Hurricane season itinerary change?

[Touringmom]

Thanks again to those who have shared your actual experiences. It's nice to know what some of the options are.

 

 

 

That's what I am - and possibly the OP is - trying to do. I have read nothing to indicate that the OP is unappreciative of the chance to cruise, if anything might even look forward to an itinerary change.

 

To me part of 'preparing for the worst' and 'making the best' of the situation is to be prepared. While I hope we can make our planned itinerary I know that things can happen anytime - and even more so in hurricane season. I recently visited, and therefore researched, Nassau (if a small detour) and Saint John and Halifax (if a major detour). I would have a clue what to do in those ports.

 

It's been a few years since I've been to the Western Caribbean, and I've never been to Bermuda or the N/E ports. Will there be good research opportunities on the ship to know what to do at these stops? Should we just stay on the ship and be grateful that we are safe and have extra "sea days"? Should we book ship excursions - which most on this site seem to think are overpriced and crowed - when we had already researched low or no cost options at our original ports.

 

Our cruises will likely sail as scheduled. We may be diverted to all private island stops where there is nothing extra we would need to book. Or we might end up somewhere that could be a great opportunity to visit if we had the chance to research something about that port ahead of time. I know that no one can predict what the weather will be this far out, but they could share ports that have been substituted in the past. If there is a trend of mostly going one route or another it gives us a starting point to prepare.

 

Does the ship usually have port guides that aren't just a shopping list for Diamonds International and Del Sol?

Yes I’m just trying to be prepared and prepare my kids that a change is possible. Don’t actually mind as a change is just a new adventure! I looked on Amazon and found a book called Fodor’s Caribbean Cruise Ports of Call. If weather looks iffy before we go, I might buy it to bring with us for last minute research!

[pacruise804]

Yes I’m just trying to be prepared and prepare my kids that a change is possible. Don’t actually mind as a change is just a new adventure! I looked on Amazon and found a book called Fodor’s Caribbean Cruise Ports of Call. If weather looks iffy before we go, I might buy it to bring with us for last minute research!

 

You've got a great attitude:D Enjoy your cruise whatever happens.

[salty dingo]

I would put your chances at 10% to 20% likely. 20% may be too high... I don't think one in five cruises gets an itinerary change due to a hurricane.

 

Now, hurricanes aside, strong waves can cause ports to be missed, and that happens quite often. I don't consider that an itinerary change though, it is more like business as usual.

[LewLewBelle]

Sept 2017 we were on the Pride out of Baltimore. They waited until muster drill to say by the way we are changing the itinerary to Charleston SC then heading on to Bahamas towards a hurricane barreling towards the Bahamas. We used their funship guarantee or something like that to debark in Charleston. Rent a car to drive back for ours and headed on to Lancaster PA for a land vacay. By the time they got to Bahamas everything pretty much was shut down in preparations of the storm. On way back the stabilizer broke and it rocked like crazy. I had friends still on board who told me we made the right decision :)

[salty dingo]

Sept 2017 we were on the Pride out of Baltimore. They waited until muster drill to say by the way we are changing the itinerary to Charleston SC then heading on to Bahamas towards a hurricane barreling towards the Bahamas. We used their funship guarantee or something like that to debark in Charleston. Rent a car to drive back for ours and headed on to Lancaster PA for a land vacay. By the time they got to Bahamas everything pretty much was shut down in preparations of the storm. On way back the stabilizer broke and it rocked like crazy. I had friends still on board who told me we made the right decision :)

I find that story hard to believe. You would have broken Federal law by embarking in Baltimore and disembarking in Charleston. The law is the Jones Act, and it prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting a passenger from one port in the USA to another, without first calling on a "distant foreign port."

 

Carnival is not keen on breaking laws, so if you managed to hop off in Charleston they sure would not be honoring the Vacation Guarantee, which would have provided you a refund. Someone is going to be paying a fine in that case. Perhaps Carnival kept your money and paid the fine for you?

