Anyone ever cruise in September?

[roliepolieoliefan]

My friends who live in Orlando planned to cruise on the September 15th cruise. They asked our family to come along, but I am hesitiant. I know its cheap, but its also the middle of hurricane season. Any comments?

 

[webray]

Our first cruise was in September..the 7day western. It was excellent. Calm water and wonderful weather. We would definately do it again. You just can't beat those prices for that time of year. Yes, you take your chances on the weather, but it is well worth it.

 

[mommasita]

Our cruise was Sept 18th special eastern, and all was not too too bad until mid week when we had such terrible waves they had to shut down all the pools and practically shut down the whole deck for two days. THen on Friday we were enjoying ourselves when we got an emergency announcement that we had to dock that night at PC, and they were to put us up in the Swan or Dolphin, due to Hurricane Jeanne changing direction. They treated us, according to our party of 11, as well as they could with such a sudden development. People on that cruise were also mailed a 50% voucher for another sailing (which is another can of worms). But, we would do it again in September, and probably will. The weather was amazing, and the prices were worth it.

I think that you have to realize that anytime in the hurricane season it is a possibility, and September a little more so, so do not be too fixated on your ports of call, because they may change.......

 

[allears]

Our last cruise was in September of this year. While you can't beat the value, I wouldn't do it again. Granted this past season was (hopefully) very unusual and we were on the Hurricane Jeanne cruise, so we had two and days less of a cruise. The up side is we're going again on Saturday, which was paid for by the refund DCL gave us.

I found it very nerve racking watching the storms and hoping that we wouldn't be impacted. Again, this was a very unusual season and the worst since DCL has been in operation. So it will just depend on your tolerance for the uncertain.

On the plus side, once we were underway, we had calm seas and wonderful weather.

 

[ldb1030]

We cruised this past Sept. 11th the week between Ivan and Jeanne!
It was a western cruise but we ended up in San Juan, Nassau and Castaway Cay!
We had a wonderful time and DCL took such good care of us!
We are going to TRY the western again in 06!
We never would have known there were hurricanes with out updates from the Captain and CNN!
Yes, we were disappointed we did not get to the ports we thought but it was great anyway because we knew that was a chance we were taking!
If you go with an open mind, a sense of humor and flexibility you'll have a blast!
Go for it!!

 

[ericamanda01]

I have to say that we were very lucky last Sept. Our honeymoon was on the Sept 19th cruise and we had wonderful weather. As a matter of fact we are taking a 7 day in Sept 06 and can't wait. We don't have kids yet so we take advantage of the lower prices. As for hurricane season that is a risk we are willing to take. Just make sure that your dates around the cruise are flexible and that you have travel insurance. Other than that there's not much else to worry about.

 

[allears]

Absolutely get travel insurance! It was a big help to us.

And crusing at that time of the year really works out fine for most everyone. I just couldn't take the self-inflicted stress of watching the storms. You sure can get more bang for your buck and DCL IMHO does a fantastic job with these situations. And as one poster said, just be flexible and be prepared for changes in the itinerary.

We had an incredible time on our last trip despite the challenges.

 

[DisneyJumper]

We went in Sept. 2003. Had beautiful weather until the last night....it got a little shaky.

 

[gdulaney]

We always cruise in late August or early September.

Ginny

 

[bbowers]

We went 9/9 this year and missed CC, but even though we were between hurricanes the sea was like glass and we had a wonderful time. We're already booked on the DVC cruise for this Sept (and had actually booked before it was announced, so we were going in Sept NO MATTER WHAT!!!).

You can have rough seas any time, a port could be missed for other reasons - so the only thing you would really have to worry about is 1) not being able to get there at all, or 2) completely canceled. Both are so rare I would certainly never worry about them (but I did get trip insurance - so I don't HAVE to worry!).

 

[jennat]

We cruise almost every year in Sept and have wonderful weather. Last year was the first time we faced anything and boy did we ever face Hurricane Jeane. It certainly made me leary and I would definately buy insurance. That being said...we are on the Disney Magic Sept 17th next year.

 

[scrapperjill]

We were also on the Sept 11 Western...that became the modifyed eastern with stops in San Juan, Nassau, and CC...The cruise was great...wonderful weather...even though our itenerary was changed and we didn't do any of the Western as planed...we had a great time...and would do it all over in a heart beat.

Knowing that the last week of August and the first couple weeks of Sept are the height of Hurricane season...I'm not sure I'd be booking durring that time again..but would for sure do a Sept cruise....cant beat the price.

It also taught me that I don't need to be the obessive planner like I was in order to have a good time. (I had been planning and doing research on the Western cruise and ports for about a year prior to our cruise....So I was at first very concerned and bummbed we were not going to ANY of the spots I had researched about)

 

[pvangordon]

Another 9/11 passenger here. We were super lucky to have our sailing sandwiched between two bad hurricanes, which affected the cruises before and after ours. I couldn't believe how wonderful our trip turned out: great weather, calm waters, and only the port changes to indicate anything was amiss.

I was a bit anxious, watching all of the hurricane news before the trip, so I don't think I'll travel to the Caribbean again that time of year. Plenty of other destinations to go or other times to book. I currently have my next DCL cruise in Dec 06.

 

[two-foxes]

We were on the 9/25/04 Western, which turned into a 5 night due to Jeanne. That being said, I was not at all hesitant to book the 9/25/05 Wonder for this year. So, I would recommend you do book. If we all based everything we did on the "what if's", we'd probably not do much! But make sure you do get trip insurance, just in case that "what if" does come up! Also, think about all the cruises that went off every week without any problems during the long hurricane season. Nearly all went off with out a hitch....the few that were changed did create problems, and lots of them, but I wouldn't not book because of it. JUST GET TRIP INSURANCE!!!!!

 

[missyoh8]

Jennat........please join our cruise thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=622714

We are as well Hurricane Jeanne cruisers. Obviously we would do it again as you can see by my timers! Good advice.......get insurance! We had a blast and it was all paid for by someone else!

Missyoh8