Previous Sept. cruisers..questions..

[pbharris4]

I just saw the OP's thread (about regreting Sept. cruises)and I was about to post this one. I am now thinking about the Sept. 23rd 2006 cruise. In the last 2 yrs I've noticed DCL has changed the dates of value season around a bit. This would be the only time we could afford to go. We're using DVC pts and cash (I hate to use pts, but we are). Anyway, I've got some questions. How's the weather and the water temps? Have you missed ports? Did you get any $$back if you purchased insurance? Is the ship crowded? ANything else you can add would be appreciated! There have been so many hurricanes. Usually it doesn't bother me, but the last 2 seasons have been bad. Everytime a hurricane would hit down in FL, SC or NC..we'd get a lot of it, too...and ALOT of tornadoes! I had 2 HUGE trees fall on my house and did a lot of damage..anyway I am sure it's worse off down south. What happens when there's a hurricane when you're on a cruise ship?

 

[ChrizJen]

I've only been on one cruise...it was Sept 03 on the Wonder. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, we got to all of our ports, and the water temp was perfect in the pools and on the beaches. Our cruise was the week after a hurricane, I think it was Isabelle...but I'm not sure.

The thing with cruising during hurricane season is this:
You are safer on the ship than you would be on land. The captian and crew have navigational equipment to steer the ship away from the storm and into better weather. But that leads to another problem (well...problem for some, and "adventure" for others! ) that itineraries may change. You may not make it to all of your ports of call, you may end up visiting other ports, or none at all. BUT if you are the type who can "go with the flow" and enjoy the cruise anyway, you shouldn't have a problem...Just make sure you have trip insurance in case the cruise is cancelled.

 

[diznylnd]

We cruised last year on Sept 12th and had the unfortunate luck of being inbetween hurricane Frances and Ivan. This was only tuff because we never made it to Castaway cay. We had to go to South Carolina instead. This was a real bummer on our first family vacation and cruise, but with that said we had an awesome time in SC.

The only other thing our family and the family traveling with us had a problem with was bad motion sickness (we took dramamine to help). The seas of course were ruff due to the storm. THe crew members where all wearing sea bands and said that it was unusually ruff seas.

The water temp at Nassau was great and we were in the water the whole excursion. Weather was incredible too.

I hope this helps

We are going on the repo cruise in August, so you know it wasnt that bad. LOL

 

[pbharris4]

I think we'd be able to go with the flow as long as we can go to another port. We're not too picky, but don't want to spend 7 days just on the ship. I know they can pretty much outrun the hurricanes..was wondering if the waves were real bad. With all the hurricanes the past 2 years...we might even get stuck driving downm in one. We'll have a 10 yr old and 3 yo with us too.

 

[ASROBERTS]

We've been on three cruises during September and are going again this year. The rates are just too good to pass up. Last year, 9/11, we did have to change ports of call, but no problem. The weather and seas have always been just right. The ship was filled to capacity on all trips, but crowds aren't a problem.
Angela

 

[ganurse]

we cruises early sept and our cruise (7day) was shortened to a 4 day. i think disney really worked with us and we had a great time
amy

 

[taeja71]

Our family sailed the Wonder for a four day trip starting 9/19/04. We managed to cruise between Ivan and Jeanne. Instead of going to CC first we ended up having a sea day instead (headed to Nassau). It worked out great for us since we were GA-GA over the whole cruising idea and the ship. We enjoyed looking around the ship, planning what we wanted to do, and went in the pool w/ our kids. Which ever ship you take they will divert rain and any stormy conditions (the best they can) so you can fully enjoy the weather and calm seas.

If you do decide to cruise, stay in constant touch w/ your fellow cruisers, have at least on other DISer's cell phone number in your phone, and take along DCL 800 number with you if you are traveling down to Port Canaveral.
Happy planning!

 

[kaykels]

Hey DIZNYLND..we were on the same cruise. However, it was my 2nd Wonder cruise and I didn't like it AT ALL. With that said, Disney did an awesome job of accommodating people that missed days, extended days, etc. etc. We were in between 2 hurricanes and didn't know what we were doing until the last minute. The food wasn't as good, and I imagine they may have had restocking issues. We missed CC and we only had a few hours in Nassau, so we were VERY rushed.
We rebooked and just got off of the May 7th Magic.
That was AMAZING! BEST VACATION EVER.
So in summary, DCL does it's best to take care of you in the event of hurricanes. Some had the option of cancelling, some cruisers were given discounts of future cruises, and so on. Personally, I would do it again ONLY if the price was something that I couldn't pass up.

 

[lbgraves]

Hey, you could luck out & get stuck on the ship for an extra few days like the cruisers did last year. We have cruised in November & December & the weather was beautiful & hot so I can only imagine that the weather would be good in September.

