Rainy cruise week

[HelenaCruiser2012]

Hello all, my husband and I are booked on Symphony leaving from NJ this Sunday 10/6, going to Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau.  The weather forecast looks really rainy for all three ports, I don't know about the sea days or travel to/from the ports.  I guess we've been lucky weather-wise on our cruises so far but this time it looks pretty bad.  Is there a possibility that they would change the itinerary because of heavy rain in all three ports?  I'm picturing 6000+ passengers all stuck inside for most of a week.  I know we couldn't have predicted next week's weather when we booked this in January.  Thanks.

Edited Wednesday at 10:47 PM by HelenaCruiser2012

[firefly333]

The other ports will be all booked up. It's pretty much impossible to change this late to other ports unless it's a emergency like a hurricane. Rain is common during hurricsne season.

 

I just went to Bermuda and only coco cay was sunny all day. I enjoyed it being cooler than I'm used to in florida, but I guess for you from up north not optimal. I brought a poncho. You might being one if you think it might rain.

[craig01020]

I've been on a few cruise itineraries that had really bad weather forecasts, and most of them turned out much better than expected. Don't stress over it, just bring umbrellas.

[Roupa2]

Don’t let the weather slow you down!  A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work!!

[goldfish65]

Never hurts to bring your own entertainment, we bring some reading and games like Yahtzee. Keep a flexible attitude and you'll be fine. 

[twangster]

Monday morning I looked at the forecast for Central Florida.  Rain everyday.  

 

 

Where I am we didn't get any rain on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's been hot and sunny with clouds at time.  

 

In a Florida summer the weather people can almost copy and paste the same forecast day after day.  Rain.  That doesn't mean an all day rain everywhere.  It can rain in the front yard but not in the backyard.  Rain storms can be very small cells that soak one area and leave another area dry.  

 

The Caribbean and Bahamas can be similar.  No one knows if a small island will actually get wet, but the forecast is rain many days in a row.

 

Will it rain tomorrow (Thursday)?  Maybe.  Maybe not where I am, maybe where someone else is in the next town over.  

 

Don't sweat it.  Enjoy the cruise.

[HelenaCruiser2012]

Wow thanks everyone, appreciate the good thoughts and logic and info about ports.  We've never lived outside of the Philly/South Jersey area so we didn't realize how fickle the weather can be in that area.  We're going to hope for the best and yes bring disposable ponchos and umbrellas, and a good sense of humor and lots of patience.  We weren't planning on carrying on any wine but yes we'll bring a couple of bottles on now just in case we spend more time in our cabin.  We keep getting RoyalUp emails and so far have ignored them but I told DH maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to bid on some extra space (we're in an oceanview balcony).  Thank you so much for the info, you've given us hope for a long-awaited vacation that's not a total washout!

[LINDAE3213]

We've had downpours every visit to cococay..like over an hour of heavy rain...ended up huddled under the bar area of south beach.  

[JamesEM]

I always take along a couple of inexpensive ponchos in case of rain, at least you can get off the ship and explore the port(s).

[Mum2Mercury]

We've mostly been lucky with cruise-weather, but last fall that luck ran out:  We had so much rain the second half of our week.  Thoughts: 

- I'd be lying if I said the weather didn't impact our enjoyment, but it was still a great week!  

- You have to look the positive.  One of my favorite memories of that cruise is sitting by the window in the Windjammer watching a storm out over the ocean -- it was a beautiful thing, and we stayed longer than our meal watching it. 

- Though I'm a light packer, I suggest you bring an extra pair of everyday shoes.  Coming back from Cozumel, we got soaking wet -- our shoes needed about a day to dry out.  

- We wished we'd brought some of those disposable ponchos mentioned above by another poster.  

- We always bring a ball cap to wear off the ship.  In light rain I can keep going (happily!) if I can keep the rain off my face and eyeglasses.  

[FishOn55]

3 hours ago, twangster said:

Monday morning I looked at the forecast for Central Florida.  Rain everyday.  

 

 

Where I am we didn't get any rain on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's been hot and sunny with clouds at time.  

 

Same for us in the Orlando area. Our forecasters here are more often wrong than right. That is the only job I know of where people get paid  and the forecasts are wrong most of the time! 

 

[firefly333]

I got my ponchos at the dollar store, though now it's the 1.25 store lol. At one of my ports last week one of the sellers sold ponchos for $2.50 each, and I bet he cleaned up, 2 for $5. Blue ones. People werent even haggling, sure I'll take 2 for me and the wife.

[Cruise5life]

Think of it as a transpacific transatlantic.     10 days at sea and outside weathers terrible.     I haven’t been outside in 3 days. Lolol.   But the ships great inside.  Having a blast.    lol 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, HelenaCruiser2012 said:

Hello all, my husband and I are booked on Symphony leaving from NJ this Sunday 10/6, going to Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau.  The weather forecast looks really rainy for all three ports, I don't know about the sea days or travel to/from the ports.  I guess we've been lucky weather-wise on our cruises so far but this time it looks pretty bad.  Is there a possibility that they would change the itinerary because of heavy rain in all three ports?  I'm picturing 6000+ passengers all stuck inside for most of a week.  I know we couldn't have predicted next week's weather when we booked this in January.  Thanks.

 

We were on the Utopia two weeks ago. The forecast the day before we left was for rain and some thunderstorms for Orlando, Port Canaveral, Nassau, and CocoCay. On our actual cruise, we had no rain during the day. Beautiful weather,,, it was actually a bit too hot in CocoCay. 

 

Wishing you the best of luck on your cruise. Enjoy!

