It looks like that info may have only been updated by the FCO today so will probably take until tomorrow for the directives to come through the tour ops "operations" department, who will receive the advice first...

Maybe try again on Weds and you will probably have the information you need.

I presume you mean you booked 18 months ago rather than 18 minutes ago?

CwB

Yes, it was 18 months ago

I just couldn't believe that the agents appeared to have no idea of what's happening there - the FCO advice was updated on Sunday and given that the hurricane was the lead news item on the radio as early as 6am this morning I expected some response other than "normal booking conditions still apply"!

We still want to go but just want to keep our options open for now until the extent of damage is known!

Callie

You head your posting "potential complaint" which is not correct. Problem perhaps!

Advice regarding traveling to a particular area will be issued that is time specific. Yes there is a hurricane this week but you do not go until 1st October which is 3 weeks hence. Things can and do change. It should also be considered that some resorts have little or no damage, indeed the hurricane has not effected them in any way. The resorts are used to this and are well organised in dealing with the aftermath.

The TOs do send people to these countries at this time of year for a very simple reason. People want to go even though they are aware that they are liable to extreme weather conditions. I personally would not want to go during hurricane season.

Until the TO finds out that your hotel has been damaged and is not suitable then they have no need to change things.

I think you are worrying about nothing at this moment in time.

fwh

Isn't it Hurricane season at the moment out there??

It's hurricane season from around July till November. If it wasn't, the prices would be as high as in non-hurricane season. They can fix a lot locally by 1st October so they won't look changing your holiday. Just be glad you're not there now.

I can see that the OP is concerned about their forthcoming holiday, but as others have said, the tour operator will need time to speak to staff in resort and ascertain exactly what, if any, damage has occured. Even if there is damage, there is likely to be little or no evidence of it at your hotel by the time you depart in 3 weeks - it's amazing how quickly these hotels get back to normal. We watched evidence on the web of hotels in Mexico that were damaged by hurricane Emily in 2005. The damage looked horrendous at the time, yet the hotels were mostly open after a few days and apart from damage to trees and shrubs, you wouldn't know there had been a hurricane 3 weeks later. We were due to travel to Mexico in October 2005 the day after hurricane Wilma struck. All flights were cancelled as the airport was closed for some time but we were offered an immediate refund by Thomas Cook and they bent over backwards to find us a suitable alternative.

If, for whatever reason, the tour operator decides the hotel is unsuitable they won't offer an alternative/cancellation until you are due to go so there's little point in worrying about it for the next three weeks.

BTW, we stayed at the Rio de Oro last October and it is a fabulous hotel. Hope you have a great time.

A lot can happen in 3 weeks in Cuba - I was out there only a week after Dennis hit in 2005 and we had to cancel a trip to an eco-resort in the mountains because the residents still hadn't been moved back after damage to their housing but that was the only thing we had to change in a 3 week trip. This was my first trip out there and on later trips I realised that problems with the power and the telephones aren't restricted to the hurricane season! The biggest inconvenience was that we were under strict instructions not to drink or brush our teeth with the water from the taps - even the locals were drinking bottled water or collecting it from the big 'bowsers' positioned on nearly every block to provide fresh drinking water. But we probably noticed it more because we were staying with local families - the tourist hotels have their own generators and would routinely provide bottled water anyway.

All in all, Cuba is the only place in the Caribbean I would visit during the hurricane season and I wouldn't visit anywhere in the southeastern US at all. Why? Because nowhere else has the safety plans that Cuba has - it's no coincidence that Cuba had very few casualities compared to places like Haiti, Mexico and the US. Every municipality has to have its evacuation plan in place which is rehearsed at the very beginning of the hurricane season so that everybody knows what will happen and were to go in the event of a hurricane hitting their area. This includes tourists so I'm very surprised that your friends weren't evacuated to Varadero as seems to have been the case with the 1,000s of other tourists in Guardalavaca. The authorities take a very cautious view wherever tourists are concerned. If there is storm damage at your hotel that cannot be repaired in time you should find that you will be offered the chance to transfer to another hotel or resort. This is why hotels are never fully booked out during the summer in Cuba - the Government requires TOs and hotels etc to also have evacuation contingency plans in place.

And they have their emergency rescue and medical teams in place too - the doctor husband of one of the people I stay with is always on standby throughout the hurrican season ready to be drafted into which ever province needs extra medical personnel to deal with the aftermath of a hurricane. After Katrina hit New Orleans, Castro very cheekily assured Bush that he could send in 1,500 docters within 24 hrs if they could be of assistance. I think he knew that it wouldn't be taken up but I do believe that they could have done it - they have more doctors per 1,000 head of population than we do. The chaos that ensued in New Orleans simply wouldn't have happened in Cuba because there would have been an orderly, compulsory evacuation - it wouldn't even have been a case of people being told to leave and left to organise it themselves as happened the other week. The buses and army trucks turn up as per the plan and everybody leaves.

Easy for me to say I know but I wouldn't do anything too hasty and would give it at least another week before making a decision. You could cancel your holiday needlessly and lose out on something that you have been looking forward to for a long time. Unfortunately, you did choose to book for the hieght of the hurricane season and this sort of thing can happen. Yes, the FCO is currently advising against non-essential travel but doesn't mean that it is automatically dangerous or that your hotel will be out of action. It will be much more to do with the temporary disruption to transport and basic services and the fact that the people on the ground will be dealing with those already there as a priority. I would expect the fCO advice to change before you are due to depart. I would rest assured that if it was unsafe or the local infrastucture couldn't cope with extra visitors that the Cuban authorities will not allow tourists in and the tOs will be required to activate their contingency plans which by lCuban law they are required to have in place.

