how does hurricane effect cruise?

[jcarlstrom]

For those of you who have unfortunately encountered a hurricane during your cruise, what happened? Was the cruise simply canceled before starting or did you get stuck out to sea or in another port?
We are considering a first cruise next September 7 (only month option for a few years because of husband's graduate school schedule) and I want to prepared for all possibilities.
Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[GoofyGuy777]

We were on the Spetember 12 Cruise last year and we were worried due to hurricae Ivan that our plans would be changed. Turns out that Ivan had gone right over Castaway Cay and had created enough damaged so we could not even go there. We ended up in Charleston, SC and and Nassau for one night and day. It was dissapointng since all we wanted to do is go to Castaway Cay. We tried to make the best of it, but missing Castaway Cay was a real bummer for us. So much for a "tropical" vacation.

Just beware of cruises in September...there is a reason why they are so cheap during this time.

 

[mommasita]

We were on the Hurricane Jeanne 1 day shortened cruise last September..ANd we had to disembark in a hurry on the Friday prior, due to Jeanne turning around, and heading straight for us. They were closing Port Canaveral, and the Coast Guard called us in.. Disney put us all up in the Swan/Dolphin resorts, and bussed us there, giving us a great big breakfast, and free tranportation to the airport, for those lucky enough to get out..Note..not us..

We did have choppy seas starting on the Thursday night...We did know what we were possibly getting ourselves into, and prepared ourselves for the worst possible scenario....

ALWAYS have insurance, and keep in contact with DCL, giving them all possible numbers to reach you in case of a change..

Having said all that, Disney treated us wonderfully, and gave us a 50% voucher for our next cruise...We really can not complain..

HTH

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

we were due to leave on the Sept. 5th cruise to the bahamas 4nt. for our honeymoon last year!! Due to Frances it got crazy!!! they pushed it back 2 days but each day they told us that was the day and to be ready..and so on and so on. Finally when we were ready to leave from the SWAN at 9am...the buses were all screwed up and didn't leave until 2pm!! AND we were headed to Ft. Lauderdale because PORT was closed. We also had to skip Castaway cay and didn't go to the bahamas. WE went to Cozumel (i hated it there). Soo..needless to say ALOT changed but we had a BLAST and would do it all over again. Due to hurricane frances they knew this would happen and gave us a number to keep checking in with and many people cancelled their trips. WE ended up on the Magic too instead of the wonder....we got a 200$ credit and a bunch of other stuff...it didn't mess with our travel plans since after the cruise we were going back to Dworld for like 2more weeks so all was good!

 

[two-foxes]

We were supposed to leave on 9/25/04 for our seven night, however Jeanne shortened it a bit. We ended up leaving from Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) on Monday 9/27 instead. DCL, although for than fairly re-embursing those who chose to still sail, really had very poor communication for the guests prior to sailing. I could not get a straight answer from any DCL rep, many of whom were working horribly long shifts due to the hurricane. They were pretty poor at all being on the same page as to where to meet, ect. We ended up heading to Costa Maya instead of Key West/Grand Caymen and there was no CC either. Regardless, it was an amazing cruise and the staff was amazing as always! Go into it with an open mind and trip insurance and it should all go well! (Trip insurance is a MUST, it reimbursed us $700+ in expenses we had when we were waiting from 9/24-27.)

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

We were to cruise last year on Sept 5 the DAY that Hurricane Frances hit! I was on the phone with the airline and DCL all week long. They ended up canceling the cruise and we were rebooked the following week. We had to pay more for that cruise at the time but DCL ended giving us the money back plus few 100 more. We did get an upgrade from a 12 to a 9! That was really nice. Since we rebooked for the following week we did not have our new docs so that was kind of a nightmare. We had three different rooms before we got the level 9. Kind of a mix up. All in all it was a nice cruise. The waves were kind of high and the stop at NC was not great. I did not feel very well for the entire cruise, thought it was sea sickness, turned out that I was a week pregnant! We now have a beautiful 4 month old baby girl!!! She is a "Disney baby". Her nick name is Minnie!

 

[stampinshauna]

I haven't been on a Hurricane cruise, but after looking at all that went on last year, it appears that Disney will take care of you (but you should also have trip insurance). I was supposed to be on the Sept Jeanne cruise but had to change it for a month later due to hubby's job. I was glad that my Oct cruise wasn't affected too much (no Grand Cayman, and Costa Maya was not a great replacement). It sounds like there is some hastle involved, but discount vouchers and stateroom credits are nice to make up for it.

 

[allears]

We were on the 5 night shortened Hurricane Jeanne cruise last year. We give Disney high marks for the way they handled things. It was our choice to go, we could have cancelled. The refund and re-booking discount paid for a romantic 7 night cruise in Jan for DW and I.

If you cruise during that season, the prices are great, but you will need to make sure you do a few things. Have trip insurance. And have a flexible, roll with the waves attitude. The circumstances resulting from hurricanes are very unpredictable and very, very volitale. It is nearly impossible for a company like Disney to plan for every eventuallity and more difficult to implement some plans. If you stay loose and positive, it can be a great time. And I can't ever say enough about how helpful this board is at a time like that. Sometimes it was the best place to find out what was happening from people in the thick of things.

We probably wouldn't book again during hurricane season, just cause our nerves prior to departure couldn't handle it. I became a hurricane expert last year. But we had one of our best trips ever last year with lots and lots of special circumstances.

 

[cruzings]

Read this article I saw on the Travel Section of MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8974616/

 

[bbowers]

One think I can't stress enough - make sure DCL has phone numbers to be able to reach you the few days before the cruise is due to leave! We went between hurricanes last year, but drove to HH first. We had no idea that PC was going to need to be dredged, so weren't too worried. (Blissfully unaware.)

