Hurricane?

[mom2ee]

What happens if hurricane is in the area? We are schedulled on Wonder for thursday, the 28th.

 

[Jsme]

If there's a hurricane that is to hit PC you will be diverted to another port. If this is happening it is wise to take DCL phone number with you as you travel. If you are flying in and taking DCL transportation from the airport they will transport you to the new port and terminal. They will also bring you back from which ever port you have to dock at for debarkment. Otherwise they will transport you from the port.

 

[skyhawk]

Hard to tell....a hurricane can really mess up a cruise. I was on the Magic last year just as Hurricane Charlie hit. Had to fly to Florida a day early to miss it, then the cruise departed a few hours late. While cruising, our itinerary changed - went to Nassau instead of Grand Cayman. Overall a great trip, but had some tense times. One note - on the Friday before our cruise departed, the day Charlie actually hit Florida, there was a Royal Carribean ship in port that had to leve EARLY (to miss the storm)- without a significant percentage of the booked passengers on board. On the + side, a DCL cruise a few weeks after mine was hit by a different hurricane, and they were forced to stay at sea an additional 3 days (poor folks).

Anyway - the point is, the cruise line and the Captain will do whatever is necessary to maintain highest safety - incluiding changing ports, itineraries, or in extreme cases, cancel altogether. Good luck!

 

[kcashner]

It depends on where the hurricane is and where it is predicted to go. On one cruise a couple years ago, the captain changed our ports of call in order to keep the ship away from the area where the hurricane was. In 2004, each cruise that was "bothered" by the hurricanes was different...depending on the hurricane.

DCL has the option of using a couple of other ports if Port Canaveral is closed. They can cruise to another area of the ocean. Worst case, they can cancel a cruise. They will let you know what they plan as soon as they can make plans...which is usually only a day or 2 before your cruise is scheduled to depart.

For Jeane, our 7 day cruise became a 4 day cruise leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale. DCL did offer us the chance to cancel our cruise with a full refund (no good, since we were already at WDW booked separately), 40% off the cruise fare portion of our ticket, an onboard credit, and a 25% discount on a future cruise. Bottom line, we were treated fairly by DCL. They don't (YET) control the weather!

The other side of the story is that we have cruised in September 5 times. 2004 was the only time our cruise was really impacted. I'd do it again...in fact, I'll be on the Magic in September, 2005. I would suggest you would buy travel insurance.

 

[Jsme]

Disney rarely has to cancel a cruise. They do try there best to still have each cruise and still mantaining the level of safety and security.

 

[CM_Mom]

DCL has a weather office that regularly monitors the weather and works closely with the Captains and bridge crew to be sure that they have the latest info on what the weather is doing.

They make decisions and notify guests ASAP, however because of the way the weather changes, especially when a ship is at sea, sometimes ASAP is only a few hours before a change is made.

Also remember that if there's a MAJOR change to the start of a cruise, such as delay, different port, early sailing, etc...there are 875 staterooms of folks to notify for each ship so it best to be proactive in checking for info.