SM

T Cook aren't sending people there, todays LGW - Holguin cancelled, empty plane going to pick passengers up. Monday's Varadero postponed until tomorrow all being ok there.
MAnchester - cayo coco cancelled.

Thanks for the replies.

SMa - point taken (title edited above) and I suppose this is probably the wrong area to post but wasn't sure where else it fits! Mods - please feel free to move if necessary....

I'm really hoping that all will be well, I've heard today that my friends are OK but the hotel is quite badly damaged. My main concern was the fact that the agents told me that TC weren't heeding the FCO advice - I'm happy to make an informed choice but felt that official advice against travel should mean an alternative or full refund is made available..... but from MikeBravo's post it appears they've got the wrong end of the stick.

And as I like to have things planned well in advance I was hoping to have an alternative in mind if we do have to cancel!

All being well we'll be on that plane in 3 weeks. I just hope that the damage in the area isn't too bad and the locals haven't been hit too hard - I'll be taking plenty of extra toiletries etc in my suitcase for them.

Thanks again

Callie

hi please try not to worry,

i was in cuba during hurricane denis, and it is normal to be told to stay in your room, ( as your friends were) we were in the paradisus vradero, and i assure you they are a comapny who are very well organised, lots of action was taken to minimalise dameage on the day leading up to the hit date.

this meant that afterwards the clean up didnt take too long and within 2 days hotel was back to normal, with the exception of power which than ran from generators. cuba compared some othe islands is very good at preparing for hurricanes. and i think by the time you go the hotel will be back to normal.

try not to worry and have a good hol.

I am due to go to Paradisus Rio de Ora on Sat 20th Sept. Does anyone know the extent of the damage at this resort? I have been told that at the moment we are still travelling on this date and if I cancel now would not get any money back. If you know anything on this resort I would be grateful to hear. Thanks

A post this morning on Tripadvisor was from someone due to go to PRDO next week. They phoned the Thomas Cook 24 hour helpline and were told that there was considerable damage at the resort and that they weren't sending guests there this week. How soon this will change is anyone's guess. It depends on the nature of the damage and how quickly they can get the required materials and tools in the current circumstances. I hope you are able to travel on 20th but, as you say, unfortunately if you choose to cancel now, you will lose all your money. If the holiday can't go ahead, you will be offered a refund/alternative destination but likely this won't be until a couple of days before your departure. Have you tried phoning and asking for an change of destination? If they know it is unlikely you will travel to the Holguin area (the whole area appears to have been badly damaged), they may be willing to help you, especially as you are due to travel so soon.

I called the travel agent yesterday and they said that I had to call back on Monday of next week when they would know more. As power was down they had no way of knowing how badly this resort was damaged, they told me that the power could take a while and once it was up and running they could speak to the rep at this resort to assess the situation. I suppose I will just have to wait until Monday and see what they say.

I dont fancy going there with no power, air con etc, etc. If it is too badly damaged, as you say they could send us to a different location, however this was the one that really took my fancy and I dont fancy going anywhere else. Maybe if they cancel I can get a last minute deal somewhere else. I will have to wait and see. I will let you know the outcome on Monday.
Thanks

the big hotels have back up generators so you will always have power

I have been reading on other websites this morning that this resort was hit quite badly. The restaurant has gone, beach huts gone, etc. So I am now really unsure of what the travel agent will do.

When I was there, one local told me they were off the main hurricane route and hadn't been hit for 20 years or so. If that was true then the hotels have all been built since and this would have been their first test.
In Mexico last year I spotted hurricane metal shutters built into the framework on the room veranda ready for instant protection, but I can't recollect seeing anything like that at Playa Pesquero.

I have loads of photos of the houses in Holguin and the majority did not have windows or all their walls/roofs before the hurricane struck so my thoughts are with those people now. The chap I spoke to had built on top of another house but had been saving for enough materials for years and still only had a simple ladder to access his home ( wife and young baby!) and he was fairly representative of the locals.

One report said the beach restaurant had gone but during our stay we did not actually eat there once so it should not affect the running of the hotel too much whilst it is being sorted, however the main restaurant at the Playa Pesquero was completely open to the air with no real walls/windows and I think many of the hotel builds use similar structures.
Whether the hotels managed to minimise the damage will soon become clear. I hope so as the immediate resources should go towards sorting out the locals first!

I can't imagine that they will send you there unless the hotel is operational, and as the locals are proud of its reputation, I should imagine it will be functioning well asap unless there is major structural damage.

Good luck with your holiday where-ever...

Hi

Just got back from Paradisus today. Damage to main areas is very severe. Villas are pretty much intact, some with window and roof damage. Managers believe it will be 3/4 months before they are able to reopen. These people are amazing as was the resort pre-Ike. For those of you booked that do not get there this time, please give them another chance for your future holidays when they are back up and running and need our tourism support.

I have today spoken to the travel agents and they are sending people to Varadero. No one is going to Holguin/Guardalavaca. The two main roads which have bridges into Guardalavaca are broken and there is no way in getting there. I have also heard that Paradisus Rio De Ora is closed until the end of September. I have to call the Travel Agent back on Monday and they will then advise what they are doing about the flights out on Saturday.

Yet again I have spoken to the travel today (Tues) I am travelling on Sat, and they are still not telling me anything. Apart from travel as ususal. How do you travel to something that isnt there? Any advice?