 

[missyoh8]

do It!!!

 

[westjones]

We were on the Sept. 18th seven night when Jeanne came our way. We had to skip CC (the only port we missed on the cruise) and get back to PC on Friday night. They had everyone get off the ship that night and took us to the Dolphin (Disney covered the cost of the room and transportation to the hotel as well as breakfast the next morning, it was AMAZING how they were able to organize everything so quickly).

We got a coupon for 1/2 off our next cruise (which we used in December).

We were stuck at WDW during the hurricane because the airport was full on Saturday and it closed on Sunday. We were at the Poly and they made up breakfast bags we could buy the night before and they put on lots of movies on the TV for us to watch in our rooms. The next day when things settled down some they invited people to the main building and they had entertainment there for us (dancers, a candy maker, characters, arts & crafts, etc.).

The next day we went to MK and it was SUPER! You could hardly tell a hurricane came through and the park was almost empty. We could just walk up onto the rides. No fast passes needed at all that day. We did Buzz Lightyear 3 times!

So it wasn't that bad for us. It was a bit scarey when the hurricane was coming through. It was loud and we sat in the bathroom for awhile (the Poly has big bathrooms). But after a couple of hours, things were fine.

I would go again in September if my twins weren't moving to middle school next year. We have to follow the school schedule for now on, but you can't beat the prices in September and the weather is USUALLY very nice when there isn't a hurricane.

DJ

 

[allears]

In most of DCL's history, hurricane season hasn't been that disruptive, last year being a big exception. We cruised on the appreviated Hurricane Jeanne crusie. Left 2 1/2 days late, only got to two ports and no CC. However, we had an awesome time and some very special blessings.

Our advice, be very flexible, and get travel insurance!

We were hold up in Orlando while Jeanne traveled across the state. The insurance covered all of the extra expenses. DCL refunded 40% of our fare and gave us a discount voucher for a future cruise. All of which allowed my DW and I to cruise for a full 7 days in January for no extra money.

I wouldn't do it again, but that's me. The price is great then, the weather is still summer. So go for it.

 

[zeke11]

Our cruise experience was majorly messed up by Hurricane Jeanne. I will never book a cruise in September again.

Kris

 

[cruzings]

we've sailed in september twice. first in 03 on the wonder. weather was great, temperatures comfortably warm. we got to visit castaway cay then. second in 04 on eastern carribean/magic. weather was great until the very last day when hurricane jeanne decided to make a comeback. rough seas for a day or so. had to cut the cruise by half a day but disney more than made up for it with free accomodations, food and transportation at/to WDW and to the airport. we were unable to go to castaway cay in 2004. best thing was disney gave us a 50% voucher for a future cruise, and we are using that for our west coast cruise this july!

 

[pogopossum]

my addition to what others are saying, would be: be prepared for the unexpected, and ready to change plans on a dime. we have booked again this sept. using our 25% discount from frances shortened cruise was just too good to pass up. and the only way that it would make sense was to cruise in the off season, so off we go. we've posted about the weather predictions on our sept 3rd cruise thread, and my feelings are that last year notwithstanding chances are you will get a normal cruise with some great weather. last year was really out of the ordinary, in previous years the most that i had heard was one cruise maybe a year affected, certainly not the four or was it five that were altered last year. so i feel that for the value it is certainly a good time of year to cruise.

 

[scrapperjill]

We sailed this past Sept...9/11 7 night Magic...We were between hurricanes Frances, Ivan was busy stirring things up in the Western Caribbean and Jeanne was on her way up. We ended up doing a modifyed Eastern cruise (we booked the Western...but could go due to Ivan doing his thing over there at the time)...So in a sence we didn't stop at our ports that we were scheduled at...but we did stop at others. We ended up going to San Juan PR, Nassau and Castaway Cay. The weather was wonderful...a few showers but nothing we couldn't handle. Actually the rain felt nice in the heat. The seas for the most part were wonderful...I think we had one night with rougher seas...but nothing BAD...To add to that...for most of our sea days the waters were as smooth as glass...and when it wasn't as smooth as glass it was still smooth...in other words no big swells. Water temp...wonderful...We swam at Nassau and at Castaway (for hours). Would we book again in Sept?....You bet. Although I wouldn't do it with out trip insurance..for that matter I don't think I'd ever book a cruise and pay that much money for any vacation without getting trip insurance...you just never know.

 

[ladypoo]

We have sailed twice in Sept. '03 and '04. we missed CC in '03 because of tides or currents. We made it to the island in '04 and had a wonderful time. The captain does his best to stay away from bad weather and dock at CC. He tried several times to dock in '03. We were awakened to the sound of the engines rumbling while he was trying to dock. In '04, we were on the same cruise as Taeja was.