It's hurricane season!

[casino-queen]

Saw on the news that this year will be one of the most active hurricane seasons in seven years. Curious as to see how many of you have been impacted in the past. I, myself, was supposed to sail out of New Orleans back when Katrina hit. Not only did they get decimated, but most of the ports we were supposed to visit as well. Spent our vacation watching this unfold on TV. Although it was disappointing not to be able to go, it was horrible to see the pain and destruction this storm had on so many others. For those of you sailing this season, I wish you a safe and uneventful cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed as well, as I will be on the Magic Sept. 16th.

[A&Jfamily]

We have been in hurricane season since 6/1...so it would appear that the experts are off as usual. The season technically ends 11/30 - so basically 50% of the time the east coast is "in hurricane season." I live in SE Virginia and would say that the majority of hurricanes come in late Aug-early Oct. And the reality it, it is what it is. No one here can do a thing about it except roll with whatever mother nature dishes out, and if you live in the areas affected, simply be prepared.

 

As for cruising, we have only done 1 cruise in hurricane season - well 3 if you count going to Canada from NY, but those are NOT at all likely to be impacted to the same degree as Bermuda, south. Our one Caribbean cruise in the first full week of August saw a missed port in St. Maarten; there was a hurricane 400 miles off shore that was creating swells that made docking impossible. They went to a sea day and added Grand Turk on at the end of the cruise; this was a blessing because I had not yet been to GT and it is now a favorite stop.

 

The cruise lines will all keep you safe and if you choose to cruise in this time be prepared to be flexible....in fact, any time you cruise, be flexible. I have missed Cayman and Princess Caye in March due to weather. And recognize that sometimes, a change of plans can be a good thing; for example, in October, if mother nature wants to send me to Bermuda instead of the current planned Bahamas on Sunshine I would be delighted!;)

[medianeh]

We've done three.

 

Only one was not impacted. Our Dream cruise in 2010.

 

We were on the Pride out of Baltimore, when Hurricane Sandy hit. The Coast Guard closed the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and after we were on the ship, Carnival canceled our cruise about 4 pm.

 

Second time was on the Pride again last year October. Hurricane Matthew. Our cruise was supposed to go to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Freeport. Our intinerary was changed to NYC and St. John. We ended up spending two days in NYC, and St. John was canceled. The other 5 days we spent sailing up and down the Atlantic from NY to Baltimore. Not an ideal itinerary since we are from NY. Basically drove from NY down to Baltimore and went back to NY for two days. Although not what we planned, we had a ton of fun! There were so many people that canceled and got off the ship in NY that we were upgraded for free to a balcony cabin for free, and Carnival gave EACH PERSON $250 in onboard credit.

 

Lesson learned though. No more cruises out of Baltimore in October for me!

[beerman2]

We've been affected by 3 all sailing out of Miami.

 

1st had to stay out circling Cuba with 7 other ships for 2 days . ( Port of Miami closed) We were behind 2 other ship at the mouth of the port when they closed it. Harbor Pilot made 3 attempts to board first ship , obviously without success😂😂!

 

2nd missed Key West and it took 2 tugs to get us away from the dock at Port of Miami.

 

3rd missed Nassau last Oct.

[Towel Critter]

As this thread grows, it won't be long until someone chimes in with, "why would anyone cruise during hurricane season? I would never do it." Well, good for you if cost isn't much of a concern. But basically, for us (and plenty of others)) hurricane season is the most affordable time of the year to cruise, especially as prices continue to creep upward. A good 1/3 of our cruises, I would guess, have been in September or October, the peak of hurricane season. We've been fairly fortunate so far. We've missed a total of 3 ports of call. We did sail right through a tropical storm once on the NCL Dawn. To this day I'm not sure how that happened. I suppose the storm must have abruptly changed course or the captain made a bad guess. Who knows? But 99% of the time there can be a large storm in the Caribbean and your cruise will still be smooth sailing, as your captain and all those assisting him will steer clear of it. Other than that one 12 hour stretch on the NCL Dawn, it's been smooth sailing for us.

