Any Thoughts On CC After This Passes?

[BobaFettuciniAlfredo]

I did a search and found this thread from 2004: http://www.disboards.com/threads/castaway-cay-hurricane-damage.660150/

The poster there say they were on the 10/2 Eastern and were the first ship to go to Castaway Cay after Hurricane Jeanne. My research on Hurricane Jeanne leads me to believe that that one went directly through the Bahamas as a category 3 storm around 9/25, so quite a direct hit on Castaway Cay.

The 10/2 Eastern Caribbean cruise would have been on Castaway Cay on 10/8, so that is about two weeks after the hurricane. So if things go the same, we could see DCL ships returning to Castaway Cay around 10/19 or so... If all goes well and not much worse than in 2004!

I looked at Jeanne and it did pass just north of CC as a 3. I think Matthew may do some more damage because CC will get the east side of the storm, which always has the highest winds of the storm. Storm surge is estimated in the Bahamas at 10-15ft (WOW), which means that a lot of CC will be underwater, which means a lot of sand is going to get moved around. I would be shocked if Disney would even be able to get power back on within a week and there is a possibility that water would be out as well. Parts of it could be underwater for an extended amount of time. Hurricane Ivan made landfall where I live as a Cat 3 (120 mph winds/14 ft. storm surge) the same year as Jeanne and it took years for places on the beach to get back to normal.

All that being said, I hope there is a turn or a weakening before it gets to CC because we go on an EC cruise on 12/3!

 

[Flossbolna]

I looked at Jeanne and it did pass just north of CC as a 3. I think Matthew may do some more damage because CC will get the east side of the storm, which always has the highest winds of the storm. Storm surge is estimated in the Bahamas at 10-15ft (WOW), which means that a lot of CC will be underwater, which means a lot of sand is going to get moved around. I would be shocked if Disney would even be able to get power back on within a week and there is a possibility that water would be out as well. Parts of it could be underwater for an extended amount of time. Hurricane Ivan made landfall where I live as a Cat 3 (120 mph winds/14 ft. storm surge) the same year as Jeanne and it took years for places on the beach to get back to normal.

All that being said, I hope there is a turn or a weakening before it gets to CC because we go on an EC cruise on 12/3!

Living in Central Europe I have no clue about hurricanes and how they compare to each other... So, thanks for that input! And welcome to the DIS, I see that this was your first post!!

I think electricity and water are both produced by Disney itself on the island. I do not remember a lot of electricity cables hanging around, so I think most of it must be underground - and hopefully built in a way that can withstand the erosion. I also think that Castaway Cay infrastructure cannot be compared to a normal beach. With the experience from 2004, I am sure the Disney put a lot of energy into making the island as hurricane proof as possible. Of course, being underwater is something that will cause quite a lot of damage. But if we are lucky it will mainly be vegetation that is damaged. Oh and sand might be moved around quite a bit!

 

[jlynch924]

When we were at CC on one of our trips, a hurricane had passed through a month or so before we were there. The vegetation that was remaining was largely brown, due to the sea salt having covered it during the storm. The next time we went through, about a year later, it had mostly recovered.

 

[PoopDeckPappy]

Then it looks like you should swap out warm weather clothes for cold weather clothes.

http://disboards.com/threads/so-abo...ade-a-statement.3550972/page-22#post-56575927

I know. Monday I was thinking maybe just a change to somewhere warmer now it's TOTALLY different! I'm torn on going or not. While I myself can do without the ports (having done most of them before) my kids 1. didn't know we had this planned so they are not "missing out" on WDW and 2. they love the kids clubs/areas so much they wouldn't be disappointed going to Canada. I wouldn't tell them we were supposed to go to Magic Kingdom for the day. Any feedback is welcome.

 

[Dreamer04]

I don't remember if it was Hurricane Wilma, but CC got very damaged. The most damaged was the port. It took a long time. As far as where the ship will dock, when a ship at sea has to move to avoid a storm, the old adage come into play. "Any port in a storm". Once they docked in South Carolina!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I thought the ship had to go to a foreign port because of "the rules" -- I know there's a lot of speculation on other threads about how DCL could get around this or if exceptions can be made because of the weather after the fact.... but I'm pretty sure they cannot just go from U.S. Port to U.S. Port generally.

