This sucks!! Itinerary change

[stbmom]

:mad: I just found out that on my Dec. 12th sailing of Jewel of the Seas, they cancelled the Grand Caymen stop and put in Nassau. I hate this for two reasons: 1. I have been to Nassau on every cruise I have taken - I have never gotten the chance to see Grand Cayment. This was one of the reasons I booked the cruise. I have seen everything there is to see in Nassua. 2. My last couple of trips to Nassau have been terrible. The "new" straw market is horrid; the atmosphere was terrible - they seemed to be tired of tourist or something, very rude. Honestly, if this wasn't a brand new ship I would cancel!!!! I was so excited, this is quite a big let down.

[Cruisin' Patty]

It's good to vent. I too, wouldn't want to go back to Nassau, especially instead of Grand Cayman. Just, remember....a cruise ANYWHERE...is better than NO cruise.

[KamloopsCruisers]

I believe all ships are still not able to return to Grand Cayman because of the horrible damage from the hurricanes and not the fault of RCCL. We hope to see this beautiful island for the first time in February (we'll keep our fingers crossed).

 

Try to enjoy a quiet day on board ship.

[Honey's Gal]

I am sorry that this is causing you problems. I know how it is to want to see a particular place and then cannot because of a change. The change is most likely due to the problems in Grand Caymen because of all the hurricane damage. These poor people are still trying to recover and alot of the areas are still severely damaged.

 

The good side of all of this is 1) you will be on a cruise and 2) you will have to book another cruise for the future to finally see the GC islands.

 

Good luck and Happy cruising.

[BADBUOY]

Sorry to hear that you had an itinerary change due to the extent of the hurricanes.

 

Something about the wrath of Mother Nature that has many people reeling................

 

BD

[bpear1600]

It's good to vent. I too' date=' wouldn't want to go back to Nassau, especially instead of Grand Cayman. Just, remember....a cruise ANYWHERE...is better than NO cruise.[/quote']

 

It has often been said that the best ports in the Caribbean are the cruise ships themselves. We've been to Grand Cayman at least four times and only got off the ship the first time. Nassau isn't much better but we usually walk around downtown a bit.

 

OP's not going to miss much. GC's in pretty bad shape from what I've read.

[MonaCK]

I'll take a cruise to Nassau any day than a week's work in the office...

*looks sadly at countdown timer of her own signature*

[rktilleryj]

We were just in Grand Cayman two weeks ago. Believe me, you are not missing anything. The island is in bad shape and is still facing a long road to recovery.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Ohhhhh, I so agree with a cruise anywhere is better than no cruise!

As many others can tell you they have been scheduled for GC and it was cancelled for high winds or bad weather conditions. So it was still no guarentee you would of stopped at GC.

Don't be angry, enjoy your cruise, many others would give anything to cruise, but can't.

 

 

***

[stbmom]

It's not the "change" concept that is frustrating, just the choice really. I was looking forward to NOT going to Nassau. Just wish there were other places that they chose. I guess I will just settle for having an extra day at sea, not really interested in seeing Nassau again. The place is just not to my liking.

Oh well, I guess you all are right - it is still a day that I don't have to cook or clean for myself!

[nrdsb4]

Not to trivialize the OP's disappointment, but this post should be invaluable to anyone new to cruising. The fact is that regardless of the ship or cruiseline, changes in itinerary happen on a failry regular basis for a variety of reasons. The conclusion to be made here is that cruising is not the ideal vacation for anyone who has their heart set on visiting a particular destination. If going to Grand Cayman or Key West or any other lovely locale is so important to you, it would probably be wiser to plan a land based vacation there to increase the odds of your vacation going as planned (although if you are talking about the Caribbean, there is always that slight chance that Mother Nature may still interefere). When we select a cruise, itinerary is certainly a factor, but it is important to remain flexible and open to changes because they can and do happen. When we cruise we tend to focus on the cruising experience vs. the ports. That way, if we make all the ports as planned, it's just icing on the cake.

 

I hope the OP can recover from the disappointment of missing Grand Cayman and will still enjoy the cruise.