 

In contrast to sailing during hurricane season, we have missed three times as many cruises and three times as many ports because of sickness in the family than we have because of storms, a total of three complete cruises and nine ports of call. I say that to illustrate that NOTHING is certain. Sure, the risk of missing a port, or having your itinerary completely changed, is greater during hurricane season, but it can happen anytime of the year. Been there, done that. For us, the savings of sailing during hurricane season are worth the increased risk of missing ports of call. As the cost of cruising increases, I see even more Sept-Oct cruises in our future.

 

One caveat. I am noticing the savings aren't as great as they were a few years ago. As demand has increased, the steep price drops during "off season" that we once enjoyed have all but disappeared. But for now at least there are still significant savings to be taken advantage of. It may be that the savings will completely disappear in another two or three years. I hope not. Those savings have afforded us twice the number of sailings over the years than we likely would have been able to enjoy otherwise.

 

Happy September/October cruising!

 

 

 

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[gottaluvcruises12]

I love cruising during hurricane season! People think I am crazy. The fact the ship can navigate around it...has always eased my worries. Two years ago there was a hurricane the weekend before we were supposed to leave and we didn't have any problems on our cruise. One time we went in October and we didn't have any problems. I think it may have rained one day or something but it didn't stop the fun or the ports. The weather is better because its not too hot and not too cold. It's usually windy so it is a breeze. I wouldn't dare cruise in the summer.

[BoDidly]

In the past I would've posted ,The Captain will stir you out of harm's way. :rolleyes: Today I say ,if you're prone to seasickness don't cruise during Hurricane season.

Also fill up your car gas tank, if you're driving to the port. I always fill up, leaving Miami once we only found gas stations when we were almost out of Florida.

[fkfad]

Also fill up your car gas tank, if you're driving to the port. I always fill up, leaving Miami once we only found gas stations when we were almost out of Florida.

 

This is excellent advice!!! We are sailing out of New Orleans on September 3 and will be parking our car with a full tank of gas! We drove through New Orleans one week after Katrina and couldn't find an open gas station until well within the borders of Mississippi!

[meatloafsfan]

I've sailed twice.

 

Left on the Miracle out of New York just a couple of hours before they shut down NYC due to Hurricane Irene. Missed Half Moon Cay, changed our time in Grand Turk to a much later arrival (11am - which actually suited me better) and we made Nassau.

 

Our 7 night Carnival Dream cruise was cut down to 6 nights - the ship could come in so the cruise before stretched to 8 nights and we were refunded the 1/7th of our cruise fare.

[SC_Floaters]

Since 2008 we have sailed 18 times during Hurricane Season to the Bahamas, Caribbean & Mexico. We must be really lucky, Have never been delayed or deflected by a major storm.

 

Dennis & Sue

Edited August 11, 2017 by SC_Floaters
Misspelled Word

[crewsweeper]

Every year, they forecast the hurricane season to be most active. When storm #s don't pan out early, they fret they will be more intense later. When storms arrive early they fret there'll be even more later. Hurricane/tropical storm numbers, intensity, timing and ultimate direction are essentially unknowable until they occur.

 

So cruise away. Yes you may get sea sick, yes you may get diverted from a port or two, yes the captain and the cruise line will look to keep you and their multi-million dollar ship as safe as possible. Regardless, it's a vacay, a cruise, you're not at work, and if caught in a storm, it's an adventure you can re-tell for ever.

[bury me at sea]

Also fill up your car gas tank, if you're driving to the port. I always fill up, leaving Miami once we only found gas stations when we were almost out of Florida.

 

This is excellent advice.

[beachbum6264]

We cruise often during hurricane season. I'm a retired teacher, so summer was vacation time for me for years. We've had ports rearranged, ports substituted due to damage, entire itineraries changed - Eastern Caribbean turned into Western Caribbean and Western Caribbean turned into Eastern Caribbean, and a 7 day cruise turned into a 9 day cruise (that one gave us an extra day in Cozumel and an extra day at sea).

