Cruising with active hurricane - tips??!

[PlanoNana]

2004 was the big Hurricane Year. I think there were 2 or three that hit Port Canaveral directly. If I remember correctly, a Western Caribbean became an Eastern, an Eastern became a Western, a 7 day became a 10 day as discussed above, a 7 night became a 6 night when the Magic went into PC at 10 PM and DCL put everyone on buses to WDW hotels for the night with food vouchers all at no additional cost to the guests, after the early docking the ship took on fuel until just before the port was closed and then did a no guest "cruise to nowhere" between Key West and Cuba for 2 or 3 days and then docked in Fort Lauderdale to pick up guests for a 7 night that became a 5 night cruise. In the 12 years I've been following DCL, that was the worst year. The one theme I continue to hear is DCL makes decisions to keep the passengers safe and takes care of any arrangements that necessary. That's all I need to know.

DCL can't control the weather but they do their best to ensure the best guest experience. Works for me.

 

[leebez10]

At least I'll get to experience my first cruise as well as first hurricane!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

These predictions change almost hourly so still way too soon to see where and when it goes---

 

[RedSox68]

2004 was the big Hurricane Year. I think there were 2 or three that hit Port Canaveral directly. If I remember correctly, a Western Caribbean became an Eastern, an Eastern became a Western, a 7 day became a 10 day as discussed above, a 7 night became a 6 night when the Magic went into PC at 10 PM and DCL put everyone on buses to WDW hotels for the night with food vouchers all at no additional cost to the guests, after the early docking the ship took on fuel until just before the port was closed and then did a no guest "cruise to nowhere" between Key West and Cuba for 2 or 3 days and then docked in Fort Lauderdale to pick up guests for a 7 night that became a 5 night cruise. In the 12 years I've been following DCL, that was the worst year. The one theme I continue to hear is DCL makes decisions to keep the passengers safe and takes care of any arrangements that necessary. That's all I need to know.

DCL can't control the weather but they do their best to ensure the best guest experience. Works for me.

Yes. We had friends that were arriving for a 7-day cruise after ours, which for them turned into a 4-night cruise so that Disney could get the schedule back on track.

 

[Robin2tori]

I will be sailing out from Port Canaveral this Saturday as well... Im terrified! haha Ive been keeping tabs on this 'X'.
Im really dreading this sail, the chances of it turning into a hurricane are getting greater....

 

[RedSox68]

I will be sailing out from Port Canaveral this Saturday as well... Im terrified! haha Ive been keeping tabs on this 'X'.
Im really dreading this sail, the chances of it turning into a hurricane are getting greater....

But there really is nothing to dread. The worst that could happen is Disney changes your itinerary completely or drops a port in order to move out faster. You're not going to be in danger -- they wouldn't want that either. Just go with the flow and see where it takes you. If for some reason they can't sail out, they'll probably put you up at Disney until they can.

 

[Robin2tori]

We're on the Fantasy (Eastern) this Saturday. Being from the UK I have no idea what to look out for on sites like the National Hurricane Centre. Is this something to be worried about??

I will be on sailing out on this cruise too!!! Im wishing us luck!!!!

 

[leebez10]

I will be on sailing out on this cruise too!!! Im wishing us luck!!!!

Thanks to the knowledge and experience of posters on here my safety concerns have been answered, I'll just be bummed if we have to change course or miss out on any of the ports of call. But as some guys have said, better to be safe and miss a port!!

Good luck to you too!!

 

[Amunet]

Thank you all!

We are going on the PC cruise this Friday and realized we may have our itinerary changed once in the Gulf.

After reading stories, I feel much better (I have panic disorder, basically extreme anxiety). Now I have an idea what to expect and try not to worry too much

 

[arlopop]

Thank you all!

We are going on the PC cruise this Friday and realized we may have our itinerary changed once in the Gulf.

After reading stories, I feel much better (I have panic disorder, basically extreme anxiety). Now I have an idea what to expect and try not to worry too much

On PC as well. Seems very unlikely based on long range forecasts. The waves/depressions/storms/hurricanes that may pop look to be headed toward mid-Atlantic, or gone by the time we hit the Gulf
The Eastern Pacific might be a little choppy - there's a depression 300 miles west of Mexico that is forecast to become a storm and move westward. Might be, at worst, a little rainy at times with swells for us.
Nothing is guaranteed, but right now we appear to be fine.

 

[sarahandgreg]

I wouldn't worry at this point - its only a tropical depression.

We're on the Fantasy (Eastern) this Saturday. Being from the UK I have no idea what to look out for on sites like the National Hurricane Centre. Is this something to be worried about??

Probably produce a fair amount of rain but looks like it will be in Florida by Sunday - Bring travel sick pills in case but they sell them on board and also have them free at Guest services. Green apple and ginger ale works wonders - they have that on board. Forget about it until nearer the time. I don't think this is going to be any more than a gust of wind and a bit of unsettled weather. Enjoy your cruise - the first days at sea anyway so you won't miss out on much.

 

[tee11]

I felt SO bad for them. Our normal server had told us there was a lot of flooding in their cabins at night and they were up all night bringing the water out in literal buckets. Everyone was so miserable, staff and visitors, alike.

