Eastern Carribean Hurricane Plans

[CroozeNoob]

I am wondering what our alternate plans would be if we happen to run into a Hurricane during our cruise in late August. I have read rhat the entire itinerary can be changed. What would be the alternate ports?

[mom says]

Who knows? Totally depends on your current itinerary, the projected path of the hurricane, and what islands  outside said path would be reachable (with open berths) in the time available. Maybe none at all- a cruise to no where.

[leaveitallbehind]

First of all, as @mom says suggests, we would have to know what your specific itinerary is to even have a stab at what alternative ports of call might be. (There are a number of Eastern Caribbean itineraries with various ports of call).  And I agree that securing alternatives on the fly during a given cruise may be difficult if not impossible. 

 

Storm avoidance would be the Captain's first priority and alternate ports of call would then be secondary, based on feasibility of short notice arrangements.  Most itineraries are secured months, if not years, in advance and any alternatives to those would only be as available for additional ships at any given time.

 

The other thing to keep in mind is that hurricane season (June 1 - November 30) is just the time of year when conditions are most favorable for storms to develop, and not a guarantee that they will.  The likelihood is you will have no issues and this question will be moot.  Enjoy your cruise!

Edited February 11 by leaveitallbehind

[Essiesmom]

And the storm might not affect your ports of call…but close your debark port/airport.  In 2019 we were on a western Caribbean cruise over Labor Day and a hurricane in the Bahamas closed port of Miami and airports.  We missed our last port of Key West but got second visits to Costa Maya and Cozumel.  EM

[CroozeNoob]

@leaveitallbehind our itinerary is below

 

POM

Sea Day

Puerto Plata

Saint Thomas

Saint John Antigua

Saint Martin

San Juan

Sea day

Great Stirruo Quay

POM

 

Namely, I like to research where I coild be going so I have SOME idea of what is there. And the wifi on the Norwegian Sky is spotty, at best.

 

[leaveitallbehind]

It's still nearly impossible to say.  Way too many variables as to where the storm would be concentrated, at what point during the cruise would you be affected, how big the storm is, etc.  But your itinerary is pretty concentrated to the northern section of the eastern Caribbean, which would limit alternatives.  And if the storm would be centered anywhere in that area from San Juan to Antiqua, all the alternative islands around there would likely be affected as they are all vey close together. 

 

So there maybe wouldn't be any alternatives available.  And since you are coming from and returning to Miami, you would be dramatically limited in the range and time available to get to anywhere not likely affected, such as further south to  St. Lucia, or Barbados, as example.

 

But the bigger issue remains that even if there were alternatives, would they be able to schedule the on the relatively short notice that would be required.  The only thing that would perhaps work in your favor of finding alternatives is that most hurricanes are tracked for a week or two as they develop.  You don't typically "run into" a hurricane.  This may provide the cruise lines with some time to work on an alternative itinerary, but that may be out of the region altogether or even force a full cancellation.

 

I know you are trying to have all your bases covered, but you really are asking the impossible.  I would just suggest planning to enjoy your cruise on the itinerary in place.

[Hlitner]

There are few limits to how an itinerary can be altered due to a major storm.  Ports can change, times in ports can change, ports can be cancelled, etc.  Wise passengers simply roll with the waves (pun intended) as you generally have no choice.  Another issue is that bad storms can cause a delay in embarkation or even the cancellation of an entire cruise.  And a storm, that hits the USA will play havoc with airline schedules and folks may not even make it to their embarkation port (especially those who fly-in the day of a cruise.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

Look at a map - if it’s a large storm, take a look at ports far away from you itinerary ports. If it’s a smaller one, you alternative ports could be fairly close.  I’ve had three cruises diverted from Bermuda: one went to Halifax, another to Nassau - the third just left Bermuda a day early and slowly sailed back to New York (slowly, to use up time).

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

On 2/11/2024 at 1:43 PM, CroozeNoob said:

I am wondering what our alternate plans would be if we happen to run into a Hurricane during our cruise in late August. I have read rhat the entire itinerary can be changed. What would be the alternate ports?

The answer is pretty simple, sail away from the storm. The ship can handle bad weather,,,, passengers, no so much.

 

NCL's attitude is that the cruise must go on and almost never, ever cancels a cruise. The ship is going to leave and it incumbent upon the passenger to get to the departure port (PoM). We have had to fly in an extra day early to ensure that we were in Miami assuming that the airports would close during bad weather (and they have). People on our cruise drove in from Dallas and Kansas because once air travel is disrupted, all flights into southern and central Florida are sold out. 

 

Hurricanes are big and it takes effort to sail around their effects. If the Sky can sail around the storm by skipping some ports, they will try and hit some Eastern Caribbean ports. A lot of times, you would spend the cruise in Mexico (Cozumel, Costa Maya), Honduras, Belize and at sea. On a 9-day cruise, you could visit Massachusetts, Maine and do a stop in Halifax. Or worst case is that you call in Nassau and spend 8 days at sea running from the storm. 

 

The Sky is one of the smallest and oldest ships in the NCL fleet. It's not going to do heroics in a storm. 

 

The WiFi on the Sky is no better/worse than other ships in the Eastern Caribbean. 

 

People rave about the potential of StarLink for high transfer rates. Guess what??? You put several thousand people sharing a small, underpowered satellite, along with multiple ships and the service is not great. We just got off a cruise and spend a lot of time uploading photos and videos and was totally unimpressed with StarLink. You add multiple ships that now have the service installed, and, as predicted, the land-side interface between the space segment and land-based internet becomes a bottle neck. 

Edited February 13 by BirdTravels

[SPacificbound]

On 2/11/2024 at 12:43 PM, CroozeNoob said:

I am wondering what our alternate plans would be if we happen to run into a Hurricane during our cruise in late August. I have read rhat the entire itinerary can be changed. What would be the alternate ports?

Hello from hurricane country! 🙂 It's the 3 r's...

 

The best you can do is, recognize there is a small possibility of a tropical event, realize that the Captain is going to make the decision on where he/she feels is the best place to take the ship, crew and passengers away from the storm, and relax as you are on a ship, which beats the heck out of staying home. 

[cincymel]

Do excursions booked through the cruise line get refunded if they have to cancel a port stop for a weather re-route?

 

[mom says]

Of course.

[leaveitallbehind]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:47 PM, cincymel said:

Do excursions booked through the cruise line get refunded if they have to cancel a port stop for a weather re-route?

 

As @mom says, plus any port fees associated with any missed port of call.

[leaveitallbehind]

As long as the topic was raised I will add that with most cruise lines, you will not receive any credit or refund of the fare paid due to missed ports for the affected cruise, however they may issue some form of an on board credit or discount for a future booking. 

Edited February 21 by leaveitallbehind