Has anyone ever missed 2 ports?

[Suzanne74]

We are almost ready to book a 7 night western as I would really like to go to those ports. I am nervous though that since you have to tender in grand caymens and castaway cay can be iffy - what happens if both are missed? Do you really have another 2 days at sea or do they at least try to go to another port? I know they add more activites if it is a day at sea but I can't imagine only being able to get off at 2 ports during a whole week!!

Thanks

 

[joycepa]

We were on the 1/15/05 Magic and missed Grand Cayman because the island authorities cancelled all tenders. We also missed CC that week. Yes it was 2 more days at sea.

 

[scrapperjill]

We missed Key Westm Grand Caymans and Cozumel...on our Western in Sept 04...but we were luck to be able to cruise at all due to all the hurricanes....The crusies before us were either cancled, shortened, or even extended to the first 10 cruise....and I beleive the cruise behind us was shortened also. So I say we were luck to go for a full 7 nights...just since so many cruises were messed up durring that time. We were scheduled to do a Western...but ended up doing a modifyed Easterns...We didn't make it to Key West, Grand Caymans or Cozumel...because Hurricane Ivan was over there...we ended up going more Eastern...and stopping at San Juan Pureto Rico and Nassau. Luckly we did make it to Castaway Cay. But that's the risks you take for booking durring Hurricane season...

I just wanted to add that we had picked the Western because it had more port days and less sea days...but by having all the schedule changes...we ended up having less port days (by one) than we were suppose to and more sea days...I have to say that WE REALLY enjoyed the addional sea days. IMO there was still way more to do on the ship...than is possable.

 

[Mumph39]

Not on Disney, but last year on RCCL. Missed their "private" port Labadee due to civil unrest in Haiti.!. Then, we missed Grand Cayman due to rough seas. Thankfully it was a four stop cruise and we made it to Jamaica and Cozumel.

 

[mark & sandra]

We were on that cruise with joycepa. They don't add that much more activities as you think. The crew that are scheduled off are pressed back into service, and not very happily I may add, and the only compensation we received was 1 hour of free Bahama Mamas on deck 9.

 

[BuzzMan]

I believe that it would be extremely difficult for a cruise line to dock at an alternate port if the primary port became unavailable during the cruise. There are many things that have to be arranged in advance (including there being space for the ship at the alternate port). The only exception to this would be in the case of a medical emergency or other circumstances where lives could be in danger.

I have been on three cruises and have not missed a single port. Based on my experiences and everything that I have read on these boards over a number of months, the odds are excellent that you will make all of you ports (even during hurricane season). While there is always that chance, I would not be overly concerned about it. To be fair I must say that missing ports would not bother me anyway since I enjoy being on the ship at sea as much as the ports.

 

[Kevin&Randall]

I hadn't thought about it until now. But we did the Western in January 2003, and missed Grand Cayman (couldn't tender in) and Castaway Cay (very windy).

The Captain got us into Cozumel around 10:00 pm the day before we were supposed to. A good 95% of the ship crew got off of the ship! Breakfast the next morning was pretty rough for them. They looked tired and maybe hungover. But I guess I can't blame them. It is rare they get such free time.

Instead of Castway Cay we had a day at sea. A new Navigator was printed by noon and new activities were introduced. Frankly, I didn't really notice we missed two ports, we were having so much fun.

Randall

 

[American Scrapper]

We were on the same cruise with scrapperjill, and while we really were looking forward to the Western Itinerary, knew we had to make the best of a bad situation. We were lucky to be able to cruise at all, and really had a blast on those "unscheduled" days at sea. I still think the cruise was not long enough! You really have to make the best of the circumstances and go with the flow. If you are too set on your schedule, you will set standards too high and be upset when things don't go as planned.

Kathy

 

[allears]

We were also on the 1/15 cruise. Our experiece seems to be a bit different. We think there were a good number of added activities, more so on the day we miss Grand Cayman. We even posted a list of what was added based on the revised Navigators, on an earlier thread.

We found the CMs and crew great, though several we talked to were more concerned at how some of the guests lousy attitudes would lash back at them. We made the very best of it and had a blast.

We were also on one of the hurricane cruises, pretty much the enire itineary was changed, but that's the risk of cruising.

I would say if you have your heart set on a destination, go there directly. Or be prepared to be flexible if changes are required.

