How does Carnival handle hurricanes?

[tess2cruz]

Those of you that sailed last hurricane season, how did Carnival ships handle it? Did anyone end up with 7 days at sea, or just maybe 1 port? We are sailing the Elation 9/03, Eastern Carib., 4 ports. YES, we understand that the chances are high we may get diverted, and are prepared to just lay by the pool with drinks for the whole cruise, :rolleyes: , but will survive LOL Just wanted to hear what others experienced last year, and what we could expect. Thanks

[marktac]

No, actually your chances are high that you will have a normal cruise. But, that being said, no one knows today what will happen with any given hurricane some 5 months away.

 

Generally, they may change the schedule from east to west. Or, you may go to Bermuda and sit. Or you may go south.

 

If the hurricane is threatening the home port, you may sail in circles or go to another port to end the cruise.

 

If you are leaving, they may pull out early (watch the news and talk to the cruise line regularly if that becomes a possibility).

 

Generally speaking, if the hurricane is there, the ship won't be.

 

Mark T

[L2J]

http://members.dsli.com/schooner/triumph/

[Kathyne]

We were on the Conquest last September when Hurricane Rita managed to put herself between us and Galveston. There wasn't another close port to come back to, so Carnival left us two extra days in sunny Cozumel and Costa Maya. They couldn't have been more accomodating. Not only did they feed and house us for two extra days for free, they brought in new entertainment so we wouldn't have to repeat a show. They even added the port of Costa Maya so we wouldn't be bored. We were informed and safe every step of the way. Their expert handling of a difficult situation has made me a loyal customer for life.

[Caliber1]

Two free days? I'm jealous!! It really sounds like they handled that situation well. I think their first priority is safety. A passenger that doesn't have a good time will not likely cruise again.

 

Jess

[24butterfly]

We're sailing in July--the 29th to the w'm Carib--Costa Maya, Belize leaving out of Port Canaveral....Do you think there will be problems?? Thanks!!

[salty dingo]

BTW, that Triumph picture is a well-known fake.

 

Hurricanes are big, but the good news is: it is quite remote (maybe 1% chance) that one will be in the path of your ship at the time you are cruising. I based my chance on looking at a map of hurricane paths over the last 100 years. The chances of a hurricane hitting a particular spot on a particular date is slim indeed.

 

Also, they do not sneak up on you. There is ample time to prepare and adjust. If Carnival saw one coming during embarkation, they would divert to another nearby port and/or delay arrival. If there was one on the return, they would do the same. No big deal if you have travel insurance that covers weather.

 

Even without insurance if you have a non-refundable airline ticket, you can usually make changes for a reasonable fee.

 

Worst case, if you drive to the port, as the passengers from NOLA found out during Katrina, you may lose access to your car for some time. But again, that is what insurance is for. And it is so remote of a chance it is not worth losing any sleep over.

[tess2cruz]

Wow, maybe we are paying rock bottom price for a chance at an extended cruise? :D That would be just too bad, LOL. I know there are no gaurentees either way, but that is why we have the great price and I will take what I can get just to get to cruise at all. But a couple of extra days wouldn't hurt my feelings.

does anyone know if any of the Eastern Carib ports were effected by the storms last year. I know Cozumal was and Grand Cayman the year before, (was there right after and saw it)

[cruise_pirate]

http://members.dsli.com/schooner/triumph/

 

That is one of the coolest pictures I have seen with a cruise ship:eek:

 

Were you on that!!!

[L2J]

That is one of the coolest pictures I have seen with a cruise ship:eek:

 

Were you on that!!!

 

It not real LOL...I just love posting the link on hurricane threads :D

[tess2cruz]

We're sailing in July--the 29th to the w'm Carib--Costa Maya, Belize leaving out of Port Canaveral....Do you think there will be problems?? Thanks!!

 

Dont think you should worry too much, I have sailed both EC and WC in summer, no problem.

[cruise_pirate]

It not real LOL...I just love posting the link on hurricane threads :D

 

Oh I was going to say that would be a heck of a ride!!!!!!!:)

[x-cruiser]

I can tell you how ours was handled. (June 2005) We left out of NOLA and Carnival had cancelled our first port. They gave a $50 pp credit on our sail and sign card. We were told that we would go to Cozumel. This was with the hurricane heading there as well. 2 1/2 days later we were told that we couldn't port due to the Hurricane, Duh... We were again given $50 pp credit on our sail and sign cards. We were also given the opportunity to take a future 3, 4, or 5 day cruise at 50% off ; have to take it before Dec 2006. We never ported anywhere and it sucked, big time. There is only so much you can do on the ship. The bars and casino, I'm sure made huge profits. You can drink $50 up in one afternoon before dinner out in the sun.... Off course, Hurricane Katrina came in August and we haven't been able to rebook. I'm not sure that we will.

 

I even wrote a letter to Carnival expressing my dissatisfaction with the

way they handled it; they always maintained that we would go to port

at Cozumel. Why didn't we go somewhere else? Only Carnival knows....

[tess2cruz]

I can tell you how ours was handled. (June 2005) We left out of NOLA and Carnival had cancelled our first port. They gave a $50 pp credit on our sail and sign card. We were told that we would go to Cozumel. This was with the hurricane heading there as well. 2 1/2 days later we were told that we couldn't port due to the Hurricane, Duh... We were again given $50 pp credit on our sail and sign cards. We were also given the opportunity to take a future 3, 4, or 5 day cruise at 50% off ; have to take it before Dec 2006. We never ported anywhere and it sucked, big time. There is only so much you can do on the ship. The bars and casino, I'm sure made huge profits. You can drink $50 up in one afternoon before dinner out in the sun.... Off course, Hurricane Katrina came in August and we haven't been able to rebook. I'm not sure that we will.

