Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

[scubacruiserx2]

Man, I'll have to go there one day.;)

 

Isle see you there . ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

We were extremely fortunate last night with Matthew and didn't even lose power ! :) :D

 

 

However , where Gracie 115 lives , much nearer to the ocean , is a different story ( blue arrow ) . :(

 

 

 

 

In this 6 am radar photo , you can see the storm also effecting Perfect Match near Orlando . :(

 

In fact , Walt Disney World ( Red arrow ) will close its parks for just the fourth time since its opening in 1971 . The park has only been closed three times since then , all because of hurricanes . :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I am glad you haven't been adversely affected so far. hopefully with all the preparations, people will be safe and damage minimal.

[scubacruiserx2]

I am glad you haven't been adversely affected so far. hopefully with all the preparations, people will be safe and damage minimal.

 

Like Nancy , we're inland away from the effects of the ocean and storm surge . But Gracie is much closer to the storm and the angry ocean , which we wouldn't care to challenge ! The 3 East coast cruise ports (Miami , Port Everglades and Port Canaveral ) have all been closed to the cruise ships . And I wouldn't want to be on a TA now ! :eek:

[upwarduk]

---The 3 East coast cruise ports (Miami , Port Everglades and Port Canaveral ) have all been closed to the cruise ships . And I wouldn't want to be on a TA now ! :eek:

 

Now I'm wondering what is happening to those ships out at sea that can't get into the 3 east coast ports.

And I do wonder about the decision by Celebrity to have Equinox year round in the Caribbean.

[scubacruiserx2]

Now I'm wondering what is happening to those ships out at sea that can't get into the 3 east coast ports.

And I do wonder about the decision by Celebrity to have Equinox year round in the Caribbean.

 

I'm not sure where those ships went , but they had plenty of warning time to adjust their ports . This year was the first time in 11 years since a hurricane made landfall in Florida , earlier this year .

 

The Equinox will have plenty of company next year with 17 other cruise ships in the lucrative Caribbean market , because that is when children and teachers have their summer breaks . The prices of cruises reflect that with Summer being high while hurricane season is low .

[scubacruiserx2]

We saw this article of how cruises using Port Canaveral handled Hurricane Matthew .

 

 

 

HURRICANE MATTHEW: Updated Cruise Line Cancellations and Reimbursement Policies

IMPACTING TRAVEL | JANEEN CHRISTOFF | OCTOBER 06, 2016

 

HURRICANE MATTHEW: Updated Cruise Line Cancellations and Reimbursement Policies

 

As Hurricane Matthew ramps up to a Category 4 storm, many cruisers are wondering if their cruise will be sailing.

The good news is that, for the most part, cancellations look few and far between. The cruise lines have been able to reroute ships, however, many passengers face cancelled flights and difficulty reaching their designated ports. Others are dealing with itinerary changes, and may miss out on ports of call they were originally scheduled to visit.

No matter what passengers are faced with, cruise lines and ports have the best interests of the public and the safety of passengers in mind.

"This is a serious storm, and the protection of people and property is our primary concern," Port Canaveral CEO John Murray said in a statement. "We expect high winds and storm surge throughout the port and have urged the Port community to prepare their facilities so business can resume as quickly as possible after the storm."

Three cruises out of Port Canaveral have been canceled so far. The Oct. 7 Carnival Victory cruise will not sail.

Carnival noted that guests will receive a full refund that will include any pre-paid gratuities, Carnival shore excursions and any FunShop purchases.

Passengers should expect refunds to be applied to the original form of payment within three weeks, according to Carnival and the cruise line will also provide a 25 percent discount off a future two- or three-day cruise.

Disney Cruise Line has also canceled the Disney Dream’s Oct. 7 itinerary out of Cape Canaveral.

“The Oct. 7 sailing of the Disney Dream from Port Canaveral is being cancelled. Refunds will automatically be processed back to the original form of payment used for cruise bookings. Guests are invited to call us at 1-866-325-3905 or 407-566-7032 beginning Monday, Oct. 10, to book a future cruise at a discount,” says a statement on Disney’s cruise blog.

Royal Caribbean has canceled the Oct. 8 sailing of the Majesty of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. On its blog the cruise line stated: “Royal Caribbean had planned on having Majesty of the Seas take a shorter sailing and depart on October 8. The path of the storm and impact on the ship's departure point of Port Canaveral have caused the cruise line to reconsider its plans and cancel the sailing completely.”

