Hurricane Dorian talk

[tface023]

Hey all!  Long time cruiser, first time poster.  I'm supposed to be sailing out of Port Canaveral on Sunday, right in the teeth of the hurricane.  I've never been on a cruise impacted by weather.  I booked my incoming flight same day through Air2Sea, but I definitely expect there will be delays.  What will likely happen if my flight can't get in on time, or the ship can't dock on time?

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Air2Sea will make arrangements to get you to the next port if you don't make the ship on time.

 

Too many variables to know what the ship will do. 

[cruisegirl1]

 Too early to determine what will happen.

 

 

 I would keep my eyes on the weather and have contingency plans in place.   Your air2sea  will get you to the next port, but I don’t know who is responsible for your incidental expenses. 

 

 Most long-term cruisers have a hurricane story or two, but let’s not worry about that now 

 

good luck. 

 

 

M

Edited August 27, 2019 by cruisegirl1

[Eddie Wilson]

Way too early to predict, but I seem to recall, as one hurricane was approaching Miami on a Sunday they actually kept the ships due to arrive that morning safe at sea, a couple of hundred miles away. Think about it, not only the safety of the ship itself, but with the airports closed, no sense in debarking thousands of passengers only to have them try to find somewhere to sit out a hurricane.

 

On that occasion, I believe they docked the next morning, and sailed exactly one day late. 

 

Of course, there is an issue for the next arriving guests, hopefully they can get to the port on time. 

 

Another issue is, how much room is there at the port, as other ships may have there scheduled return on Monday. They may need a traffic cop.  

 

That is all hearsay evidence, as my wife and I were on a cruise about a month later, and someone on board told us that.  

[loudbmw]

We were on the Oasis when Hurricane Irma hit Florida in 2017.  Since the storm was scheduled to make landfall around the end of our cruise, the Captain made the wise decision  to wait out the storm in the Gulf of Mexico where the weather was perfect.

 

Our seven day cruise ended up being ten days.  It wouldn’t have made any sense to even try to attempt to dock any sooner as all the airports were closed and the power was out for days in many places.

 

There were a ton of no shows for the following shortened cruise.  RCCL offered reduced rates for us to stay on board for the shortened cruise.  That worked out well since gas was in short supply in Florida and we were driving to Virginia.

 

We learned a few lessons while cruising during hurricane season, we ran out of meds but were able to buy them in Cozumel.  We now pack at least a week’s extra.  We filled our tank prior to parking so gas wasn’t needed until we got to South Carolina.

 

Parking in the terminal garage was also a wise decision.  Some guests that parked in off site surface lots found their cars totaled when a tornado hit one of the off site lots.

 

Lou

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by loudbmw

[aring75]

3 minutes ago, loudbmw said:

 

Parking in the terminal garage was also a wise decision.  Some guests that parked in off site surface lots found their cars totaled when a tornado hit one of the off site lots.

 

 

Also learned a few years prior to Irma not to park on the first floor of the parking garage. Storm surge is not pretty.

[later]

Hopefully port Canaveral won’t be effected. At this point max sustained winds up to Sunday when it may reach Miami is 70 mph so it is still a tropical storm.  

 

Best to be prepare though.

Edited August 27, 2019 by later

[oldplayer532]

some really great tips.

 

[dasi11]

Always try to fly in the day before.  Never the day of the cruise.  I have heard too many horror stories of people not making the ship.  As for the storm hitting on Sat-Sun., it does not look like it will be easy to make it to the port if the storm stays on course.  But the storms never do what you expect.  It could hit the Carolinas and skip Florida.  Having been a Florida resident for over 28 years, the storm track changes hourly.  We don't even start to worry until it is a day or two away and right on top of us.

 

[Sea Dog]

Should be a good weekend to keep a eye on the Port Canaveral Port webcam

https://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com/

[scootersdad]

excellent ideas.

especially the Rx and gas tank

[rolloman]

47 minutes ago, later said:

Hopefully port Canaveral won’t be effected. At this point max sustained winds up to Sunday when it may reach Miami is 70 mph so it is still a tropical storm.  

 

Best to be prepare though.

Currently the storm is not supposed to go near Miami, the latest update has it hitting Melbourne / Palm Bay at 2pm on Sunday. Local weather team feels it may shift even further north. 

