Two storm systems brewing and we sail on the 16th...

I'm getting a little nervous here. Anyone out there who has ever sailed during a bad storm? I'm more worried about the waves and the rocking of the ship than about the seasickness.

Any information is most appreciated...

We have been on two cruises to the Western Caribbean, back in October and November, 98 and 99. Both times we ran into really bad storms, hurricanes that is. One was not too bad, the captain managed to get us from the storms. The second was more adventureous. We were going to the Western Caribbean, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Cancun. The winds were up to 90 to 95 mph and the waves were up to 30 or 35 ft high. It was quite rocky for awhile, to be honest a lot of people were sick....not many in dining rooms that night. The captain did a wonderful job considering what was going on, of getting us safely out of the area, needless to say there were no ports. The ship the Norway, was rocking, but with the stableizers we had no worries of anything. This lasted one night, the next days were windy and still lots of waves, but we could get on deck. The night of the storms the ships personel had locked all doors going to the decks while also standing by them, to make sure no one tried to get out. In side the ship the ships crew were all over talking to passengers. Calming anyones fears. Actually this was the best cruise I had been on, on the stand point of the attitude of passengers, everyone was in a great mood, despite the storm. I would imagine they served more alcohol than usual that night.

Its a concern that I have also, since we are cruising in October, but I also know the captain, and crew are concerned about passenger safety..... its a number one priority,if the storms is present the captain will get you away from it.

I hope I answered your questions and at the same time I hope I did not scare you.

Go and have a great cruise

We actually also had a bad experience (Hurricane Mitch) when it was a tropical storm. (Oct 31st l9--) We were also in the Western just leaving Jamaica when all heck broke loose. The worst part was that we were on Commodore (now out of business) on a very old ship with not very good stablizers. I was extremely sick along with many others for one whole day and night. I swore I would never cruise again. Soon to take the third one since that happened.

I think that almost all of the ships now are so much better. But, I always use the wristbands. They help me the most.

Have a great cruise.

We were on the Explorer RC in the middle of Isidora and they diverted the ship to avoid the storm . Instead of going to Cozumel they turned the ship back and we went to Nassau .The ship is huge so we did not feel a thing and I am sensitive to motion sickness.

Both will be gone by the 16th...

Why do you say they will be gone by the 16th? I will be flying to Tampa(maybe) Saturday to sail on the 15th. Should I be worried?

We leave on RCI Explorer for the Western Carib. on the 15th.

From what I see on the weather maps, it looks like both storms will be on the coast by then. If that's true then we'll be in for some lovely weather :)

- Yvette

sorry - don't mean to appear to be insensitive, but if you are that concerned why did you book a cruise during hurricane season???? We try to avoid this time of year because of this, but I do wish you the best and I really think these storms will be gone by then and you'll have a great time - matter of fact WE will probably be sitting in the middle of them both here in NC this weekend!!! We're getting quite use to these things but they are not fun.

For the cruisers out of Tampa - Charley is supposed to affect us early Friday morning here in Tampa - around 2 am. By the time Saturday and later rolls around it'll be way north of here - very fast moving storm. Bonnie will not affect Tampa in the least.

7nucruzers, I have no choice but to take vacation this time of year. My son is in school and I will NOT take him out of school for vacation purposes. Children need to realize that at this point in their lives,SCHOOL is the priority. Not vacations. I know there are people that do take their kids out of school for vacations, but IN MY OPINION, that minimizes the importance of school.

Thanks for the info kjkohler, its's greatly appreciated. I think the cruise weather will be perfect. I'm just worried about getting into Tampa Saturday. Got my fingers crossed!

Why do you say they will be gone by the 16th? I will be flying to Tampa(maybe) Saturday to sail on the 15th. Should I be worried?

I hope folks do not mind these "heads up"; messages.

 

This is a Navy link that might [should] ask you to accept their certificate. [say you do]. [navy site]

This shows you that from Florida to Maine there will be some affects, and many of us may need to think Thursday is the day to fly.

 

Also notice on the graphic you get how close to your favorite navy base Charlie is expected to pass.

Friday may be a hard day to fly. The ship comes in Saturday wee AM, and the Charlie is not a catastrophic storm. The port is 100 miles north of there, so it should do just fine. Friday will be windy and wet.

Second, things change! Time and location forecasts are a bit like blackjack: you think you should ‘stand’ but you are not sure. In 12-24 hours the forecast could have a new track and location for Friday.

This is just a heads up….

We were actually in Hurricane Andrew on a ship. The only thing that we noticed was the waves were higher, the ship rolled a bit more, and we missed our port that day. There was no way the ship was going to dock during that storm. The day was stormy, no sun, but other than that, DH and I did not have a problem. We typically cruise two to three times a year, and really enjoy sailing the high seas! ;)

I'm the original poster, so I'd like to say that since hurricane season spans from June 1 - November 30, it would be difficult to find a time to cruise otherwise. My point was that there are two storms brewing, and even the most experienced storm trackers are reporting that in their 20+ years, they've never seen this happen. When I booked this cruise, there had been no announcements that this would be a much more active than usual hurricane season. I was, however, asking for information from those who had experienced these type of situation on a cruise - not asking to be questioned as to my reasons for cruising at this time of year.

I'm the original poster, so I'd like to say that since hurricane season spans from June 1 - November 30, it would be difficult to find a time to cruise otherwise. My point was that there are two storms brewing, and even the most experienced storm trackers are reporting that in their 20+ years, they've never seen this happen. When I booked this cruise, there had been no announcements that this would be a much more active than usual hurricane season. I was, however, asking for information from those who had experienced these type of situation on a cruise - not asking to be questioned as to my reasons for cruising at this time of year.

For you there will be no problem from these storms once at sea. The ocean gets "big" in front of the storm, and quickly quiets after it has past. The ships avoid the side effects most of the time.