[FinelyCruising]

I'd be way bummed too. Make that the day for your spa appointments!

[stretch]

I have friends that just returned from a Carnival Cruise that did stop in CG. All they said was that it was extremely depressing and would like to return after they have time to get the island back on its feet. I don't like Nassau either, or Freeport for that matter but __it happens. I suggest you stay up late the night before, sleep in and spend a nice quiet day on the ship. Beats being at work.

Stretch

[gkrebs]

They had to choose between two straight days at sea or a port not on the schedule. Alot of peeps especially new ones and those of us who havent been to Nassau would opt for the port change over the extra sea day. I like sea days but not 2 in a row as would be if you were on the Explorer

[bUU]

Hopefully the Caymen Islands can get their act back together soon. Until then, folks will have to cut them some slack, given what they're dealing with is quite extreme.

[cmjaffe]

I wonder if it's just CG limiting the number of ships in port for that day till they get back to "Normal" (whatever that may be now). We're supposed to be in GC on Brilliance on Jan. 1st (saturday). So far, it's still a go. I think since we're arriving on Sat. it's a good change we'll be going since few ships are sched. on that day. We shall see.

Carolyn

[Lhershey08]

hey i saw your message...i was just on the Explorer in sept. and they had to cancel Grand Cayman along with delaying the departure to the next day, instead of a 7 night cruise we had a 6 night cruise. At least you're not missing a day.

[Mark]

I also am on the Dec 12 sailing of the Jewel and am disappointed that we will not stop at Grand Cayman. However, based on some of the other cruisers who have been there recently, I can understand RCCL's decision to skip GC...what I do not agree with is the choice of Nassau as a substitute! I would have preferred an additional day at sea or a stop at CoCo Cay instead of Nassau. Even a stop at Freeport would be better. Nassau is not a good stop, it smells, it is dingy and the people are all looking to sell you something that you don't want or need! Maybe I will just lie by the pool when in Nassau...hope the sun is out!

[mandltullis]

Just my personal opinion, but you aren't missing much by not seeing Grand Cayman. Hope you have a great time anyways.

[mikeblum]

your right you do have a reason to be upset but __it happens and you know that mother nature is a random issue...we have been to both nassau and grand cayman many times with royal caribbean and yes grand cayman is miles better then nassau will ever be...but it's still better then going to work for a week and believe or not the cruise will be fantatstic even with a stop in nassau...keep your chin partner...I PREDICT YOU WILL HAVE AN AWSOME TIME...

[stretch]

For anyone interested, you can go to the Grand Cayman Port Authority website and see a schedule of which ships have been approved to tender in. I think it's still only 4 ships per day.

Stretch

[happy1]

Our trip was rerouted too & I was so disappointed to see Nassau (would have preferred about any other port). However, I realize it's the ship itself that makes cruising fun, so am just happy to be at sea, wherever the journey takes us.

[goodml]

I found out about the change last week when Mark (I think) posted it on our roll call board. My initial reaction was - 'anyplace but Nassau!!'. My friends were crabbing about it, my kid was crabbing about it. Then I looked out my office window and it was raining/sleeting, dreary, 34 degrees (that's 1 degree celsius for all my fellow canucks:) ) and I thought to myself, hell with it, I'll take a WEEK in Nassau right now if it gets me out of here. I've got to admit I was really hoping for another sea day though. We never left the ship the last time we went there but as I said on another Nassau post we had the most relaxing day on board ever and we even got pool chairs RIGHT BY THE POOL!! Bar waiters were really bored and took exceptional care of us. I've decided it's going to be fine. See all you fellow 12/12 Jewels there.

[HorrorFan]

Ok, so fill me in. AT the risk of hi-jacking the thread, whats so bad about Nassau?

I've never been but will be there in February. Is it really that bad? Is there no way to fritter a few hours away?

[goodml]

It's fine if you've never been there before. We enjoyed ourselves the first time. Did a ship's tour I think and had a nice time. For us it was one of those places that I'm glad I've seen but have no great desire to return to. We'll probably taxi over to Atlantis this time as we've only seen it from the ship and it would be worth taking a look at.