Experienced cruising during hurricane?

[dcassetta]

My sister and her family were on the Dream in 2016 which was altered greatly due to Matthew. They were supposed to be on a regular 4 night with stops at Nassau and CC. It turned into a 6 night where they went to Cozumel and Costa Maya. At that point, it was the Dream's longest cruise and I think the first visit to both ports. They had a blast, but they were not concerned about work, school, or flying home.

 

[Cats12]

Not to be pedantic, but Michael (2018) didn't hit PC. Well, it hit Panama City (PC), but not Port Canaveral (PC).

I'm so sorry, I meant Matthew in 2016! I was so confused because your picture of Michael didn't match what I remembered at all. There wasn't any damage to Port Canaveral, as I remember, but they had still closed it and needed to inspect it before reopening to be sure.

 

[hrhdhd]

I'm so sorry, I meant Matthew in 2016! I was so confused because your picture of Michael didn't match what I remembered at all. There wasn't any damage to Port Canaveral, as I remember, but they had still closed it and needed to inspect it before reopening to be sure.

That's okay. I was just trying to remember Michael having an impact on the east coast and couldn't make it work in my head.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Just booked a cruise in October. Going to try out the Wish. I am a bit concerned. But what can you do really? Can't control the weather. Hopefully, if there is a storm, we can make it there-we need to fly. From there, we will go with whatever Disney feels is the safest thing to do. We have insurance. Flights on points that we can just return. My fingers, of course, are crossed for good weather. Just vacationing in these post pandemic days feels like an adventure in itself. I am not always up for the curve balls it can throw, but I don't want to stay home either. We went last September out of Miami on the Dream and had seas like glass. It was ridiculous-lol. I want some waves!! Fingers crossed and I am playing the odds we will both have great trips!!

 

[mickeymom22]

We were on the Fantasy November 2022. Our first stop was supposed to be Castaway Cay, but we got diverted because of a hurricane. We were scheduled to make up our stop on our last "at sea" day. The entire cruise we were behind the storm. We didn't experience any bad weather or rough seas. We weren't able to go to Castaway Cay at the end of our cruise either because the storm had knocked out power and I don't think they had time to get everything back up and running. For awhile we weren't sure if we would get back to Cape Canaveral on time.

I think they are very diligent about tracking storms and trying their very best.

 

[auntlynne]

Every time you cruise, there’s a chance of weather. We hit a storm in the Med; seemingly unaware - or it popped up. It was rough; we just had to ride it through. And have missed Grand Cayman - in October - waves, but not hurricane conditions. There are lots of reports of wind or waves preventing docking at CC (we have not had that experience).

It is definitely a gamble. You decide if the dates, price, intended itinerary are right for you. If weather happens, you have a story (maybe some PTSD) for years. My siblings rode out Irma on St Thomas; it was an adventure - but they were fortunate to live to tell about it. Weather + cruise ship injury stories are rare. That would be where my concern would be - more than altered itinerary / missed ports. I have a back-up plan for our Eastern C cruise this September in case weather detours us to a Western. We have a wonderful cruise planned in Tortola and St Thomas, but know it is subject to change.

(We booked the November date of the same cruise - getting us closer to the end of the season - and fewer hurricanes, historically).

 

[justme0729]

Thanks everyone! It sounds like the majority of time it ends up ok.

 

[RedHead0186]

We sailed on the Fantasy 'between' Fiona and Ian last September. Our itinerary did not get altered at all, though the Fantasy 7-night before us was changed from an Eastern Caribbean to a Western (and for a while it looked like ours might too). Some of the excursions in Puerto Rico were cancelled (mostly the ones out in the jungle, I think), but the ones in the city were fine and there was really no evidence of Fiona.

We passed the Wish (whose altered cruise was described above), and had a lovely horn battle with them as we left Castaway Cay. Our biggest 'hiccup' was really whether we'd be able to dock on time at Port Canaveral. The port had been closed due to Ian, and they couldn't survey the canal for damage until the winds died down and they had daylight. We were preparing to disembark late, and didn't find out until late Friday (the night before disembarkation) we would dock on time.

There were 6 ships in port that morning-never seen it that busy! We prepared for crazy lines at the rental car place and at MCO the next morning, but thankfully both went smoothly.

 

[MrsInsG]

We've had a cruise impacted by hurricanes twice. The first, our honeymoon, was a Carnival ship and we had rough seas. The second, DCL in September of 2004, was impacted by two hurricanes. We were able to board at Port Canaveral (by the skin of our teeth) after the first storm and were the first ship back to CC. The place looked like a dystopian movie set. They had cleaned up, but there was substantial damage done. The second storm hit while we were at sea. Our western Caribbean turned into an eastern, then Bahamian, and we left San Juan early due to an impending hit. Our shore excursion was cut short due to the coming storm, and we were racing the rain line out of port - it was nuts! That said, we continue to cruise that time of year and normally have no troubles.

