Weather-affected itinerary changes listed anywhere?

[divinggirl]

Hi everyone,

 

It seems as though TS Charley may be messing with the W. Caribbean this week, and that the Zuiderdam may have to sail accordingly...If ports/itinerary change occurs, is there a place this will be reflected or will we have to wait to hear from those pax onboard when they return?

 

Has this ever happened to anyone and where did you go instead? That goes for any itinerary...

 

Thanks!

 

Nikki

[sail7seas]

It is not uncommon for a ship to switch to an Eastern itinerary if there is bad weather in the western Caribbean. IF a ship is able to switch ports and get dock space, they could do any number of things. Alot depends upon how many ships are already scheduled for a port not originally scheduled by the ship looking to change itinerary. During August, there are very few ships in the Caribbean. Of course, HAL bean counters will evaluate "change in costs" (I would imagine) before giving permission to the Captain to go elsewhere.

 

 

The only one time we had to miss a port due a needed change of course to avoid weather was last November....the very tail end of Hurricane Season and we had to miss St. Maarten. IF the Captain had chosen to go there, we would have had rainy, horrible weather. By skipping it, we had blue, sunny skies all day but missed a port. There was no port substituted; we had a sea day.

[Orcrone]

IF the Captain had chosen to go there, we would have had rainy, horrible weather. By skipping it, we had blue, sunny skies all day but missed a port. There was no port substituted; we had a sea day.

Beautiful day at sea, or nasty rainy weather in port. Which would I choose?:rolleyes: ;) :rolleyes:

[Orcrone]

If the itinerary gets changed due to weather will the cruise line adjust (either up or down) the port charges?

[sail7seas]

Sorry....meant to add that the only way I know of to find out if they changed course, is to call HAL. Depending upon who you speak with and how "informed" they are, you may or may not get accurate information.

 

I rep who has no idea what is going on aboard the ships could well say that the ship sailed as scheduled to ports as planned when that may not be the case. :(

[elmorejj]

Sail, did they refund you any port charges when you missed Sint Maarten? We missed Nassau (no loss to me) once and they gave us a GLASS of champagne to make up for it!! I politely declined the "champagne"......jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

Orcrone and Jean.......

I clearly remember they served each of us a glass of champagne at dinner that night but I am vague as to whether they refunded port fees. My inclination is to say, yes....they issued a credit to all the shipboard accounts but I am not absolutely sure.

[spcl4cs_gal]

S7S so in the case of an extra day at sea, would they anchor or just sail around in circles until the next day? ;) (couldn't resist!)

[petermccue]

Last year on the Prinsendam we were forced to miss Prince Edward Island due to a rather nasty gale in the Bay of Fundy. They substituted a sea day and refunded our port charges. I'm not sure if we got free wine or not ... we ate in the cabin that evening as the ship was really moving.

 

We did eat, just didn't think my mother (who was in a wheelchair) needed to deal with the elevators, etc. due to the weather.

 

V

[sail7seas]

Depending upon how far it is to the next port, the ship goes round and round.....very slowly. :) Of course, when aboard and the ship is moving, you cannot tell that we really aren't going anywhere. It looks and feels like we are actually going somewhere. ;)

[divinggirl]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Let's hope Charley is the last we see for the season, how 'bout it??:D

[seaventurer]

Sorry to say, but the peak of Hurricane season is just firing up...this is when they start to roll in...right through the end of October...

[Tatka]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Let's hope Charley is the last we see for the season, how 'bout it??:D

I second your motion! :) (Well, how about hurricane season skipping week of 8/21 - 8/28 this year ? ;))

[divinggirl]

Sorry to say, but the peak of Hurricane season is just firing up...this is when they start to roll in...right through the end of October...

Of course, but one can certainly hope for a quiet season:D All the years I lived in FL, I never worried and we never really had problems until Sept. but I wasn't cruising then, either.:cool: