Hurricane Concerns?

[ChicosWife]

I have a September Western Caribbean cruise reserved and may be changing it to later in the year, depending on the pricing of tomorrow's release. I read that hurricane season peaks between September and November. Since there are so many Caribbean itineraries out during that time, I figure it must not be that big of a concern to DCL. Anyone else concerned or experienced this itinerary during the late fall/winter itineraries?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've always heard the peak is August to September. Even if you sail during that time, the chances that there will be a hurricane to deal with are very small, and if there is a hurricane, they can often re-route the cruise around the hurricane.

 

[New England Mickey]

I went on a cruise in Nov. 2014 on the Magic to Caribbean islands and I have to say, at times there was some wind and it was rocky sailing but most of the time me and my DF were fine. I had a bad headache my first day and all I did was go to guests services to get some pills and I was fine. In addition, my past cruise in April was a western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy was extremely windy and rocky some days. I remember the day where everybody on the ship was sliding all over the place. DCL will take some precaution as they did on my cruise in April. For a little they roped off the top deck with a sign that said high winds. Winds reached in the 40 mph range.

 

[ChicosWife]

I went on a cruise in Nov. 2014 on the Magic to Caribbean islands and I have to say, at times there was some wind and it was rocky sailing but most of the time me and my DF were fine. I had a bad headache my first day and all I did was go to guests services to get some pills and I was fine. In addition, my past cruise in April was a western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy was extremely windy and rocky some days. I remember the day where everybody on the ship was sliding all over the place. DCL will take some precaution as they did on my cruise in April. For a little they roped off the top deck with a sign that said high winds. Winds reached in the 40 mph range.

Yikes! That doesn't sound pleasant at all!

 

[MUN]

I have a September Western Caribbean cruise reserved and may be changing it to later in the year, depending on the pricing of tomorrow's release. I read that hurricane season peaks between September and November. Since there are so many Caribbean itineraries out during that time, I figure it must not be that big of a concern to DCL. Anyone else concerned or experienced this itinerary during the late fall/winter itineraries?

Yes, I would be concerned about taking a Caribbean cruise in September. However, DCL will do their best to keep the passengers, crew, and ship out of harms way. The plus side of sailing in September should be that prices are cheaper than summer, spring break or fall/winter holidays.

MUN

 

[ChicosWife]

Yes, I would be concerned about taking a Caribbean cruise in September. However, DCL will do their best to keep the passengers, crew, and ship out of harms way. The plus side of sailing in September should be that prices are cheaper than summer, spring break or fall/winter holidays.

MUN

It was the cheapest Western Caribbean itinerary. I would assume that if it was that big of an issue, DCL wouldn't sail during this timeframe, right?

 

[Partyof4LA]

I wouldn't worry about safety during hurricane season. Odds are pretty low one would hit while you are sailing, but I would think the worst that can happen during the cruise is missing scheduled ports, being rerouted, and maybe not having the greatest weather. They wouldn't sail through the middle of a hurricane.
What would more likely be affected is your ability to get to or from the port with airport closures or significant delays.

 

[ChicosWife]

I wouldn't worry about safety during hurricane season. Odds are pretty low one would hit while you are sailing, but I would think the worst that can happen during the cruise is missing scheduled ports, being rerouted, and maybe not having the greatest weather. They wouldn't sail through the middle of a hurricane.
What would more likely be affected is your ability to get to or from the port with airport closures or significant delays.

No wonder it was cheaper!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

No wonder it was cheaper!

September cruises are cheaper not just because of hurricane season, but because kids are back in school and it's a really slow time for family travel. August is also in peak hurricane season and the fares are much higher then.

 

[Bear3412]

 

[Bear3412]

 

[Bear3412]

 

[Bear3412]

 

[Bear3412]

Photos from Fantasy, 10/27/12. Hurricane Sandy, prior to rough seas.

These are some rough seas photos, prior to when it got bad.

It got bad when dark, so .... It was hard to capture the max waves.

The images above are of 15 - 20 foot seas, in 40 -55 mph winds.

Later in the sailing it became worse. lol

 

[MelInAZ]

If you're a data junkie like I am, this page is a good read. It includes average hurricane per certain time periods over the last 100 years, average origination points and tracks per month, etc. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/

 

[Bear3412]

If you're a data junkie like I am, this page is a good read. It includes average hurricane per certain time periods over the last 100 years, average origination points and tracks per month, etc. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/

Except Sandy messed with all those historical data points. IYKWIM

The concern is what's next? ? ?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Well we are 6 days from the start of Hurricane season, and for those interested, thre is nothing on the horizon................yet!

AKK

• All
• at Northern Atlantic
• ep Eastern Pacific
• wp Western Pacific
• io Indian Ocean

Sea Surface Temp

Anomaly

 

[lorimay]

On our local Miami/Ft Lauderdale news this morning, the metrologist said they were "watching" something out there near Puerto Rico, she said it has a 30% chance of becoming "something" in the next 5 days. I am not ready for this just yet, its not even June yet.

I wish they wouldn't speculate so early, its just annoying.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

On our local Miami/Ft Lauderdale news this morning, the metrologist said they were "watching" something out there near Puerto Rico, she said it has a 30% chance of becoming "something" in the next 5 days. I am not ready for this just yet, its not even June yet.

I wish they wouldn't speculate so early, its just annoying.

Ever notice the worse the weather possibilities, the more they all smile and dance around the maps???????

AKK

 

[Jestocost]

We sailed "around" a hurricane on our southern Caribbean cruise back in 2014. Antigua was scheduled to be our first stop but the hurricane was headed there so we sailed down to St. Lucia to start and they completely reworked the schedule. We made all of the ports and finished up at Antigua, where the impact of the hurricane was evident but we still enjoyed our day. Other than what we saw at Antigua, you never would have known that there was a hurricane in the region.

I'll will note that this was Disney's approach and other cruise lines didn't handle it the same way. We heard from some Carnival passengers, for example, that they just went out to sea for the entire week and skipped all or most of the ports of call instead of rescheduling. They successfully avoided the hurricane but I don't know that I would be happy about that. I guess we would have received a refund of some of the port charges and taxes. Hopefully they didn't run out of food and beverages.