Hurricane Season: Rerouting Majesty?

[April-in-NC]

We are getting ready to book a Majesty cruise for a weekend get away before our next big vacation in January.

 

We will be purchasing cruise insurance since it will be during hurricane season... If they reroute Majesty from the normal Bahamas route any idea where they would go?

 

Since they would have to have a foreign port I would think St. Thomas would not work. Maybe St. Martin?

 

Would it totally depend on what ports have berths open or do they have "go to" ports for this situation. Is it possible to just have two sea days?

 

We aren't planning any excursions, just get off and wander around Nassau for a few hours before going back for lunch and the pool so I'm not overly concerned, just curious.

[WishIwerethere]

Canada ?:)

[megr1125]

It's highly possible that it would just go out to sea....

 

Not always possible, as you mentioned, to just sub in a port at the last minute.....

 

On a bright note, they are forecasting a normal or slightly below normal hurricane season this year!:D

[Clarea]

I agree, cruise to nowhere would be my guess.

[April-in-NC]

Would the cruise ship be penalized if they don't visit a foreign port due to a hurricane or tropical storm? It obviously wasn't the intent to violate the Jones Act (or whatever it is called).

[uksimonusa]

Would the cruise ship be penalized if they don't visit a foreign port due to a hurricane or tropical storm? It obviously wasn't the intent to violate the Jones Act (or whatever it is called).

 

If they don't go anywhere, ie a cruise to nowhere, and return to the same port then they are not in violation of the PSVA.

[molly361]

We were on the Monarch 2 years ago and there was a storm and we just sailed around in very large circles for 3 days, no stops.

 

It was still lots of fun!!!

[bouhunter]

If you're going to cruise during hurricane season you may as well accept that changes could occur and not spend too much time dwelling on it. There is no way to know where they may go to avoid a storm. Of course odds are they won't have to change the cruise at all.

[TigerLady]

We are getting ready to book a Majesty cruise for a weekend get away before our next big vacation in January.

 

We will be purchasing cruise insurance since it will be during hurricane season... If they reroute Majesty from the normal Bahamas route any idea where they would go?

 

Since they would have to have a foreign port I would think St. Thomas would not work. Maybe St. Martin?

 

Would it totally depend on what ports have berths open or do they have "go to" ports for this situation. Is it possible to just have two sea days?

 

We aren't planning any excursions, just get off and wander around Nassau for a few hours before going back for lunch and the pool so I'm not overly concerned, just curious.

 

It's been my experience they stay at sea or go to Freeport

[karena1]

We were on Majesty in Oct 2012 and had horrible weather. Did not get into CocoCay and the Captain kept telling us he was trying to get us out of the weather. At first he said Nassau had not room so he was going to try to get us into Freeport. About 2 hours later he told us we had been cleared to go to Nassau early. So instead of getting into Nassau at 8 am Sunday, we got there at 5 pm on Sat.

 

This was not a hurricane, but the weather was awful, worst weather we have ever had in all the years we have cruised. Lot of people were sick on board and were very happy when we got to Nassau. Pool was drained, all outside areas closed until we got there. We just laughed and had a good time anyway.

[Langley Cruisers]

If you're going to cruise during hurricane season you may as well accept that changes could occur and not spend too much time dwelling on it. There is no way to know where they may go to avoid a storm. Of course odds are they won't have to change the cruise at all.

 

^ This, exactly. We have avoided/sailed around 3 hurricanes, as you can see in my signature. Each was an adventure and we still had a great time. I actually thoroughly enjoyed our Hurricane Sandy repo cruise - we still talk about it. Like I said, it was an adventure.

 

OP just book your cruise and hope for the best. Please do not spend your precious time worrying - chances are you will sail as scheduled. :)

 

.

[time4u2go]

If they don't go anywhere, ie a cruise to nowhere, and return to the same port then they are not in violation of the PSVA.

 

That brings up an interesting question. What if they DID visit a port (even a US port like Key West), then were unable to go anywhere else and had to just return to their original port? Do they get a special waiver because of the weather?

Edited June 26, 2014 by time4u2go

[OCruisers]

Hopefully, there will not be a hurricane or tropical storm.

Travel arrangement for getting to the ship can be more of a problem than once you are actually on the ship.

LuLu

[LindaO]

January isn't hurricane season. There is a small chance of an off season hurricane, but it isn't something I'd even think about. You might get a good Nor-Easter farther up the northern coast of Florida. We always buy cruise insurance (mainly for the medical evac). Never even thought about it for a hurricane... LOL... Enjoy your January cruise with out a thought of a hurricane.

[Langley Cruisers]

January isn't hurricane season. There is a small chance of an off season hurricane, but it isn't something I'd even think about...

