Port changes due to weather?

[GatorGal2001]

Am just happy to sail... But curious on itinerary changes in the past due to weather. Anyone know some of the alternates they used in the past?

 

[BrettW]

Just a couple of weeks ago, due to a hurricane, the Fantasy swapped the Eastern for the Western. On other cruises, CC was the first, instead of the last port. Sometimes ports are skipped entirely and there is a sea day instead.

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[spoohs]

Am just happy to sail... But curious on itinerary changes in the past due to weather. Anyone know some of the alternates they used in the past?

We have been on two Disney cruises that had itinerary changes. The first one was supposed to be the Western carib cruise and was changed to an Eastern itinerary with no changes. The 2nd was supposed to be an Eastern Itinerary that was supposed to go to Tortolla and was changed to a modified Western. We went to Grand Cayman and had two stops at Castaway Cay instead of Key west. Both of these were due to hurricanes. I have another one coming up next week, hopefully this one won't change.

 

[MagicMe]

On a 7-day they often switch itineraries (western to eastern, etc). On a 3 or 4 day they might switch days around. Worse case you may end up sailing around the ocean.

 

[rcchello]

I have been on two cruises with changes. One they had to do some maintenance so we had two castaways days. The other trip the captain attempted to dock at castaways and failed due to winds so they swapped the sea day and we went the following day.

 

[Elfinjojo]

We were on the cruise a few weeks back that changed from western to eastern due to the hurricane Ernesto...apparently it fancied the western itinerary LOL. We were sailing B2B the week before so we sailed the eastern twice, but both experiences were different so it didn't matter. We had better weather the second week in St Maarten, the first week was horrible with torrential rain for most of the day, and castaway the first week had a huge storm at lunchtime that saw a mass exodus from the beach back to ship!

When we were told initially on the last night of the first cruise that we wouldn't be sailing western we were a little disappointed , however we were grateful that the cruise was sailing at all, after all...it's the ships we go for not the locations. We were sailing concierge the second week and our host kemisha was telling us that Captain Tom had been in contact with the captain of the Carnival Dream that continued it's scheduled sailing to the western that week, and by all accounts they had a horrible time with lots of sickness, and not being able to port! So glad Captain Tom made that call not to sail!

During the second weeks castaway day they had been expecting bad weather again so they laid on more during the day around the ship, but the forecast turned out better. Also due to the very short notice of itinerary change they laid on extra activites during port days to compensate for those who did not have excursions or chose not to get off the ship which was a nice touch.

on the first sea day, during the matinee performance of the show, Captain Tom came on stage and showed us a PowerPoint slide showing the tracking of the hurricane and explained his decision....there is no way he can be faulted. Apparently on DCL the Captains get final say about changes like this, on carnival it's a management call....hmm know who I would rather sail with on these occasions!

 

[ssanders79]

Apparently on DCL the Captains get final say about changes like this, on carnival it's a management call....hmm know who I would rather sail with on these occasions!

I would not want it any other way. The management should be allowed to voice an opinion, but final decisions should be left up to the Captain.

 

[kcashner]

Many years ago (before the Western existed), we went to Key West. The captain explained that his plan was to use Key West as a safe place that would allow us to see where the storm went and how much of our original plan would be possible. We missed one of the "Saints." On another cruise we visited one of the smaller islands...and on another we had to skip Grand Cayman as they were recovering from a hurricane and not allowing ships to tender.

When a change occurs, the cruise staff really gets busy. A new Navigator will be generated. If an alternative port is involved, they'll offer as many excursions as possible.

 

[wendyoconnor]

In 2005 our Eastern became a Western not long after sailing. Two systems were developing in the Atlantic that would become Rita and Philippe. We went to CC as our first stop, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya. Costa Maya wasn't a regular port for Disney yet, the port had just been built and opened. While disappointed that for the second time our eastern became a western, we got all 7 nights (unlike our cruise the year before) and we still got to go to CC which we missed on our cruise the year before.

 

[asunutgirl]

For those of you with changes, when did you learn about them? We've booked SCUBA in two ports on our own.

 

[com_op_2000]

On a four day cruise some time ago, we switched Nassau and CC port days. We found out about the change @19:00 the first day out.

 

[spoohs]

For those of you with changes, when did you learn about them? We've booked SCUBA in two ports on our own.

Both times we found out at the port. The first time the boarded the bus and told us, the 2nd time it was in line to check in.

 

[asunutgirl]

We have pre-paid at one of the dive shops so I contacted them just now. They've already replied that we will get a full refund if we get re-routed. Whew!

 

[dewrlw]

I don't remember what itinerary we we on since we have gone back and forth between Eastern and Western, but several years back we ended up in Puerto Rico. We found out about the change when we reached the port. We had Disney excursions scheduled, and they were automatically cancelled. We ended up on an excursion in Puerto Rico. It was great. As far as we are concerned, we don't care where we go as long as we go. Disney will make it fun regardless of where they take us.