.81 per person as onboard credit. We were also told that the Cancun stop should resume in April.

[Drumrun]

We are going on the Dream out of Houston on April 8th. There are 10 of us, 5 adults, almost 14 yr old boy 13 yr old girl 11 yr old boy, 5 girl and 18 month old. Am I reading this thread correctly? No Cancun and maybe no Roatan? My wife really want to go snorkling in Roatan, hope it happens.

[Bob's Mom]

I hadn't heard Roatan was canceled. I know it's not listed in some of the future NCL cruises. Having a hard time considering 3 days at sea (w/o Cancun) already and Roatan is why I picked this cruise. Did I miss something?

[ute_fan]

I'm puzzled too. The Roatan cancellation was due to the Dream's engine troubles, which were finally fixed in November. I haven't heard any reports of it missing Roatan since then.

[mousey]

We are going on the Dream out of Houston on April 8th. There are 10 of us, 5 adults, almost 14 yr old boy 13 yr old girl 11 yr old boy, 5 girl and 18 month old. Am I reading this thread correctly? No Cancun and maybe no Roatan? My wife really want to go snorkling in Roatan, hope it happens.

Drumrum, You should go to the Dream Roll Call board. There are other passengers with pre-teen and teens who are going on the 4/8 sailing. Some of us are planning to meet with our kids at about 5:30 p.m. on the lst day in the Arcade. Come bring your kids, the more the merrier!

 

I have not read one thing on this board about Roatan being cancelled. Only Cancun and now on this post someone else has said they were told that port was to be back on schedule in April which is exactly what I was told by NCL. But we'll see!

[Gank1037]

I spoke with NCL today regarding some excursion info on my April 15 sailing and then told the rep about the situation in Cancun and asked him to re-verify that Cancun is still a stop. He did the 'standard' check and at first said yes, but when I pressed him about the status of the tenders servicing Cozumel, etc. he then checked the "Revised Itinerary" and told me that instead of Cancun it would be a sea day. I think "Revised Itinerary" is the keyword to anyone asking about the Cancun possibility. I plan on calling again later and repeating the question to see if the answer is the same.

 

Also, no changed to Roatan noted.

[onthegomom]

We sailed on the Dream March 11. They notified in December that we would be missing Cancun. The credited us $12.81 per person (there were 4 of us) port taxes. They also told us that they would begin the Cancun stop with the April 1 sailing.

[danemom]

I just got off the dream yesterday. On thursday night I had dinner with the cruise director Mike.(you can fill out a slip and put it in the box next to the four seasons if this is something you would like to do)

Mike told us that they are currently recharting the sea lanes into cancun and have to repair the docs. On thursday he stated no ships will be going to cancun for possible a year.

 

danemom

[Bob's Mom]

Thank you for the update. Although I suspected this to be true-NCL continues to say there'll be a stop on the 8th. I wish they would alert us when a port is canceled-doesn't seem right to try and fool us into thinking we have a day in port rather than sea.