 

Whoops, after reading yours I thought I had read OP wrong but it looks like they are not cruising Majesty in January -

 

We are getting ready to book a Majesty cruise for a weekend get away before our next big vacation in January.

[BND]

If you're going to cruise during hurricane season you may as well accept that changes could occur and not spend too much time dwelling on it. There is no way to know where they may go to avoid a storm. Of course odds are they won't have to change the cruise at all.

 

Well, since technically hurricane season is 6 months long (1 Jun-30 Nov) half of the cruising year is during it and approximately half of the cruises are too. "If" there is a storm that affects your itinerary, the decision will be made based on a couple of things. One, what is the projected path of the storm and two, what ports are close enough and available. You can't project before a storm forms what the cruiseline will do or where the ship will go.

 

OP, you can't worry about it.

Edited June 26, 2014 by BND

[ehfl]

The ships don't sail anywhere near a hurricane, so if the hurricane would impact the Bahamas, they might do sea days south of there. There's really no way to determine at this point, since decisions are made at the time based on the ship's location and potential path of the storm. Note that it's possible for a cruise to be extended or reduced based on storm conditions.

[leaveitallbehind]

We are getting ready to book a Majesty cruise for a weekend get away before our next big vacation in January.

 

We will be purchasing cruise insurance since it will be during hurricane season... If they reroute Majesty from the normal Bahamas route any idea where they would go?

 

Since they would have to have a foreign port I would think St. Thomas would not work. Maybe St. Martin?

 

Would it totally depend on what ports have berths open or do they have "go to" ports for this situation. Is it possible to just have two sea days?

 

We aren't planning any excursions, just get off and wander around Nassau for a few hours before going back for lunch and the pool so I'm not overly concerned, just curious.

 

Both St. Thomas and St. Martin are too far to reach on a 3-day cruise and would likely be booked with other ships even if it were feasible. You would either find a port of call at CocoCay, Nassau, or Freeport or spend the 3-days at sea as a cruise to nowhere as others have mentioned.

 

Also just because it is hurricane season does not mean that there will be any storms in the area at the time of your sailing. More than likely you will be able to make your full itinerary as intended. Enjoy your cruise!

Edited June 26, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Rick-n-Lisa]

St. Martin and St. Thomas are way too far for a week-end cruise. If they absolutely had to go somewhere it looks like Labadee would be the closest foreign port. Too bad they don't do the Turks and Caicos like Carnival does. Not that I'm a Carnival advocate :eek: but they do have some different ports than Royal that I would like to see. Chances are you wont have any issues but in case there is some weather activity they are good at maneuvering around those things. For the record I have been on a Carnival cruise and had a blast!

Edited June 26, 2014 by Rick-n-Lisa

[SPacificbound]

I'm going to chime in also with don't worry about a hurricane. Our chances are slightly below "normal" for this year.

 

The official word:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2014/20140522_hurricaneoutlook_atlantic.html

[leaveitallbehind]

St. Martin and St. Thomas are way too far for a week-end cruise. If they absolutely had to go somewhere it looks like Labadee would be the closest foreign port. Too bad they don't do the Turks and Caicos like Carnival does. Not that I'm a Carnival advocate :eek: but they do have some different ports than Royal that I would like to see. Chances are you wont have any issues but in case there is some weather activity they are good at maneuvering around those things. For the record I have been on a Carnival cruise and had a blast!

 

Highly doubt they would go to Labadee either. :)

[LMaxwell]

Little known fact, in 2008 Majesty skipped BOTH Coco Cay and Nassau. The revised itinerary became known as the (15)Weekend Getaway

 

[LindaO]

The ships don't sail anywhere near a hurricane, so if the hurricane would impact the Bahamas, they might do sea days south of there. There's really no way to determine at this point, since decisions are made at the time based on the ship's location and potential path of the storm. Note that it's possible for a cruise to be extended or reduced based on storm conditions.

 

Well.. for those of us that sailed smack dab through the middle of Hurricane Gustav... we would say if at all possible the Captain will sail around a hurricane. Of course, that was a transatlantic and a northern crossing.

 

Chances are in the Caribbean, they will avoid the hurricane by sailing either south or north of the hurricane. Most of the times this works. But we never worry about hurricanes... and sail from September through November several times a year. They are adept and have plans for avoiding hurricanes while still providing you a cruise. Just be prepared to miss your appointed stops if you are in the middle of a storm. (And yes, I misread the original post... that you are hoping to book prior to your January cruise... sorry about that).

[April-in-NC]

We aren't worried, just curious what the logical options would be. :)

 

We aren't planning any excursions to keep the costs low and maximize relaxing time so two days at sea would be okay with us (but I love Coco Cay and would rather go there).