[retired dude]

one of the first things we were taught in travel school was to advise  clients to avoid   cruising  out of florida to the caribbean and mexico during sept and oct......just sayin'

[lovesthebeach2]

12 hours ago, twangster said:

Monday morning I looked at the forecast for Central Florida.  Rain everyday.  

 

 

Where I am we didn't get any rain on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's been hot and sunny with clouds at time.  

 

In a Florida summer the weather people can almost copy and paste the same forecast day after day.  Rain.  That doesn't mean an all day rain everywhere.  It can rain in the front yard but not in the backyard.  Rain storms can be very small cells that soak one area and leave another area dry.  

 

The Caribbean and Bahamas can be similar.  No one knows if a small island will actually get wet, but the forecast is rain many days in a row.

 

Will it rain tomorrow (Thursday)?  Maybe.  Maybe not where I am, maybe where someone else is in the next town over.  

 

Don't sweat it.  Enjoy the cruise.

Same with us….the weather in the morning always looks like it will rain every afternoon, but nope……although I did get woken up by a T storm last night at 3am….

[cruiseboy89130]

12 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

games like Yahtzee

You can do that at the craps table in the casino!😜

[leaveitallbehind]

14 hours ago, HelenaCruiser2012 said:

Hello all, my husband and I are booked on Symphony leaving from NJ this Sunday 10/6, going to Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau...........Is there a possibility that they would change the itinerary because of heavy rain in all three ports?  

 

The likelihood of alternative ports of call is very slim as this itinerary leaving from NJ would have very few options, even if there where other ports of call that would include the required foreign port, that could be scheduled on late notice. 

 

As it takes a day of cruising each way from and to NJ to reach the area of these ports, the scheduled ports of call are the only real options for this itinerary. Not sure where else you could go.  Beside unless there were severe storms, such as a hurricane affecting the area, the ship would not likely reschedule any ports of call due to rain.

 

As others have mentioned, make the best of whatever weather you incur and I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Edited Thursday at 01:06 PM by leaveitallbehind

[smokeybandit]

It's rare to have a forecast in many Caribbean stops that doesn't include rain on a day.

 

It's also rare to have actual weather in many Caribbean stops that includes rain all day.

[twangster]

6 hours ago, retired dude said:

one of the first things we were taught in travel school was to advise  clients to avoid   cruising  out of florida to the caribbean and mexico during sept and oct......just sayin'

 

We appreciate your efforts to reduce the cost of cruising for the rest of us even though the weather is usually pretty good.  

 

PS - it rains every month in Florida, just not as much some months.  just sayin'

[Crazy planning mom]

Does the cruise ever change due to winds?  We are scheduled to do the 10/20 sailing of the Symphony.  I know it's early but right now they are predicting strong winds on our CoCo Cay day and Nassau day.  Might it end up being a Florida trip only?

[leaveitallbehind]

14 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Does the cruise ever change due to winds?  We are scheduled to do the 10/20 sailing of the Symphony.  I know it's early but right now they are predicting strong winds on our CoCo Cay day and Nassau day.  Might it end up being a Florida trip only?

Typically, no. Itineraries won't likely be impacted or change due to winds, rain, or other weather incident other than hurricanes.  But if the wind (and accompanying sea condition) is significantly strong enough at the time to prevent safe docking, then that port of call could be skipped. They also will try to make at least one of the foreign (Bahama's) ports of call for the itinerary.  

 

And as you suggest, the wind, weather, and sea conditions nearly three weeks from now will not likely be easy to predict with any firm accuracy. 

Edited Thursday at 08:22 PM by leaveitallbehind

[DCGuy64]

20 hours ago, twangster said:

Monday morning I looked at the forecast for Central Florida.  Rain everyday.  

 

 

Where I am we didn't get any rain on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's been hot and sunny with clouds at time.  

 

In a Florida summer the weather people can almost copy and paste the same forecast day after day.  Rain.  That doesn't mean an all day rain everywhere.  It can rain in the front yard but not in the backyard.  Rain storms can be very small cells that soak one area and leave another area dry.  

 

The Caribbean and Bahamas can be similar.  No one knows if a small island will actually get wet, but the forecast is rain many days in a row.

 

Will it rain tomorrow (Thursday)?  Maybe.  Maybe not where I am, maybe where someone else is in the next town over.  

 

Don't sweat it.  Enjoy the cruise.

The problem with forecasts is twofold:

1. Meteorologists don't make the weather, they only predict it. They're often wrong.

2. An overview like the one in this graphic only tells part of the story: It says there's a 55% chance of rain on Tuesday, but when on Tuesday? Not likely to be all 24 hours. So when they put these forecasts out there, even if there's a 55% chance of rain for 20 minutes at 4 AM, the forecast will say "55% chance of rain on Tuesday."

Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. We've been in ports where it poured rain for 15 minutes, really coming down in buckets, and then it stopped and the sun came out. Storms can move very fast in the Caribbean, so my advice to OP is "don't worry."

And enjoy your cruise!

[FLCruiser97]

We are due to cruise on Sunday 10/6 to the Western Caribbean (Cozumel, Costa Maya). With the impending tropical system expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico, I am wondering if RCCL might change this itinerary. I was just on an MSC cruise last week and we were out at sea an extra day due to port closure.

[HelenaCruiser2012]

You're all great, thank you!  You're all saying about the same thing, don't believe the forecast and if it does rain it might be short-lived.  And yes I guess it does rain in FL this time of year especially, we shouldn't be surprised.  Thanks to all of you we've changed our outlook and are back to looking forward to our cruise.  Symphony is a beautiful ship, our favorite so far, and we can't wait to be back.  Thanks for all of your support and good wishes!!!