From today's (9/1) Orlando paper

[cjsmith]

Originally posted by *Fantasia*
I am WDW vet, but a newbie to DCL. Never cruised before, but will be this Dec. What happens if they do switch ports? I purchased a DCL ground transfer, will the bus take us to the other port instead of PC? Will that cost us more money cause the other ports are further? Thanks in advance!

Don't worry at all about your cruise in December. Our hurricane season here in Florida is officially over Nov 30th. The height of the season is August and Septmember with it slowing down after that.

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by outahere
When we took the galley tour in April, the chef told us that they have at least 2 days worth of extra food onboard, just in case they have to remain at sea.

Ed (thanks for the great PM) - I have one question. Will there be enough shrimp for us if we have to stay out 2 more days?! I know where I'll be hanging out!

Rae (holding sign - Will stop singing for shrimp!)

 

[outahere]

Rae,

You could always hoard shrimp at the embarkation lunch and have your room steward keep it iced down for you!! If that doesn't work, I think I'm glad I'm not on this one with you........... it could get really ugly.

Ed

 

[Doctor P]

I asked about how to get to a new port when I talked with DCL yesterday. I was told that those passengers who did not explicitly have transfers would be expected to get themselves to any new port. I questioned this a little, and there was a more "wait and see" response eventually. I think they will have to make rules on the fly.

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by outahere
Rae,

You could always hoard shrimp at the embarkation lunch and have your room steward keep it iced down for you!! If that doesn't work, I think I'm glad I'm not on this one with you........... it could get really ugly.

Ed

Smart man. Stay away from the shrimp bowl and no one will get hurt.


Doctor P - that's why I cancelled my limo and took the DCL transfers. Looks like Ft Lauderdale and Western for right now, but who knows by Saturday?

My 9 year old son asked what evacuation was and I explained it - he then replied, "Well, if everyone is leaving Florida because of the Hurricane, why are we going there?"
GOOD QUESTION!

Rae

 

[dclwdwlover]

Originally posted by 232271
I am new to cruises too.
Does a day at sea mean the boat is moving?

Yes.

 

[plutojudy]

I hope everyone likes Costa Maya as much as we did last year on the March 29, 2003, Mystery Cruise. We liked Costa Maya much better than Cozumel.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Originally posted by 232271
If the 7 day cruise cannot dock on Saturday what does it do?

is there an alternate docking location?

Hmmm. Good question. I wonder if they get an extra day of cruising. Not that I really think that but it would be nice.

 

[seastar]

The bridge is called the Sunshine Skyway. It spans Tampa Bay from Pinellas County (where I live) over to Manatee County. I looked up some info on the Internet and I read that the vertical clearance is 193 feet. Does anyone know how tall the Magic and the Wonder are? I know some ships are too tall to use the Tampa Port. It is very beautiful sailing under this bridge.

God bless all of you on the east coast and all who are vacationing down here in Florida. Be careful!

 

[JenKatt]

I would highly doubt that the magic couldn't dock at Tampa because of not fitting under the skyway. Celebrity, Carnival, NCL all use Tampa as a home port and those ships are roughly the size of the Magic.
And since the first skyway bridge was taken out by a very large ship, if there's any doubt they won't dock. There is a very small cruise ship port south of Tampa that may be used as well.

 

[Kiki07]

This hurricane season reminds me of a few years ago when we were in WDW and we were on Hurricane "T" in late October. That year the Hurricanes were one right after another. It was amazing.

 

[zeke11]

I have to say I'm more than a little bit nervous about our upcoming land/sea trip -- in THREE weeks!!

Kris

 

[jellybungsters]

This is the itinerary of the Wonder as of today. This information is from the Walt Disney Cast Portal.

It is scheduled to leave Port Canaveral on Thursday, spend the day at sea on Friday and Saturday, and will be back at port on Sunday.

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by JenKatt
I would highly doubt that the magic couldn't dock at Tampa because of not fitting under the skyway. Celebrity, Carnival, NCL all use Tampa as a home port and those ships are roughly the size of the Magic.
And since the first skyway bridge was taken out by a very large ship, if there's any doubt they won't dock. There is a very small cruise ship port south of Tampa that may be used as well.

The Carnival ship Sensation is as tall as you can be to fit under the Skyway Bridge. The Sensation's tail fin actually hit the bridge on it's first trip into the port of Tampa. They had to make some modifications to it in order to fit safely under the Skyway. If Disney can fit under it would "just barely" squeek by. But to my knowledge it is in fact to tall to go under the Bridge.

Here is the article about what Carnival has been dealing with:

Sunshine Skyway facing tight squeeze

Despite 182.5 feet between the water and the bottom of the bridge, some big cruise ships can't clear the span.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORT



TAMPA -- For once, the towering Sunshine Skyway Bridge is being described as too small.

Carnival Cruise Lines learned this week that a 952-foot long, 3,700-passenger ship it was considering assigning to Tampa in 2005 is too tall for the Sunshine Skyway by 30 to 50 feet, said Robert Dickinson, Carnival's president and chief executive.

Other cruise lines soon will face a similar problem with the height of new ships, he said.

"Very soon, Tampa will be relegated to a secondary or tertiary cruise port as the cruise industry builds bigger and taller ships," Dickinson said Tuesday.

George Williamson, chief executive officer of the Tampa Port Authority, acknowledged the port is limited on which cruise ships can come to Tampa.

He said not much can be done about the height of the Skyway to allow taller ships to fit under the bridge.

"Sure, we've got some issues, but we've always had these issues," Williamson said. "I want the Queen Mary to come in here, too, but it's too tall."

Steve Hollister, spokesman for Port Manatee, said his port suffers from the same limitations as other ports in Tampa Bay.

"All ships coming to Port Manatee have to pass under the Skyway too," Hollister said.

The 51/2-mile long Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 to replace a span whose midsection was demolished when a freighter struck the bridge in a May 9, 1980, thunderstorm, killing 35 people.

The Sunshine Skyway offers a 1,200-foot-wide passage for ships. Architects allowed 182.5 feet between the water and the bottom of the bridge.

Dickinson said Carnival trimmed 5 feet off the mast of a ship in 1998 to get it under the Skyway.

"In fairness, no one anticipated ships this large when the bridge was built," Dickinson said.

Carnival, the busiest cruise line at the Port of Tampa, announced in May it plans to berth a new ship in Tampa. The $375 million, 960-foot-long Miracle, with 1,062 rooms, will sail to the Caribbean in November 2004.