Cruising In Hurricane Season

Hey Guys

I’ve never cruised during hurricane season. I’m traveling with a cruise newbie who is petrified of going on her first cruise right in the middle of the season.

We’re looking at the Oasis doing the Eastern itinerary on 3 September

Can I get weather predictions & temps and what the chances of hitting a hurricane, and if we do what is the Royal backup plan.

Thanks

Don’t worry...the ship will go away from the storm. You may end up with different or missed ports. Sept is a really nice cruising time the water is super smooth if no storms

Weather.com will give you average temps for that time frame. As far as a hurricane no way to predict that this far out. If there is a storm the ship will do it's best to avoid it. That's not to say you may not encounter rough seas but you might not. Your itinerary may change. Very worst scenario they will cancel but you won't know until last minute most likely

We were on RCCL Allure in September last year when all the hurricanes hit. Our 7 day cruise turned into I believe a 10 day (maybe 11). Royal did a great job. Communication I believe was as good as they could. Our itinerary was completely changed. We changed our flights three times. But we knew what to expect because they communicated. We in return had added days for free. They discounted everything. Overall it wasn’t a ruined vacation by any means. We are cruising again in hurricane season.

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You cannot predict the weather.

We just got back from a Southern Caribbean cruise - the weather was beautiful and we hit every scheduled stop.

I have been keeping an eye on this site:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

When are you going on Oasis? Your date doesn't look correct if it is this year, because I know I am sailing Oasis September 2nd.;)

I have been keeping an eye on this site:

 

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

 

When are you going on Oasis? Your date doesn't look correct if it is this year, because I know I am sailing Oasis September 2nd.;)

Sorry fat fingers :rolleyes: 2nd it is. Travelling from UK so it is costing thousands. Big gamble if we get a blower :confused:

We were on Liberty during Hurricane Nate in 2017. As others have said, there was plenty of communication about the adjusted itinerary from the Captain and we never felt unsafe one bit.

The Captain skipped a port to get out ahead of the storm. It was more windy than normal at times, but the seas didn’t feel any tougher than normal.

I wouldn’t be worried about it!

I'm on Oasis the week before you, arriving back to Port Canaveral on Sept 2. This will be my 3rd cruise in a row that has been in peak hurricane season (you can find the others in my signature) and it's a great time to cruise- most of the kids are already back in school, the weather is fantastic and the sea water is still nice and warm.

As others have mentioned- the ships will take any necessary steps to avoid potential weather problems and yes, sometimes this means you will miss a port stop or have your itinerary altered. It's all part of the adventure!

One thing I will recommend is getting a nice trip insurance policy for peace of mind. Nationwide offers a special cruise specific policy that will reimburse you for things like port of call changes, service disruptions and return home early. Or you might consider the Trip Assure Advantage Bridge policy that I recently purchase for my upcoming cruise- it covers cancellations at your embarkation port or port of call when there is a NOAA issued hurricane warning

Hey Guys

 

I’ve never cruised during hurricane season. I’m traveling with a cruise newbie who is petrified of going on her first cruise right in the middle of the season.

 

We’re looking at the Oasis doing the Eastern itinerary on 3 September

 

Can I get weather predictions & temps and what the chances of hitting a hurricane, and if we do what is the Royal backup plan.

 

Thanks

They will keep you safe.

I like to keep an eye on storm2k.org. The weather enthusiasts on that site talk about low pressure depressions days and sometimes weeks before they become storms.

Right now the Atlantic is very quiet.

Sorry fat fingers :rolleyes: 2nd it is. Travelling from UK so it is costing thousands. Big gamble if we get a blower :confused:

why? only if the cancel or shorten your cruise....otherwise, you're still cruising and they'll just go to where the hurricane isn't..

we cruised during hurricane sandy, which was a massive hurricane with an enormous footprint....

still we had a great cruise....one of our best ever....

we always cruise during hurricane season as that's when we can cruise...

in all of our cruises, that one cruise was the only one affected by a hurricane....

and as i said, it didn't stop us from having a spectacular time...

why? only if the cancel or shorten your cruise....otherwise, you're still cruising and they'll just go to where the hurricane isn't..

 

we cruised during hurricane sandy, which was a massive hurricane with an enormous footprint....

still we had a great cruise....one of our best ever....

 

we always cruise during hurricane season as that's when we can cruise...

in all of our cruises, that one cruise was the only one affected by a hurricane....

and as i said, it didn't stop us from having a spectacular time...

Sandy gave us 4 extra cruise days including an unscheduled overnight stop in Boston on 10/31/12. Was fun to decide which people were going to a costume party and which ones were in their normal clothing.

The "season" really is no different than any other time...it's like a hot day in summer means there is a CHANCE of thunderstorms....doesn't mean it will happen! The hot months simply mean conditions are favorable for hurricanes to form. Doesn't mean they will, and if they do, doesn't mean it will affect your route at all!

Of course, there is always a "chance" that your itinerary will be rerouted, IF a storm forms in your path.

The seas are no different than any other time, simply because it's "hurricane season".

Hey Guys

 

I’ve never cruised during hurricane season. I’m traveling with a cruise newbie who is petrified of going on her first cruise right in the middle of the season.