For the most part, all cruise lines will be offering refunds to passengers if their cruise is cancelled. Many also offer additional credit or the option to apply credit to a new cruise on a future date.

While only three cruises have been canceled, there are many more that are stuck in port or have been rerouted and many are not returning or leaving port as scheduled. Here is a rundown of where ships are currently sailing.

READ MORE: Latest Updates on How Hurricane Matthew is Impacting Travel

Carnival Cruise Line

The Carnival Sensation will sail a modified itinerary leaving Miami on Oct. 7 and overnighting in Nassau on Oct. 8. Further changes may be made after the hurricane passes through the area.

According to Carnival: "Guests who opt to sail on the shortened voyage will receive a pro-rated refund equal to the amount of one day of their cruise fare as well as pre-purchased shore excursions for Key West and Cozumel. Refunds will be applied to the original form of payment within three weeks Also, gratuities will be adjusted to reflect the shortened cruise."

The Carnival Splendor reversed its itinerary on the Oct. 2 sailing and will now spend Oct. 7 at sea, returning to Miami on Oct. 8.

The Carnival Ecstasy will spend an extra day at sea, returning to Charleston, S.C., one day later, on Oct. 9. Passengers will receive 25 percent off of a future cruise as well as a $50 credit to be used onboard.

The next Carnival Ecstasy sailing will be just six nights as a result of the delay. The cruise will be pro-rated for passengers and be refunded for shore excursions in Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay.

Carnival Elation will have a delayed return to Jacksonville. Currently, it is scheduled to return on Oct. 8. Tomorrow, passengers will visit Freeport, rather than have a day at sea.

Carnival Fantasy will have a delayed boarding, provided the Port Miami opens on Friday. Says Carnival Cruise Line on its website: "Once conditions become safe on Friday, port officials will begin their assessment and make a determination on when the port is safe to reopen. This could take some time and, assuming the port reopens on Friday, embarkation would take place late afternoon/early evening."

Royal Caribbean

Empress of the Seas will be delayed returning to Miami, visiting Costa Maya on the extra day. The ship will now be returning on Oct. 7. Its next sailing will also be delayed by one day.

According to Royal Caribbean, “To compensate for the missed day, Royal Caribbean will provide each stateroom with an onboard credit in the amount of one day based on the cruise fare paid, which will be credited to guests' onboard accounts. As a gesture of goodwill, we will also be providing all sailing guests with a 25 percent future cruise credit.”

Majesty of the Seas will also be affected. Due to closures at Port Canaveral, the ship will return Oct. 8, when the port reopens.

Disney Cruise Line

Disney Magic will now sail a Canadian itinerary, leaving New York on Oct. 7 and calling at Sydney, Nova Scotia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Passengers can remain on the revised itinerary and receive a $100 per person stateroom credit, cancel for a refund or book a new cruise at a discounted rate. For those who want to book a new cruise, passengers receive a 20 percent discount on a future cruise before the end of 2017.

Cruise Ports Close in Preparation

While cruise ships have canceled itineraries, a number of ports have also closed to prepare for Hurricane Matthew.

Port Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Port of Palm Beach and Jacksonville Cruise Port in Florida are all closed due to the hurricane.

In South Carolina, Charleston Cruise Port will be closed for the remainder of the week.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for that, major re-organisational skills required as long as the storm is affecting the ports. It also affects a lot of people, some who will be disappointed in one way or another, while others will probably feel they have gotten a better deal. Such is life I suppose.

Glad that you are all safe anyway.:D

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks for that, major re-organisational skills required as long as the storm is affecting the ports. It also affects a lot of people, some who will be disappointed in one way or another, while others will probably feel they have gotten a better deal. Such is life I suppose.

Glad that you are all safe anyway.:D

 

Hurricanes have a major impact on millions of people . There are about a million people in Florida who lost power and 3 lost lives . And it's not finished yet and expected to return later next week .

 

 

 

Most of our shutters will remain up with a few safety exits until the end of the season .

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I think I would be doing the same. Better safe than sorry.

[perfect match]

Joe, glad to see you did not lose power! Thankfully, we didn't either. We are still getting wind and rain from the outer bands of Matthew even though he is still well north of us. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow. :D BTW, we are just north of Minneola, top left on your map. Looks like we were in the clear in that picture.

 

I have been watching the future track of Matthew and I do not like the way it loops back to the south. Looks to me like he is heading back through the Bahamas. Hopeflly, he will not go back to Haiti. There is already way too much devaststion there.

