Bad Weather/Hurricane Season

[pugaddict]

We are going to Bermuda in early August. (Can't Wait) Has anyone ever expericenced or been in the middle of a cruise when there is the threat of a hurricane going in their direction? What did you do? What if you are docked in Bermuda and one is headed in that direction? Do you leave early? Just curious what would happen. Thanks

[radzer0]

early august usualy doesnt get any major storms. I know there is tropical storms or maybe a cat 1. Being in new orleans we pay attention to alot of these and i havent seen it lately. And id think they would loose a port after that to stay there and not go back to sea if its bad enough for the ship to not handle it.

[rednancy1]

We are going to Bermuda in early August. (Can't Wait) Has anyone ever expericenced or been in the middle of a cruise when there is the threat of a hurricane going in their direction? What did you do? What if you are docked in Bermuda and one is headed in that direction? Do you leave early? Just curious what would happen. Thanks

 

My sister and I were booked on a cruise to Cozumel and Grand Caymen last year. Then a hurricane came up. :eek:

 

The cruise ship merely changed course and sailed to Nassau and Freeport. :) Any cruise ship can outsail a hurricane. :rolleyes:

 

We were happy as we had a great cruise. :)

[LOWTYD]

We were docked on Bermuda when Bertha (not the most recent, this was in the 90's) was heading our way. Luckily it was out last day and were were notfiied that we would be leaving earlier than scheduled (basically to outrun it!) and as we pulled into NYC the rains came (I think by then it was a tropical depression) Most ships will change their itinieraries to keep everyone safe as possible.

Have a great cruise!

[mevers]

Peak hurricane season in the Carribean tends to be October and November. I know because we honeymooned in Cancun during October and that was one thing we paid close attention to re: our travel insurance :)

[BIG_Steve]

What happens if you're out, and a hurricane is threatening your port of return? Sit out the storm at sea? Or make for a different port?

[dtracker]

Any cruise ship can outsail a hurricane. :rolleyes:

 

We were happy as we had a great cruise. :)

 

I wasn't sure this was true, so I had to look it up. Yep, most hurricanes travel between 10-13 mph. I thought ships just dodged them, not outrun them. :D

 

DT

[njhorseman]

I was on a cruise headed to Bermuda from NY that had to change course to skirt a hurricane, but the hurricane changed course too , and although we did not end up in the teeth of it, we did get bounced around pretty badly. It was the worst cruise experience I've had.

[Don Haynes]

What happens if you're out, and a hurricane is threatening your port of return? Sit out the storm at sea? Or make for a different port?

 

Depends on the storm and when it hits. For example with Galveston if the storm hits on the day of embarkation and disembarkation, they will cancel the next cruise, and wait out the storm a day, arriving a day late. If it hits during mid week, sometimes they cancel and sometimes they proceed as usual. The stronger the storm the greater the chances of the next cruise being cancelled. The media will cover the story.

 

If a storm hits the ports of call of the cruise, ships have been known to go elsewhere and/or switch their itineraries. A storm is one of the reasons why the cruise lines won't guarantee itineraries.

[BIG_Steve]

A storm is one of the reasons why the cruise lines won't guarantee itineraries.

 

My wife is a rental agent at a community here in Florida. Folks will come and complain to her if the weather is colder than normal, or if it rains too much. She couldn't believe that in the begining, now she just laughs.

[Giantfan13]

We were on a B2B crusie on Carnival, a couple of years ago, out of New Orleans. We were going to Cozumel and another port, which I forget the name. When we got to Cozumel for the first leg of the cruise, a major hurricane was headed it's way. They were getting all the boats out of the water and battening everything up. We headed back to NO. On the second leg, the other port we were suppose to go to was wiped out by the hurricane, and we were diverted to Key West. We were asea when the hurricane was at it's fiecest, and if you aked anyone on board, you would have thought everything was fine in the entire world. All we got was about 1/2 day of wind, but never even a clound in the sky, the sea was as calm as could be and Key West was great. When we returned to Cozumel, they were getting everything back into the water, and life goes on. They weren't hit too hard, and whenver ships come back to port, they are as busy as ever.

 

It's funny, when you hear the reports on the TV about a pending hurricane EXACTLY where you are suppose to go,it's scary, but the personnel in charge know what's going on and there is NEVER any danger to the ship and it's passengers. As I said, all the worry was for naught, as we never knew there was a hurricane in the gulf.

