Aug 21st Wonder Cruise Info! See Page 2!

[jennypenny]

We are booked on the 3 night cruise on Thursday. We are leaving home today for vacation. If the cruise is delayed--I'm thinking the previous cruise might not be able to dock--how will they let us know if we're en route? Is there a way we can find out on the road?

If we can't board until Friday, will they run a 2 night cruise? It seems like a lot of money for a 2 night cruise.

 

[TnRobin]

In the past they have sometimes docked at a different port and provided transportation from Port Canaveral to the new port. A few years ago we were diverted to Port Everglade at the end of a cruise. Disney had buses take us back to Port Canaveral or to WDW or to Orlando airport - whichever was your destination.

I would take the 1-800 number with you and call on Wednesday evening or maybe Thursday morning. They will let you know the plans.

 

[hmmerr02]

We were in that same situaion when the magic had to go to port everglades, except we were the group hoping to board! The 800 number will be VERY busy and hard to get through. The kept very up to date information posted on the website. It was quicker for us to go to the Kinko's and get online to read the current update than it was to try to get through on the phone. Good luck!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I remember that from September 2004!!!!

 

[TiggerzFan]

HI Jenny -

We live here in Central FL, just 30 minutes from the Port (but used to live in Newtown, PA!). As of now, the eye of the storm is due to pass near us early morning Wednesday, exit out to sea just below the port and curve back up through Jacksonville. It's hard to say exactly what our weather conditions will be - Fay's track has changed so many times. As a PP mentioned, if necessary, the incoming cruise may need to dock down in Port Everglades, or even be delayed. If your cruise gets shortened, DCL has been know to offer pretty generous discounts and perhaps even nice incentives to rebook another cruise.
I would definitely stay in touch with DCL, via phone and internet. Maybe call them this morning and give them your cell phone number. And, of course, the DIS boards are usually the most helpful!
We also went through this on our Sept 2004 cruise!

Happy Sails!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

If your cruise gets shortened, DCL has been know to offer pretty generous discounts and perhaps even nice incentives to rebook another cruise.
I would definitely stay in touch with DCL, via phone and internet. Maybe call them this morning and give them your cell phone number. And, of course, the DIS boards are usually the most helpful!
We also went through this on our Sept 2004 cruise!

Happy Sails!

Yes, we got a good rebooking discount (something like 25% off?) and ended up rebooking for January 2005 instead. We were able to still use our airfare in September 2004 and ended up visiting WDW in between those two major hurricanes.

 

[Seahunt]

I agree, you need to check with DCL. From the Port Canaveral website:

Because of weather conditions related to Tropical Storm Fay, operations at Port Canaveral will shut down at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19, 2008.
The Canaveral Port Authority expects to resume normal operating hours and re-open the administration building at 8 a.m. on Thursday, August 21, 2008.
For assistance, please contact Port Control at 321-783-3770.

And from local TV news:
The U.S. Coast Guard has ordered Port Canaveral to "condition Yankee," which means it can no longer accept vessels over 500 tons until Tropical Storm Fay has passed.

Canaveral officials have also decided to shut down the port for Tuesday and Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

The orders will prevent the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship from making a scheduled port-of-call stop at Canaveral tomorrow. Port officials say intends to divert to the Bahamas.

In addition, two cargo ships carrying automobiles will not be able to make their regularly scheduled deliveries tomorrow. A port spokeswoman said Canaveral expects the ships will wait at sea before unloading on Thursday.

 

[MCourtney]

I agree, you need to check with DCL. From the Port Canaveral website:

Because of weather conditions related to Tropical Storm Fay, operations at Port Canaveral will shut down at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19, 2008.
The Canaveral Port Authority expects to resume normal operating hours and re-open the administration building at 8 a.m. on Thursday, August 21, 2008.
For assistance, please contact Port Control at 321-783-3770.

And from local TV news:
The U.S. Coast Guard has ordered Port Canaveral to "condition Yankee," which means it can no longer accept vessels over 500 tons until Tropical Storm Fay has passed.

Canaveral officials have also decided to shut down the port for Tuesday and Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

The orders will prevent the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship from making a scheduled port-of-call stop at Canaveral tomorrow. Port officials say intends to divert to the Bahamas.

In addition, two cargo ships carrying automobiles will not be able to make their regularly scheduled deliveries tomorrow. A port spokeswoman said Canaveral expects the ships will wait at sea before unloading on Thursday.

wow... they usually dock WAY before 8 am. I feel bad for both those getting on/off - I'm sure fay caused a lot of motion sickness, and given some of the big feeder bands coming off the keys, I wonder if they were even able to dock at CC or Nassau?

 

[elaine and the boys]

Any more news on this topic? My brother and his family are on a Disney 4 night cruise scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Thursday morning. Yikes!

 

[Laxmom]

Subsribing. Cruising in 10 days!!

