Fantasy looks to be heading toward Key West?

[71 Truck]

I know the Fantasy had to change its scheduled ports of call to the Western Caribbean due to the storm. The first stop is usually Cozumel however looking at the cruise ship tracker it looks like it is heading to Key West, is this part of the new route for the ship this week?

 

[CastawayCayLover]

This says the destination is Cozumel

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-80.3/centery:25.3/zoom:8

 

[magicfan1985]

Medical emergency, gotta stop off at Key West so they can get help

 

[71 Truck]

This would make sense. Back in October 2016 this was our route change however we never heard why. As far as I know we never docked in Key West. I was wondering if we met the Coast Guard in the middle for some reason.

 

[Mdub1021]

Another guest said a medical emergency. Will put them behind arriving at Cozumel.

 

[FWRR3]

Just as 71 Truck did, they got within 10 miles of Key West and then turned to COZ. A boat must have met them. We did the same at Freeport once. Maybe it's just as well they didn't tease the guests by a quick dock at Key West. It's a nice stop. I'm very upset that DCL no longer goes there. Virgin does.

I hope the ill guest does well, which is the important issue.

 

[Dug720]

ill guest

Or crew. It could be either.

 

[Husker Mike]

Just as 71 Truck did, they got within 10 miles of Key West and then turned to COZ. A boat must have met them. We did the same at Freeport once. Maybe it's just as well they didn't tease the guests by a quick dock at Key West. It's a nice stop. I'm very upset that DCL no longer goes there. Virgin does.

Cruise ships are pretty controversial in Key West, and locally enacted bans have been attempted. I would suspect that Disney is staying clear of the controversy.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/key-west-nears-limits-reducing-number-of-cruise-ship-visits

 

[tvguy]

Cruise ships are pretty controversial in Key West, and locally enacted bans have been attempted. I would suspect that Disney is staying clear of the controversy.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/key-west-nears-limits-reducing-number-of-cruise-ship-visits

Yes. And I for one would not take a cruise to a port like Key West or Bar Harbor where I know the residents don't want cruise ships stopping there.

 

[tvguy]

Just as 71 Truck did, they got within 10 miles of Key West and then turned to COZ. A boat must have met them. We did the same at Freeport once. Maybe it's just as well they didn't tease the guests by a quick dock at Key West. It's a nice stop. I'm very upset that DCL no longer goes there. Virgin does.

I hope the ill guest does well, which is the important issue.

Probably had a Coast Guard helicopter airlift the ill person off the ship.

 

[CarolynFH]

Probably had a Coast Guard helicopter airlift the ill person off the ship.

Someone who was there said in another thread that the CG sent a ship, and the person was able to walk off.

Does the Fantasy have a heliport? Or were you thinking of the helicopter hovering above and lifting the stretcher up?

 

[tvguy]

Someone who was there said in another thread that the CG sent a ship, and the person was able to walk off.

Does the Fantasy have a heliport? Or were you thinking of the helicopter hovering above and lifting the stretcher up?

I saw that post after I posted. But yes, I was thinking the usual Coast Guard air lift where they lower a stretcher and then lift up the patient. Interesting in searching, none of the Disney ships has a space for a helicopter to land.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes. And I for one would not take a cruise to a port like Key West or Bar Harbor where I know the residents don't want cruise ships stopping there.

Grand Cayman locals don't want tourists either. I was reading a local news site and it had a place at the end where people could reply. Many locals were very vocal about not wanting cruise ship tourists. They claim it only benefits "a few people". That sounds a little shortsighted to me.
I'm not sure if I'll even get off the ship there. Seven Mile Beach has been severely erroded since our last visit there 10 years ago. The more recent photos I saw behind the Marriott were shocking.

 

[tvguy]

Grand Cayman locals don't want tourists either. I was reading a local news site and it had a place at the end where people could reply. Many locals were very vocal about not wanting cruise ship tourists. They claim it only benefits "a few people". That sounds a little shortsighted to me.
I'm not sure if I'll even get off the ship there. Seven Mile Beach has been severely erroded since our last visit there 10 years ago. The more recent photos I saw behind the Marriott were shocking.

Well, I think some cruise ship passengers try to cram way to much in their few hours in a port and may behave differently that a tourist who is spending a week in a hotel in some of these cities. So certainly there would be some lost revenue without ships, but I'm not sure it would be a devastating decline in money.

 

[Dug720]

Well, I think some cruise ship passengers try to cram way to much in their few hours in a port and may behave differently that a tourist who is spending a week in a hotel in some of these cities. So certainly there would be some lost revenue without ships, but I'm not sure it would be a devastating decline in money.

Possible.

But there are other people who will use the cruise stop to decide if a longer vacation to that area is something they want to do and without that taste of what's there a cruise stop would give them, they may keep that area off their list and never visit whereas a stop on a cruise ship may have converted to a week or more visit - or an every year week or more visit.

 

[bakerworld]

We're stopping - hopefully - at Coz and GC. We've printed out walking maps. We're not doing any excursions and probably won't spend any $ so I can see why locals think the cruises are a waste of time for too little of a return. We're only getting off the ship because it's a POC.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

A friend of mine lives in GC and when I visited him May, 2022 when our cruise stopped there (that was early on after they started letting tourists in and cruise ships to stop), he was pointing out all of the businesses that had gone under during the shut down. It's a lot like that here in Cocoa Beach and probably most tourist locations, the locals love the $ that the tourists bring in but don't want any hotel construction or anything else tourism brings to the area.