Has anyone cruised in mid to late Sept??

[Snoopygirl]

We are thinking about doing a cruise at this time w/ our 6 yr. old and wondering how the weather will be. Anyone have any ideas?? We are talking about doing the 4 night land/3 night sea.....would we be on the Wonder or the Magic?? Thanks for any advice you can give me. This will be our first cruise!!

 

[mommasita]

Hi.. We cruised last September, in the middle, and ran straight into Hurricane Jeanne, and we were cut short a day..We were compensated, and well taken care of.

Cruising anytime in hurricane season is a risk..You should have to know this, and be ready to be abbreviated, lengthened, just about anything can happen really..Hopefully it won't, but the possibility is always there..

I firmly believe in Insurance, Insurance, Insurance..You do not know if you will have to stay longer in a hotel, perhaps not travel at ALL...there are so many maybe's...This is why you must be open, and ready for any possibility..

Other than Jeanne, we had the best cruise ever..Best weather, best friends and family..We just had realllllllly rough seas..The pools were shut down for a little over a day or so..THey were sprouting water like dolphins from every end....

Hope that helps...

 

[Snoopygirl]

Oh....I didn't know that was hurricane season.....so how long is the season, like what are the typical dates??
Maybe we will change our dates.

 

[dzneprincess]

Hi there! Our cery first cruise was in 1998 and it was in September and i think it was hurricane George?? Dont quite recall! As you can see we still had a blast and quite addicted to cruising DCL. We also sailed the Wonder this past Sept 18th In between hurricane Ivan and Jeanne. We were one of the few Sept cruises that were not affected by the storms. We are going again this Sept 19th on the Wonder!

 

[dzneprincess]

Oh....I didn't know that was hurricane season.....so how long is the season, like what are the typical dates??
Maybe we will change our dates.

I believe it id from June 1st until November 30th.....

 

[mommasita]

Oh....I didn't know that was hurricane season.....so how long is the season, like what are the typical dates??
Maybe we will change our dates.

June 1st-Nov 30th...It just seems like the worst ones come later in the season..

 

[jpmom]

June 1st-Nov 30th...It just seems like the worst ones come later in the season..

I don't know about that -- Floyd, Andrew, and the real big ones last year were all September. I would avoid a September cruise like the plague.

Just my opinion.

 

[ericamanda01]

We were on the Sept 16th cruise last year and are planning our next cruise for Sept 2006. Dh and I loved going then. We always add a park visit and the crowds are low. And it's not nearly as hot. Don't get me wrong it is still warm, but not bad. We are on a limited budget and sept is perfect for us. Yes it is in hurrican season, but like dzneprincess said hurrican season is all summer long and well into early winter. It's a chance we are happy to take. Just be sure to get trip insurance. It's worth just the piece of mind it brings.

 

[dzneprincess]

I don't know about that -- Floyd, Andrew, and the real big ones last year were all September. I would avoid a September cruise like the plague.

Just my opinion.

That is why the grat rates are in September ! Trip insurance, if one is that worried about it

 

[tvguy]

In hindsight, it probably wasn't smart, but we didn't buy insurance for the first 5 of our 6 cruises. But the first 4 cruises were in the 1980's, and I sure don't ever remember insurance even being offered then.
We used to cruise regularly in September and October and never had a problem. Only cruise were weather was a factor was one we took in January 1986, there was a big freeze in Florida, but it was nice and warm down in the Caribbean, just cool the first day at sea.

 

[mommasita]

That is why the grat rates are in September ! Trip insurance, if one is that worried about it

I agree 100 %, and that is what I meant by late...

 

[scrapperjill]

We set sail on Sept 11 last year...in between hurricanes....Hurricane Frances just did her thing just before we went to Orlando then hurricane Ivan was out doing his thing in the Western Caribbean while we were on our cruise and Hurricane Jeanne was on her way. It did put ALOT of stress on the pre-cruise...but once we were on the ship...it was smooth sailing. We were booked on a Western 7 night cruise...but ended up doing somewhat of a 7 night eastern...with stops in San Juan, Nassau and Castaway. The weather was WONDERFUL...smooth sailing...seas like glass most days...a little rain here and there...but not so much it stopped us from doing anything. The rain was actually nice...with the hot weather.

Sept is the height of Hurricane season. And this last hurricane season was a big one...it did change plans for many travlers (Cutting cruises short...or even extending them a couple days)..it also made boarding the ships in Port Canaveral impossable for a few cruises and stopped quite a few flights..(totally shut down MCO)...Overall IMO I think it interferrd with those at WDW more...by closing the parks, making guest stay put in their hotels. Afterall...once you make it onto the ship...and it sets sail...the capt will go around any bad weather including hurricanes...sure you may end up going to diffrent spot..but atleast your on a cruise

 

[cruzings]

As you can see on my signature below, we have cruised twice in September. The first was a 3-night/Wonder in 2003, preceded by a 4-day stay in WDW. This cruise was perfect and we got to enjoy Castaway Cay. The second was a 7-night Eastern/Magic in 2004. Like Mommasita, Hurricane Jeanne cut short that cruise by about half a day. Yes, we did get seasick for a day and missed Castaway Cay but were very well compensated by DCL. When you book during hurricane season, you do so with some worry/concern. But in the end, it's all worth it and you pay much less!