 

I even wrote a letter to Carnival expressing my dissatisfaction with the

way they handled it; they always maintained that we would go to port

at Cozumel. Why didn't we go somewhere else? Only Carnival knows....

 

I think maybe you need to consider how many cruise ships are out there at any given time, and the itineraries are well planned. the ports are already pretty full, and there were probably none at that time that could accomdate your ship. My experience on the West Carib have been several differant ships at each port. The Eastern Carib we have more islands where we are the only ship, and probably have a better chance of being deverted to another port. How long was your cruise?

[rpplano]

IMHO The western routes and ports are becoming cruise ship traffic jams. I'm done with the West. Eastern and Southern are far more interesting and less congested.

[x-cruiser]

In Carnival's defense, that's probably true. There was no where they could have gone. But what left the bad feelings on our part, Carnival stated that we were offered the opportunity for a full refund prior to the ship leaving NOLA. That wasn't the case. We asked and were told no.

We were also told prior to leaving that the ship would port somewhere. Again that wasn't the case.

 

The other post was correct, if the hurricane is there, the ship most likely won't be.

[ppeckham]

In 2003 Hurricane Claudette was in the Gulf of Mexico when we left Galveston on the Jubilee. We sailed around her (east to Alabama and then cut south). This delayed our arrival in Calica by a few hours. No missed ports.

 

Last year, I sailed on the Miracle. Hurricane Emily was cruising through the Western Caribbean at the time. Originally we were to sail to Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Belize and Cozumel. Instead we sailed around the eastern side of Cuba and stopped in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We were disappointed that we missed Belize, but we still had a wonderful time.

[emmysmommy]

Speaking of sailing during hurricane season.... We were on the Miracle during Hurricane Katrina. We passed through the southern perimeter of the storm when we were returning to Tampa and got diverted to Ft. Lauderdale. That last sea day was really rocky but it could have been worse since the winds were from the west and created a tailwind that pushed us along fairly quickly.

 

Carnival did a great job re-booking flights for their fly away guests and bussing passengers who booked their own flights/drove - back to Tampa.

[patrice1]

We always travel during hurricane season because of the prices. We've had some port changes, but only on 3 out of 5 cruises. We've been on during some rocky weather, but never felt port-deprived or afraid. We got 4 hurricanes at home last year here in the Keys, so at least being able to move around them is better than being on land!

[cubdaddy]

In Carnival's defense, that's probably true. There was no where they could have gone. But what left the bad feelings on our part, Carnival stated that we were offered the opportunity for a full refund prior to the ship leaving NOLA. That wasn't the case. We asked and were told no.

We were also told prior to leaving that the ship would port somewhere. Again that wasn't the case.

 

The other post was correct, if the hurricane is there, the ship most likely won't be.

 

Though I think you would burn through your credit pretty quick on the ship, a 50% off your next cruise is a pretty big deal.

 

The problem with the past hurricane season was that the path of the storms changed frequently and made it tough for vacation planners as well as Carnival. They have many ships and attempt to move them around the storms and still give their passengers a great time.

 

To the OP's question, we were cruising during Hurricane Wilma out of Miami. We were supposed to go to Key West and Cozumel. Our iten. changed to Freeport and Nassau at the last minute but we got out of port and still made the cruise. It was a 4 day cruise. Due to the hurricane we could not get back into Miami and spent an extra 2 days at sea. Once back in port we found there was not transportation or hotels available (airports closed). We went back on the ship for another 3 days for a $100. What an awesome deal. This was great since our only option seemed to be to sleep in the airport until flights resumed 2 days later. On our additional 3 days we went back to the Bahamas.

 

We love to cruise and had a fantastic 9 day cruise on the Imagination. We did not get to the ports we wanted but Carnival did a great job keeping us aware of what was going on and safe.

 

You can read a full review of the Imagination Hurricane Wilma cruise in the link below in my signature!

[vesw01]

Cubdaddy

Did they just charge you $100 for the 3 days or $100 each day? Also, did you have travel ins and if so did they reimburse you for it>

[crazycruzer68]

We were due for Cozumel that same time Wilma was in Oct., they told us upon boarding that we may not do that port, before 8:00 on the first night we had already changed to do Nassau. We got no credit for a changed port, not that we should have Nassau was wonderful! If you are worried and feel like they are not giving you information you can always watch the news from your cabin. After leaving Key West we had a day at sea, I don't think it takes that long to do Key West to nassau because it seemed like we just circled for a while. We saw several other ships doing the same thing, I love to see another cruise ship at night all lite up.

[nybumpkin]

We were on Conquest during Hurricane Dennis last year. We skipped Grand Cayman, docked early in Cozumel, and arrived back in New Orleans a day late. We were well informed about the path of the storm and the fact that we might be late in returning; people with scheduling problems were urged to consider disembarking at Cozumel and arranging alternate transportation home. The captain and crew did a great job at keeping us updated and (much more importantly) keeping us away from the storm. The morning we sailed off the Texas coast playing "keep away" from Dennis was rough - no hope for it. The CD and his staff also were very good at juggling entertainment schedules, and we didn't lack for activities. In all, it was handled well; we'll be out there again this summer.