Change of itinerary until June for Eastern Caribbean

[minniemouse1]

Just got my official email from Disney Cruise Line and my TA sating that all Eastern Caribbean cruises are replacing Tortola port day with St. Maarten. We were looking forward to having a different port than previous cruises. I was on the fence about cancelling this cruise as it was and if this would of been announced before the PIF date I would not be going. If only my school vacations would fall on a different itinerary. We had an excursion planned for Tortola too.

 

[vikequeen]

I know -- I had my private charter booked for Tortola. I am so sad about this change. St. Maarten looks much less appealing on quick view. but maybe I will feel better when I have time to process.

 

[jk and ek]

Also disappointed to be missing out on Tortola. By reports, Tortola is in possibly better condition than St. Maarten, they just couldn't get the docking situation together. I feel bad for the people who depend on tourism money. I know St. Maarten needs visitors too, its just a far less appealing port of call...hurricane or no hurricane.

 

[mswhittaker]

Yeah I'm a bit bummed, we will likely be staying on the boat in St. Maarten (which is fine-we love at sea days too). Last trip we got off on our own and had an ok day on the beach, but I wouldn't do that again. Looking at the possible excursion options for St. Maarten but I have a 6 year old so there aren't a ton that seem appealing other than the beach. I just was looking forward to a new island. If I had known it was St. Maarten I would have booked the Western itinerary, as we LOVED Cozumel.

 

[vikequeen]

Did you see the Cozumel travel advisory? They cancelled a bunch of excursions, so maybe this will be a better choice after all.

 

[mswhittaker]

Did you see the Cozumel travel advisory? They cancelled a bunch of excursions, so maybe this will be a better choice after all.

I think I saw something but didn't think it would be related to the excursion we really liked (catamaran snorkle beach trip). I might be wrong though. But anyway, I would have rather had a Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman itinerary than St. Maarten and St. Thomas, that's all. It's fine! We love the boat and I'd stay on it for 7 days (wellllll...if I don't get Castaway, I'll riot! jk). Just wouldn't have been my choice!

 

[1buckeyegirl]

We were looking forward to Tortola too, so bummed. The excursions are definitely lacking, a lot of the fun stuff is for kids age 9 and above, my daughter turns 9 the day after we get back

 

[Stacey1980]

Yep, we are in the same boat. I just cancelled the excursion I was really looking forward to on Tortola, Aristocat Charters. I did book another excursion (not through Disney) with Soualiga Destinations for St. Maarten. They seem to have really good reviews with some nice snorkeling and secluded beach stops, and they also seem very family friendly (I have two daughters 7 & 15). Hopefully, the French topless beaches aren't going to be too weird for the family. I guess I will just have to explain the situation to them before we go, so it doesn't surprise them. I'm not as excited about St. Maarten, but I'm going to try and make the best of it.

 

[vikequeen]

I think I saw something but didn't think it would be related to the excursion we really liked (catamaran snorkle beach trip). I might be wrong though. But anyway, I would have rather had a Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman itinerary than St. Maarten and St. Thomas, that's all. It's fine! We love the boat and I'd stay on it for 7 days (wellllll...if I don't get Castaway, I'll riot! jk). Just wouldn't have been my choice!

I will join you in the riot

 

[vikequeen]

Yep, we are in the same boat. I just cancelled the excursion I was really looking forward to on Tortola, Aristocat Charters. I did book another excursion (not through Disney) with Soualiga Destinations for St. Maarten. They seem to have really good reviews with some nice snorkeling and secluded beach stops, and they also seem very family friendly (I have two daughters 7 & 15). Hopefully, the French topless beaches aren't going to be too weird for the family. I guess I will just have to explain the situation to them before we go, so it doesn't surprise them. I'm not as excited about St. Maarten, but I'm going to try and make the best of it.

I am in exactly the same situation . . had to cancel aristocat and looks like you beat me to Soualiga, which was my back up. I'm so sad

 

[Stacey1980]

I am in exactly the same situation . . had to cancel aristocat and looks like you beat me to Soualiga, which was my back up. I'm so sad

Oh no! Is Soualiga booked up now? This is why it would have been nice to know a little further in advance...

 

[vikequeen]

Oh no! Is Soualiga booked up now? This is why it would have been nice to know a little further in advance...

I'm checking on availability now . . .so I'm not sure yet. But I think I made it in time

 

[Stacey1980]

I'm checking on availability now . . .so I'm not sure yet. But I think I made it in time

Hopefully, you beat the rush!

