Royal Caribbean cancels one other month of visits to Puerto Rico

Extra sailings by means of all of February have had their visits to San Juan, Puerto Rico changed with different plans.

Royal Caribbean canceled one other month of visits to Puerto Rico after pier repairs could not be accomplished in January. 

Oasis Class ships have not known as at San Juan since November 2024 due to the continuing drawback with Pier 3-West. As a substitute, the huge vessels have been routed to different ports. 

Observe that the difficulty hasn’t impacted all cruise traces as a result of San Juan has a couple of pier for cruise ships. Oasis Class ships are a few of the largest on the planet, measuring effectively over 220,000 gross registered tons (GRT). As compared, Carnival Venezia, which efficiently docked in Puerto Rico on Thursday, January 23, is available in at simply 135,225 GRT. 

Final week, native media outlet El Vocero reported that the Coast Guard was engaged on restore efforts, indicating the pier may very well be fastened and able to safely welcome friends later in January. The information relieved many who have been anxiously awaiting to see whether or not San Juan would stay on their itineraries. 

Nevertheless, friends aboard the February 23 cruise on Symphony of the Seas acquired an e-mail stating they will skip their scheduled go to to San Juan. 

“Because of ongoing building on the pier in San Juan, the port authority has suggested us that the port is not going to be prepared in time for our go to,” the discover reads.

“You’ll now get to discover the attractive Labdadee, Haiti. Though we have to skip our go to to Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, you’ll get the benefit from the charming Falmouth, Jamaica…Thanks to your understanding. We’re excited to share these great locations with you.”

Different impacted voyages embody the February 9 and February 16 sailings. 

The February 2 cruise stays unchanged as a result of San Juan is not on the Jap Caribbean itinerary. The 7-night cruise is scheduled to go to Excellent Day at CocoCay, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. 

Labadee is certainly one of Royal Caribbean’s personal locations

Although not a non-public island like Excellent Day at CocoCay, the distant space is simply obtainable to Royal Caribbean friends. The personal seaside space is walled off on a peninsula in northern Haiti. It’s positioned 130 miles north of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Visits have been suspended final 12 months resulting from civil unrest. Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean resumed sailings to Labadee in October 2024 after a 7-month hiatus and was met with criticism. 

“The excessive, hill positions would make it straightforward to fireplace down on individuals at Labadee; it might be troublesome to defend for Royal’s safety forces,” commented David on a Royal Caribbean Weblog put up.

“So far as the issues being solely in Port au Prince, that’s what the media is reporting. Nobody actually is aware of whether it is protected in Cap-Haitian. And Cap-Haitien is just not that far [from] Labadee, in order that = a no-go for me.”

Amy added, “There is no method that Royal Caribbean can repel an assault and defend passengers visiting the island or the cruise ship ought to it occur. Individuals may be kidnapped, [raped, tortured], taken hostage, and killed.”

“It is extraordinarily irresponsible for any cruise line to proceed to go to Labadee, Haiti falsely pondering for some purpose, that Labadee is totally insulated from the acute violence within the nation, simply on the opposite facet of the fence!”

Upset friends

It is essential to be open to alter on a cruise trip. Climate, medical emergencies, and different unexpected circumstances can disrupt itineraries. That, nonetheless, does not imply you may’t be disillusioned. 

“These are main downgrades of ports…each Falmouth and Nassau suck and I attempted to keep away from them when initially reserving the cruise,” wrote wormy1996 on Reddit. 

“[I’m] extra upset about St. Maarten, undecided why they’re skipping it. I like Labadee however Nassau and Falmouth are each horrible choices.”

AnswerGuy301 added, “‘Charming’ Falmouth, Jamaica?! Ha! It’s only a mall in the midst of nowhere.”

“This occurred [to] us on Symphony over New 12 months’s. Labadee is ok, however sure, the others are main downgrades. Unlucky, however we nonetheless had a good time,” mentioned Educational_Sky_1136.