 

I saw 5 ships on the port Miami webcam today. One of our past cruise table mates was returning from a cruise on one of them. They re-routed her cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel and had good weather there, but I'll bet the last part of her trip back into Miami was rough. I'm not sure what time those ships sailed, but the ones I checked weren't boarding until 5 PM.

 

We were supposed to be going to Port Canaveral tomorrow for a Segway ride and dinner at Fishlips, where the PC webcam is located. Needless to say, that is not going to happen now! Instead, we are thinking about a WDW day if it is as nice as the reports are claiming it will be. The strategy of going the day right after a storm served us well during the 2004 hurricane season. The day after the storm the parks were empty! Everyone who could get out before the storm hit had done so, and the new crowd coming in had not arrived yet.

 

Speaking of WDW, there was one day they closed that was not hurricane related. That day was September 11, 2001. We were there celebrating our anniversary. They closed the park we were in at about 11 AM due to security concerns. We still lived in Connecticut at the time, and were grateful we had a rental car. Our fligt home was cancelled so we ended up driving the rental car home. That was definitely a memorable vacation, but for all the wrong reasons.

Edited October 8, 2016 by perfect match

[upwarduk]

Joe,

Thanks for the information.

Having just been on the Atlantic and very pleased our Captain managed to avoid the eye of Tropical Storm Ian, by sailing south towards the Azores, instead of due west Cork to St John's Newfoundland, I am tracking the progress of the ship (Azamara Quest) which left Newport, Rhode Island last night. There are passengers that we met who are still on her. Their destination is New Orleans!

Edited October 8, 2016 by upwarduk

[MicCanberra]

Goodness, I have just seen the news that over 850 people died in Haiti alone. I do hope it doesn't circle back over it again.

[scubacruiserx2]

Joe,

Thanks for the information.

Having just been on the Atlantic and very pleased our Captain managed to avoid the eye of Tropical Storm Ian, by sailing south towards the Azores, instead of due west Cork to St John's Newfoundland, I am tracking the progress of the ship (Azamara Quest) which left Newport, Rhode Island last night. There are passengers that we met who are still on her. Their destination is New Orleans!

 

Hopefully they will be OK , but it could be a bumpy ride !!! :eek:

 

The reports are showing it to be downgraded to a tropical storm , early Sunday morning . We got an E-mail from Gracie 115 this morning and they are fine , but without power . They are booked on the Equinox October , 25 th TA from Southampton , and we really hope that they get a smooth ride over . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Goodness, I have just seen the news that over 850 people died in Haiti alone. I do hope it doesn't circle back over it again.

 

The loss of life in Haiti is truly tragic !! :(

 

The forecast is for the storm to return as a tropical depression on Wednesday - a much different animal than a hurricane .

[scubacruiserx2]

Joe, glad to see you did not lose power! Thankfully, we didn't either. We are still getting wind and rain from the outer bands of Matthew even though he is still well north of us. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow. :D BTW, we are just north of Minneola, top left on your map. Looks like we were in the clear in that picture.

 

I have been watching the future track of Matthew and I do not like the way it loops back to the south. Looks to me like he is heading back through the Bahamas. Hopeflly, he will not go back to Haiti. There is already way too much devaststion there.

 

I saw 5 ships on the port Miami webcam today. One of our past cruise table mates was returning from a cruise on one of them. They re-routed her cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel and had good weather there, but I'll bet the last part of her trip back into Miami was rough. I'm not sure what time those ships sailed, but the ones I checked weren't boarding until 5 PM.

 

We were supposed to be going to Port Canaveral tomorrow for a Segway ride and dinner at Fishlips, where the PC webcam is located. Needless to say, that is not going to happen now! Instead, we are thinking about a WDW day if it is as nice as the reports are claiming it will be. The strategy of going the day right after a storm served us well during the 2004 hurricane season. The day after the storm the parks were empty! Everyone who could get out before the storm hit had done so, and the new crowd coming in had not arrived yet.

 

Speaking of WDW, there was one day they closed that was not hurricane related. That day was September 11, 2001. We were there celebrating our anniversary. They closed the park we were in at about 11 AM due to security concerns. We still lived in Connecticut at the time, and were grateful we had a rental car. Our fligt home was cancelled so we ended up driving the rental car home. That was definitely a memorable vacation, but for all the wrong reasons.

 

We're really glad to find out that you are OK - and NO loss of power !! ;)

 

We hope that you have a great day at WDW !! One of our daughter's friends shared a photo of her at EPCOT today and the weather looked great . :cool:

[MicCanberra]

The loss of life in Haiti is truly tragic !! :(

 

The forecast is for the storm to return as a tropical depression on Wednesday - a much different animal than a hurricane .

