What Cruise Ports are Open after Hurricanes Irma and Maria
We have hundreds of clients scheduled to cruise to the Caribbean over the next several months that are worried what cruise ports are open after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. There is no doubt that in the aftermath of the storms, many cruises were cancelled the first two weeks and now itineraries are being modified with new ports of call, but what many cruisers don’t realize is that most destination in the Caribbean were unaffected by the hurricanes.
Are Caribbean cruises out of Florida still on? Yes! A few initial cruises were cancelled and the ships were used to help with recovery areas and to transport people from the islands to the U.S. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line assisted thousands of people stranded by the storms. Cruises out of West Palm Beach to Grand Bahamas have been cancelled through December 23, 2017 since FEMA chartered the ship to be used as a floating hotel for relief workers in Puerto Rico.
Are Caribbean cruises out of San Juan still on? No. The ports did have extensive damage that will take several weeks to repair. Carnival and Royal Caribbean currently have ships that sail round trip from San Juan. Cruises have been cancelled for both cruise lines through October 8th. Rather than not using the ship, the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas is being used to evacuate people from Puerto Rico and St. Thomas to the U.S. We anticipate it will take several weeks at the very least before cruises will sail out of San Juan.
10/6 San Juan Update: Cruise lines are committed to help those in San Juan who’s jobs depend on cruise ship passengers. While recovery of Puerto Rico will be ongoing for many months, if not longer, most hotels in the Condado area of San Juan (popular with cruise guests and close to the cruise terminal used by Norwegian) are accepting reservations from November 1 forward. San Juan International Airport is slowly ramping up operations and is expected to be closer to a normal operating schedule by the time cruise ships will begin sailing from San Juan again, the first or 2nd week of November.
What ports are being changed after the storm? St. Thomas, St. John, San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, St. Barts, Anguilla, Turks & Caicos and Tortola are closed to cruise ships. This still leaves St. Kitts, Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, Nassau, Martinique, and the Dominican Republic as options for cruisers. Cruise ship private islands including Great Stirrup Cay, CocoCay, Castaway Cay, Half Moon Cay & Princess Cay are all open. There is of course also the Western Caribbean with ports including Grand Cayman, Labadee, Haiti, Harvest Caye, Cozumel and Belize. Key West and Havana are also open.
When will the ports reopen? These islands thrive and depend on tourism, so they are going to reopen as soon as they can. St. Thomas has set a target date of late October (currently the 28th.) Now this would be for cruise ships only, as hotel are expected remain closed for up 6 months. Some St. Thomas shops in the port area are already ready to reopen. St. Thomas official have also made the beaches a top priority to prepare them for tourists. St. Maarten which sustained more damage, is hoping to reopen the Dutch side of the island to ships on November 11, which is St. Maarten Day. Dominica which had widespread devastation has not given a target date.
Can I cancel my cruise? That all depends. If you have already made final payment, the cruise lines do have the right to alter an itinerary so penalties would be imposed if you cancelled your trip. Check your invoice for booking terms and conditions or speak to your travel agent.
We will continue to update this post as we receive updated information.