This is why I was wondering. Without CC, we have no foreign port.

By then they would still be able to dock at Castaway Cay for a short while and not let anyone on land. I am not sure how long they need to stop there for it to qualify. Possibly it could even be a stop during the night.

The PVSA on this is rather murky. The law actually only addresses cruise that begin and end in different US ports, and states that a "distant" foreign port must be visited. It doesn't actually say anything about closed loop cruises having to stop at a foreign port. But, the law has always been interpreted to read that there has to be at least a nearby foreign port for all cruises.

So, if there are no foreign ports available to call at, legally, they should be OK. But, it's never been specifically written down in black & white anywhere what the requirements are.

Although the recent (well, 2016) change that cruises to nowhere are not legal, and any cruise departing a US port must stop at a foreign port, seems to have spelled out the requirements now.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I know. Monday I was thinking maybe just a change to somewhere warmer now it's TOTALLY different! I'm torn on going or not. While I myself can do without the ports (having done most of them before) my kids 1. didn't know we had this planned so they are not "missing out" on WDW and 2. they love the kids clubs/areas so much they wouldn't be disappointed going to Canada. I wouldn't tell them we were supposed to go to Magic Kingdom for the day. Any feedback is welcome.

I just posted the same thing on the other hurricane related thread...
I can see why people would be especially upset about not being able to sail to WDW and CC.
Canada is beautiful but it's a completely different vacation than you've been expecting.
It's too bad ships can't dock in Ontario, we are having really warm temps still mid 70's.. Nova Scotia is much cooler but... Having said I would probably still go. I bet Dcl will make the cruise special and I hear Halifax is just gorgeous. Just bring a couple of extra sweaters. It will be cooler than Bahamas but not freezing...
You will still be on a Disney cruise!

I was also wondering what we would do ourselves if our oct 15 cruise is affected.
We would probably try to book wdw for a few days if the storm wasn't there...
But we are heading that way anyway. Our cruise is out of PC.

 

[truck1]

Living in Central Europe I have no clue about hurricanes and how they compare to each other... So, thanks for that input! And welcome to the DIS, I see that this was your first post!!

I think electricity and water are both produced by Disney itself on the island. I do not remember a lot of electricity cables hanging around, so I think most of it must be underground - and hopefully built in a way that can withstand the erosion. I also think that Castaway Cay infrastructure cannot be compared to a normal beach. With the experience from 2004, I am sure the Disney put a lot of energy into making the island as hurricane proof as possible. Of course, being underwater is something that will cause quite a lot of damage. But if we are lucky it will mainly be vegetation that is damaged. Oh and sand might be moved around quite a bit!

Heres how hurricanes stack up to each other. Basically, a hurricane is rated by its sustained wind speed. Anything over 75 MPH sustained winds is a Category 1 hurricane. Theres steps up all the way to a cat 5. I don't remember the thresholds off the top of my head. Matthew is a 4 last time I heard the talking heads on tv. The 2 nd way a hurricane is compared from 1 to another is physical size. The lastest I saw yesterday or the day before said Matthew is/was 700 ,miles long by 600 miles wide. Super storm Sandy was 1300 miles long or so. (Technically she wasn't a hurricane by the true meteorological description but met most of the other requirements. For all intents and purposes Sandy was a hurricane.) 2x the size of Matthew. The winds spread out from the center eye to varying distances. Each quadrant of a hurricane brings different things. The side to be on is the west side of the storm as most of the damaging winds and rains are on the eastern side of the eye. I forget the reason that happens off the top of my head.