If you get to the port, you will be ok.

I am a weather channel nut, and I live 300 yards from the ocean south of Boston in a town that has seen its share of "bad storms". This is not that unusual. Since 1997 there have been on average 4 storms in August. In 1997 there were 4 systems in July and only 1 in September, all very weak.

For the same reasons that it has been cool over the east, esp. the north east, there may be several more east coast/Florida storms this year.

Good luck next week, the gulf should be calm.:)

7nucruzers, I have no choice but to take vacation this time of year. My son is in school and I will NOT take him out of school for vacation purposes. Children need to realize that at this point in their lives,SCHOOL is the priority. Not vacations. I know there are people that do take their kids out of school for vacations, but IN MY OPINION, that minimizes the importance of school.

There many more children being home schooled now, more school systems are on year round school (6 weeks in and 2-3 weeks off while children in regular scheduled schools are in session) more schools starting earlier than ever (my son went back a week and a half ago) the whole "summer season" in most places is coming more obsolete. We went on vacation in October last year, did he miss a whole week of school? NO! Monday was Columbus Day so it was a holiday, Tuesday and Wednesday were regular school days, Thursday was a 1/2 day so teachers could have training(and according to every teacher in my family those are wasted because the students are wound up for a long weekend), and Friday was a scheduled teacher work day. We went to Disney at the best possible time of the year on the dirt cheap and one of the actual school days he missed we went to Epcot where he actually learned somthing. So in all actuality he missed one day of learning. I know I have missed one day of work by calling in "sick", and I don't feel guilty.

7nucruzers, I have no choice but to take vacation this time of year. My son is in school and I will NOT take him out of school for vacation purposes. Children need to realize that at this point in their lives,SCHOOL is the priority. Not vacations. I know there are people that do take their kids out of school for vacations, but IN MY OPINION, that minimizes the importance of school.

Hurray for you!

Oh, man ... I know I'm gonna get flamed for this one, but I just feel I have to say it. I just don't understand the reasons for pulling kids out of school simply for a family vacation. I guess I'm showing my age, but when I was a kid this was unheard of. Hell, I had to practically be on my deathbed before my folks would even let me stay home from school sick. If I had cramps or a minor tummyache or whatever, off to school I went ... armed with aspirin or whatever.

As a result of that manner of being raised, I developed a strong work ethic that has served me well throughout life. I learned to take my responsibilities seriously and to work hard so that when the time came, I could play hard. I was taught that school was my "job," just as my father had a job ... and that I was expected to do it well and take it seriously.

That philosophy carried over into my career and has served me well.

With all the time of the year that school is not in session, I just can't understand why vacations have to be scheduled while school is in session.

Makes no sense to me, but then ... I'm open-minded enough to at least try to understand other's reasons for doing so.

Blue skies ...

--rita

There many more children being home schooled now, more school systems are on year round school (6 weeks in and 2-3 weeks off while children in regular scheduled schools are in session) more schools starting earlier than ever (my son went back a week and a half ago) the whole "summer season" in most places is coming more obsolete. We went on vacation in October last year, did he miss a whole week of school? NO! Monday was Columbus Day so it was a holiday, Tuesday and Wednesday were regular school days, Thursday was a 1/2 day so teachers could have training(and according to every teacher in my family those are wasted because the students are wound up for a long weekend), and Friday was a scheduled teacher work day. We went to Disney at the best possible time of the year on the dirt cheap and one of the actual school days he missed we went to Epcot where he actually learned somthing. So in all actuality he missed one day of learning. I know I have missed one day of work by calling in "sick", and I don't feel guilty.

I agree! And where did this get turned into a conversation about taking your children out of school? I'm taking my daughter out of school this fall and she will only miss 3 days because we are going right before fall break. If she was a sickly child( has only missed 3 days since starting school) or had problems with school, I would have second thoughts. In fact, I asked her new teacher about this today at back-to school day and she said no problem and even told my daughter she could do a special social studies project about the Bahamas and the Everglades!

Will I be flamed for taking my daughter out of school?? Probably. Do I really care??? LOL

We cruise in the fall because of the great prices! And if we get caught in a storm.....just a story we can "brag" about to the folks at home.....now I know I will get flamed about that!

It is almost impossible at my office to get vacation time in the summer. It is based on senoirity when it is approved and you better bet the people that have worked there for 10+ years plunk down requests for entire months off and it gets approved. You have someone do that for June, someone for July and someone for August and the whole summer is gone. Oh well I am a bad parent I guess, and I am a bad employee because I called in "sick" once durring the summer so I could take my son to Sanibel Island for a long weekend while he was actually on SUMMER VACATION so he could say he went somewhere, even though I have over 100 hours sick time in my "bank". Are people like me just supposed to deny our children of vacations like many other kids get because their parents have never taken a much better offer on a career after they invested 5 years somewhere. Shame on me, bad girl, bad girl!

It is almost impossible at my office to get vacation time in the summer. It is based on senoirity when it is approved and you better bet the people that have worked there for 10+ years plunk down requests for entire months off and it gets approved. You have someone do that for June, someone for July and someone for August and the whole summer is gone. Oh well I am a bad parent I guess, and I am a bad employee because I called in "sick" once durring the summer so I could take my son to Sanibel Island for a long weekend while he was actually on SUMMER VACATION so he could say he went somewhere, even though I have over 100 hours sick time in my "bank". Are people like me just supposed to deny our children of vacations like many other kids get because their parents have never taken a much better offer on a career after they invested 5 years somewhere. Shame on me, bad girl, bad girl!

You are a HORRIBLE mother! How dare you take your child somewhere when you are supposed to be slaving like a dog! I'm suprised someone has not turned you into child welfare :>)