 

[katmigordon]

As I recall that cruise did NOT change itinerary and wound up in the storm. I would not consider that a “typical” experience at all. While it’s possible you’ll hit stormy weather, it’s more likely the ship will change itinerary and you’ll move to clearer skies, whether or not that means days at-sea or alternate port stops would be decided at the time based on storm predictions. It is highly unlikely your cruise will be canceled.

If a seaday turned into a port day because of something like this would brunch reservations still happen?

 

[dcassetta]

If a seaday turned into a port day because of something like this would brunch reservations still happen?

I am not sure there is a way to know that until an itinerary actually changes. It may depend on which port. For instance, if it's Castaway, they may need the Palo/Remy/Enchante servers for other jobs on the island.

 

[RedHead0186]

If a seaday turned into a port day because of something like this would brunch reservations still happen?

I think they'll do their best to keep things the same, but as PP said it depends. Typically if a sea day turned into a port day it's because you're 'swapping' the itinerary, not adding another port. So, if a sea day turned into a port day, then theoretically there was a port day somewhere in the itinerary that turned into a sea day. They theoretically could just 'move' all the reservations to the new sea day.

But again, there's a lot of factors. It depends on how last-minute they have to make the change, what cast member assignments will be affected (bigger deal on Castaway Cay, as PP noted), and probably other factors I'm not aware of, lol.

Not quite the same, but I had a rum tasting scheduled (on the island) for the Castaway Cay day on a 3-night cruise this past April. We never made it to Castaway Cay (got stuck in Nassau overnight due to mechanical issues and then by the time we left Nassau the weather was too bad to dock at Castaway). I got a notification that tasting was cancelled. I thought maybe they could have just moved it on the ship, but clearly there was a reason they couldn't just do that (I wasn't that bummed as I was already waffling, lol).

So, the short answer to your question is-maybe? It depends.

 

[CamColt]

Just to add to this, last week we were on the Fantasy. Due to Franklin we left St Thomas 1 hour early, arrived at CC 1 1/2 hours late, but also got to stay 45 minutes late.

 

[Kindle Addict]

Just booked a cruise in October. Going to try out the Wish. I am a bit concerned. But what can you do really? Can't control the weather. Hopefully, if there is a storm, we can make it there-we need to fly. From there, we will go with whatever Disney feels is the safest thing to do. We have insurance. Flights on points that we can just return. My fingers, of course, are crossed for good weather. Just vacationing in these post pandemic days feels like an adventure in itself. I am not always up for the curve balls it can throw, but I don't want to stay home either. We went last September out of Miami on the Dream and had seas like glass. It was ridiculous-lol. I want some waves!! Fingers crossed and I am playing the odds we will both have great trips!!

We are scheduled for Oct 7 cruise on Fantasy to Western Car. We usually travel in October out of PC on the Fantasy. We've been lucky with every cruise, but I always say a prayer - just in case. (smile)

 

[4 mickey]

Cruised between Hanna and ike back maybe 12-13 years ago
those two were so close that until the night prior to cruising the dcl resort desk didn’t know if we would leave in the am
we did and ike was very close by
They changed itinerary and to tell you the truth it was smooth and very nice weather

we often cruise during hurricane season and that was the only time up till the morning that we didn’t know if we were going to be able to board

 

[Calantha]

Friends are on their first sailing this week. The Fantasy was supposed to do Western and now they are apparently doing Eastern. She just texted me from Saint Thomas.

Edit: Actually Wednesday was/is St. Thomas, yesterday they were in Tortola.

 

[julesthecircusfreak]

What happens to planned excursions if a Western switches to an Eastern or vice versa?

 

[justme0729]

Our itinerary is a 6 night that goes to castaway and lighthouse only. I wonder where they could reroute if needed.. do you think they can do an eastern or western with just 6 nights?

 

[ljhayes]

What happens to planned excursions if a Western switches to an Eastern or vice versa?

If you booked with DCL, they'll refund what you had booked and will likely have new ones available to book. If you booked on your own, you're on your own.

 

[ljhayes]

Our itinerary is a 6 night that goes to castaway and lighthouse only. I wonder where they could reroute if needed.. do you think they can do an eastern or western with just 6 nights?

We were on a 4 night Bahamas (Castaway Cay and Nassau) that turned into a 4 night Western (Cozumel), so they can definitely do it. But it's also possible to end up just missing ports and having extra sea days.