One thing that I saw during each and every one of those cruises was angry, screaming, ridiculous passengers yelling at poor customer service folks. Really? You're going to sue Carnival because we're not going to St. Thomas and that's the only reason you booked this cruise? Well, you should have read that cruise contract. I could not believe the way some people were behaving, spoiled brats.

I always prepare for an alternate itinerary, just in case. That way we have an idea of what we would do if we wind up somewhere different. You never know.

We just hope our neighbors slap the hurricane shutters up on at least the big window on the front of our house if one hits while we're gone!

[pamrose228]

Two cruises I was on were severely impacted by hurricanes (see sig) It was horrible Frances was right behind us and we literally Running away from it while Charlie was in front of us and path changed 100x. They were a different kind of experience

 

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[BroadwayGirl]

We missed Freeport last year on our October Pride cruise as it was damaged by Hurricane Matthew. It was the one time we actually had an excursion booked there too. We received no compensation (except the refunded excursion) and got a few extra hours in Nassau. It was a week or two after the cruise that was supposed to go south ended up going to NYC. DH and I had discussed the possibility of itinerary changes last year with Matthew and decided we were going wherever they sent us and make the best of it as we would still be off work.

[mrpayroll]

Doesn't bother us a bit. Leaving on Liberty August 20th, Magic Sept. 24th and Glory Nov. 4th. Like saying December, January and February is Winter in Michigan. It doesn't snow every day during those months. :)

[TheTobiasTribe]

I don't care about hurricanes, typhoons or tsunamis. I don't care if the ship goes in circles to avoid ports or storms, I am CRUISING, no cleaning, no cooking, no work. This is a chance we take when we cruise during hurricane season in FLA, bring in the DOD and say a prayer for the motherland! :)

 

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[Drose716]

I've been in 4 cruises during hurricane season.

 

1) NY to Canada. Tropical storm behind us coming home. 1 sort of rough night but that's about it.

 

2) Miami to Nassau. Hurrican Ivan (TS by the time it got near us). We left Nassau at dinnertime instead of staying until midnight. Zero impact on us. Port of Miami closed & we didn't get off the ship until 8pm vs 8am & couldn't fly home until the next day. More vacation for us!

 

3) Miami to Wester Carib. Hurricane Matthew. Our itinerary was reversed. All stops were made & we didn't feel the storm even a little. No harm done at all for us.

 

I'm sailing again in 2 weeks. Do I like having plans changed? No. But hurricane season is like 6 months of the year. And my kids are im school. We go when we can & hope for the best. Safety isn't a concern because I know from experience the captain's have us covered. For everything else we go with the flow. We're on a ship!

[Rudyard]

That wonderful time of the year when people who knew it was hurricane season, but chose to cruise anyway, line up at Guest Services to demand compensation for missed ports, itinerary changes, and rough seas because Worst Cruise Ever!

[IndyDenise]

That wonderful time of the year when people who knew it was hurricane season, but chose to cruise anyway, line up at Guest Services to demand compensation for missed ports, itinerary changes, and rough seas because Worst Cruise Ever!

 

 

 

These are the same people that would complain about anything. Not just hurricanes. These are usually the people who expect perfect.. and are usually the new cruiser.

 

An educated, seasoned cruiser knows the risks. We would never fault the cruise line for things out of their control.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

The big problem is when a hurricane or named tropical storm is hitting your home port.

Otherwise, the Captain will keep you out of harms way even if it means itinerary changes.

[funinthesun1964]

I'm giong Sept. 16 and November 11. Not worried.

 

Formerly, we would cruise at the end of October and we only were mildly impacted by one. Hurricane Sandy. We were scheduled to sail out of Ft. Lauderdale, and the storm was coming up the coast. Fortunately, we flew in, and the next day (boarding day) was windy and rocky but that was the extent of it. I do always buy trip insurance and know I take my chances.