That was super nice of RC. Our Captain tried to be as nice as Disney allows and offered 20% off our next cruise. There were a lot of unhappy campers, regardless.

Excuse me, but the server said that their cabins on deck One FLOODED?? Please say it wasn't so!?

 

[andrencau]

So everything so far has been about the actual cruise. What happens if flights get delayed or cancelled coming into Orlando and the ship sails on? I'm speaking of hurricane related weather. For example, we sail onSeptember 3 and fly in on September 2. What if weather is bad on September 2 and we can't get to Orlando. Weather clears enough by September 3 for the cruise to depart.

 

[Dug720]

So everything so far has been about the actual cruise. What happens if flights get delayed or cancelled coming into Orlando and the ship sails on? I'm speaking of hurricane related weather. For example, we sail onSeptember 3 and fly in on September 2. What if weather is bad on September 2 and we can't get to Orlando. Weather clears enough by September 3 for the cruise to depart.

Then the ship cruises. IF you are traveling on passports, possibly you can arrange to fly to the next port (hoping the ship makes it) and join it there - but you would have to be on contact with DCL to see if they would even allow it.

While I make it a practice to always have trip insurance, the two times I absolutely refuse to compromise on having it are Winter and Hurricane Season.

 

[ffw]

Excuse me, but the server said that their cabins on deck One FLOODED?? Please say it wasn't so!?

It's what our server said. He looked really upset (not to mention exhausted), can't see a point in anything but honesty.

 

[kylaura]

We were on the Fantasy for Hurricane Joaquine that hit the Bahamas last October. We went around it, missed Castaway Cay day. Seas were a little rough, but we took dramamine and slept fine. We were late getting into port and the was the bad part. All these people lined up in the atrium and didn't listen to the announcements. They would only let people leave who had their luggage and it took forever.

 

[tee11]

So everything so far has been about the actual cruise. What happens if flights get delayed or cancelled coming into Orlando and the ship sails on? I'm speaking of hurricane related weather. For example, we sail onSeptember 3 and fly in on September 2. What if weather is bad on September 2 and we can't get to Orlando. Weather clears enough by September 3 for the cruise to depart.

If it's too bad to fly in on the 2nd - you'd try to fly in on the 3rd - if it's good enough to sail out of PC it may be good enough to fly in as well.
Or if you can tell in the days ahead it will be questionable on the 2nd - you could try to get there earlier... If there is an active hurricane warning - the trip insurance will help you for sure, but the airline likely will as well.

 

[mhconley]

We were on the Fantasy last October as it skirted around hurricane Joaqin. We skipped Castaway Cay as the route to get to it would have taken us through center of the storm. We had our first cabana, too; another family was sharing theirs with us.

The seas were quite rough as we sailed along the northern coast of Cuba. Dinner that night was a real experience as was trying to get around on the ship without bouncing off the walls. The ship lost an engine making for Port Canaveral and as a result we were several hours late and debarkation was a nightmare. Communication from the crew was virtually nonexistent. What you knew and when was basically a question of who you asked. There were no ship wide announcements that we heard. We ended up going back to our stateroom after breakfast and waiting for a couple of hours before making our way off. Getting off the ship was quick once they started letting people off.

One plus to the whole experience was finding out if our family got seasick. DS and I absolutely do not and my wife only had a mild reaction and had to leave dinner that night. She ended up ordering room service.

Disney did a great job keeping us informed as we skirted around the storm but blew it debarkation morning.

Martin

 

[RedSox68]

We were on the Fantasy last October as it skirted around hurricane Joaqin. We skipped Castaway Cay as the route to get to it would have taken us through center of the storm. We had our first cabana, too; another family was sharing theirs with us.

The seas were quite rough as we sailed along the northern coast of Cuba. Dinner that night was a real experience as was trying to get around on the ship without bouncing off the walls. The ship lost an engine making for Port Canaveral and as a result we were several hours late and debarkation was a nightmare. Communication from the crew was virtually nonexistent. What you knew and when was basically a question of who you asked. There were no ship wide announcements that we heard. We ended up going back to our stateroom after breakfast and waiting for a couple of hours before making our way off. Getting off the ship was quick once they started letting people off.

One plus to the whole experience was finding out if our family got seasick. DS and I absolutely do not and my wife only had a mild reaction and had to leave dinner that night. She ended up ordering room service.

Disney did a great job keeping us informed as we skirted around the storm but blew it debarkation morning.

Martin

I remember when we had to sail through Hurricane Hillary to get to the PC, the next morning people were laying in the hallways and our waitstaff that night was saying how many dishes they lost in the kitchen because they were flying off the shelves. Also many crew were sick, so they were short-handed, and the dining room was virtually 40% empty of diners.

 

[4 mickey]

Omggg
I am sailing on sept 12 th and if I can get to sept 10 ( by then I guess if none is going on we will be ok at least I so wish
This time around its only me and my daughter ( 30 th birthday onboard
And we are not brave girls sadly
This will be dcl# 16 and my 6 th cruise in sept ( guess one would say I knew about hurricanes by now
But lolll one forgets at least I did lollll
We cruised right smack in between Hanna and Ike back in sept 08 if I remember right and all was ok
Its the worrying ahead that drives me nuts :-(