I've been reading and will just post what I received as my weekly newsletter about the cruise industry. It speaks for itself. Kudos to
DCL and all the other cruise lines for looking out for all passengers best interests...........their safety!
"As Hurricane Frances roared across the Bahamas last week, the cruise lines prepared for a worst-case scenario in terms of disruptions to their operations. A Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, Frances was expected to hit Florida on Friday evening--somewhere between the Port of Miami, Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades and Port Canaveral, the three busiest cruise ports in the world--precisely as many of the ships based there were scheduled to return to disembark their passengers and embark new ones.
By Thursday morning, September 2, a steady stream of emergency announcements began to arrive in our Houston offices. The Port of Miami and Port Everglades would close on Thursday, with Port Canaveral to follow, and all ocean-going ships had been ordered out to sea. Flights in and out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale would cease during the day on Friday, with Orlando to follow. Ships at sea were being re-routed, some cruises shortened, others lengthened, and others cancelled altogether.
And the cruise lines had another problem. The Miami/Fort Lauderdale area is home to the headquarters of
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, Norwegian, Silversea, Costa (U.S.) and a half dozen smaller cruise lines, meaning the executives in charge of handling the emergency and the reservationists working with our company to revise so many travelers' plans were in the direct path of the hurricane. Nearly 2.5 million residents of coastal communities were ordered to evacuate, and one after another, reservations centers and headquarters went dark.
With dozens of cruises and hundreds of Vacations To Go passengers affected, our company management pitched in to help our cruise counselors contact every customer scheduled to depart during the weekend. Cruise lines stepped up to the plate, offering full refunds or future cruise credits to anyone that cancelled, and partial refunds and/or onboard credits to those who chose to fly into Florida a day or two late to take a shortened cruise.
Out at sea, ships scheduled to arrive in southern Florida on Friday or Saturday made plans to visit other ports or spend more time at sea, returning instead on Sunday. Thousands of passengers had an extra day or two added to their cruise, at no expense of course.
Meanwhile, even cruise passengers headed to Alaska or the Mediterranean were affected, as outbound flights from Florida were cancelled as well.
Then, unexpectedly, Hurricane Frances began to weaken, with highest sustained winds falling to 105 mph, and its trek toward the Florida coast slowed dramatically. As the storm stalled off the coast of West Palm Beach, estimated landfall was pushed back from Friday night to Saturday night, meaning ports and airports would be closed for an additional day, and ships at sea would spend another day waiting before they could return to Florida. Cruise passengers that had just been reaccommodated to Sunday flights and ship departures had to be moved again, to Monday. Once again, passengers had the option to cancel with full refunds or future cruise credits.
Early Sunday morning, Hurricane Frances came ashore near Stuart, FL, and was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm. Wind damage and flooding was severe, and six million people lost power. Others lost their lives, or their homes, or their businesses. The storm crossed the state and moved back into the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa, then made landfall again on Monday in the Florida panhandle.
Also on Monday, the ports and airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale reopened, but officials at Port Canaveral announced that that port would remain closed until at least Wednesday, while the Coast Guard inspected "the harbor and approaches to determine if there are any submerged or other hazards in the water and to determine what emergency dredging may be necessary." Sailings from Port Canaveral were cancelled or changed to depart from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and some ships that left from Port Canaveral prior to the hurricane's arrival were forced to disembark their passengers in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. The cruise lines bussed arriving and departing passengers in both directions, as necessary.
While it will be some time before the full economic impact of Hurricane Frances on the cruise lines is known, it is quite clear that the storm was by far the most expensive and disruptive storm in the history of the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean alone has estimated its storm-related costs at $15 million. We've certainly never seen anything like it in the 20-year history of Vacations To Go.
And while thousands of cruisers were severely inconvenienced by Hurricane Frances, no ships or passengers were ever in danger, and it seems to me that the cruise lines made the best out of a very bad situation. For their fast response and unconditional offers of full refunds or future cruise credits, I give them an A+.
I know many readers of this newsletter were at sea during Hurricane Frances. If you'd be willing to share your experiences, please reply to this newsletter with a short recap of what happened on your cruise, for possible publication on our Web site."
This came from a website I get a weekly newsletter from.
Will I ever sail Disney again -- ABSOLUTELY. Won't sail any other line. We are going again in August next year. And will be well prepared for this happening again. Considering the fact that we heard that Carnival and some other ships had to ration food and water the last two nights, we feel DCL took very good care of us!