 

[diznylnd]

Hey ScrapperJill we were on the wonder on 9/12/04. So we were sailing at the same time as you, but on the Wonder! I LOVED your scrapbook pictures!

 

[spotdog]

I have cruised 2 times in September. It is the least expensive time, but think of it as an adventure.

The first time I flew in on the tail of a hurricane (almost got diverted to Atlanta) but the weather for the cruise was perfect.

The second time was on Sept 15, 2001. Disney gave me the option of cancelling with a full refund. I took the brave step of flying that day and, again, the weather was perfect.

 

[paulmc80]

Since some think September is more risky than other times of the year to cruise, are the trip insurance rates higher for DCL September cruise?

 

[pbharris4]

We're going to book a 7 nt cruise for Sept. 2006 or if not available, an Oct. 2006 cruise while we on onboard next month. We'll be taking our 2 kids (will be 10 and 3). While you are on the cruise and there is a hurricane out there, are the waves huge and there's a lot of rolling? Or do they steer clear away and just go somewhere different? What if there is one in the atlantic or carribean and one at the same time in the gulf? We will buy insurance. We're going anyway because it's cheaper, but after all those hurricanes last year and the year before..we've had a few big trees hit our house and there were a lot of tornadoes here and it was scary because things like that rarely happen here. I don't know how the Floridians and others around the coasts, etc. cope. We had to finish our basement because my older DD would freak out and make me check the weather and doppler. So I just want to let her in on how the cruise works if there's a hurricane. Thanks!

 

[scrapperjill]

Hey ScrapperJill we were on the wonder on 9/12/04. So we were sailing at the same time as you, but on the Wonder! I LOVED your scrapbook pictures!

Thanks I still have a few more pages to finish...I just sort of got burnt out on scrapping non-stop...We'll not really on scrapping...but the mess that it was making of the house (to much time at the scrap table and not enough time doing my household jobs )...so I had to put it away for a while...

 

[scrapperjill]

We're going to book a 7 nt cruise for Sept. 2006 or if not available, an Oct. 2006 cruise while we on onboard next month. We'll be taking our 2 kids (will be 10 and 3). While you are on the cruise and there is a hurricane out there, are the waves huge and there's a lot of rolling? Or do they steer clear away and just go somewhere different? What if there is one in the atlantic or carribean and one at the same time in the gulf? We will buy insurance. We're going anyway because it's cheaper, but after all those hurricanes last year and the year before..we've had a few big trees hit our house and there were a lot of tornadoes here and it was scary because things like that rarely happen here. I don't know how the Floridians and others around the coasts, etc. cope. We had to finish our basement because my older DD would freak out and make me check the weather and doppler. So I just want to let her in on how the cruise works if there's a hurricane. Thanks!

When we cruised....Ivan WAS in over Grand Caymans (right where we were suppose to be)...but because Ivan was there...we went a whole diffrent way...and headed straight for San Juan Purto Rico....but while we were leaving there Jeanne was on her way up....Our next stop was Nassau...and Jeanne hit there the day after we left(I think she was still a tropical storm at that point)...The weather and seas were WONDERFUL...not rough at all. We did get some rain from the rain bands comming off Jeanne but nothing bad.....As we were in Nassau we got to see shops boarding up the windows and prepairing for the "next" hurricane/tropical storm.

The ships Capt. does his best job staying away from and out running any tropical storm or hurricane even if that means going to diffrent ports then scheduled or possabley staying out to sea longer....or going back to PC earler. If you sail durring hurricane season...just be prepaired for the possablity of changes.

We did make it to Castaway..had beautiful weather...calm seas...but a day or two after we left...Jeanne hit there also. I was shocked at how glass like the seas were and how nice the weather was...with both Ivan in the Western Caribbean and Jeanne right behind us.

I think if you look at my pics in the link below you can get a glimps of the seas and how calm it was.

PBHARRIS4....I don't think they charge anymore durring Sept for travle insurance than anyother time of the year...after all hurricane season is 5 months long. We got our cruise/travel insurance from Travel Guard...not through Disney (found it was cheeper...and covered better)...Thank goodness we didn't need to use it for anything. This year were sailing in Oct..and I looked at a variety of travel insurances on Insuremytrip.com...and found some GREAT prices. Were thinking of going with Travelex this time.