Re-Routes on Hurricane paths?

[F5Loar]

Okay the Hurricane season is upon us. In our 34 cruises most in the Carrib. we have never had a problem of out running one. So my question is to those that have taken a cruise during a coming in hurricane where did you go instead? Any get canceled on the day they got to the port for embark? Would a Carrib. cruise turn into a Canada cruise?

Would Bermuda be an alternate port? Would an Eastern Carib. turn into a Western Carib and vice versa?

[golfadj]

Any cruise line is going to change the cruise as necessary to keep passengers and crew and the ship safe.

 

I have heard of changing an itinerary or the entire cruise to another destination or at times come back to a different port.

 

We always cruise during hurricane season and so far only problem we have had is a change in itinerary.

[magic&buddy]

In September 2008 we cruised on the Miracle out of NYC and spent the week staying a step ahead of a hurricaine ..... it actually was one of our best cruises!

 

I don't know if this will work but here is a link to my review of that cruise....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=842558&highlight=magic+buddy

[HeidiHo]

Okay the Hurricane season is upon us. In our 34 cruises most in the Carrib. we have never had a problem of out running one. So my question is to those that have taken a cruise during a coming in hurricane where did you go instead? Any get canceled on the day they got to the port for embark? Would a Carrib. cruise turn into a Canada cruise?

Would Bermuda be an alternate port? Would an Eastern Carib. turn into a Western Carib and vice versa?

 

All of the above. Actually, it's rare that they actually cancel a cruise unless the hurricane is actually hitting the embarkation port on embarkation day. Even then sometimes they can make other arrangements like just postponing it a day or going in and out of another port. Itineraries are often changed due to hurricanes though. It's not at all unusual for and eastern cruise to be changed to western or vice versa. Sometimes they just have to change or skip a port or reverse the the order of the ports of call. I believe the Ecstacy is on a reversed itinerary right now. There's a lot to consider when changing ports. They can't just say, "Lets go to Jamaica instead. It would depend on how many ships are already scheduled for Jamaica that day. Sometimes they would just do a sea day instead. Several years ago I think there was a Caribbean cruise that turned into a Canada cruise and many people were very unhappy. Nobody had the right clothes.

[frednsb]

Never missed a cruise!!! Always salil during hurricane season (great prices and not as many people and not as hot!). The might change the ports, stay a day out at sea instead of porting, even had a debark at Ft. Lauderdale instead of Pt. Canaveral (buses supplied for return) and once heard of a cruise where people were bused to Fl Lauderdale to embardk. Never missed a cruise though! They do not cancel.

[Traveler353]

I have had 3 of 8 cruises rerouted for named storms. All have been rerouted to Key West and Freeport. Origionaly they were scheduled for Cozumel and Progreso or Calica.

[lillian marie]

We cruise in Hurricane season because it is a bargain. We were rerouted once but I love Key West so I actually preferred it.

[F5Loar]

Wow, this is great. Just what I expected. We have some first timers going with us in Sept. and they are worried to death about a hurricane tipping the ship over. So keep the true events and changes coming so I can show them it's not a problem to cruise during the peak of hurricane season. Since I am they type cruiser with glass half full and welcome a cruise to nowhere, changing a port or two or even going North instead of South would be fine.

[momof4boys]

Our very first cruise was rerouted. We were on the Elation out of Galveston and were headed to Progresso, Cozumel, then Belize. We drove to the port and had been watching the progression of the tropical storm to Hurricane from home

 

We drove about 3/4 of the way Frida before we were scheduled to embark. When we got to the hotel, out came our lap top and we logged on to the Carnival site and saw that we were being diverted to Key West and the Bahamas.

 

Of course we had not researched those ports so that night we did a late nighter looking at options and when we got on the ship, we immediately booked our excursion plans.

 

What a Blast that cruise was! We encountered some absolutely crazy waves and rocking of the ship (outside areas were closed at night a couple of evenings) and the most awesome waves to body surf and play in Nassau! Plus the hurricane affected weather in its wake on land so we had to literally outrun a tornado on our way home after leaving the ship.

