Grenada and Caracas :(

[fraidycats]

If Grenada is soo devasted still and Caracas is so dangerous why does Princess not alter their itinerary?

[crisp1]

Hey Fraidy, There's a great thread on the POC for Grenada... the one about 'scotty'. I want to send stuff, and I've never been there. Caracas... I'm still waiting for the reviews. BUT! I always take them with a grain of salt! Like surfnsun, I'm the adventurous type ( a NYC local),Tour Smart!

[Jumbie]

If Grenada is soo devasted still and Caracas is so dangerous why does Princess not alter their itinerary?

Get in touch with their customer service department and ask.

 

You probably won't get any info, but I doubt anyone here knows why the companies choose to do as they do.

[spongerob]

I'm almost 100% convinced that Caracas remains on many itineraries to satisfy the legal provisions of the Passenger Services Act of 1886 (also erroneously referred to as the Jones Act). It specifies that any ship transporting passengers between two US ports must make a call at a so-called "distant" foreign port or be subject to heavy fines for each passenger so transported. For a port to be "distant" it pretty much has to be in South America. Aruba also qualifies but is too far east for many itineraries. It appears that as long as a call is scheduled in Caracas, the law is satisfied. I'm not aware of any Princess ship actually making a stop in Caracas or Cartagena for quite some time.

[MaryPoppinz]

Most of the Caribbean foreign ports meet the requirements of the act. So, I'm pretty sure that's not the reason for leaving it on the itinerary. You also actually have to visit the port to comply with the act.

 

For a long time, I thought these decisions were made based on the State Department's Travel Warnings at the time the ship was scheduled to make the port call. I thought perhaps they held the itinerary and then if a particular Warning was cleared, they would make the stop...and, if not, they wouldn't. But, at this point, Caracas isn't on Travel Warning, and Columbia and Grand Cayman are...so that's not it.

 

I'd love to know how they make these decisions.

[DoreenD]

I know that I've read that it is because of the cheap fuel that they stop in Venezuela. . .but why didn't they just leave the port at IDM? Seems like that fits a Caribbean itinerary better. In any case, I'll be on the Golden for Christmas and plan to do a Princess tour of Mt Avila and the Murano Glass Factory. Look for my review in January when I return. I'll let you know all about it!

[Nitemare]

My understanding is that it's so they can advertise X number of exotic destinations. How long after they stopped going to Cartagena were they still advertising it?

 

And if Ensenada satisfies a "distant port", it's not why Caracas is on the itinerary.

[TwoCruisers]

Maybe places like Caracas and Cartagena remain on the routes because Princess has all of their brochures printed well in advance and it wouldn’t look good to have conflicting information from one source to another.