[bakerintn]

I wasn't sure this was true, so I had to look it up. Yep, most hurricanes travel between 10-13 mph. I thought ships just dodged them, not outrun them. :D

 

DT

 

Actually I believe that they can travel up to 30 MPH....but with today's advance warnings and satellite communications, the ship should never be in danger as long as they still have propulsion. A cruise ship would be safer at sea away from the hurricane than it would be in port with the danger of a hurricane hitting there. Hurricanes have a most dangerous quadrant (right /front ie, Noon to 3) if a ship stays out of that quadrant even if fairly close to the center, it should be ok.

[rednancy1]

I wasn't sure this was true, so I had to look it up. Yep, most hurricanes travel between 10-13 mph. I thought ships just dodged them, not outrun them. :D

 

DT

 

 

Too funny. :D I really meant to say avoid and not outrun. :o

[LindaKE]

In 1994, Ivan struck in July, so August is definitely within hurricane season. It usually doesn't get bad until mid to late August, but Ivan did major damage in July.

 

Just don't count on a particular port. A couple of years ago, some of the ships stayed at sea well away from home port to avoid being in the middle of the storm while in debarking/embarking. Those passengers go a few extra days on their cruise, while the next group got shorted a few days.

 

We were on a cruise when there was a hurricane near by. We couldn't get any info from the crew, so we finally went to the internet for updated info on the storm. Like the crew said, "Everything will be alright." Living in a hurricane zone, though, we are super aware of storm season and just wanted to know something about what was happening with the storm.

[mia10010]

In Aug. 1995 I was on the NCL Dreamward and we were supposed to go to Bermuda, but there was a hurricane headed that way. The itinerary was changed and we ended up going to Canada. So many people were angry, but what was the Capt. supposed to do?? Bermuda ended up getting hit really hard. I was just happy to be safe and still had a great time.

[RedSectorA]

We cruised on our honeymoon (18 years ago!) in October, and had to skirt around a hurricane that was in the area (eastern Caribbean). The captain altered course for safety to avoid it. Our first port was San Juan, and we had to speed up to make the port on time, which really made for a bumpy ride! Luckily for my wife and I, we don't get seasick, so if you are prone to that, I wouldn't recommend a cruise during hurricane season. A lot of people on our cruise ended up too sick to continue, and left the ship when we docked.

 

The weather was spotty as well, so keep that in mind when booking. I don't think I'd ever go on a cruise in the Caribbean during hurricane season (unless someone wants to give me a free cruise! :) ).

[Sea Hound]

What happens if you're out, and a hurricane is threatening your port of return? Sit out the storm at sea? Or make for a different port?

 

I was once on a HAL cruise that couldn't put into our port of Ft. Lauderdale because of a strong storm. The ship diverted and docked instead in Miami and they paid to bus us back to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

SH:D

[dtracker]

Actually I believe that they can travel up to 30 MPH....but with today's advance warnings and satellite communications, the ship should never be in danger as long as they still have propulsion. A cruise ship would be safer at sea away from the hurricane than it would be in port with the danger of a hurricane hitting there. Hurricanes have a most dangerous quadrant (right /front ie, Noon to 3) if a ship stays out of that quadrant even if fairly close to the center, it should be ok.

 

That may be true, but the National Hurricane Center said most are between 10-13 mph. You're absolutely right that a ship is safer at sea in a hurricane than in port. I wouldn't want to be in either, however. :eek:

 

DT

[groovey cruiser]

We are going to Bermuda in early August. (Can't Wait) Has anyone ever expericenced or been in the middle of a cruise when there is the threat of a hurricane going in their direction? What did you do? What if you are docked in Bermuda and one is headed in that direction? Do you leave early? Just curious what would happen. Thanks

 

Pugaddict, When in August are you sailing? We're leaving August 14, on the Spirit. Let's pray for smooth sailing, only clear blue skies and nice calm oceans!!:) Have fun on your cruise.

[pugaddict]

We are August 9th on the Dawn.:D

[fin]

The Captain of the Carnival Ecstasy was in radio contact with other ships off the Pacific coast of central America on our Canal transit and took extreme care to try to avoid high winds and heavy seas from a storm ahead of us, but fortunately we did not miss any ports.

 

Although not a hurricane, the bridge instruments on the Jewel last September recorded winds of 78mphas shown on clickable thumbnail.