[OceansOfTravels]

My August 2016 cruise was early August, August 1-6. It was slated to go to Grand Cayman and Key West. There was a hurricane brewing in the Gulf, so we visited Key West first rather than last, and then went to Nassau and Cococay instead, and the seas between Key West and Nassau were the calmest I've ever seen them. My August 2017 cruise was late in the month, August 26-September 2, visiting Nassau, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, and the seas were the calmest I've ever seen them, beating my rerouted August 2016 cruise. However, Hurricane Harvey was smashing Houston, and Irma was brewing, enroute for St.Maarten.

 

Moral of the story, it is very unpredictable and you cannot really know. But, if you end up on the lucky end of the spectrum, you will likely have a very calm, perfect summer cruise.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

It's a good possibility. The fortunate thing is you are less likely to have a cruise vacation cancelled vs a land-based one. If you are on land, and the hurricane comes, you are out of luck. On a cruise, there are options to go different places. Sometimes you may miss out on a port you were planning for, but it is better than missing the whole vacation. The cruise lines will do what they can to not have to cancel cruises.

 

And they will do everything they can to protect passenger lives and the ship investments that are significant.

[jimbo5544]

It's a good possibility. The fortunate thing is you are less likely to have a cruise vacation cancelled vs a land-based one. If you are on land, and the hurricane comes, you are out of luck. On a cruise, there are options to go different places. Sometimes you may miss out on a port you were planning for, but it is better than missing the whole vacation. The cruise lines will do what they can to not have to cancel cruises.

 

 

 

I do not know what a "good possibility" means. I have never seen facts on this but I would be shocked if it approaches 20%.

 

 

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[teddybear231]

It's a good possibility. The fortunate thing is you are less likely to have a cruise vacation cancelled vs a land-based one. If you are on land, and the hurricane comes, you are out of luck. On a cruise, there are options to go different places. Sometimes you may miss out on a port you were planning for, but it is better than missing the whole vacation. The cruise lines will do what they can to not have to cancel cruises.

 

We learned this the hard way and its the reason we now cruise! We always used to go to an all-inclusive resort, but our last trip back in the summer of 2002 or 2003, we were in Mexico and a hurricane/tropical storm had gone right by us. It resulted in us sitting in the room watching CNN for 5 days since it was raining. We only had 1.5 nice days to actually go out and enjoy the beach and outdoor pools. There wasn't an indoor pool so we didn't have much to do.

 

That's when we decided to give cruising a try and we loved it! In a matter of fact, on our 2nd or 3rd cruise was when Katrina had hit. It closed all the ports in Florida for a couple of days and we got an extra 4 days for free! We even went back to Cozumel for a day, and Carnival offered to fly anybody home free of charge, some people took the offer because of work/school. But we decided to stay on and enjoy the extra days, the kids did miss the first 2 days of school but it is a story we still tell to this day! It was strange because towards the end they started running out of food! The buffets were smaller, fries were no longer available, they even began offering sandwiches like PB&J in the buffet! But that didn't bother us, we really enjoyed and like how Carnival handled the situation. We left out of Miami but we returned to Orlando, Carnival provided free transportation to Miami for anybody that needed it. That 4 hour bus ride did suck, but it was well worth it for the extra 4 days on the ship.

 

We always usually cruise during hurricane season. I was worried about cruising out of the Northeast (i.e., New York or Baltimore) because I remember reading the Pride I believe had to switch itinerary's because of a hurricane hitting the Bahamas, so the cruise switched to a Canada/New England cruise. If something like that happened I would be upset, because a vacation for us is the beaches, and Canada has none. Once we left out of Ft. Lauderdale and we had to switch from a Western itinerary to Eastern itinerary because of a hurricane hitting that region, but I didn't mind that.

[jaylinks]

Here is my two cents worth. The Atlantic/Caribbean hurricane season runs from June through November, with the peak month being September, on an average. August can be active also.