Despite the tone of some recent posts, missing CC is not that common. This has been a bad year, since August/September when the island was slammed by two hurricanes. And apparently sea conditions have been weird around the island this winter, but I still think most trips have made it to the island.

 

[two-foxes]

We were among one of the few cruises that not only missed ports, but we had our cruise shortened by 3 days....yes, they called it a 5 night cruise, but since we didn't board until 6 ish, and left port after midnight, that may be stretching it. Anyways, we missed Key West, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay....the only thing we had in our favor is that we knew of the itinerary changes prior to boarding, so we had the option to back out before cruising.

Only advice to give you is that you gotta realize that with cruising comes some good chances that the weather could screw stuff up a bit. Just make sure if you don't book excursions through DCL that you can get your money back!

 

[pershing]

Also on the 1/15/05 cruise that missed Grand Cayman and Castaway.

The 2 more days at Sea were mildly disappointing, but we got over it by relaxing and seeing more of the ship than we ever have.

We did WDW before and were doing Universal after, so the week break was heavenly. I think for people just doing the cruise, the missed ports were more tragic. Then many of them from the Northeast couldn't fly home on Sat. due to the snowstorm.

We also had free Bahama Mama's Friday afternoon and free wine with dinner as compensation. Many commented that it was a token effort, but Disney Cruise wasn't obligated to do even that if you read the cruise docs.

 

[markey]

We missed GC in August, but went to Cozumel and stayed over night on Monday, all day until 5 pm on Tuesday. Then we went to Nassau on Thursday before CC on Friday. It was really mixed up, they kept changing Formal night and rescheduling, I think Formal night ended up being Tuesday night after we left Cozumel. I just remember changing clothes 3 times until we got it right the one night. The navigators kept changing, so a good rule to follow would be to take each new navigator and put the old on in the garbage or suitcase so you don't get everything mixed up. My GD and I went to see Disney Dreams, listed in one navigator, and it actually was a showing of a movie. Way too confusing for a relaxing cruise.

 

[joycepa]

I have been speaking with my TA about booking another disney cruise for 11/11/06. She said that this January and February were one of the worst as far as weather and sea conditions for cruising. We are looking at November and hoping we have a better chance of docking at CC. I would hate to be 0 for 2. Oh no that would be 0 for 3 considering it's two stops at CC. Mother Nature wouldn't be that cruel???

 

[dwkwootton]

I was on the 1-15 cruise that missed half the scheduled ports. We found the guests to be fairly good sports after a tough week, but maybe we were fortunate to have met some nice folks. Also had several good laughs with the CMs who were ready to "bash their own brains in" over the second missed port (thereby missing an opportunity for them to get a break). They were exhausted already and doing double duty with some of their coworkers down with the flu.

Disney needs a back up plan for missed port days. Whether you're from the school that says ... don't worry, they hardly ever miss CC .... or the school that says ... you should know better than to cruise during risky months ~ Disney needs a back up plan and a good one. Ready. In place. Not scurrying around reprinting navigators, adding frog races at the last minute in the atrium lobby and a couple free drinks.

I would like to see a thread for those who are interested in constructive thinking, to come up with some ideas or suggestions for some cool things that could be preplanned and ready for a missed CC day. If those that think Disney shouldn't have a back up plan ready and feel that those folks who are disappointed in missing CC and expect more out of the entertainment giant just have bad attitudes, that could make for a different thread.

There were a couple things in the favor of the shortened hurricane cruisers.
As mentioned, they had a choice. Also, they were compensated in dollars for the shortened cruise. And, on top of that, they were given a discount toward a future cruise.

 

[ThreeSmiths]

We were also on the 9/11 Western and missed 3 of our 4 ports of call. I must say that I was very impressed that with hurricane Ivan in front of us and hurricane Jeanne behind us, Captain Tom still managed to get us to two unscheduled ports...San Juan and Nassau. I was also impressed that we were able to make it to CC at all, so shortly after the "remodeling" that hurricane Frances did. I think that Disney must have had people working nearly 24-7 to get the island put back together in time for us to visit.

I agree with AmericanScrapper, if you keep an open mind and remain positive, you won't be disapointed by itinerary changes.

Have fun!

 

[nrk]

After all you are on vacation!!!!make the best of it