Will Western Magic stop at Grand Cayman next month?

[LoveMyBirmans]

Hi everybody! We're booked on the 10-23-04 Western cruise and I'm just wondering if anyone has a clue what's in store for stopping at Grand Cayman. From what I've seen and read online the island did not fare too well from Ivan. I really feel for the islanders.

Does anyone want to venture to guess what Disney will do as far as docking there? Will they bypass it because of all the damage and spend an extra day at sea, go somewhere else, or some other option? We do not have any excursions booked right now, but that may be a moot point anyway. Thanks!

~ Leanne

 

[NCRedding]

We're on the 9/25 sailing which is scheduled to stop at GC in two weeks. I'll let you know what ours did when I get back.

 

[gottaluvdisney]

Tourism is big business in GC. I am sure they will have the island up in running in no time. Unless it gets hit by another storm, I would be quite surprised if DCL doesn't stop there on their next voyage.

 

[cindalu]

When the Magic goes to Grand Cayman. It doesn't dock at the port. They have little boats and you tender in.


Hope this helps.


I was on the May 8 Western and that is a nice place to stop. I hope you get to enjoy it too.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I am also on the 10/23 cruise and I will be so sad if we don't stop at GC. I loved it there, in fact I liked it better than the other 2 ports. Hopefully they have the resources and can get it back up in a month, but right now I am not thinking to positive about it.

If they don't go to GC, hopefully they will go to another port.

 

[MarkRG]

Sorry to be the party pooper, but I would have to say it's going to be more than a month, maybe even two before a cruise ship stops there.

I've been reading the reports here: http://www.stormcarib.com/reports/2004/cayman.shtml

They are talking months to get the basic utilities back in order at this point.

The damage level of the island is equal to Jamaica and Grenada.

Things of cruiser interest:

- Most of 7 mile beach is destroyed, all the resorts along there have major damage. It sounds like the west side if the island got the worst hit.

- There has been little or no reports on 'west end' except one that says the Turtle Farm is completely gone.

- Georgetown(where the ships anchor) has serious damage, some reports that the bayside is severely damaged.

- 9/10ths of the island was submerged. Some reports of seeing something like a tidal wave wash across.

The reason for lack of news media reports is that the British navy currently has the island under total lockdown, they are only letting residents return at this point, and there is even talk of evacuating the children due to the possibility of disease.


It's REALLY bad folks. I've been there, and the impression I get is the island will never be the same as I saw it.

 

[tecdavidt]

I have to agree with MarkRG, it will be a long time before the island is rebuilt. The reports I read are bad. My sister has close friends that lives on the island and they still have no clue if they survived. As my husband told me yesterday, this hurricane season is taking out all cruise ports of call! Now this new one is heading toward Puerto Rico with St. Thomas being only a ferry ride away, well, it will get some of the effects I am sure. (On a clear day you can see Puerto Rico from Paradise Point! and we did, they put a nice map explaining what you see--hope it doesn't get destroyed ).

 

[MarkRG]

tecdavidt, you been rading the same report page I do? They do have links to lists of names of people who are ok.

A bit of a memorial for what has been possibly lost to us (and pales by comparison for what the islanders lost, I know ):

Entry to the turtles:

Me with one:

Mrs(wdwlvr) with one:

Ones still growing:

Georgetown from the tender:

Stingray city. No picture can capture the experience of sharing the water with these gentle fliers of the sea:

Hell, in a bizarre way, probably represents a large part of the island right now :

Magic at berth (yes we took this picture with a underwater disposable, believe it or not):

Hope things get better for them.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Reports that the turtle farm is "gone" may be overstated. Remember that in the initial days after Frances, a DCL call center employee told a DISer that Castaway Cay was "destroyed".

Most of the reports coming out of KY are hear-say and unconfirmed. And among those reports is a report that the turtle farm is "substantially damaged, but certainly not 'gone'."

 

[jgalecpa]

Dave,

Good Point.

In war and hurricanes, the first reports are usually wrong.



If you would like to help, here is the address and Acct Info for making cash contributions:

Make checks payable to: Cayman Islands Hurricane Relief Fund
Account #: 621506296065
JP Morgan Chase Bank
60 East 42nd Street
NY, NY 10165

ABA/Routing #: 021000021

Jim

 

[LoveMyBirmans]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am so sad about the devastation this island has experienced. We were so looking forward to seeing the sea turtles and stingrays. At this point, I am not going to get my hopes up for even a visit there. I too have a feeling that it will probably be a LONG time before this island is anywhere near back to "normal". How sad! All you future cruisers please keep us posted as to what DCL decides to do regarding the Western itinerary and GC.

~ Leanne

 

[MarkRG]

As I said, there has been mostly nothing reported on West End where the Farm is/was as that part of the island was completely cut off from the rest by flooding, just one report from someone who works for the utilities that had reported it gone. I would guess at least all the structures are gone and probably the rest, such as the cement pools are probably buried in debris/sand. The waters are receding, I'm sure more reports will be forthcoming in the next day or two.

