Novemeber 2nd...Hurricanes?

[bigbro501]

I am thinking of booking a cruise on the Dream out of New Orleans for Western Caribbean on November 2nd. I am concerned bout the odds of a topical storm or hurricane during that time. It looks like the odds are good that the hurricane season has slowed down by then but it seems the last few years (other then 2013) have had some storms. What does everyone think? Experiences?

[Tapi]

What are your fears? A change in destinations? Because statistically speaking, that's the worst thing that could happen sailing during hurricane season.

 

The odds are definitely in your favor, but it's impossible to predict whether there will be any hurricanes in the area. We've sailed as late as late November-Early December and still had to deal with schedule changes due to an approaching hurricane, or because of damage levied by a hurricane earlier in the season.

 

There's a reason why prices are cheaper during this season. Embrace the lower prices but be aware that there's always the chance that your schedule may be altered. But do rest assured that no matter what, you'll be safe. They will NEVER sail the ship into a hurricane.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited February 9, 2014 by Tapi

[idlenote]

No Captain worth his salt would take any ship into a hurricane. Carnival has a whole department watching over their Captains shoulder to double check that he doesn't. The ships are fitted with stabilizers and they can adjust course/speed to minimize vessel movement. You may end up missing a port or two, or even get to ports that were never on the schedule but that just makes the cruise more interesting.

 

From personal observation down here on the Gulf coast over many years a November hurricane is extremely rare. When we cruise in November i never give it a thought.

[sharecruises]

Good trip insurance.....get in town a day or two ahead of sailing..should cover you

 

Look at the people missing cruises during ice/snow storms! There is no way to predict weather that far in advance but I have cruised during hurricane season various times

 

and yeah, missed a port....and yeah went to tee-totally different ports - but it was all fine

 

The ships can divert

 

one thing however - ships leaving from the gulf ports mostly only do western ports (look at a map) ...ships that leave from Miami and Fort Lauderdale are in a much better position to truly divert and completely change up - they can go east/west/south or just to Bahamas...heck they can even go NORTH to Cocoa Beach or whatever

 

Gulf port cruises can miss the storm but you may be a sea for lots of days

(cue the music from Martha and the Vandellas - "Nowhere to run to Baby"

<grin>

[debee1015]

We were on the Dream as it avoided Hurricane Sandy.

 

I'd tell you on my own personal experiences, book your cruise. At no point did we not feel safe. Carnival kept us out at sea an extra day (conversely Disney brought one of their ships back into Port Canaveral and ended up with millions in damages) and there was plenty to do.

 

We have lots of stories to tell from that trip, my favorite, we were in cabin 6210 (balcony 2nd from the front of the ship on the port side) on our Extra day, and I made my mom a gin and tonic around 5:30 ish, before we went down to dinner. We had the TV channel on that is the forward camera and we watched the ship dip down into this oncoming wave, my mom put her drink down on the table next to the bed and it went flying across the room, the wave was so big that the wall of water just took over our balcony. It went from total light to darkness. I walked out onto the balcony and it was like the ship went through a car wash there was water dripping from everything, I looked up to the captains deck and they had the windshield wipers on, the wave hit that deck. I looked towards our neighbor next door's balcony, and our neighbor was sitting there, with a cigarette limply hanging from his mouth like something out of a bugs bunny cartoon. he was just soaked. He was in a wheelchair and thought he was going to get washed off the ship.

 

So the morale of this tale, if you like the itinerary and the price is right book it. You can't predict the weather and quite honestly neither can the weathermen.

 

Have a great cruise whatever you decide. :D

Edited February 9, 2014 by debee1015

[GTO-Girl]

We were on the Dream as it avoided Hurricane Sandy.

 

I'd tell you on my own personal experiences, book your cruise. At no point did we not feel safe. Carnival kept us out at sea an extra day (conversely Disney brought one of their ships back into Port Canaveral and ended up with millions in damages) and there was plenty to do.

 

We have lots of stories to tell from that trip, my favorite, we were in cabin 6210 (balcony 2nd from the front of the ship on the port side) on our Extra day, and I made my mom a gin and tonic around 5:30 ish, before we went down to dinner. We had the TV channel on that is the forward camera and we watched the ship dip down into this oncoming wave, my mom put her drink down on the table next to the bed and it went flying across the room, the wave was so big that the wall of water just took over our balcony. It went from total light to darkness. I walked out onto the balcony and it was like the ship went through a car wash there was water dripping from everything, I looked up to the captains deck and they had the windshield wipers on, the wave hit that deck. I looked towards our neighbor next door's balcony, and our neighbor was sitting there, with a cigarette limply hanging from his mouth like something out of a bugs bunny cartoon. he was just soaked. He was in a wheelchair and thought he was going to get washed off the ship.

 

So the morale of this tale, if you like the itinerary and the price is right book it. You can't predict the weather and quite honestly neither can the weathermen.