 

[castlegazer]

I just got off the phone with my sister who is down in our condo at the Pier on Cocoa Beach and she said it was very scary last night. They are now at the far side of the eye, but this storm is moving very slowly. The winds have died down quite a bit, and the rain is now coming down straight rather than sideways. Last night they never got higher than 50 mph, but right now the surf is coming in and the waves are breaking over the pier.

It is supposed to hook back in at Flagler Beach today and head to the Gulf - this storm is going to be with us for a while more this week.

She doesn't know about port schedules as they can't leave the building yet. They did open the hurricane shutters this past hour. But it still is not safe to go out and about.

Hope this helps give a glimpse into what's going on down there. But I am no help as to Thursday.

 

[JNorris]

Just wanted to make everyone aware, there is an update on the Disney Cruise website.

ETA: It says for passengers to still go to Port Canaveral, that they will provide transportation to Port Everglades.

 

[kcashner]

Thanks for posting.....may it be better for you than it was for us when Hurricane Jeane required the Magic and Wonder to leave from Ft. Lauderdale.

Hopefully DCL has worked out most of the issues we encountered. It was GREAT once we were on the ship....but the getting there left a lot to be desired. Makes us appreciate our beautiful, efficient terminal at Port Canaveral.

 

[booger73]

Tropical Weather Update


As of August 20, 2008

We are currently monitoring Tropical Storm Fay very closely.

Tropical Storm Fay has stalled along the eastern portion of Florida near our homeport of Port Canaveral and its path is uncertain.

For this reason, Port Canaveral has been closed to vessel traffic by the Port Authority and the August 21, 2008 sailing of the Disney Wonder will set sail on its 3-night itinerary from Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Port Everglades.

Other than the departure port change, we do not anticipate any additional changes in the upcoming Disney Wonder itinerary. Transportation will be provided for guests with transfers and those arriving by private vehicle at Port Canaveral. It is important that guests still park at our terminal in Port Canaveral as the ship will be returning there on Sunday, August 24, 2008.

The Disney Magic is currently on a 15-night Panama Canal voyage and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Monday, September 1, 2008.

The safety and security of our guests and crew members is always our top priority, and we monitor the weather very closely. If necessary, our Captains are always prepared to alter the ships' courses or itinerary to navigate away from inclement weather.


http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/general/specialMessage?name=SpecialMessagePage

 

[JNorris]

Thanks for posting.....may it be better for you than it was for us when Hurricane Jeane required the Magic and Wonder to leave from Ft. Lauderdale.

Hopefully DCL has worked out most of the issues we encountered. It was GREAT once we were on the ship....but the getting there left a lot to be desired. Makes us appreciate our beautiful, efficient terminal at Port Canaveral.

Well, I don't sail until 9/1 on the Magic, but I'm following the tropical weather very closely! We August/September cruisers have to do that!

And here's hoping we get to leave from our beautiful terminal at Port Canaveral!

 

[booger73]

Just talked to DCL -

They don't know details as of right now (2pm Tue) on how they're going to do it.. right now, it's a 'just show up' thing..

If I see anything online or hear anything later I'll try to post also

Heh.. shoulda know it was gonna be crazy.. first cruise and all.

 

[JNorris]

Just talked to DCL -

They don't know details as of right now (2pm Tue) on how they're going to do it.. right now, it's a 'just show up' thing..

If I see anything online or hear anything later I'll try to post also

Heh.. shoulda know it was gonna be crazy.. first cruise and all.

It's just the chance you take cruising during the height of hurricane season. We have cruised 3 times in September, and we only had one time that there was a storm off the coast of Florida, and we thought we might have to go to Port Everglades. After that, everything was fine. Just stay flexible!

 

[booger73]

Yup
No big deal..

(Although I just looked and realized where Port Everglades is... 3 hour bus trip.. with kids? yuck

I would guess Wonder wouldn't leave port till after 5pm would it? if it's waiting on all of us from MCO/WDW or Canaveral...

I think next Disney trip's gonna have to be in July

 

[DVC-Don]

Just got this off the DCL site:

Tropical Weather Update


As of August 20, 2008

We are currently monitoring Tropical Storm Fay very closely.

Tropical Storm Fay has stalled along the eastern portion of Florida near our homeport of Port Canaveral and its path is uncertain.

For this reason, Port Canaveral has been closed to vessel traffic by the Port Authority and the August 21, 2008 sailing of the Disney Wonder will set sail on its 3-night itinerary from Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Port Everglades.

Other than the departure port change, we do not anticipate any additional changes in the upcoming Disney Wonder itinerary. Transportation will be provided for guests with transfers and those arriving by private vehicle at Port Canaveral. It is important that guests still park at our terminal in Port Canaveral as the ship will be returning there on Sunday, August 24, 2008.

 

[mommasita]

Going to merge this with the other thread on the same topic..