Very Tragic, the biggest problem is that even though smaller storm it will compound the current issues of flooding, damage, spread of disease and such or at least delay the recovery progress as it is.

[perfect match]

We're really glad to find out that you are OK - and NO loss of power !! ;)

 

We hope that you have a great day at WDW !! One of our daughter's friends shared a photo of her at EPCOT today and the weather looked great . :cool:

 

It was a beautiful day here,a very welcome change. We decided that cleaning up after Matthew and getting our yard back in order after was the best use of our time today, so our WDW trip will have to wait.

 

We were delighted to see that Matthew no longer seems to be looping back to the south. :)

Edited October 9, 2016 by perfect match

[MicCanberra]

It was a beautiful day here,a very welcome change. We decided that cleaning up after Matthew and getting our yard back in order after was the best use of our time today, so our WDW trip will have to wait.

 

We were delighted to see that Matthew no longer seems to be looping back to the south. :)

 

That is good news about the storm, hope the clean up wasn't too intense.

[Gracie115]

Hopefully they will be OK , but it could be a bumpy ride !!! :eek:

 

The reports are showing it to be downgraded to a tropical storm , early Sunday morning . We got an E-mail from Gracie 115 this morning and they are fine , but without power . They are booked on the Equinox October , 25 th TA from Southampton , and we really hope that they get a smooth ride over . :) :D

 

HI All!! Power is back and all is good! That was such a scary couple of days watching that storm and praying for it to move just a little east, and it did. The power of millions of peoples prayers and thoughts all hoping for the same may or may not have made a difference, I believe it did. We were all so very lucky it did NOT follow the path predicted.

 

We are indeed getting ready for our Equinox cruise, but it's out of Barcelona, not Southampton :) . Happy to be able to do so since a couple of days ago we didn't think we'd be going and in fact didn't think we'd even have a home ...

 

So very sad what has happened in Haiti, they got the brunt of Matthew's fury and so ill equipped to deal with it. Am sure the death toll will rise as the days go by, they need all the help they can get. Mother nature's fury just never gives Haiti a break at all.

 

Hope everyone has a good Sunday, this one is far better for us than we expected and we are thankful for it.:)

[MicCanberra]

Glad to hear that you have come through it relatively unscathed.

Haiti needs lots of help, over 900 deaths now and total devastation.:(

[scubacruiserx2]

It was a beautiful day here,a very welcome change. We decided that cleaning up after Matthew and getting our yard back in order after was the best use of our time today, so our WDW trip will have to wait.

 

We were delighted to see that Matthew no longer seems to be looping back to the south. :)

 

Us too Nancy , we're in the same boat !

 

 

That is good news about the storm, hope the clean up wasn't too intense.

 

 

Our clean up was a labor of love , having been spared from damage !! ;)

 

 

And with our pool patio cleared , Pat seized the day pressure cleaning . And like a good hunter stalking his prey , I shot this dear with a small Canon .

 

 

 

 

It was a year ago this week that she had life saving surgery and I've tried to be a better , more loving and attentive spouse since then . ;)

 

Notice that I said tried . ;)

 

 

[MicCanberra]

LOL,

I am a bit surprised you don't have the fire hose to wash down the area.

[scubacruiserx2]

HI All!! Power is back and all is good! That was such a scary couple of days watching that storm and praying for it to move just a little east, and it did. The power of millions of peoples prayers and thoughts all hoping for the same may or may not have made a difference, I believe it did. We were all so very lucky it did NOT follow the path predicted.

 

We are indeed getting ready for our Equinox cruise, but it's out of Barcelona, not Southampton :) . Happy to be able to do so since a couple of days ago we didn't think we'd be going and in fact didn't think we'd even have a home ...

 

So very sad what has happened in Haiti, they got the brunt of Matthew's fury and so ill equipped to deal with it. Am sure the death toll will rise as the days go by, they need all the help they can get. Mother nature's fury just never gives Haiti a break at all.

 

Hope everyone has a good Sunday, this one is far better for us than we expected and we are thankful for it.:)

 

Amen , Gracie , well said !

 

Hurricanes , earthquakes and poverty are grim part of life for much of Haiti !! :(

 

[scubacruiserx2]

LOL,

I am a bit surprised you don't have the fire hose to wash down the area.

 

That one is just right for Pat . :) :D