Is anyone else worried about hurricanes and their DW?

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by relish.77 My wedding was to be Oct 15 at the Paradisus Rio De Oro, Holguin Cuba. We were to depart Oct 11, exactly 4 weeks from now. The resort has been demolished. I have no idea what i'm going to do. I'm in a serious state of panic and my travel agent is saying things are fine. I've seen the pics, nothing about that part of the country is fine. I have 26 people coming, not easy to reshcedule EVERYTHING. WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!? My fiance wants refunds, there's no way I'm cancelling the wedding. Tears are coming...crap. Oh my god- breakdown.

are you sure it's destoyed? I read bad reports on trip advisor & also read this from someone who contacted their UK office

"They have said the following: all staff and current tourists are fine. there are no reports of any serious damage - she mentioned some minor repairs were needed and the beach huts were going to be replaced and that everything should be back to normal by our visit at beginning of oct."

I have a lot of experience with hurricanes & they love to report the worst. not jsut the media, but people love to talk about destruction. my mom lived in corpus christi, tx when a big storm hit in the 80s. she was on vacation at the time. the news reports said, "corpus has been wiped off the map." she was devistated. when she returned home, her place was fine.

last august something similar happened & brides were so upset. then everything turned out to be fine.

I know there has been a lot of destruction in the area, but it's possible that your hotel is fine & will be back running in time. I do not have details, i just haven't found anything reliable yet saying othewise.

when a hurricane hit costa maya last year I got emails from people telling me my hotel was destroyed. I already knew it was fine & couldn't understand where their info came from. turns out they thought riviera maya was like a town. instead it's a huge area of land. so they thought if riviera maya was hit, my hotel must have been hit. only it wasn't even riviera maya. see how things get out of control fast?

the best thing you can do is just wait & hope for the best. or try to take your mind off it any way you can.

[Tropical Imaging]

I would also wait and keep in touch with your travel agent. News agencies across the board reported that 85% of the Turks and Caicos Islands were destroyed. Actually 2 of our islands ARE devastated but our main island was spared and the resort district didn't even loose power during the storm. The rumors are still running rampant as the photos you are going to see are of destruction...News organizations aren't going to show pretty resorts with minor cosmetic damage.

 

Continue checking with your travel agent...if the hotel is saying minor damage, it usually is the case. As for trees/vegetation...with the amount of rain we have received, Plants get back to normal very quickly.

 

It was the Trip Advisor forums that many were stating the resorts were gone as well. I had my husband take photos of many of the resorts and the beach less than 24 hours after the storm before the beach clean up...people still are questioning that they are real based on everything else the news is reporting...I know they are real...but now we are having to fight a greater economic disaster because the news organizations want drama.

 

Have faith and fingers crossed all is okay.

 

Krys

 

This is what our resort area looked like less than 24hours after ike had passed

 

http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2008...rovidenciales/

 

The news organizations report otherwise!

[Tropical Imaging]

I also want to say the difference between our island and the islands of Grand Turk and South Caicos are less than 50 miles south...we sustained Cat 1-2 winds, those islands got the full force of a Cat 4. We feel very lucky as it could have been horrific. Hopefully we will get our sister islands back and better than ever soon.

[Angel_eh]

I know how you feel Relish. What tour company are you with? Apparently the tour companies (Sunwing, Air Transat...) need to go in and access the damage before they will make a decision. Until then, we have wait or we will loose all the deposits. If they deem it unsafe (which we know they will), we will have options on a different location. If they can't accomadate all your guests. They will give you a full refund and you will have to scramble to find another location. It is truly the worst position to be in, I know.

 

I wish I could say something to relieve your stress. You have a lot more guests to accommodate. My fiancé also wanted to postpone the wedding....I don't want that to happen either! Hopefully we will hear some good news soon.

 

I don't understand why the travel companies are saying everything is fine when it's clearly not! The hotel rep for the PRDO said that they should know by early next week what the situation is.

 

Until then, we wait and worry!

[Angel_eh]

I have been on tripadvisor non stop searching for pictures of the PRDO post Ike. None to be found....I don't know why? I just want to see for myself so I can sleep at night!

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tropical Imaging I would also wait and keep in touch with your travel agent. News agencies across the board reported that 85% of the Turks and Caicos Islands were destroyed. Actually 2 of our islands ARE devastated but our main island was spared and the resort district didn't even loose power during the storm. The rumors are still running rampant as the photos you are going to see are of destruction...News organizations aren't going to show pretty resorts with minor cosmetic damage. Continue checking with your travel agent...if the hotel is saying minor damage, it usually is the case. As for trees/vegetation...with the amount of rain we have received, Plants get back to normal very quickly. It was the Trip Advisor forums that many were stating the resorts were gone as well. I had my husband take photos of many of the resorts and the beach less than 24 hours after the storm before the beach clean up...people still are questioning that they are real based on everything else the news is reporting...I know they are real...but now we are having to fight a greater economic disaster because the news organizations want drama. Have faith and fingers crossed all is okay. Krys This is what our resort area looked like less than 24hours after ike had passed http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2008...rovidenciales/ The news organizations report otherwise!

wonderful post! yes, the media finds the place with the worst damage & shows you that. remember the lady rowing around in a boat in a puddle of water?

the report from PRDO I posted from their headquarters sounded very promising.

[Tropical Imaging]

The reason you are not seeing photographs is because

 

1. People are busy dealing with their homes and families. When a hurricane comes towards up, we have to box up everything in our office and move it to our home. Help the kids school get boarded up and take everything down, bag it, box it and get it up on tables etc in case of flooding. Then our home has to be secured in the same way. The first 3-4 days after a hurricane are unboarding, unboxing and moving things back to their places and helping others do the same.

 

2. All of these things are done without power as power lines are the first to go down, and cell phone service while operational isn't great as cell towers go down in winds as well. Hotels usually only have a bare boned staff on site as they allow their workers to get their homes and families sorted and cleaned up.

 

3. Internet is also down with power and that can be awhile. You can't send or post photos (or even get them onto a computer) when you don't have power. Ike hit us on Sat/Sun, our office still doesn't have internet as a fiber optic cable had a huge break. Our home just got power yesterday with many on island still without for another week or so...

 

4. I relayed reports of the damage to my hubby from the US (where I was with the kids) as they couldn't get info via regular sources and with trees down and power lines down, you don't go cruising for photos.

 

The people who are taking photos though are taking them to show the damage....if you haven't seen your report, damage isn't as severe as what you are seeing on the reports. I guarantee you if the hotel was severely damaged....you would be seeing lots of photos.

 

Give the people a chance to take a breath and get sorted. Clean up after a hurricane is exhausting even when your home and family are safe. I speak from being there many times. Think happy thoughts....I think you'll be surprised.

 

Krys

[*Casey*]

IKE should take a HIKE!!!!

[Yari]

Krys what a great post. I too heard the reports that Turks & Caicos were 85% destroyed...so happy to hear that is not true!

[Amarillis]

Angel and Relish!

 

I have my fingers crossed for you!

 

Any word on your resort?

 

I have read that Varadero wasn't hit too hard, but haven't yet heard from my friends either.