Hurricanes and DCL

[xuxa777]

When the NHC cone of uncertainty shifted to cover Castaway Cay this morning, it was probably the trigger that drove them to make the call to evacuate.

 

[Dug720]

the dream is headed back to castway cay to pick up the employees there..
guess DCL came to the conclusion that this storm is too deadly to risk leaving personnel on the island..

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They couldn't have left yesterday anyway as they needed to secure the island as much as possible.

 

[disneyholic family]

They couldn't have left yesterday anyway as they needed to secure the island as much as possible.

maybe that's why the dream was hanging around all day off of freeport...staying within the waters of the bahamas...
waiting to be able to go back and pick them up..

.

 

[Dug720]

maybe that's why the dream was hanging around all day off of freeport...staying within the waters of the bahamas...
waiting to be able to go back and pick them up..

.

Quite possibly.

 

[disneyholic family]

Quite possibly.

she just sailed away....on her way to port canaveral...
i hope someone from the cruise posts about what happened when they pulled back into CC...

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[Garyjames220]

Is this hurricane not going to destroy some islands for cruise ships to go to as well and cruise lines may need to change ports due to damage etc

 

[NancyDVC]

I am glad to hear that they are evacuating CC. Better to be safe.

I am sorry for those of you who have had your plans cancelled. I watched the video from PTztv's web cam on St. Marteen as it got blown away. Not someplace I would want to be experiencing that storm. Both of their St. Marteen web cams are off line. The videos from St. John U.S. Virgin islands seem just as bad.
I was on the Magic in September, 2004 when we were in limbo before our cruise. Two weeks before there weren't any ports open in Florida so the 7 day cruise was extended. The following 7 day was shortened. Ours was the first DCL cruise out of Port Canaveral in weeks but our itinerary was changed to avoid 2 more storms. We were safe and had great weather because of the decision to avoid bad weather.
I am sure DCL will work with you to reschedule. It is especially tough when you have been planning for so long.
Prayers for everyone in the path of this storm. Stay safe.

 

[Bishoparc]

On refunds, anyone know what will happen to those of us that paid with a Disney Gift Card? I always buy the smaller cards and transfer to one card to make payments. The problem is Disney Gift Cards can only have a max balance of $1,000 so I'm not sure what's going to happen.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

On refunds, anyone know what will happen to those of us that paid with a Disney Gift Card? I always buy the smaller cards and transfer to one card to make payments. The problem is Disney Gift Cards can only have a max balance of $1,000 so I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Typically, DCL refunds any funds paid via gift card back to said gift card. For example, if you put 6 gift cards on your cruise payment, they are applied in a specific order (using the gift card number). If the funds need to be refunded the credit goes back to the same gift card number in reverse order (the last card applied gets filled first).

For those people who discard their gift cards, it can be refunded to a new gift card, but it takes longer.

 

[Bishoparc]

Typically, DCL refunds any funds paid via gift card back to said gift card. For example, if you put 6 gift cards on your cruise payment, they are applied in a specific order (using the gift card number). If the funds need to be refunded the credit goes back to the same gift card number in reverse order (the last card applied gets filled first).

For those people who discard their gift cards, it can be refunded to a new gift card, but it takes longer.

Right, but in this case I took smaller gift cards and combined them on my one I make all my payments with. I didn't use multiples. But Gift Cards have a $1k limit so just wondering if it will still all go to one even if there is a limit.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Right, but in this case I took smaller gift cards and combined them on my one I make all my payments with. I didn't use multiples. But Gift Cards have a $1k limit so just wondering if it will still all go to one even if there is a limit.

If you used just one gift card, it will go back to the one gift card. Did you use the same card multiple times at the max level?

 

[Bishoparc]

If you used just one gift card, it will go back to the one gift card. Did you use the same card multiple times at the max level?

Yes

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes

Don't know how that would be handled. You'd have to contact DCL to find out how they would do it. Possibly they'd issue a new card for the amount over the max level.

 

[PurplePencil]

Where is the storm shelter located? And what is the cat?