 

[Cheerio]

We were in St.Maarten last month and I will tell you snorkeling isn't great there right now. It's still rough and damaged, we went up the west side of the island and only swam for a bit with some beach time on our private catamaran. Downtown has a lot of buildings on generators as well.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I’m sorry for all the disappointed folks. Tortola is a cool port. And the short notice makes it that much harder. I don’t sail until September but I’m kinda hoping we get bumped to St Maarten, too. Only because I’ve been to Tortola 3x but just once to St Maarten.

 

[vikequeen]

Hopefully, you beat the rush!

Just confirmed I did. I've been out of town the past few days, so really lucky this came in today and not last week or I wouldn't have had time. I'm excited. Looks like a fun alternative (although I still think the Aristocats Charter would have been slightly better . . .)

 

[jk and ek]

The more I think about it, the more bummed I am. For a 7 day cruise with only 3 POC, I feel like those 3 need to be very special and of course CC is special but I think Tortola was meant to be the real pull for this cruise and St. Maarten as a backup just does not meet expectations (and before any of the Disney Can Do No Wrong and Deserves No Culpability and Hey At Least It's Better Than Being At Home!! crew swoop in with their pitchforks...or perhaps tridents since this is the cruise forum?? Save it, I'm not interested.) and I feel like we should have been given notice earlier OR they could have substituted with a second day at Castaway. Of course the hurricane and the damage is not Disney's fault and the repairs are not their responsibility, but I do feel like they could have a better contingency plan. I'm clearly not the only one who would have second guessed this itinerary had St. Thomas and St. Maarten been the only ports of call (in addition to Castaway of course). There just isn't a lot of choice for those of us with very young children. Especially if we aren't interested in being away from the ship for the entire day.

...and for the record we are very much looking forward to St. Thomas!

 

[minniemouse1]

Just confirmed I did. I've been out of town the past few days, so really lucky this came in today and not last week or I wouldn't have had time. I'm excited. Looks like a fun alternative (although I still think the Aristocats Charter would have been slightly better . . .)

I agree that Aristocats looks better than Soualiga. Having no access to a bathroom on Soualiga was a deal breaker for me. We have been in contact with Soualiga and I cannot take the chance that one of the kids will not have to do more than just "pee with the fishes" as Capt. Bob put in his email. He said their is access to a bathroom before the voyage starts and at one location along the way but that won't work for me for a 6 hour tour.
DH also was not on board with the fact that the boats at Soualiga said 17 passengers when in the videos their is only about 10 people on the boat. The boat looks adequate in the video with that many people but it doesn't look big enough to fit 17 people and all their stuff comfortably. Four more spots just opened for Soualiga for some lucky people. Have fun.

 

[cheribelle]

The more I think about it, the more bummed I am. For a 7 day cruise with only 3 POC, I feel like those 3 need to be very special and of course CC is special but I think Tortola was meant to be the real pull for this cruise and St. Maarten as a backup just does not meet expectations (and before any of the Disney Can Do No Wrong and Deserves No Culpability and Hey At Least It's Better Than Being At Home!! crew swoop in with their pitchforks...or perhaps tridents since this is the cruise forum?? Save it, I'm not interested.) and I feel like we should have been given notice earlier OR they could have substituted with a second day at Castaway. Of course the hurricane and the damage is not Disney's fault and the repairs are not their responsibility, but I do feel like they could have a better contingency plan. I'm clearly not the only one who would have second guessed this itinerary had St. Thomas and St. Maarten been the only ports of call (in addition to Castaway of course). There just isn't a lot of choice for those of us with very young children. Especially if we aren't interested in being away from the ship for the entire day.

...and for the record we are very much looking forward to St. Thomas!

I’m sure you are disappointed but Disney is still giving you an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Many of those cruises were originally changed to Western. They are not going to make everyone happy. I’ve read those are happy for the change as they have been to Tortola and never been to St. Maarten. If they switched to Castaway there would have been some complaining they want something different. They could have done a sea day and some would have complained they like ports. There is no way to make everyone happy in this situation.
Weather is tricky and Disney only promised you a cruise.
Heck we went on a cruise 2 years ago to a Western and even the Captain said because of storms he didn’t know where we would be going. It all depended on the storm track. One time we only spent a half day at Castaway because of wind.
When I first heard of the changes from Eastern to Western last year I was disappointed because I have done the Western so many times but we would have just rolled with it because those were the only dates that would work for us.
It is what it is. Those islands are decimated and I think everyone was hopeful on the timing. That’s probably why Disney waited until now to make the changes. The cruise revenue really helps those islands!
Just go with it, you might have more fun than you expected. And if you are really that negative about the island, enjoy a less crowded ship at port.

 

[jk and ek]

I’m sure you are disappointed but Disney is still giving you an Eastern Caribbean cruise.

Haha, I'm gonna have to stop you right there... Disney isn't "giving" us anything. We all paid a premium for this cruise.