Hurricanes and DCL

[Spize]

There are gas shortages and the roads will soon be clogged from people heading north. Maimi-Dade where RCCL is based out of will have school and county closures thurs and fri. We are assuming corporations will be closing offices in the area too, to allow time to board up and prepare. Maybe that is a factor in their decision as well? Not sure but I'm hoping Disney follows suit because there is no way I'm making it up there on Friday.

I doubt it is a cancel this far in advance reason on the Port Canaveral side, Absolutely on the Miami side. South Florida is going to be a nightmare for the next week even if the hurricane misses.

Part of that problem is Southern Florida has boomed in population a lot faster than the infrastructure can keep up. Nightmare scenario for those trying to evacuate late.

Unless there's a support capacity issue with Miami being offline, given they are based there as you say.

I've been in management in corporations long enough to tell you, booking ratio and profit always pay into decisions. Meaning it's easier to cancel in advance a cruise running at a loss or near than it would be to cancel a fully booked ship.

 

[Spize]

I'm just calling what I see. Frankly if they cancel this cruise I'm all good, I'll take a March Bahamas cruise and a double dip in June.

The discount they offer is usually pretty good.

Our hotel Friday night is 4 hours North in Georgia, debating if I should rebook to Canaveral to make sure traffic isn't an issue

 

[NS8VN]

Can I be 100% honest? This is where my MBA nose takes over and says there is absolutely no weather reason to have cancelled a cruise out of port Canaveral as of now.

I agree it is money, but possibly not the way you are thinking. 3-4 day cruises would have nowhere to go outside the US. Bermuda is right on the edge of a possible quick stop but they are watching Jose too. If they don't dock at a foreign port the company will be charged $300 a head under PVSA. With such short cruises on small ships that is probably a large enough percentage of the expected profit to make it financially more attractive to refund and give the passengers 25% off their next cruise. On top of all the other logistical problems mentioned above.

 

[mevelandry]

Update regarding Norwegian Cruise Line:

Norwegian Escape, Seven-Day Western Caribbean cruise departing September 2 from Miami: We will be amending the ship’s itinerary to a five-day cruise. Instead of calling in Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel on Thursday, the ship will sail for Miami this evening, arriving in the afternoon on Thursday, September 7. Those guests who are residents of South Florida, who drove to PortMiami or who have travel plans already confirmed that will return them safely home by Friday afternoon may disembark the ship on Thursday if they wish to do so. For those guests who did not drive to PortMiami and are unable to secure a flight back home, we strongly encourage them to stay onboard the ship. Norwegian Escape will set sail from Miami on Thursday evening on a course away from the storm. While we are unable to confirm at this time when and where the ship will return to port, we welcome all guests to remain onboard to stay safe and secure. All guests will received a refund for the missed days of their cruise, along with a 25% future cruise credit of the cruise fare paid towards a future sailing on Norwegian. Guests who need to make changes to any flights will be reimbursed for any change fees up to $300 per person.

Norwegian Sky, Four-Day Cuba Cruise departing September 4 from Miami:We will be amending the ship’s itinerary to a three-day cruise. Instead of calling in Great Stirrup Cay on Thursday, the ship will sail for Miami following her departure from Havana tomorrow, arriving in the morning on Thursday, September 7. All guests will receive a refund for the missed day of their cruise, along with a 25% future cruise credit of the cruise fare paid towards a future sailing on Norwegian. Guests who need to make changes to any flights will be reimbursed for any change fees up to $300 per person

Norwegian Sky, September 8 from Miami: The ship’s three-day Bahamas cruise has been cancelled. We will be providing a full refund to all guests, plus a 50% future cruise credit.

Norwegian Escape, September 9 from Miami:The ship’s seven-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise has been cancelled. We will be providing a full refund to all guests, plus a 50% future cruise credit.

*******************

At this point, I am expecting DCL to cancel Bahamian cruises for this week-end...

 

[mevelandry]

Can I be 100% honest? This is where my MBA nose takes over and says there is absolutely no weather reason to have cancelled a cruise out of port Canaveral as of now.

However, as a manager myself if that cruise happened to be... say... underbooked and not profitable I might be inclined to cancel it and save a few bucks, you know, when everyone is sure it's because of weather.

Not saying that's what it is, but smells like it.

Don't count on Carnival cruise lines Bahamian Cruises to be underbooked. They are very affordable and sell out.

 

[Trera]

I agree with what someone else said. They will try to get out of port on Friday which looks like it will not be a problem. If the storm shoots a little south, they could actually dock at CC and avoid the fine.

The biggest problem will be if the storm hits the middle of the state as a hurricane, people are looking at getting of the Dream when they get back to port with the chance of businesses being closed, stations that have run out of gas, roads closed due to downed power lines and trees, credit card machines not working due to power outages,etc. Hotels will be booked solid due to evacuees from other coastal cities that have moved inland. It will not be pretty. I have lived in Florida nearly my whole life and every time there has been a storm of significance, things become a real mess here after the storms have passed. Gas is already nearly impossible to get in parts of Orlando, water is gone, batteries, gone, and it will only get worse.

Hopefully Disney will do the right thing and not "force" people to take a cruise because they aren't willing to refund their money.

Being on the Boat out on the water will actually be a very safe place before this is all over but to bring those same folks back to shore into the potential devastation that could result from this storm is just not responsible.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

OMG they just showed the lines at the gas stations are like 20 cars long. I also see the Irma winds have increase to 185 mph so she is gaining strength.

Here is a link to update cruise itineraries.

http://www.wftv.com/weather/eye-on-...nes-adjust-schedules-ahead-of-storm/603558862

 

[Trera]

Looks like the Fantasy is leaving grand cayman today. It will be a challenge for them to get back to PC by Saturday, dont you think? maybe they have to come in behind the storm and swing way out around the bahamas?