The storm shelter is back in the crew area of the island, there is a cat (I think 2 ) that half around the island

 

[mom2brooke76]

I realize this is an old post, but it came up when I searched. We leave on the 3 night Fantasy from PC on 8/7. We live in Orlando so are very aware of the weather and have been on 11 Disney cruises. However, this is the first that seems like it could potentially be affected by a storm (the wave that came off of Africa). The models right now are showing a recurve on Thursday literally right off of the Bahamas. I realize the models can change, etc, but do you think Disney would cancel because they cannot dock in the Bahamas in this case, or have they ever turned a 3 night into a cruise to nowhere? From all of the updates it would appear that the ship should be able to leave PC next Wednesday. Thanks!

 

[Mommb]

do you think Disney would cancel because they cannot dock in the Bahamas in this case, or have they ever turned a 3 night into a cruise to nowhere? From all of the updates it would appear that the ship should be able to leave PC next Wednesday.

If Port Canaveral is open, and likely to remain open, then it is highly likely that the ship will sail -- Disney Cruise would not cancel a cruise unless it might be unable to leave and/or return. If the storm is predicted to hit the Bahamas, then yes, the cruise could become a "cruise to nowhere" heading in the opposite direction. For a three-night cruise, there aren't ports other than the Bahamas that are easily accessible.

When ports are missed, per the cruise contract DCL is not required to refund anything other than port fees. However, in the past when there have been major itinerary changes (such as changing an Eastern Caribbean cruise to a Western) they have sometimes offered the opportunity to rebook on a different cruise.

 

[bbn1122]

We cruised in 2011 right after a hurricane passed by PC. It was never canceled, but the seas were pretty rough the first night. Florida was spared but CC and Nassau took a bad hit. We could not get off in Nassau, we just docked there for the day. And unfortunately, CC was canceled but they did go to Nassau that day.

We were kind of bummed since it was only a 3 day cruise, but we made the best of it. But a couple of years later we did another 3 nights the same time of year, late August and the weather was perfect!

Wishing you a really great cruise, fingers crossed the Bahamas are sparred.

I realize this is an old post, but it came up when I searched. We leave on the 3 night Fantasy from PC on 8/7. We live in Orlando so are very aware of the weather and have been on 11 Disney cruises. However, this is the first that seems like it could potentially be affected by a storm (the wave that came off of Africa). The models right now are showing a recurve on Thursday literally right off of the Bahamas. I realize the models can change, etc, but do you think Disney would cancel because they cannot dock in the Bahamas in this case, or have they ever turned a 3 night into a cruise to nowhere? From all of the updates it would appear that the ship should be able to leave PC next Wednesday. Thanks!

 

[disneyholic family]

I realize this is an old post, but it came up when I searched. We leave on the 3 night Fantasy from PC on 8/7. We live in Orlando so are very aware of the weather and have been on 11 Disney cruises. However, this is the first that seems like it could potentially be affected by a storm (the wave that came off of Africa). The models right now are showing a recurve on Thursday literally right off of the Bahamas. I realize the models can change, etc, but do you think Disney would cancel because they cannot dock in the Bahamas in this case, or have they ever turned a 3 night into a cruise to nowhere? From all of the updates it would appear that the ship should be able to leave PC next Wednesday. Thanks!

we were on the disney dream during hurricane sandy.....we actually made it to nassau and castway cay, but had crazy high seas on our sea day and going back to PC...
the cruise right after ours went north on a cruise to nowhere because of sandy...

the impact on us - for our sea day, everything on deck was closed...no aquaduck, no pools, nothing..
it was so intensely windy, you just couldn't go outside at all...
and the ship rocked like insanity...
but still we had a great time..
be sure to take sea bands with you.....they saved us..

.

 

[mom2brooke76]

Thanks for replying! I’ve been on so many 3 day cruises, that missing them won’t be the end of the world, especially since we sail again in November, but I do feel sorry for people on our cruise who have never been should we miss the ports. I personally will just be happy to make it on the ship. Here’s hoping this storm stays out to sea and doesn’t impact any land!