Hurricane Season?

[CoachMinnie]

What months are considered hurricane season? Has anyone ever cruise during this time frame? Any problems? Rough seas, etc? Do they cancel the cruise if there is a hurricane on the horizon? How is the weather at the beginning of December?

Thanks,
CoachMinnie

 

[Jeanny]

I can help with some of your questions, and I know others will help with the rest.

Hurricane season is generally June-November.... I've read the ship will be directed a different route around any hurricanes. You may even see ports you weren't expecting to see.

Good Luck!
Jeanny

 

[Señor Ferrari]

They will not cancel the cruise, but as was mentioned, the ship may be re-routed to avoid a storm. This happened to us on one of our cruises. We went to Key West instead of St. Maarten. Even though there were storms we avoided, we didn't encounter rough seas at all.

Early fall, the heart of hurricane season, is my favorite time to cruise, since the fares are generally lower, the weather still very warm and the days still long.

I've also cruised the first week of December. When we went, the weather was great. At St. Thomas and St. Maarten, the ocean and air were both very warm. It was a bit cooler at Castaway Cay, but still plenty warm to swim and enjoy the beach.

 

[ToDisney]

Years and years ago, on our first (and only cruise until now) DH and I went in the beginning of October. We basically followed a hurricane. They switched around the ports (we hit the last port first, etc.) It didn't effect our cruise so much as it did the ports we hit... lots of damage. It was still an enjoyable cruise.

 

[Incharge]

I have always wondered "what if a huricane hits the port on the day of embarkation?" Has anyone known that to happen? What would happen with the people waiting to board? I hope this never happens or has happened to anyone.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I think this happened once a couple of years ago. I'm not sure if it affected a DCL ship or not. Apparently Port Canaveral was closed due to a storm, or storm damage, so ships which were to come to Port Canaveral had to go to Fort Lauderdale, instead. The cruise line(s) then bussed passengers between ports or airports, as necessary. Those finishing their cruise had to reschedule flights. Those beginning their cruise had to travel to Fort Lauderdale to get on the ship. What a logistical nightmare!

Last week, a Carnival ship had to wait off the coast near Gulfport, due to fog. The ship was supposed to arrive by 4:30 am, but didn't get to the pier until after 9:00, so everything was messed up for debarkation. I think that the following cruise had to skip a port because they left later than scheduled.

 

[rae519]

Our 9/28 cruise Western ended up being the Magic-al Mystery Cruise since we had NO idea where we would be going because of Hurricane Lili and her friends!

Ended up twice at Castaway Cay, St. Thomas and San Juan, Puerto Rico - most excellent!!!!!!!!

Wouldn't mind taking a scheduled Mystery Tour with DCL again!!

Rae

 

[Viking]

We did a 3-Day-Cruise in the wake of Hurrican Floyd (After it near-missed WDW causing the first and only closing down of all parks) and were rerouted to Key West instead of Castaway Cay. Also Nassau wasn't a very nice view when we arrived there, because Floyd "scraped" it, leaving some ugly scars. But the crusie was smooth nevertheless and there was never any reason to feel unsafe - You just have to go the gym and look down onto the bridge to see their state-of-the-art equipment to avoid any or outmanoeuvre every storm.

We always go to Florida during hurricane season (88, 95, 97, 99, 01 and booked for 03), in September/October to be precise. In all these years we only had the near-miss by Floyd and hit by tropical storm Harvey two weeks later. We always felt safe and everything went back to normal the day after. This time of the year is great to explore the parks with virtually no crowds, short lines and lower prices.
Just go for it!!!!!!