[suesnake2002]

Our seven day cruise ended up being ten days

 

Silly question in the grand scheme of things,  but did you get 7 or 10 days credit to your C&A??

[flhokie]

Keep an eye on the airlines. Often, if they anticipate issues, they will announce a flexible travel policy waiving change fees to change to earlier or later flights. Also, they will announce if they plan to stop service to/from specific airports due to the forecast. 

 

Not sure if it would work with Air2Sea, but if they announce flexible travel and you can fly in early that might be an option. 

[cruisegirl1]

3 hours ago, loudbmw said:

We were on the Oasis when Hurricane Irma hit Florida in 2017.  Since the storm was scheduled to make landfall around the end of our cruise, the Captain made the wise decision  to wait out the storm in the Gulf of Mexico where the weather was perfect.

 

Our seven day cruise ended up being ten days.  It wouldn’t have made any sense to even try to attempt to dock any sooner as all the airports were closed and the power was out for days in many places.

 

There were a ton of no shows for the following shortened cruise.  RCCL offered reduced rates for us to stay on board for the shortened cruise.  That worked out well since gas was in short supply in Florida and we were driving to Virginia.

 

We learned a few lessons while cruising during hurricane season, we ran out of meds but were able to buy them in Cozumel.  We now pack at least a week’s extra.  We filled our tank prior to parking so gas wasn’t needed until we got to South Carolina.

 

Parking in the terminal garage was also a wise decision.  Some guests that parked in off site surface lots found their cars totaled when a tornado hit one of the off site lots.

 

Lou

 

 

Hey Lou-we were on the ship also.  We only had half  of a tank of gas and were headed to SC too so we needed gas a little sooner  and it was a little problem until we hit mid Georgia. 

 

 We had been on the week prior as a back to back so we were on the ship for 17 days. My biggest advice is to bring extra meds. 

 

M

[msmayor]

If air travel is disrupted on the day you are scheduled to depart and prevents you from flying in, be prepared for the possibility that you will still have issues getting to the next port.  

 

When weather disrupts travel in one area of the country, it has a domino effect to other areas.

 

Your better bet is to take advantage of any opportunity to reschedule and fly in sooner rather than later.

[AlanAllyn]

I would see if yo can book a Southwest flight to Orlando  (or evenTampa) on Saturday and book a refundable hotel anywhere between airport and port.  Southwest allows you to use the money on another flight if you cancel for a year. They have a 9:30 am non-stop fromManchesterr to Orlando, but it very expensive and many onestops to each (still expensive.

[minnie00]

It is a strong possibility that our Harmony sailing might be late this weekend....so if the ship has to delay coming into port...how will we hear when to c9me to port? We are flying into MCO Saturday arrive about 430 if all goes well...and we are staying by the airport...I’m going to book an extra night to be safe....so just wondering how it will work if anyone has thoughts 

thanks 

[cruisegirl1]

 Nobody knows.

 

I was on harmony two years ago and the ship was delayed three days coming back into port Canaveral.  Our cruise became a 10 day cruise and the following sailing became a four day cruise. 

 

 Keep checking the cruise line website and stay safe. 

 

M

 

[minnie00]

How does the ship let you know when to come to port? 

[John&LaLa]

11 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 Nobody knows.

 

I was on harmony two years ago and the ship was delayed three days coming back into port Canaveral.  Our cruise became a 10 day cruise and the following sailing became a four day cruise. 

 

 Keep checking the cruise line website and stay safe. 

 

M

 

 

Oasis😉

[Merion_Mom]

They should have your mobile number.  If you are not sure  if they do, call them.  Also your email address.

[Sorcerer Tim]

We were on the same Harmony cruise as cruisegirl and they could not have handled it better. We were kept informed through daily, sometimes hourly announcements, information was on the televisions in the room, our cabin attendant and Genie kept us up to date. We had internet, but the ship made it free at certain times so people could check and change flights, contact family, etc. There was no shortage of things to do, they added two port stops and we were never in danger. That has been my only experience getting delayed by a hurricane, but if it happens again I know we will be in good hands.

[Biker19]

17 minutes ago, minnie00 said:

how will we hear when to come  to port? 

There will be plenty of threads here at CC discussing it. 

[M&JfromSDL]

11 minutes ago, minnie00 said:

How does the ship let you know when to come to port? 

 

Royal will communicate any changes to boarding/sailing time.  Just make sure your email address is correct in your reservation.