Florida embarkation and hurricanes

[skatermanjon]

What happens with all the ships that have home ports in Florida? Because of the hurricane, where would they dock?

 

 

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[easyboy]

Cruise lines will notify passengers of any changes using the contact info they have on file.

[MattInFLL]

The hurricane is nowhere near any of the ports. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, port canaveral, Tampa etc will all be operating normally.

[Royal2464]

In reference to Hermine there was no action required. Tampa got very heavy rain, but it did not affect any cruises. In instances where ports and cruises are affected Royal Caribbean puts a banner on their website home page with information concerning the affected cruises. You would also probably get an email or phone call from Royal or your travel agent with details concerning any changes.

[kampinguru]

Our first cruise had Ft Lauderdale closed for two days due to a hurricane. Our ship just circled off the coast of Cuba for two days before docking on the Monday morning. We got two extra days and had to have our TA change our flights and the next cruise was two days shorter and the people apparently got some kind of credit for the shorter cruise.

[easyboy]

The hurricane is nowhere near any of the ports. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, port canaveral, Tampa etc will all be operating normally.

Glad to know that. Thanks for the heads up

[leaveitallbehind]

What happens with all the ships that have home ports in Florida? Because of the hurricane, where would they dock?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

If a hurricane were to hit a departure port, the ships would be out at sea. The last place the Captain would want his ship in a hurricane is in port. My understanding is cruises that are already underway would remain in as safe an area as possible at sea until the storm passed and then return to port. Ships in port would depart in advance of the storm's arrival to find safe waters. Cruise itineraries would be altered accordingly or canceled as a result. I would guess that if a storm caused damage that prevented ships from docking at their home port they would be relocated to other ports until they could return.

Edited September 3, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[waterbug123]

The hurricane is nowhere near any of the ports. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, port canaveral, Tampa etc will all be operating normally.

 

:confused::confused:

The TS/Hurricane passed just west of Tampa. That area got a lot of rain, some pretty high winds, and some storm surge and flooding.

[leaveitallbehind]

:confused::confused:

The TS/Hurricane passed just west of Tampa. That area got a lot of rain, some pretty high winds, and some storm surge and flooding.

 

But that doesn't necessarily mean that this weekend's cruises would be affected. And if they are, any itinerary affected by this that would result in a change would be posted on - as example - the RCI website and notification would be made to any affected passenger detailing the changes. I think Matt's response was only to suggest that things would still operate as normal at those ports. :)

Edited September 3, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[Homosassa]

But that doesn't necessarily mean that this weekend's cruises would be affected. And if they are, any itinerary affected by this that would result in a change would be posted on - as example - the RCI website and notification would be made to any affected passenger detailing the changes. I think Matt's response was only to suggest that things would still operate as normal at those ports. :)

 

I am in Citrus County, about one hour north of Tampa. As I type, we are having another feeder band of thunderstorms for Hermine pass over us from the Gulf. These bands extend down in a south west direction from the storm's center to feed into the storm's east side.

 

The prediction is that most of these Hermine feeder storms will be out of here sometime on Sunday during the day.

 

This means for Tampa cruisers, the port may be operating normally, but the airport is closing periodically due to lightening (any strikes within two miles of the runways and all ground operation cease, ie.; luggage loading and unloading, service fr the planes).

 

It also appears that the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is open today and not closed because of wind conditions. The ships, therefore, should be able to safely navigate the narrow channel out to the Gulf without problems wit the wind.

[leaveitallbehind]

I am in Citrus County, about one hour north of Tampa. As I type, we are having another feeder band of thunderstorms for Hermine pass over us from the Gulf. These bands extend down in a south west direction from the storm's center to feed into the storm's east side.

 

The prediction is that most of these Hermine feeder storms will be out of here sometime on Sunday during the day.

 

This means for Tampa cruisers, the port may be operating normally, but the airport is closing periodically due to lightening (any strikes within two miles of the runways and all ground operation cease, ie.; luggage loading and unloading, service fr the planes).

 

It also appears that the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is open today and not closed because of wind conditions. The ships, therefore, should be able to safely navigate the narrow channel out to the Gulf without problems wit the wind.

 

Yeah that adds an interesting wrinkle. I would think (hope) the cruise lines would understand that and take that into consideration in terms of refunds / credits with passengers having difficulty in arriving even if the ship schedule remains in tact. They may perhaps delay departure?

Edited September 3, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[Homosassa]

Hope this link works. Here is a current radar feed of conditions in the Tampa area. The red dots are lighting strikes.

 

 

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/weather/klystron-9-radar.html

[Homosassa]

Yeah that adds an interesting wrinkle. I would think (hope) the cruise lines would understand that and take that into consideration in terms of refunds / credits with passengers having difficulty in arriving even if the ship schedule remains in tact. They may perhaps delay departure?

 

I believe that trip insurance comes into play when a passenger can't reach port due to weather. It is not the cruise line's responsibility to get the passengers to port unless airfare was booked through the cruise line.

 

As far as delaying departure, I don't know how backed up the port is with ships that couldn't leave port for several days due to the winds and narrow channel.

 

There may not be an option to delay departure.

[leaveitallbehind]

I believe that trip insurance comes into play when a passenger can't reach port due to weather. It is not the cruise line's responsibility to get the passengers to port unless airfare was booked through the cruise line.

 

As far as delaying departure, I don't know how backed up the port is with ships that couldn't leave port for several days due to the winds and narrow channel.

 

There may not be an option to delay departure.

 

Yeah I get that, and a good reason to take the insurance overages. But there have been instances in the past where circumstances such as hurricanes have caused issues where some consideration has been provided.