 

We were hooked! :D

[Gorilla579]

We were diverted several years ago from a Western to an Eastern. About a week before the cruise the hurricane track showed it hitting Port Canaveral right when we were scheduled to embark. Durring that week I could tell you, to the minute, when the updated forecasts would be released. Every update showed it slowing a little more. All I wanted was to be able to get on the ship! We made it on board and had a great time. I enjoyed all of the ports except San Juan. There were just too many ships and everything was overrun with cruisers. The other ports (St. Thomas & St. Maarten) handled the extra people great! The weather wasn't even too bad even though it was a big hurricane.

[Alegeeter]

My first cruise ever on the Carnival Legend (out of New York) was headed to San Juan, St. Thomas, and Tortola but due to Hurricane Frances, we ended up in Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Freeport. It being my first cruise, didn't matter much to me as we still had a great time in warm weather (even though PC is a bit of a bust). But I bet I'd be a little more disappointed if it happened now after seeing all the pictures of the Eastern Caribbean ports. I wouldn't be angry at Carnival as they wouldn't have done anything wrong, but the differences in ports just don't compare. But with nothing to compare it to back then, it was great!

[Inklight]

We were rerouted on our Imagination cruise in 2007 due to Hurricane Dean (turned into a category 5 during the cruise!). Our planned itinerary was Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios with two At Sea days. Hurricane Dean was heading straight for Jamaica ... of course, our itinerary was changed. We went to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau with one day at sea instead. It was a great cruise!

 

I remember some people were mad though because they had already been to Grand Turk ... guess they really wanted to float right into that storm! You just have to remember 'it's a vacation' and go with the flow ... enjoying each and every adventure!

[misguidedangel]

First of all, Canada can have some downright hot weather. We do not have year round snow or cold. True, it isn't 30-45C like the Caribbean, but it is not unsual for the Maratimes to have weather in the high 20's and low 30's.

 

Hurricanes--keep checking noa's website and track what is happening a few weeks before your cruise. If no storms are in the area or none at all, then do not worry.

 

I was on the Liberty when we were rerouted from a Exotic East route to a Exotic West route.........it was a great cruise!!!!!! good food, fun, friends made, and weather!

[Tapi]

First of all, Canada can have some downright hot weather. We do not have year round snow or cold. True, it isn't 30-45C like the Caribbean, but it is not unsual for the Maratimes to have weather in the high 20's and low 30's.

!

 

I flew into Edmonton 2 weeks ago for work. Temperature was around 22C. Everybody locally was moaning and groaning because it was "TOO HOT"! :eek:

 

Considering that we had just flown from Houston where the temp was 38C, the temp in Edmonton felt like a winter blast!

[paradise825]

We cruised during a hurricane we were supposed to be eastern Carribean and it was changed to Western. We were headed towards bahamas when it got so bad they had to close the pool and we headed towads the florida straits. we were scheduled to dock the next day Sat., luggage was packed when the captain advised the port was closed in lauderdale for docking. we stayed out at sea until monday 2 extra days. the food was as good as the beginning of the cruise. they offered free internet and long distance calls. if we had known our house in florida was ok we would have stayed on board. since they did not dock on sat and lost the majority of those passengers, you could stay on board until the next sat for $100 a person. a ship must carry an extra week worth of supplies, just in case something like this happens. so all in all it was a good cruise

[fin]

First of all, Canada can have some downright hot weather. We do not have year round snow or cold. True, it isn't 30-45C like the Caribbean, but it is not unsual for the Maratimes to have weather in the high 20's and low 30's.

 

Hurricanes--keep checking noa's website and track what is happening a few weeks before your cruise. If no storms are in the area or none at all, then do not worry.

 

I was on the Liberty when we were rerouted from a Exotic East route to a Exotic West route.........it was a great cruise!!!!!! good food, fun, friends made, and weather!

 

Yes, Canada can have hot weather, but on one of the cruises diverted to Canada from the subtropics, they did not, and few of the passengers had proper clothes for the weather into which they cruised. And from the memory of the event, fewer still thought that Canada and the Carribean at that time of year were interchangeable.

[Shelli]

In 2004 our September cruise on Princess had its ports switched all around due to a hurricane. But more importantly, the east coast of FL was hit by another storm the day we were to return... so our ship stayed out to sea an additional 2 days, turning our 7-day cruise into a 9-day! Our account was billed for the last 2 days' gratuities, but I submitted that as part of our insurance claim (we also had to switch our homecoming flight to leave from West Palm, necessitating a car rental to get there-- that was covered, too), and insurance paid it.