I sailed on the Glory this past September shortly after hurricane Irma - in fact was on pins and needles that MIA intl. would be opened in time for our departure on the ensuing Saturday...it did.

I had no idea that Maria was brewing until I saw the weather forecast on the cabin tv a few minutes before sail away; we would have been sailing directly into it - the itinerary being Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Turks &Caicos and Amber Cove.

Long story short; we came back from the muster drill to a notice in the cabin that we would be changing itinerary and that the captain would be making an announcement shortly. The changed itinerary was Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel and Ocho Rios - .from what I was able to gather, most people loved it. I certainly enjoyed it.

Be flexible and prepared if you are allowed to. Most of my cruises have been in September, this was only the second time I have been impacted by a hurricane.

 

peak month being September, on an average. August can be active.

[jsglow]

Okay, herein lies the problem with Baltimore at that time of the year (and the same would apply to NYC). IF there's a major storm south of you, the alternative is to turn north or east. And the cruise line has every right to do that under your contract. For my money, a Florida departure (assuming that the storm isn't right on top of you) has the ability to redirect west or east to avoid weather. BOTH are solid Caribbean options in a pinch.

[AD5ZA]

I find that story hard to believe. You would have broken Federal law by embarking in Baltimore and disembarking in Charleston. The law is the Jones Act, and it prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting a passenger from one port in the USA to another, without first calling on a "distant foreign port."

 

 

 

Carnival is not keen on breaking laws, so if you managed to hop off in Charleston they sure would not be honoring the Vacation Guarantee, which would have provided you a refund. Someone is going to be paying a fine in that case. Perhaps Carnival kept your money and paid the fine for you?

 

 

 

Jones Act violations happen frequently. The fine is small. Memory is hazy but $20-30 per person seems to ring a bell. In any case I am sure it's less than $100 pp. Depending on circumstances, paid by person or cruise line. Fine could be included in cruise ticket price when itinerary has consecutive US ports.

 

 

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[ray98]

Jones Act violations happen frequently. The fine is small. Memory is hazy but $20-30 per person seems to ring a bell. In any case I am sure it's less than $100 pp. Depending on circumstances, paid by person or cruise line. Fine could be included in cruise ticket price when itinerary has consecutive US ports.

 

Actually it is the Passenger Vessel Services Act and it is $762 per passenger.

 

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/427/~/the-jones-act-%2F-passenger-services-act-%2F-cabotage-law

Edited April 8, 2018 by ray98

[mskaufman]

On a cruise out of Baltimore there was a hurricane. Instead of stopping at Port Canaveral we got an extra sea day. I think the captain just went around in a circle where things were calm. We followed the hurricane up the Bay and arrived in Baltimore 4 or 5 hours late.

[beachbum6264]

Before we retire we usually cruised during the last week of August. We've had several cruises changed by hurricanes. 04 - had a 7 day turned into a 9 day thanks to Hurricane Frances.

07 - itinerary changed/rearranged due to a hurricane

08 - Western Caribbean changed to Eastern Caribbean thanks to Hurricane Gustav

10 - Eastern Caribbean changed to Western Caribbean, thanks to Hurricane Earl

 

 

Enjoyed every single one of these cruises.

 

 

And - we missed a port in Cuba last month due to high winds at Cienfuegos. So ports can be cancelled at any time of year.

[riclop]

We are sailing on the Pride from Baltimore to the Caribbean this August. What is the likelihood of an itinerary change due to hurricanes? We don’t actually mind a change but are curious how often this actually happens in August. Anyone have any experiences to share?

How can someone predict what the weather will be in AUG.

[NavarreCruiser]

I haven't read this whole thread, but I am in agreement with those who say that the odds are strongly stacked in favor of no changes to your cruise. I have sailed over 120 times in the last 13 years in every month of the year including many in September.(usually good pricing) That is the height of hurricane season, and I have had zero cruises canceled. Last year was an exceptionally bad year for hurricane strikes in the U.S. and the only time that we had one extra day on a 7-day cruise due to a storm closed embarkation/debarkation port. Over the years a few times, our itinerary was adjusted to avoid a storm. But the vast majority of my hurricane season cruises sailed without incident.

