Cruising in bad weather....

[Mint Addiction]

Oh nooo....the weatherman is predicting a 60% chance of scattered THUNDERSTORMS in the Bahamas (per the 10 day forecast online) for our 3 day cruise!!!!!

Has anyone ever cruised in bad weather? I'm new to cruising and would love to know what my family and I should expect. Will the captain re-route the ship to better weather or will we just have to brave the storm?

Just wondering.

 

[Goofy623]

On our last cruise it was too windy to go to Grand Cayman & we could not tender, so instead the captain floored it to cozumel & we had extra time there. Also very was very accomidating with the extra time at sea. For a couple hours there were free drinks for the adults & scheduled activities for the kids & a few other things. Don't worry, if the weather is not the best, Disney will still make it the best vacation you will ever have!!!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Yes, the Captain will do his best to steer the ship away from rain showers. One cruise we were on we literally zig-zagged around the showers - you could see them in the distance and see the ship steer around them.

That said, sometimes you cannot avoid them at all. Back in August we sailed into a thunderstorm. The CD came on the loudspeaker and told everyone that they had 15 minutes to get indoors before the rain started.

You gotta love weather radar technology to get that precise.

 

[Jeanne B]

so instead the captain floored it to cozumel

I have images of the bow of the ship going airborne like a speedboat and passengers and lounge chairs sliding everywhere!!

 

[TiggerKing]

Oh nooo....the weatherman is predicting a 60% chance of scattered THUNDERSTORMS in the Bahamas (per the 10 day forecast online) for our 3 day cruise!!!!!

Has anyone ever cruised in bad weather? I'm new to cruising and would love to know what my family and I should expect. Will the captain re-route the ship to better weather or will we just have to brave the storm?

Just wondering.

The captain will always do his best to keep sunshine on his ship, but this isn't always 100% successful. However, he will always do his best to avoid the heavy storms.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there are ALWAYS predictions of thunderstorms in the Bahamas. It is kind of like Florida in that the weather will normally kick up a storm somewhere at some point during the day. So, don't fret it too much. Even with a 60% chance, you may not be on the 60% of the islands that it hits (just in case you didn't know, that is what the 60% means, that 60% of the area in the forecast will see rain at some point, they just don't know which 60%).

 

[Mint Addiction]

I never knew that was what the percentages meant....interesting.

 

[Stinasmom]

The captain will always do his best to keep sunshine on his ship, but this isn't always 100% successful. However, he will always do his best to avoid the heavy storms.
Even with a 60% chance, you may not be on the 60% of the islands that it hits (just in case you didn't know, that is what the 60% means, that 60% of the area in the forecast will see rain at some point, they just don't know which 60%).

Ha! In Seattle, it means it WILL rain 60% of the time!

The weather on our west coast DCL trip was not good...cloudy, windy or just overcast except for about a day and a half of sun. We didn't use sunscreen at all...BUT, boy did we get to know the ship! There is so much to do and take part in. We didn't do any excursions either and still missed the galley tour, 80's dance night, wine tasting... all things I plan to pick up on our up coming cruise!
I was really impressed when, all was said and done, what a good time we had despite the lack of sun.
Have fun no matter what!