PR home port - hurricane rerouting?

[amandaepperson21]

We’re sailing Freedom OTS on 9/15 from San Juan. I read that in the event of a hurricane, RC May reroute the cruise from an eastern Caribbean itinerary to western. If that were to happen, would they change the departure port? I’m about to book my airfare and hotel for the night before. Wondering how safe it is to book non-refundable lol. Especially on the airfare. September is the peak of hurricane season. One would hope PR will catch a break after its recent bettering, but I want to be prepared. We’ve only sailed from Florida thus far. 

[Clarea]

I've not yet seen them change the departure port of a cruise. When Galveston was damaged and they could not use that port for a while,  I believe in they cancelled the cruises that had been scheduled for Galveston.

[time4u2go]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

I've not yet seen them change the departure port of a cruise.

Agreed.  More likely (in the event of a hurricane) would be that they change the start/end date(s).

[cruisinfanatic]

10 minutes ago, amandaepperson21 said:

We’re sailing Freedom OTS on 9/15 from San Juan. I read that in the event of a hurricane, RC May reroute the cruise from an eastern Caribbean itinerary to western. If that were to happen, would they change the departure port? I’m about to book my airfare and hotel for the night before. Wondering how safe it is to book non-refundable lol. Especially on the airfare. September is the peak of hurricane season. One would hope PR will catch a break after its recent bettering, but I want to be prepared. We’ve only sailed from Florida thus far. 

There is no western itinerary from San Juan. As long as the port isn't getting nailed at time of departure, they'll just change the itinerary. Maybe do same ports backwards

[Ourusualbeach]

If you are concerned about hurricanes make sure you buy trip cancellation and interruption insurance on your cruise and your flights.  

[PhoenixCruiser]

We purchased airfare for our November San Juan cruise months ago we got travel insurance at the same time.  Check out insuremytrip.com

[MightyMike]

I agree that travel insurance is the answer you are looking for. Even a basic policy should cover you for cancellation due to weather. Plus you get additional health insurance which is always a good thing to have on a cruise.

 

I can't imagine a cruise line changing a departure port. Everyone flying in would have to change their flights. Too complicated. Perhaps they could swap Miami and Fort Lauderdale because those two are so close together, but that's the only exception I can imagine.

 

They could (and do) change ports of call. A Florida sailing might be able to swap eastern Caribbean for western. Otherwise they will see if swapping a port or two would make the cruise doable. 

[amandaepperson21]

2 hours ago, cruisinfanatic said:

There is no western itinerary from San Juan. As long as the port isn't getting nailed at time of departure, they'll just change the itinerary. Maybe do same ports backwards

Forgive me, I’m legit dyslexic. Eastern. 😂

[PelicanBill]

In 2016 and 2017 we saw a lot of cruises adjusted for hurricanes.  Start and end dates changed and many ports changed.  A few were canceled.  They won't just alter the starting or ending port unless the ship has a malfunction and can't make it (that has happened a couple of times) as that is very expensive.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

 They won't just alter the starting or ending port unless the ship has a malfunction and can't make it (that has happened a couple of times) as that is very expensive.

Nothing wrong with Rhapsody when she went to PC instead of Tampa at the end of her TA - weather issue.

[PelicanBill]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Nothing wrong with Rhapsody when she went to PC instead of Tampa at the end of her TA - weather issue.

Hmm okay I missed that one.  But extremely rare.  

[Biker19]

24 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

But extremely rare.  

Virtually every post on CC needs to have some  leeway as there seems to be someone who comes up with the exception to the rule.

[later]

When Galveston was hit by a hurricane didn’t the ship end up in Miami instead of Galveston?  

[AdGuyMG]

16 hours ago, amandaepperson21 said:

We’re sailing Freedom OTS on 9/15 from San Juan. I read that in the event of a hurricane, RC May reroute the cruise from an eastern Caribbean itinerary to western. If that were to happen, would they change the departure port?

A possible re-route to an Eastern itinerary could be Aruba/ Bonaire /Curacao ... or Labadee/ Falmouth / Grand Cayman.

 

The departure port of San Juan would not change.

 

 

[Clarea]

37 minutes ago, later said:

When Galveston was hit by a hurricane didn’t the ship end up in Miami instead of Galveston?  

 

Not sure, might have been somewhere else on the Gulf Coast because I thought they offered to bus people back to what was left of their cars in Galveston.

[Snit13]

1 hour ago, AdGuyMG said:

A possible re-route to an Eastern itinerary could be Aruba/ Bonaire /Curacao ... or Labadee/ Falmouth / Grand Cayman.

 

The departure port of San Juan would not change.

 

 

Confused.  If San Juan is being blown away by a hurricane how would the departure port not be changed?  Cruise ships usually get moved out of the path of a hurricane that is on target for a direct hit just like navy and coast guard ships get sent to sea.

[AdGuyMG]

3 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

Confused.  If San Juan is being blown away by a hurricane how would the departure port not be changed?  Cruise ships usually get moved out of the path of a hurricane that is on target for a direct hit just like navy and coast guard ships get sent to sea.

If San Juan were blown away a few days prior to the OP's departure the cruise would be mass cancelled.

 

If San Juan were blow away midweek during the OP's cruise, and they could not return to SJ, then San Juan would be unavailable as the debarkation port and an alternative debarkation port, with significant airlift, would need to be chosen.

[boscobeans]

Right after 9/11 the port of New York was closed and Celebrity changed the original embarkation to Baltimore.  Some flights were able to be changed since the cruise left on 9/29.

 

Passengers were bused to Baltimore in both directions and the departure time was changed to after all the buses arrived.

 

Mustering was done the following morning at sea on the outer promenade deck in a near hurricane on the little but beautiful Zenith.. 

[LeeW]

Allure sailings a couple of years ago got modified when Fort Lauderdale was closed during hurricane.  One 7 day cruise extended to 10, next cruise shortened to 4 days.  Airport barely open for the second cruise so many people elected not to sail.  But in that case Fort Lauderdale was in fair shape (some power outages, some hotel closures, sand on streets). 

 

Not sure what they did in San Juan when the whole island was trashed.  Few hotels open and little power.  Airport closed.  My guess is that they just cancelled the cruises leaving out of there for several months but they certainly could have moved ships (but this also depends on port availability).  We love sailing out of San Juan - you can get to a lot of islands much faster than sailing from Florida.  Plus it is a great place to visit for a few days.

 

OP - we have done six cruises from San Juan and never had a problem.  But do get insurance for the flights, although airlines should refund if they can't get you there.

[pjlee3333]

Is that when they used Adventure to help transport vacationers back to the us and to bring relief supplies and workers to San Juan?

[Snit13]

On 6/9/2019 at 2:15 PM, AdGuyMG said:

If San Juan were blown away a few days prior to the OP's departure the cruise would be mass cancelled.

 

If San Juan were blow away midweek during the OP's cruise, and they could not return to SJ, then San Juan would be unavailable as the debarkation port and an alternative debarkation port, with significant airlift, would need to be chosen.

That was basically my point.  Many posters who responded seemed to read the OP's post differently than I.  Have been in FL since 1961 thus have seen more hurricanes than many responders.  Took quite awhile to clean up yard after Irma passed thru.

My point was if hurricane was on track for San Juan planes would not fly you to a cruise as the ship would not be in San Juan waiting to sail you away.  Hurricane may blow you away.