 

I also cruise in February and have to worry about snowstorms in Ohio, and hoping I can get out of here when I need to! :eek:

[cb at sea]

As long as there isn't a storm NEAR you, everything is the same as any other time of the year! No worries! The waters are no rougher (or calmer) in the late summer or fall as any other time.

[Pellaz]

Saw on the news that this year will be one of the most active hurricane seasons in seven years.

 

And it might even turn out to be true.

However, NOAA's hurricane season predictions have often turned out wrong. The season after Katrina/Rita and those bad storms, they predicted a terrible hurricane season...and it was one of the lightest seasons in recent history. They frequently have to issue a downward revised prediction later during the season.

 

Curious as to see how many of you have been impacted in the past.

 

We've usually cruised in October because prices were lower and I can make good use of the Columbus Day holiday. So far, two "dings" from hurricane activity out of five cruises in October.

 

-- One cruise was affected by a hurricane that was already heading back into the Atlantic, but was still affecting Grand Turk. Winds were strong and Freedom was barely able to dock -- the limit is 35 mph winds and they were gusting to 30 mph. All water excursions were cancelled and the waves by Margaritaville's beach (even in the lee of the docked ship) were 1-1.5 feet...making snorkeling there a LOT more challenging. Dry-top snorkel really helped there! :halo:

That night we headed home, directly toward the swells from the receding hurricane, and the ship was basically "galloping" through the ocean. Nothing they could do except take the waves head on, and stabilizers are no help with that. Watching the ship meet the swells from Deck 3 was really fun. We had no problems with seasickness, but quite a few cruisers did.

 

-- Last year, also in October, we were driving down toward Port Everglades while Hurricane Matthew was raking the Florida coast. We were going to stay overnight just west of Jacksonville...turns out it was JUST far enough west to avoid the worst of the hurricane as it passed east of Jax. The motel called ME to see if we were still coming, which was really cool of them. They were open, although the power was flickering and winds there were gusting to near 50-55 mph. Surprisingly I-10 was NOT closed to eastbound traffic ("contraflowed") for evacuation so we made it to the motel, which was otherwise full of evacuees.

The next day the Waze app saved the day, directing us to drive down I-95 along the coast -- with two detours due to hurricane damage -- and we beheld wide swathes of damage during the drive. Almost ran out of gas, too, as power was out throughout the region and would be out for several days. Definitely fill up on gas when you can!

Departure and most of the cruise was uneventful except we missed HMC (yet again). On the way back Hurricane Lisa ("She's still not dead!") forced the captain to reroute us back to Florida from Grand Turk, taking the southern route by Cuba instead of the shorter route up and over the Bahamas; if we had gone that way, the captain told us, they'd have had to drain every pool and hot-tub and it would have been very rough.

 

-- Not during hurricane season and not technically a "true" hurricane, but the same hurricane-strength storm that heeled Anthem of the Seas over for hours...we were also caught by the same storm system on Independence of the Seas, during the 70,000 Tons of Metal music cruise. We were much farther south, returning to Florida, but the high winds forced the charter operator to dismantle the HUGE pool-deck stage and reschedule those performances (not easy, on the last night). We were taking 60mph+ winds across the decks, and the pool-deck stage -- "the largest open-air structure at sea" -- would have blown right over.

The next morning the seas near Ft. Lauderdale were still so choppy that the pilot boat was bouncing around like a speedboat when they came alongside, right underneath our stateroom window. Jumping across from the pilot boat? Now THAT was a brave pilot!

[Woodfaerie]

I agree with Towel Critter. The reduced rates during hurricane season have afforded me to take more cruises than if I traveled outside of that time frame.

 

And oh yes, I have been rained out of the best movies at the Dive In theater and missed ports. Honestly? give me a rainy day on a ship any day vs a sunny day back at work. If the wind is in my favor, then its the lovely atrium outside deck, a book and some java from the coffee bar! Life is good!

 

one more note: I have an oversized rain poncho packed on every cruise!