Hurricane? Late August Cruise

[Cackyschmackers]

Thanks, All; Love the stories. We never cruise without travel insurance. My experience on the east coast is that October is more problematic for damaging hurricanes where we live, so I wasn't sure about more south in August.

 

[Francesco Fuca']

There are many hurricane myths to debunk. Cruise ships never sink during hurricane season. Firstly, cruise ships, unlike buildings, can relocate and simply move out of the way in plenty of time. Secondly, cruise ships are well-stocked with all the prevision and suppliers you need to see out rough weather. Even if your return home is delayed by damage to the port, in theory, your ship can stay out there for weeks without trouble. In fact, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Disney actually give aid to islands hit by hurricanes. Thirdly, if a ship was to ever be caught out, they are perfectly designed to ride out the storm. Equipped with tough hulls and stabilisers, and designed with a low centre of gravity to stay upright, a cruise ship stays steady while its engines power you out the other side.
this content could answer many questions about the relationship between cruises and Hurricanes:

https://www.planetcruise.com/en/cruise-guides-and-features/hurricanes-myths-debunked

I hope I’ve been helpful.

 

[mike314]

Cruise ships cost millions and millions of dollars. Cruise lines and cruise captains will do everything in their power to avoid sailing near hurricanes. The worst that can happen is rough seas and port cancellations both of which vacationers don't want to hear. If you are super concerned then just get travel insurance, otherwise enjoy the cruise

 

[britinva]

The majority of our cruises have been in hurricane season. While we have never had one cancelled we have been rerouted (went to San Juan instead of St Maarten) and even swapped our sea day and CC day once. As previously noted the Captain will do everything possible to keep the ship and passengers safe.

Sounds like DCL cruise we were on where the storm chased us out of CC

 

[schoen]

I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer... but cruise ships can hit hurricanes, and that is unpleasant.

Everyone told me that I’d know about a storm before we left the port, and the cruise ship would simply reroute and we’d be perfectly safe. I was told that if a storm formed while we were at sea, the boat would just sail around the storm.

The Fantasy did NOT sail around, or avoid hurricane Sandy. It was a miserable night at sea when the ship hit the storm.

If you don’t want to get caught in a storm? Don’t cruise during Hurricane season. I’m never cruising again because it was that miserable for me being in that storm.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

DCL can't always avoid the impact of a hurricane.

 

[meliscan]

First if you cruise that time of year get insurance. You never know what will happen. I am sure people are tired of hearing from me but we had to change our flight due to Hurricane Harvey and the insurance paid for that, then when the cruise was cut short for Irma. The insurance covered us. In my experience they try to re-route the ship. They want to do anything rather than get people off the ship or cancel a sailing.

I no longer do Disney insurance as I don't book my flights with them. I also find that I can get what I consider better coverage from other companies. I personally insure every trip we take. Vacations cost of a lot of money and a few extra hundred really helps my peace of mind!

 

[kylaura]

2015, my 40th b-day cruise, went around hurricane Jacquin. Missed a day at Castaway Cay because we had to take a different route back. Was rocky, but had a decent sea day. One night was high waves, we took dramamine and slept ok. We didn't get back into Port Canaveral until 9 AM that Saturday, everyone was ready to get off and had long lines. If that happens, stay in your rooms.

 

[clten]

We didn't get back into Port Canaveral until 9 AM that Saturday, everyone was ready to get off and had long lines. If that happens, stay in your rooms.

Please don't stay in your rooms - unless you are given instruction directly from DCL that it is okay to do that. Regardless of when the ship arrives or clears customs, they ask that you are out of your stateroom by 8 am. The poor stateroom hosts only have so much time to turn over the ship before new guests arrive. If you take an hour or more off their time, that just makes for a very stressful day for them. After they provided good service to you, let them have peace of mind they can do that for the next set of guests too.

 

[Weedy]

Typically they reroute but if the hurricane makes landfall at the port where the ship is sailing from/into they may have to cancel the cruise.
We were supposed to sail out of Miami last year when Irma hit (on Royal) the Port was closed for days because many private boats large and small had sunk and we’re blocking the canal.
In addition to there was no power at the terminal and the surrounding areas.

 

[KashasMom]

We often sail the last week of August and first week of November and have been fortunate with the weather. Personally I wouldn't cruise in September...seems like that is always a very active month.

 

[hubbard53]

I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer... but cruise ships can hit hurricanes, and that is unpleasant.

Everyone told me that I’d know about a storm before we left the port, and the cruise ship would simply reroute and we’d be perfectly safe. I was told that if a storm formed while we were at sea, the boat would just sail around the storm.

The Fantasy did NOT sail around, or avoid hurricane Sandy. It was a miserable night at sea when the ship hit the storm.

If you don’t want to get caught in a storm? Don’t cruise during Hurricane season. I’m never cruising again because it was that miserable for me being in that storm.

I was on that cruise too
We were disappointed that the captain didnt reroute around the storm. But we lived and have a good story to tell! The worse that happened in our stateroom was when the ship listed so severely EVERYTHING on our desk (including water, glasses, shutters pictures, ice bucket, wine) went flying off and ended up in a pile in the foyer. Pictures completely ruined but we got them replaced weeks later. . . all it did was make us change our chosen sailing dates to later in the year. We leave in 3 weeks - hopefully hurricane season will be done by then...

 

[T & R]

Strangely hurricane season can sometimes enhance your cruise instead of diminishing it. We were on the 7 night Fantasy western Caribbean during hurricane Matthew in 2016 and it worked in our favor (for lack of a better word). We got an extra day and a half onboard and an extra port stop in Cozumel. We pulled into port while the Dream was docked and it was probably the only time that I will ever see both Dream class ships together. It's a gamble during hurricane season but I guess that's part of the reason the prices are cheaper as well.

 

[kylaura]

Please don't stay in your rooms - unless you are given instruction directly from DCL that it is okay to do that. Regardless of when the ship arrives or clears customs, they ask that you are out of your stateroom by 8 am. The poor stateroom hosts only have so much time to turn over the ship before new guests arrive. If you take an hour or more off their time, that just makes for a very stressful day for them. After they provided good service to you, let them have peace of mind they can do that for the next set of guests too.

When they let you stay in your rooms. I don't think they wanted everyone in the main lobby and down the hall, it was chaos.