 

Have a great cruise whatever you decide. :D

 

LOL....we were on that same cruise and I agree it was an experience!!

 

But we cruise a lot in November and that was the first time we have ever had a problem.

[pauleydm]

Even though Hurricane season ends November 30th, tropical storms and hurricanes are rare in November:)

[riclop]

I am thinking of booking a cruise on the Dream out of New Orleans for Western Caribbean on November 2nd. I am concerned bout the odds of a topical storm or hurricane during that time. It looks like the odds are good that the hurricane season has slowed down by then but it seems the last few years (other then 2013) have had some storms. What does everyone think? Experiences?

Its pretty much over by Nov 2 but not offically.

[SadieN]

Book your hotel in New Orleans now. We cruised out of NOLA same time last year and had to book for three days minimum. Jazz Fest and 50,000 dentists were in town.

 

Halloween in the French Quarter was a blast.

[Pyxie]

Book your hotel in New Orleans now. We cruised out of NOLA same time last year and had to book for three days minimum. Jazz Fest and 50,000 dentists were in town.

 

Halloween in the French Quarter was a blast.

 

Halloween will be a factor that time of year, yes, but Jazz Fest is in April/May.. Unless I'm missing something from your post.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Pyxie

[SadieN]

Ok. Maybe it wasn't Jazz Fest, but it was some big multi-event music festival. Voodoo Fest?

 

Between that and the dentists (assuming there's always some sort of convention in NOLA) hotel rooms were hard to come by and more than double the rate posted by others.

 

We had a huge rainstorm on Halloween. That was interesting, lol

[dramaqueenjan]

im booked on the magic Nov 2 western I had same fear but I have total confidence in Carnival and also insurance :)

[Mysticks1]

My first cruise was on 10/30/2005. We were originally scheduled to sail from New Orleans but Hurricane Katrina changed that to Galveston. That was a stressful couple of months as we didn't even know what ports we would be visiting until just a day or so out. On that cruise we had some rough weather sailing through the tail end of a tropical storm. I have lived my entire life on the Gulf Coast and no one can predict if you will have problems related to tropical weather that time of year. It is possible to have tropical storms in November. If it is something that is really going to stress you out then maybe it is better to cruise a different time of the year. If you can roll with the punches just make sure you have a good trip insurance policy and can be flexible in your plans to get to New Orleans earlier if necessary, then go for it.

 

I do agree that it is best to book a hotel room ASAP in New Orleans. There are a lot of conventions held there and rooms can be harder to come by and more expensive the later you book.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Mysticks1

[Aplmac]

...but I have to tell you

that late-season weather systems tend to form in the Western Caribbean

- whether they amount to anything or not is another matter.

 

 

Greatly-diminished odds by November!!

.

[PEICanadaCruiser]

I am thinking of booking a cruise on the Dream out of New Orleans for Western Caribbean on November 2nd. I am concerned bout the odds of a topical storm or hurricane during that time. It looks like the odds are good that the hurricane season has slowed down by then but it seems the last few years (other then 2013) have had some storms. What does everyone think? Experiences?

 

We usually always sail around Halloween as it's DW's birthday and my business is usually quieter then. Our first ever cruise was in 2010 when we decided to join another couple who had sailed several times before. Three days before we were to leave the other ladies mother took a heart attack and they were forced to cancel. :(

 

So there we were, two cruising virgins on our way to Ft Lauderdale. We were welcomed aboard the Miracle by the Captain announcing he was reversing the port schedule so as to avoid hurricane Tomas.:confused: Unfortunately the hurricane didn't hear the announcement and reversed it's direction resulting in us sailing through it. DW had her sea sickness bracelets on and felt a bit queasy that night but didn't actually get sick. CCL cancelled most of our excursions because the water was too murky for fly fishing or beginner scuba and the See & Sea tour became a See & no Sea tour. It was cloudy or rainy almost every day and many people were complaining about the weather. Then we got word of the CCL ship off California that was dead in the water after losing it's generators to a fire. No electricity, food spoiling, couldn't flush toilets etc. etc.. The passengers on our ship cheered up quite a bit after considering that other ships predicament.

 

On our 2011 cruise the weather was great but in 2012 we lost a day off our cruise on the Dream because hurricane Sandy kept the ship out at sea an extra day. We had a great time in Old Town on that Saturday night so no real loss. The 2013 cruises had excellent weather.

 

Bottom line: you can't predict the weather and the cruise lines monitor the weather closely and have contingency plans. There is always something to do and even a cloudy day on board a cruise ship is still pretty great. So we recommend book when you can and make the best of it. Some day it will all be great memories or at least cool stories to recount.

[bigbro501]

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I had pretty much seen that hurricanes were rare this time of year but wanted some personal experiences. Probably gonna book the cruise.