It is very frustrating to pull together any news on the island as there isn't much in the way of any official news site reporters there. Sofar only an AP reporter has managed to get some info out from the island and a handful of pictures. Here's a link to them: http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?EI=iso-8859-1&c=news_photos&p=Grand+Cayman

More pictures are being posted by someone on the island at this link: http://www.stormcarib.com/reports/2004/cayman.shtml

Yes the official source reports people missing at this time. I would not be surprised to hear of some deaths as I am sure some didn't go to the shelters, and even one of the reinforced shelters suffered some damage. And even inter island communication is very sketchy, so missing persons could be only out of contact at this point as well, no way to know either way for sure. But as of now there are none being reported by the official source. That's the only place I would trust such news from right now. http://www.caymanislands.ky/

In only one visit there I have had a good love of the island and it's people. It's probably the only one I would have considered visiting outright, cruise or no cruise. It is very sad to read of how badly they've been hurt.

 

[MarkRG]

Some of the islanders are now getting photos out there:

http://www-shd-1.candw.ky/gallery2/main.php

http://www.davidolson.com/

http://www.marek.qc.ca/cayman_ivan/photos.asp

 

[MarkRG]

And, a current update.

Refer to this map for locations: http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/cy/wcmap.shtml

Georgetown is where the ship drops anchor.

A very disturbing letter from the CEO of the cable/cell serivce for the island: http://caymannetnews.com/2004/09/738/letter.shtml

They are asking all non-residents to leave the island on the first available evacuation flight.

The reports at this point still all report no deaths but that people are still reported missing.

Ther are still no reports on the West Bay section of the island, and that is where most of the missing persons were, so some may just be a no contact situation. But that is also the part of the island that was hit the worst, so it is a possibility to fear the worst on some who did not go to the shelters.

Land lines (power and phone) are all still down, refer to the pics linked above, most aboveground lines are now spaghetti. Rough estimates at this point say 7 mile beach may not have utilities back up for as long as 6 weeks.

Cell service is being restored slowly, but is still sketchy and very overloaded.

Here is one sample of a firsthand report of how bad it really is right now:

The devastation is much worse than being reported. There is no power, water or land line phone service and the cell phone service is sporadic. The sewage lines from Georgetown to Northside have come up out of the ground and the smell is horrific. There is marshal law in effect with curfew from dusk to dawn. Cayman Airways got one flight in yesterday with supplies from Miami and are offering to get people off the island as they come in for free.

There is no longer a West Bay Road. There isn't a tree, plant or shrub left standing. Our friends description is that it looks like a bomb went off without any fire. According to our reports, Lone Star Restaurant on Seven Mile Beach is gone as is the Retreat on Northside. Several hotels on 7-mile beach lost their second floor completely. The Mariner's Cove Apartments washed completely out into the road. The wave surges (which were as high as 25 feet) completely divided the island into two from Northsound to Southside. There are dead animals everywhere. People are literally walking the streets, homeless, with nothing left but the clothes on their backs.

The government is trying to make it sound like it's no big deal and they are recovering quickly, but that's not the case at all. They have been told that it could be December before all power is restored. They feel that the government is not putting the information out there for fear of panic within the banking industry. They are afraid to let people know how bad it really is for fear that people will start pulling their money out of the 500 banks there. There is about 99% damage to every structure on the island.

The airport does have the runway somewhat cleared, but only for restricted flights bringing supplies. The control tower has extensive damage as does the airport and airport restaurant.

Both Foster's Food Fair supermarkets are gone. The new Hurley's supermarket is still there and offering food and supplies. They are allowing 5 people into the store at once with endless waiting lines.

They have not report any casualties, but my friend says that based on the destruction, they wouldn't be surprised if there were as many as 200 casualties.

 

[ZowmanmeetsMouse]

This island has been DEVISTATED. The pictures tell a 1000 stories. Would not expect cruise ships to stop there for a very long times. Would guess about 4 months at least. Further, why would anyone want to vacation there until it is ready to go?

 

[ZowmanmeetsMouse]

http://www.caymannetnews.com/2004/09/738/letter.shtml

Check out this link. Cayman needs major, major help. Vacation and Cruising will not be options for a long while. This island is on the verge of lawlessness. They are asking for US Military help. I sure wouldn't want to go there until the problems are solved and reconstruction has taken place. This could be years.

 

[ohiominnie]

The devastation is much worse than being reported. There is no power, water or land line phone service and the cell phone service is sporadic. The sewage lines from Georgetown to Northside have come up out of the ground and the smell is horrific.

The whole thing...the stories, the pictures, everything...it's just sickening. We were just there on a May Western. I had never been there. I thought it was a beautiful island with wonderful people. It's been one of my favorite ports of call on DCL. Sad

 

[WDWLVR]

We have such wonderful memories of Grand Cayman. To read about and now see all this destruction is so sad. We are hoping to book a western cruise for next October. I'm sure they will have the island ready for tourists long before that, but will it ever be the Grand Cayman we first went to

 

[il-gander]

I did notice that the Turtle Farm's web site is back up, for what it's worth. That probably just means that power and connectivity have been restored to the web server's location, of course. There is no mention of anything to do with the hurricane. It seems fairly obvious that we will not be visiting Grand Cayman on our Western 10/9, which is disappointing. We were looking forward to the Turtle Farm and Stingray City. As many have said, however, the Caymanians have much more important things to worry about right now than whether us cruise folks can visit them!

 

[denise5374]

It is so sad to hear about the devastation on Grand Cayman. In 1997 I had the pleasure of spending a week there. During that week I came to love the island. I have read reports that the hotel we stayed at (at the opposite end of the island as Georgetown) has suffered serious damage.

I hope they can repair the beauty of the island soon so future travelers can also enjoy Grand Cayman.