Aug 30 Galveston cruise and HURRICANES

I am new to cruise critic, you have a great reputation! I have to pay the deposit on my 7 day round trip Galveston Texas Carnival cruise today. The Magic looks like fun. BUT, DO ANY OF YOU KNOW THE CHANCES OR AVERAGES OF HAVING A HURRICANE AT THIS TIME? CARNIVAL ALWAYS IS SAILING, SO I THOUGHT IT MUST NOT BE TOO BAD OR THEY WOULD NOT BE THERE. YET, I'M SCARED! Do you know the chances or average of a hurricanes in the western Caribbean area late Aug, Sept?? I know you are all pretty seasoned cruisers. I really wanted to see Belize and this is my vacation week. Help!

PS: I'm not Krabby, it just sounded funny 2 me

Sure there is a chance of a hurricane in the Caribbean in August & September. Cruise lines try to avoid storms, but this is not always possible. It can mean some rough sailing

Curious, if it really is a rough season, Why does Carnival try 2 cruise it with one of their best ships?

There is a CHANCE of a hurricane in the Caribbean EVERY DAY between this coming Monday (June 1) and four days after Thanksgiving -- it is a six-month season. That said, the CHANCES of a hurricane impacting your cruise in ANY way are probably less than one in a hundred - and all that would mean is your itinerary might be altered slightly . Much less likely is the possibility that your cruise might sail several hours (possibly a day) late, or return to port several hours early or late.

There might be something to be concerned about if the far outside chance of itinerary change is the kind of thing that upsets you -- but there is nothing remotely likely to warrant being scared -- the line wants the passengers and crew to be safe, they like their ships and do not want them damaged -- with weather science as it they have ample warning to avoid dangerous conditions.

Welcome to cruise Critic. You'll find many useful sections once you have time to nose around the site a little. Here is one section that can answer a lot of your hurricane frequency questions: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/hurricane.cfm

As for why they cruise during the six months of hurricane season; it's too long to not cruise, and the days that do have a storm, they just avoid traveling directly in the path of a hurricane. So the itinerary can change from what you expect. The only time this is a really big problem is when the departure port is in the path of a hurricane. Then there is a lot of scrambling to get the ship out of the way in time (or delay arrival until the storm has passed). In that case, you need a good Plan B and read the fine print if you purchase travel insurance.

There can be a storm on any given day year round. Don't let that be a deterrent to cruising.

Calm down...calm down! "Hurricane "season"" means nothing except the waters are warm enough for a storm to form....that doesn't mean one will, or if it does, that it will affect you and where you're going!

Book your trip...the ship will NOT sail into a storm.

Never, ever book a cruise for the ports, tho...even without a storm, a cruise line reserves the right to change, substitute or cancel any port, at any time, for any reason. Storm or not...they can decide not to take you where you want to go.

Our Gov't has a wonderful website that can give you lots of information about hurricanes. Lots of historical data.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?atlc

For instance, under Tools and Data, select Data Archive. Lots of statistics. poke around on the site and time will fly. EM

Never, ever book a cruise for the ports, tho....

Pardon? :confused: Curious as to why we should book a cruise, then?......

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Hurricanes are unpredictable.

The cruise lines will shift itineraries should one be in your path.

That happened to us in Oct 2010. Hurricane Paula changed our western Caribbean cruise to an eastern cruise.

Pardon? :confused: Curious as to why we should book a cruise, then?......

How often have you seen a post that reads "OMG, I only booked this cruise because it stops at X port, and now we're stopping at Y port instead!! And it's after final payment so I can't cancel! :mad::mad:"

Or "We just got back from our dream cruise. everything was perfect, except it was supposed to call at X port, but the weather was a little bit rough, so we missed that port. I think the captain was a wimp, and my cruise was totally ruined!! Totally!! Ruined!! I want all my money back, and an extra $1000 compensation for my inconvenience!"

Those are the people who should never book just for the ports! :D

When you book a cruise (any cruise), you have to be prepared to accept that you may miss ports for any variety of reasons. Our last cruise to the Caribbean, we missed Grand Cayman due to rough seas (not bad weather, just rough water making it too dangerous for the ship to attempt the approach through the reef). We did make port at Cozumel, but all small ship (snorkelling, fishing, diving, etc) excursions were cancelled because high winds caused the harbourmaster to close the harbour to smaller boats. It was a bright, sunny day, so we just sat on the beach at Paco's Backyard with frosty drinks just watching the world go by. It was brilliant. :)