 

[gotomu212]

Looks like the Fantasy is leaving grand cayman today. It will be a challenge for them to get back to PC by Saturday, dont you think? maybe they have to come in behind the storm and swing way out around the bahamas?

No, they shouldn't have any problem getting to PC by Saturday. They might skip CC on Friday but they have plenty of time to make it from Cozumel on Wednesday evening back to the east side of Florida around northern Cuba before the storm closes off that route (the storm will just be approaching Turks and Caicos by Thursday). Although this is a beast of a storm it's still out in the eastern/southern Caribbean there's still plenty of time for the fantasy to get back to PC.

 

[little_orange_bird]

Disney isn't going to mess around. If you can't get to and from the port on land they aren't going to force you.

Say if Fantasy makes port 9/16 but Jose hits... they aren't kicking you off the ship into an early death.

Btw, speaking of safety... Disney's failure in Sandy was plowing the Fantasy straight through it. They didn't sink a ship or anything, they just gave those people a crappy 7th day of their vacation. Even Disney knows they failed and won't do it again.


What I'm saying is the port only cares about safety. So if it's unsafe, the port will close, but if it's safe (meaning you won't die or get seriously injured) and just a giant pain in the *** uncomfortable in and out... open.

While we'd love every cruise to be awesome start to finish, this being my 4th I've come to learn safety comes first, once that's out of the way fun begins.

We are 1 for 3 on weather being good enough for sailing away party, but once out to sea the captain finds good weather for most of the trip.

Thanks for explaining, @Spize !

 

[aritchie45]

No doubt that Irma is going to cause tremendous impact that goes way beyond the importance of vacations. That said, I feel for everyone that will that will be having to make tough calls on what to do as far as a booked cruise.

The size Irma, in addition to how strong it is, along with the idea that the models show a hook north with impact to a huge (but unknown) swath of Florida and the Bahamas anywhere between Friday and Sunday are all going to make it tough to plan. Having a lot of folks fly or drive in, then making a last minute decision to cancel leaving folks stranded as a massive hurricane comes through would be very, very bad.

It is pretty interesting to see the very clear updates being sent out from the other cruise lines with detailed information on cruises impacted and those on the watch list. I hope Disney isn't completely silent too long.

 

[xiphoid76]

Tropical Weather Update

September 5, 2017 – 7:30 p.m.

Based on the projected path of Hurricane Irma, including its expected impact on the Caribbean and Bahamas, Disney Cruise Line is making the following adjustments to itineraries:

Disney Fantasy



The September 2 cruise of the Disney Fantasy is currently sailing a modified Western Caribbean itinerary and is expected to return to Port Canaveral two days earlier than planned on Thursday, September 7. Guests on this sailing will be refunded two nights of their voyage fare and provided a 25 percent discount on a future cruise, which may be booked by calling 1-855-347-2784 or 407-566-7054 from September 18, 2017, through October 18, 2017.

The September 9 sailing of the Disney Fantasy is cancelled. Refunds will automatically be processed back to the original form of payment used for the cruise booking. Guests are invited to book a future cruise at a 25 percent discount by calling us at 1-855-347-2784 or 407-566-7054 from September 18, 2017, through October 18, 2017.

While we always strive to deliver magical cruise vacations, nothing is more important to us than providing a safe experience for our guests and crew. We will continue to closely monitor Hurricane Irma and provide updates as necessary.

Disney Dream



The September 4 cruise of the Disney Dream is sailing a modified Bahamian cruise itinerary and will return to Port Canaveral one day earlier than planned on Thursday, September 7. Guests on this sailing will be refunded one night of their voyage fare and provided a 25 percent discount on a future cruise, which may be booked by calling 1-855-347-2784 or 407-566-7054 from September 18, 2017, through October 18, 2017.

The September 8 and September 11 sailings of the Disney Dream are cancelled. Refunds will automatically be processed back to the original form of payment used for the cruise booking. Guests are invited to book a future cruise at a 25 percent discount by calling us at 1-855-347-2784 or 407-566-7054 from September 18, 2017, through October 18, 2017.



While we always strive to deliver magical cruise vacations, nothing is more important to us than providing a safe experience for our guests and crew. We will continue to closely monitor Hurricane Irma and provide updates as necessary.

 

[Crawfish-MI]

xiphoid76, thanks but where did you get that? We were supposed to fly to MCO Thursday and sail out of PC on 9/11, but we just rescheduled our SW flight to Sunday (giving up a few days in Orlando) so we could have more time to see which way Irma goes. At this point, I'll be happy if they cancelled so we can reschedule, build in some days in Orlando, and avoid Irma completely!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Oh wow. Better safe than sorry though. I'm glad they finally announced it.

 

[aritchie45]

Wow. Sad certainly that we won't be sailing but I applaud Disney making the decision now when other plans can be made or changed.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/advisory/?fref=gc&dti=1025389097536219

 

[Crawfish-MI]

Thanks, just found it myself!

 

[3Down1Up]

xiphoid76, thanks but where did you get that? We were supposed to fly to MCO Thursday and sail out of PC on 9/11, but we just rescheduled our SW flight to Sunday (giving up a few days in Orlando) so we could have more time to see which way Irma goes. At this point, I'll be happy if they cancelled so we can reschedule, build in some days in Orlando, and avoid Irma completely!

DCL website: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/advisory/

 

[FigmentSpark]

I guess they learned from Matthew not to wait too long to make decisions. Good find.

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

So, questions for all the sailors on this board. I know that they do not want to leave these ships docked during a storm, especially on of this magnitude, but what would they do with them? Head out to the middle of the Atlantic and float around? Port farther north?

Another question, would all the staff on CC have been evac'd on today's Dream stop? TIA!