[DebJ14]

You just never know. We had a W. Caribbean out of Tampa changed to E. Caribbean and an E. Caribbean out of Port Canaveral changed to W. Caribbean. No problem, although no notice was given until we received letters at check in.

 

We had one of out Los Angeles changed from Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo switched to Cabo, Ensenada, San Diego and Catalina due to a Cat 4. Still had a great cruise!

[Bookster99]

The beauty of the cruise ship vacation is you can AVOID the hurricane by changing course and going else: You are still on vacation.

[LewLewBelle]

I find that story hard to believe. You would have broken Federal law by embarking in Baltimore and disembarking in Charleston. The law is the Jones Act, and it prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting a passenger from one port in the USA to another, without first calling on a "distant foreign port."

 

Carnival is not keen on breaking laws, so if you managed to hop off in Charleston they sure would not be honoring the Vacation Guarantee, which would have provided you a refund. Someone is going to be paying a fine in that case. Perhaps Carnival kept your money and paid the fine for you?

Really you are calling me a liar? Yes my family did exactly what I posted. The fee was waived under Carnival’s guarantee but frankly at that point I was going to pay it even if they didn’t waive it. Your post is very rude ! There were several others who disembarked too! We had to wait on customs to clear us before we could get off the ship.

Edited April 10, 2018 by LewLewBelle
wording

[LewLewBelle]

We received a full refund and they paid for the rental car home since it was almost impossible to get a flight. The process is grueling because they have to get everything approved at corporate. I was surprised they offered such customer service. They also sent us gift cards with money we had on our account.

[Fla Senior]

Originally posted by salty dingo I find that story hard to believe. You would have broken Federal law by embarking in Baltimore and disembarking in Charleston. The law is the Jones Act, and it prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting a passenger from one port in the USA to another, without first calling on a "distant foreign port."

 

Carnival is not keen on breaking laws, so if you managed to hop off in Charleston they sure would not be honoring the Vacation Guarantee, which would have provided you a refund. Someone is going to be paying a fine in that case. Perhaps Carnival kept your money and paid the fine for you?

Really you are calling me a liar? Yes my family did exactly what I posted. The fee was waived under Carnival’s guarantee but frankly at that point I was going to pay it even if they didn’t waive it. Your post is very rude ! There were several others who disembarked too! We had to wait on customs to clear us before we could get off the ship.

Salty Dingo it does happen. Several years ago we embarked in Port Canaveral for a cruise to Bahamas. A hurricane got in our way and we instead went to Key West never making it to a foreign port. When returning we couldn't make it back to Port Canaveral so we disembarked in Fort Lauderdale and were taken by bus back to Port Canaveral. There are extreme circumstances where it does indeed happen.

[pusywillow]

We sailed on the Pride in October 2016 and instead of going to the eastern caribbean we went to New York for 2 days. For now on I will always try to avoid hurricane season.

 

I was on that cruise. I remember booking an excursion seeing the 9/11 museum in NYC. The cruise line gets other excursions ready so you will have other options.

[LewLewBelle]

I was trying to screen shot our Facebook group where We had a conversation about us disembarking in Charleston. What made this even more unique was I had met a woman and her daughter on cruise Critic roll call that lived 1/2 hr from me. We became Facebook friends. When I was standing in line for guest services she goes Lew!!! I was shocked she recognized me from Facebook lol anyways she told me she had called Carnival customer service and they advised her to ask for the guarantee. If I hadn’t had that chance meeting with Karen we wouldn’t have known about the guarantee. I had been to guest service a little while before and they never told me about the guarantee so you must ask to get it.

Edited April 10, 2018 by LewLewBelle
Wording