Why is the Fantasy not in St. Thomas as scheduled?

[Neptune's Fork]

The position tracking websites have the Fantasy about 150 mi NW of St Thomas right now and this is the day it's supposed to be in St Thomas. Anyone know why?

 

[JaneFan619]

A passenger currently onboard said it was cancelled due to high winds and weather and that it was only going to get worse throughout the day.

 

[LizGirl]

Looks like Tropical Storm Matthew

 

[Quellman]

The position tracking websites have the Fantasy about 150 mi NW of St Thomas right now and this is the day it's supposed to be in St Thomas. Anyone know why?

Webcam shows the weather is really crap-tastic. It might also have to do with the unpredictability of Tropical Storm Matthew. The vessel tracker shows them going straight from Tortola to Castaway Cay. They did show up and make an attempt according to my attached image.

I'm just a free vessel tracker guy, so take this with a grain of salt as I saw conflicting reports of the below. I checked and Allure of the Seas and also Carnival Splendor were supposed to be in port also. Neither are there. In fact, my free version of the site doesn't show the Allure much past Nassau. One map claims that she is docked at Havensight, but the webcam doesn't cover the whole pier. As @JaneFan619 reported bad weather all around.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Matthew blew up overnight! 25 to 60 mph winds. Fast-moving for now. It is supposed to turn north. Crossing fingers. Stay out of the Gulf!

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I wonder exactly how all that goes down? Like say they make a determination in the middle of the night while sailing there that the conditions are going to be such that they can't dock at St. Thomas, do they announce to the whole ship at that point, even if say at 3am? Or wait until morning? I would think a lot of people would be waking up expecting to see St. Thomas but see nothing but water, they'd be wondering what happened.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I wonder exactly how all that goes down? Like say they make a determination in the middle of the night while sailing there that the conditions are going to be such that they can't dock at St. Thomas, do they announce to the whole ship at that point, even if say at 3am? Or wait until morning? I would think a lot of people would be waking up expecting to see St. Thomas but see nothing but water, they'd be wondering what happened.

Most of the time, in such situations, the possibility of such a move is know beforehand (a day or two), and announcements will be made at that time (several times) that an itinerary change is possible.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Not a good day to be in St. Thomas - Harbormaster probably closed the port to incoming traffic due to the storm.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

Webcam shows the weather is really crap-tastic. It might also have to do with the unpredictability of Tropical Storm Matthew. The vessel tracker shows them going straight from Tortola to Castaway Cay. They did show up and make an attempt according to my attached image.

I'm just a free vessel tracker guy, so take this with a grain of salt as I saw conflicting reports of the below. I checked and Allure of the Seas and also Carnival Splendor were supposed to be in port also. Neither are there. In fact, my free version of the site doesn't show the Allure much past Nassau. One map claims that she is docked at Havensight, but the webcam doesn't cover the whole pier. As @JaneFan619 reported bad weather all around.

Which site(s) have you found to be the best for tracking ships?

 

[Quellman]

Which site(s) have you found to be the best for tracking ships?

I like Marinetraffic the best for ease of use, useful information, etc. It does not work well on mobile, so you are better off with the app instead.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I like Marinetraffic the best for ease of use, useful information, etc. It does not work well on mobile, so you are better off with the app instead.

That one does seem to be pretty good. It's more up to date than a lot of the others. Thanks.

 

[truck1]

I wonder exactly how all that goes down? Like say they make a determination in the middle of the night while sailing there that the conditions are going to be such that they can't dock at St. Thomas, do they announce to the whole ship at that point, even if say at 3am? Or wait until morning? I would think a lot of people would be waking up expecting to see St. Thomas but see nothing but water, they'd be wondering what happened.

3am decisions are pretty rare. Normally using weather as an example, they may know 12-24 hours in advance. I wouldn't be surprised if during the show introductions, that the CD said tom we may or may not get into port..... due to weather. I would also expect announcements ship wide, during the day into the evening.

 

[Marc D]

Which site(s) have you found to be the best for tracking ships?

I use CruiseMapper

 

[NYCMommy]

Allure of the Seas went to Haiti instead I think, because of the storm. Friends on that cruise now posted a picture and mentioned the change...

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I wonder exactly how all that goes down? Like say they make a determination in the middle of the night while sailing there that the conditions are going to be such that they can't dock at St. Thomas, do they announce to the whole ship at that point, even if say at 3am? Or wait until morning? I would think a lot of people would be waking up expecting to see St. Thomas but see nothing but water, they'd be wondering what happened.

We were on the Dream in January 2015 and they weren't sure they were going to be able to dock at Castaway the following day due to high winds and poor weather expected. An announcement was made during the preshow of Villians Tonight that they were hoping to be able to dock but they would make an announcement in the morning to advise of any changes. They had plenty of trouble docking in the morning (the ship was shuddering!) and we were getting announcements in our state room from 7am. We eventually docked by 9:30am.

 

[tigerchic89]

I was there. The day before st Thomas, at early dinner captain announced that he was moving all aboard time in st Thomas up 2 hours to 330. Because of Matthews winds. That morning around7a as we approached st Thomas captain made the decision to not even dock. New navigators were printed around 10am

 

[Sytrace]

As of 10:30 PM on Tuesday night we would be going to St. Thomas but leaving at 3:30 PM instead of later.
Captain Fabian attempted to dock and then decided against it early that morning. There was an announcement made at about 7:30 AM (or thereabouts) on Wednesday that we would be heading directly to Castaway Cay with an extra Sea day.

My husband and son were a little sad because they planned on ziplining...but it worked out just fine anyway.

 

[mcurrence]

As of 10:30 PM on Tuesday night we would be going to St. Thomas but leaving at 3:30 PM instead of later.
Captain Fabian attempted to dock and then decided against it early that morning. There was an announcement made at about 7:30 AM (or thereabouts) on Wednesday that we would be heading directly to Castaway Cay with an extra Sea day.

My husband and son were a little sad because they planned on ziplining...but it worked out just fine anyway.

We were on the same cruise! Very grateful we did not dock because it truly took an ugly, fast turn. Instead we had AMAZING weather! We had booked the Caribbean Sea and Snorkel and were a bit disappointed too but things worked out well. Our account was credited back before we could blink (booked a Disney excursion).

 

[Mickeyhugger]

DH and I were on that cruise too. We knew it was necessary, but still very disappointed, as St. Thomas is our favorite port.

 

[Sytrace]

DH and I were on that cruise too. We knew it was necessary, but still very disappointed, as St. Thomas is our favorite port.

I think I saw you at dinner a couple of nights...based on your photo.
We had second seating, AERAERA

We were on the same cruise! Very grateful we did not dock because it truly took an ugly, fast turn. Instead we had AMAZING weather! We had booked the Caribbean Sea and Snorkel and were a bit disappointed too but things worked out well. Our account was credited back before we could blink (booked a Disney excursion).

It all worked out weather wise indeed. I was sort of happy to get off the ship though on CC. Something we don't always do.