Castaway Cay makes its own water, and electric. Theres several different technologies on the island to support it. Pretty much everything from bio fuels to compost heaps. Everything is buried for 2 reasons. 1 is so you don't see the power and cable lines that link the bldgs. and the ships. The other is for a storm. Assuming that the post I saw before is true, I'm surprised that there are people riding out the storm on the island. I know for a fact that the island has been inundated with water (spent quite a while under water) from the storm surge at least once before. The 1 thing Disney did drop the ball on, is the pier itself. My ex wifes uncle worked for the contractor that built the original pier. They begged DCL to put a breakwater in to protect it and DCL didn't want to drop the money for it. So everyonce in a while a storm comes along and damages the pier.

 

[adamki]

The side to be on is the west side of the storm as most of the damaging winds and rains are on the eastern side of the eye. I forget the reason that happens off the top of my head.

It's not really East vs. West but right vs. left. The right front quadrant of a storm is strongest because the counter-clockwise rotation of the storm means that the wind on the

right front = [speed of curculating wind] + [speed of the storm's overall motion]
left front = [speed of curculating wind] - [speed of the storm's overall motion]​

There's a nice explanation with graphics on the noaa website: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html

 

[Dug720]

If the dock is such that the ship itself can't dock, do they have the ability to tender to CC if necessary? I know a big deal about CC is that Disney gets to dock right there, but in the event that the pier is too damaged for the ship itself to dock?

 

[PoopDeckPappy]

I just posted the same thing on the other hurricane related thread...
I can see why people would be especially upset about not being able to sail to WDW and CC.
Canada is beautiful but it's a completely different vacation than you've been expecting.
It's too bad ships can't dock in Ontario, we are having really warm temps still mid 70's.. Nova Scotia is much cooler but... Having said I would probably still go. I bet Dcl will make the cruise special and I hear Halifax is just gorgeous. Just bring a couple of extra sweaters. It will be cooler than Bahamas but not freezing...
You will still be on a Disney cruise!

I was also wondering what we would do ourselves if our oct 15 cruise is affected.
We would probably try to book wdw for a few days if the storm wasn't there...
But we are heading that way anyway. Our cruise is out of PC.

Looks like were going! Halifax is gorgeous! My wife was worried what to do on the boat on sea days since we usually like to sit outside in the sun. I think we'll be okay but it will be pants and sweaters instead of shorts and t-shirts. We loved Nova Scotia as well when were there last time.

 

[truck1]

If the dock is such that the ship itself can't dock, do they have the ability to tender to CC if necessary? I know a big deal about CC is that Disney gets to dock right there, but in the event that the pier is too damaged for the ship itself to dock?

Unfortunately no. If there is damage to the pier, theres probably damage to the island also.

 

[truck1]

It's not really East vs. West but right vs. left. The right front quadrant of a storm is strongest because the counter-clockwise rotation of the storm means that the wind on the

right front = [speed of curculating wind] + [speed of the storm's overall motion]
left front = [speed of curculating wind] - [speed of the storm's overall motion]​

There's a nice explanation with graphics on the noaa website: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html

True. My thinking is trying to explain it in English, the way Matthew sits now, its just easier to use east and west. Its been a while since Ive had to put my earth sciences and hurricane info to work.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Looks like were going! Halifax is gorgeous! My wife was worried what to do on the boat on sea days since we usually like to sit outside in the sun. I think we'll be okay but it will be pants and sweaters instead of shorts and t-shirts. We loved Nova Scotia as well when were there last time.

Hope your cruise is fantastic! Enjoy

 

[tink1970]

Thanks Truk!...I just put things in perspective to where we were to Ivan (out of potable water and electricity for 3 weeks) versus Katrina (no electricity for 48 hours). Which ends up being east/west and right/left.

Regardless, I hope the permanent residents of CC and everyone along the Eastern seaboard, as well as those in the countries already hit are safe and this passes with as little damage as possible.

 

[Ofinn]

Looks like were going! Halifax is gorgeous! My wife was worried what to do on the boat on sea days since we usually like to sit outside in the sun. I think we'll be okay but it will be pants and sweaters instead of shorts and t-shirts. We loved Nova Scotia as well when were there last time.

Enjoy your cruise. I worried about that on our Iceland cruise, but we found stuff to do. It was way to cold to be outside. Take a good book. The cove café is a nice place to hang out.