THANK GOODNESS my mom was staying with our dogs at our house, because the only number DCL had to reach us was our home number. Mom called us at HH and we were able to get everything arranged, BUT... you can be sure that the first thing I did with our cruise this year was make sure DCL has both DH and my cell phone numbers!

 

[Karel]

Our hurricane cruise was nothing short of wonderful because we got three more nights out of it! Disney's first 10 night cruise!

From the day we left port, Frances made every day an adventure for us. We skipped Key West and headed straight for CC. Made unexpected stops in Costa Maya, Texas and Port Everglades.

The Captain was great about keeping us up to date and they brought on fresh entertainment in Texas to keep everyone happy.

The last night noone bothered with a dress code and most everybody was in shorts. We did run out of lemons for the ice tea....

We were lucky. They could have dumped us off early. There were some tense moments worrying about our car and plenty of people were on phones and computers trying to change airfare etc. We had trip insurance, but other than extra tips, we decided we didn't spend more money then we would have.

 

[MissKim]

We are headed out on one of the Sept. 2006 Wonder cruises, only because we want to do the southern route. There were certainly no less expensive because the risk of hurricane weather. Actually I believe they were higher because of the special itinerary.

 

[scrapperjill]

We went on our first cruise last Sept.11...between a few hurricanes. It wasn't until the morining before the cruise that we knew what port we would be sailing out of...It was between PC and PE...of course PE would have added a lot more traveling to get down there...but luckly PC opened up the morning before we sailed. We were scheduled for a Western caribbean cruise (7nights)...but ended up doing a modifyed Eastern cruise (7 nights)...instead of going to Key West, Cozumel and Grand Cayman...we went to San Juan PR, and Nassau. We did get to go to Castaway.....I think we were the first cruise back in a while....and I don't think the cruise that followed us was able to stop. Even thought we were rerouted and only made one of our planned stops...we had a Magical time...and loved every moment we had.

Of course it was VERY stressful the week and days leading up to the cruise itself...just the unknown....would flights be cancled...would the ship sail...would a hurricane be hitting FL the night were there...where will we set sail from...SO much was going on...and so much was left until the LAST moment possable. After we got to the ship and headed out we knew all was good. The ship is able to go faster than storms and go around them.

 

[beachbumfamily]

Allears is right i was on the same cruise and we were well taken care of Disney staff under a lot of pressure but always tried to answer our questions best they could it was our choice to go we could have got a refund although i didnt go a bunch on Costa Mayo we had a great time so great in fact we are going on sept 3rd eastern hurricanes permitting and cant wait

 

[OfficerChipmunk]

For those of you who have unfortunately encountered a hurricane during your cruise, what happened? Was the cruise simply canceled before starting or did you get stuck out to sea or in another port?
We are considering a first cruise next September 7 (only month option for a few years because of husband's graduate school schedule) and I want to prepared for all possibilities.
Thanks,
Jennifer

I haven't been on a hurricane cruise but here is what could happen to your cruise if there is a hurricane:
*Your cruise could be longer because they can't get into the home port (airlines will usually change your flight for free because of the hurricane)
*Your cruise could be shortened (especially if the previous cruise was longer)
*You may not be able to get to a port of call (they try to send you to a different port of call or an extra day at CC. The Repo cruise couldn't get into Cabo San Lucas so they stopped at another port)
*You may be diverted to sea for a day or 2 to avoid rough water/weather
*You may have to get off at a different port if a hurricane affects Port Canaveral (Tampa, Port Everglades, and Ft Lauderdale are the alternative ports. Disney will bus you to WDW or Port Canaveral)

 

[HeelMD]

DisneyMommyMichelle,

We were on the same cruise last year. It was a bit hectic, but considering the circumstances, I think we were taken care of quite good.

To Everyone,

Also, as an update, we are now looking at a Category 5 hurricaine as of 30 minutes ago. It is headed right for New Orleans and has the potential to be one of the most catastrophic storms we have had in decades. I ask everyone to pray and hope for the best for all of those in the path of this monster. Also, if this hits the offshore oil sites, it could also be a potential catastrophe for the economy, too.

It doesn't seem like this one is getting as much attention as ones in the past and I'm not sure why. It has almost tripled in strength since it hit the southern Florida region. I'm sure there are many posters who are in the Gulf Coast area and many more who have friends there. Let's send all of our prayers, pixie dust, etc. their way.

 

[American Scrapper]

Boy, this makes me think of last year at this time. We were on the 9/11/04 modified cruise last year and can second Scrapperjill's comments about it being stressful! We were all watching the weather channel and the computers closely as the hurricane was headed for Florida! I feel for all of you getting ready to sail in the next couple of weeks and wish you the best of luck!

I felt pretty comfortable with setting sail, as long as the hurricane wasn't in the way, but we had no idea until the night before what port we would sail out of and no idea where we were sailing to until we got to port on the morning of departure. Of course we were disapointed not to be sailing the Western Carribean, but happy to just be sailing at all. Disney took extra special care to keeping us all safe and out of rough waters that you would have never known there was a hurricane right behind us. The captain even had a special Happy Hour one evening with free drinks due to all of the changes. We were supposed to go to San Juan, St Thomas and Castaway cay, but with Jeanne behind us we hightailed it out of San Juan and headed to Nassau for a bit.

It was a wonderful cruise after all the changes and everyone was safe, which is the most important thing.

I hope all are safe during this recent hurricane.

Kathy