Bad weather

[shorti503]

If you end up having a bad storm the day of a port would they cancel a snorkel excursion?  Also if there is a bad storm and its nasty enough to not leave the ship do they do anything extra onboard or just the normal activities on the cruise Compass?  Weve been lucky that weve never had more than a shower on a cruise but they are calling for a pretty good storm on my friends upcoming cruise. I wasnt sure how to answer her. 

[Ourusualbeach]

Excursions through the ship can be cancelled due to bad weather.  Refundable OBC will be applied to your account for the cost of the cancelled excursion. 

[ptod]

It really depends on how "bad" the storm is.  I personally like to swim in the rain except if there is lightning/thunder in the area.

 

I was in Roatan in January and had a non Royal snorkel excursion booked.  The weather was great except for the wind.  Captain of the boat called trip off due to winds/surf/current in our snorkeling location - he didn't feel it was safe to go out.

 

Living on the coast of CT, we knew stepping off the ship that WE wouldn't take a boat out at home in the conditions so we were not surprised at the cancellation.  We booked with a reputable company with a clear cancellation/refund policy. The Captain and his staff helped save the day with new plans on the fly.  We are flexible travelers and sometimes luck into great experiences when plans go awry as we did in Roatan.

 

If your friends excursion is booked via Royal, I would assume that the contracted snorkeling company/Royal would put safety first based on local conditions.

 

I have never seen additional activities added to cruise compass schedule due to bad weather.

[BirdTravels]

51 minutes ago, shorti503 said:

If you end up having a bad storm the day of a port would they cancel a snorkel excursion?  Also if there is a bad storm and its nasty enough to not leave the ship do they do anything extra onboard or just the normal activities on the cruise Compass?  Weve been lucky that weve never had more than a shower on a cruise but they are calling for a pretty good storm on my friends upcoming cruise. I wasnt sure how to answer her. 

Excursions are run by independent tour operators. They are motivated to run the tours, regardless of weather conditions. They would cancel a snorkel trip only if they could not legally take their boats out of port. The ship normally does not change its daily schedule because of weather. 

[gatour]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Excursions are run by independent tour operators. They are motivated to run the tours, regardless of weather conditions. They would cancel a snorkel trip only if they could not legally take their boats out of port. The ship normally does not change its daily schedule because of weather. 

I disagree with both of your statements.

 

I have had ship supplied excursions cancelled, while people who booked a similar excursion outside of the cruise line had their excursions proceed as scheduled.

 

If a ship misses a port due to weather conditions, they do change its daily schedule of activities.  Albeit it is somewhat adhoc but they do add additional activities.

[shorti503]

Thank you so much for your responses.   I will let her know! 

[Scotty G]

46 minutes ago, gatour said:

If a ship misses a port due to weather conditions, they do change its daily schedule of activities.  Albeit it is somewhat adhoc but they do add additional activities.

 

I have seen them post updated Cruise Compasses when there is heavy rain and deck activities are cancelled.

[smokeykat]

5 hours ago, shorti503 said:

If you end up having a bad storm the day of a port would they cancel a snorkel excursion?  Also if there is a bad storm and its nasty enough to not leave the ship do they do anything extra onboard or just the normal activities on the cruise Compass?  Weve been lucky that weve never had more than a shower on a cruise but they are calling for a pretty good storm on my friends upcoming cruise. I wasnt sure how to answer her. 

 

We had a beach excursion in Bermuda that was iffy, It was raining when we were supposed to leave. They gave us the option of cancelling or going as the weather was supposed to clear up later on that day. We cancelled and it did clear up eventually so we ended up poolside that afternoon. No big deal getting refunded.

[Snit13]

7 hours ago, shorti503 said:

If you end up having a bad storm the day of a port would they cancel a snorkel excursion?  Also if there is a bad storm and its nasty enough to not leave the ship do they do anything extra onboard or just the normal activities on the cruise Compass?  Weve been lucky that weve never had more than a shower on a cruise but they are calling for a pretty good storm on my friends upcoming cruise. I wasnt sure how to answer her. 

What is a pretty good storm?  Where is this cruise?  Have sailed on Infinity to Antarctica where we had 38 ft. seas according to the captain.  We did turn around and head back north to Argentina for the day. Also in Baltic on Star Princess waves were crashing off deck 5.  The only bad storms I have seen reported in the past few days were in Minnesota and I did not know any ships sailed from there.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Snit13
correction

[CruiseWendy]

I've been on a few cruises where there was bad weather. This past December on Independence of the Seas we were unable to go to Cozumel due to a really bad storm system in the Gulf of Mexico. We received an email a few days ahead of leaving. They changed the port day to Labadee and refunded all paid Cozumel excursions. The compass on the app wasn't updated until the morning of so we relied on the one's in our rooms. Sailed in Alaska and there were 30' waves preventing us from getting to Hubbard Glacier. The Captain made the adjustment and the crew was wonderful. You kind of go with the flow on these things. I've also had jet ski tours canceled due to wave conditions on a cruise lines private island. Fully refunded. 

[Expat Cruise]

Many times if a storm or weather is the reason, and the ship is not already docked the port will be skipped. If a tender port it seems to always be skipped. No Captain wants to be on anchor during a storm, much safer and easier to have control of the ship at sea.  If private tours most of the time no refund is offered.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

If private tours most of the time no refund is offered.

 

If you book your private excursions through reputable companies you will find that they will refund your money if the ship does not end up making it to port.  I’ve booked many private tours and they have all offered this and I wouldn’t book a tour unless they offered this.  If the ship makes it to port and the tour company cancels,  you will also get a refund.