 

We’re looking at the Oasis doing the Eastern itinerary on 3 September

 

Can I get weather predictions & temps and what the chances of hitting a hurricane, and if we do what is the Royal backup plan.

 

Thanks

Well, if its any conciliation, the Atlantic, especially Caribbean has been extra quiet this year. You will be on a great ship. Coming from the UK, I would make sure you are in the US early the day before and not flying in the morning of the flight. If there are any hurricanes nearby they will already have plans to avoid it before you board. If you are making any private excursions, check what their cancelation policy is.

Hey Guys

 

I’ve never cruised during hurricane season. I’m traveling with a cruise newbie who is petrified of going on her first cruise right in the middle of the season.

 

We’re looking at the Oasis doing the Eastern itinerary on 3 September

 

Can I get weather predictions & temps and what the chances of hitting a hurricane, and if we do what is the Royal backup plan.

 

Thanks

First, Hurricane season lasts 6 months. Next, they can't be predicted when they would form, since it is a storm. However, they move slow, and the path they take is predictable to a pretty good degree of accuracy. Ships do not sail into the storm. They sail away from it and the storms do not cover the entire Caribbean.

If the storm is in the area of the ship, the ship will make arrangements for a change. (in your contract). You may not like the change, but it will be better than being in the middle of a storm. The ship will sail, you will have a good time, and the weather will happen. Note that non-hurricane storm can also happen, and be just as bad.

We usually cruise at the end of October, towards the end of the "hurricane season". The only time that I can see for a significant impact of a hurricane, is if one is hitting your port of embarkation on the day that you should be boarding the ship.

Potential Impacts.

1. You miss one of the ports

2. Reroute you to the Western Carribean

3. Hurricane is on or near your embarkation/disemarcation days. May mean delayed emarkation (sometimes they allow cancellation with no penalties). Or on the other end an extended cruise.

One good thing about taking a cruise vacation vs flying to a Carribean island for a land based vacation during hurricane season is that your "hotel" (ship) is moveable so it can and will avoid any hurricanes that may appear.

A bit of good news a week or two they adjusted downward the hurricane predictions.

We got caught up in the Irma chaos last year. My advice is 1) Have insurance 2). Be flexible 3). Be ready to be disappointed if your cruise is canceled.

It worked out for us in the end, but there were many unknowns/what-ifs being discussed leading up to that cruise.

We've cruised in mid-September every year since 2010 and never had any issues. A couple of near misses maybe, but no issues for us. We're going on Oasis on Sept. 16,2018 and will be keeping an eye on the tropical weather websites. No worries necessarily, just curious as to where there's a chance our itinerary may change.

We've been on two cruises affected by hurricanes. The worst that happened was a missed port one day as the ship had to sail "round" the hurricane. On the other cruise we had a couple of port changes. Modern cruise ships are big enough to handle hurricanes but you could end up with a bit of rough sea so take your sea sickness pills with you, just in case!

We live in South Florida and we try to be on cruise ships during as much as the Sept-Oct period as possible which is our prime hurricane season. Would much rather be on a cruise ship during this period than at home worrying about a hurricane strike.

I'm on Oasis the week before you, arriving back to Port Canaveral on Sept 2. This will be my 3rd cruise in a row that has been in peak hurricane season (you can find the others in my signature) and it's a great time to cruise- most of the kids are already back in school, the weather is fantastic and the sea water is still nice and warm.

 

As others have mentioned- the ships will take any necessary steps to avoid potential weather problems and yes, sometimes this means you will miss a port stop or have your itinerary altered. It's all part of the adventure!

 

One thing I will recommend is getting a nice trip insurance policy for peace of mind. Nationwide offers a special cruise specific policy that will reimburse you for things like port of call changes, service disruptions and return home early. Or you might consider the Trip Assure Advantage Bridge policy that I recently purchase for my upcoming cruise- it covers cancellations at your embarkation port or port of call when there is a NOAA issued hurricane warning

+1 for trip insurance. Rock solid coverage to cover any costs that aren't covered by the cruise line if the cruise is delayed or cancelled.

Other than that, you can't control the weather, you can't control the ports, all you can do is relax, enjoy and don't sweat the small stuff. Remember, its all small stuff, you're going cruising.

They wont put their expensive ships in harms way! we've been through 3 or 4 hurricanes and definitely still had a great time! have a safe and wonderful trip!!

Hurricanes don't hit Florida all that often (5-10 years) so we never had a problem even when we lived there. My dad did get evacuated from Tampa three years in a row and it was annoying, but in all three cases they just got a lot of rain. In 15 years of cruising the Caribbean in summer we have had ONE impact on cruising. Last fall Allure was indeed unable to get back to Ft Lauderdale on 10 September because the port was closed. Also supposed to be an Eastern Caribbean cruise and we got routed to Western. Did mess up a lot of people's flights home, so you do want insurance that will cover changes. Lots of folks flew home from Costa Maya, Cozumel and Jamaica so ship was quite empty the last few days (and only 1400 people on the shortened next cruise). As cruisegoal100 said, a lot of people who lived in Florida actually stayed onboard for the next cruise because their power was out at home and the prices were incredibly low to stay on.

Seas were some of the calmest we have ever seen but we did have to change all our port plans. The probability of a storm hitting your departure port when you are there is so low that it isn't worth worrying about.