 

So you never know what a hurricane may blow your way! :)

[alreadypacked]

Okay the Hurricane season is upon us. In our 34 cruises most in the Carrib. we have never had a problem of out running one. So my question is to those that have taken a cruise during a coming in hurricane where did you go instead? Any get canceled on the day they got to the port for embark? Would a Carrib. cruise turn into a Canada cruise?

Would Bermuda be an alternate port? Would an Eastern Carib. turn into a Western Carib and vice versa?

 

I cruise hurricane season every year. Only once in 2004 (Hurricane Jean) was our port of embarkation hit (Port Everglades). We were supposed to embark on Saturday. The port was closed the day before embarkation. The ship (Caribbean Princess) stayed out to sea for 2 extra days, and we boarded 2 days late. We automatically got a partial refund that was credited back to our credit cards.

 

Never missed a cruise!!! Always salil during hurricane season (great prices and not as many people and not as hot!). The might change the ports, stay a day out at sea instead of porting, even had a debark at Ft. Lauderdale instead of Pt. Canaveral (buses supplied for return) and once heard of a cruise where people were bused to Fl Lauderdale to embardk. Never missed a cruise though! They do not cancel.

 

Also during Hurricane Jean, one of the Disney ships (Wonder or Magic) debarked in Ft Lauderdale instead of Port Canaveral.

[yogimax]

Anything can happen.

 

We had a Bahamas cruise turn into a Bermuda cruise (very good!)

 

In addition, we had a five night cruise transform into a 7 night cruise (very good!)

[Tapi]

I agree that good things can happen. We discovered Costa Maya thanks to our ship being diverted in 2005 after a hurricane slammed into Cozumel.

 

We had already been to Cozumel several times, so unexpectedly going to Costa Maya instead (a port we had never visited before) turned out to be the highlight of our cruise!

[paradise825]

sounds like a lot of us were on the carribbean princess for hurricane frances

[tmt218]

We cruised in 2005. The year with the most huricanes including Katrina. We were out running Hurricane Wilma. We all had to board by 2pm as we were leaving at 3pm, but that changed as people we late getting to the port. They waited on them. We left on time at 5pm.Our west carribean cruise turned into an east carribean cruise. We tried to head west but turned around sometime in the night and headed east. We had almost two sea days at the beginning and got into San Juan at 7pm. Went to St. Thomas and Tortola. Tried to go to the private island but couldn't tender in. We just sailed around. When we got back to Ft. Lauderdale our hotel we booked post cruise was out of business. We had to find another hotel. Luckily a nice guy over heard us and asked his hotel if they had a room. We had no food, air conditioning, or hot water but we had a pool, a bar, and a bed.That was our first cruise and even with all the excitement it was a blast and we were hooked.

[viaggi_per_mare]

We always cruise during hurricane season for the good prices - only once did they change our port from Costa Maya to Cozumel because the hurricane took down the pier a few weeks before we cruised. One other time, they diverted the route around the storms and we arrived in San Juan 2 hours late for an evening stop. They made up for it by keeping us 2 hours longer in St Thomas the next day.

[beachbum6264]

We've had 3 hurricane changes:

 

Had 2 days added - stayed in Cozumel one extra day and had an extra day at sea following Hurricane Frances back into Tampa.

 

Had ports changed - went to Key West and Progreso instead of Costa Maya and Belize.

 

Had entire itinerary changed from Western to Eastern.

 

Had a fantastic time on all of them, too! Who cares where we're going? We're just going.

Wondering where we'll wind up in August this time :D

[Chip1]

I have been rerouted twice due to hurricanes.

 

The first time was on the September 30, 2002 sailing of the Carnival Imagination for a 5 day cruise. The scheduled itinerary was Belize and Key West. We ended up going to Nassau and Key West.

 

The second time was on the September 6, 2008 sailing of the Carnival Liberty. The cruise had been scheduled for the 7 day exotic Easterm Caribbean itinerary. Due to hurricane Ike we ended up doing the 7 day exotic Western Caribean itinerary.