Tell me about your experience with weather related port changes and cancellations

[jne7043]

We are scheduled to leave on the Fantasy (Western Caribbean) on 9/14. The tropics are umm, rather active right now. Although I will be watching the weather like a hawk this week I'm not one to stress about change. We have a week off and we ARE going somewhere. However, I'd like to know of some possible outcomes just in case. Is there a chance that DCL could change our cruise to the Eastern itinerary? Two stops at Castaway? Are there offers of shipboard credit if the itinerary drastically changes? I believe for the Irma cancellations last year it was full refund and 25% discount on future cruise.

Edited to add: I'm confident Disney will take care of us, not worried about that at all.

 

[lklgoodman]

They won't give you any kind of onboard credit or refund if they just have to change which ports you go to. Last March we were scheduled to go to St Maarten and San Juan. When we checked in at the port we were given a letter that said we weren't going to St Maarten because of severe storms in the area of the island. Instead we went to CC twice, I loved it!! I had been looking forward to go to St. Maarten, but we had been there before, so I wasn't disappointed at all to get to go to CC twice instead. It was our fourth cruise and the first time we've had any changes to a cruise. We were reimbursed for the port fees and excursions we had booked at St Maarten, but weren't given anything else, which is how it's suppose to be. Refunds/credits are only for cruise cancellations, not a change in ports(as stated in the contract). You could very well have your cruise changed from a WC to a EC, double dip to CC, or sub a sea day for a missed port(they will do their best to get you somewhere).

 

[gotomu212]

We’ve had an eastern turn into a western and we’ve been unable to make certain ports with a sea day substituted for that port. They only credit we’ve got is a refund of port fees if a port was missed. When that happens they get navigators our quixkly and add extra activities. When easy switches to West they had more people at port adventures to help people book replacement excursions.

On the bright side for your cruise the western looks much better so it would be surprising if they made any changes.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We were on the first Fantasy cruise after Hurricane Sandy. Some of the ports were so damaged we couldn't go there, so DCL kept changing the itinerary -- they were making things up as they went along. Our stateroom host was laughing about it. What else could they do? We weren't offered any compensation. If you read the fine print in your cruise contract DCL doesn't have to actually go anywhere. There was an RCCL ship docked at Port Canaveral that was due to leave the same day as our cruise -- they just stayed in port and offered to let the passengers use it as a floating hotel and/or get a full refund.

 

[CamColt]

We have had a few changes over the years. Last year we missed Cozumel on our Western due to Hurricane Franklin. In 2014 at the sail away part we were advised we would not be visiting Saint Maarten, but rather stopping at San Juan due to Hurricane Cristobal. Once in February so not due to a hurricane, we missed CC and went to Nassau instead, And lastly twice (once Dec and once hurricane related)we had to change CC and our sea day so we didn't miss anything just had a bit of a change of itinerary.

We have never been offered compensation, nor would I have expected it, however we did get our port charges refunded from missing Cozumel. Disney can do a lot but they can't control the weather.

 

[n2mm]

We’ve missed castaway cay several cruises.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We’ve missed castaway cay several cruises.

This is such a bummer to read. How many times out of how many cruises?

 

[cvaska]

Earlier this year due to Subtropical Storm Alberto my Western Caribbean on the Fantasy changed schedules. They just flipped the ports, and none of them were missed. We went Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel instead of Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth

 

[n2mm]

This is such a bummer to read. How many times out of how many cruises?

2 times out of 15 cruises. Sadly it was my daughter’s and granddaughters first cruise. One daughter finally made it back, but the other has yet to visit castaway cay.

 

[dvcdisney]

We also didn't dock at Castaway Cay once. It was actually our first cruise and, luckily, it was the first part of a B2B, so on the second cruise we were glad to be able to dock. There was extensive damage during the storm, but they were able to get it up and running by the next cruise.

There was no offer of a shipboard credit for not docking...weather is weather...there were also no offer of any compensation, but they did try to make the best of the stormy weather and provided extra entertainment and I think I heard some people mention complimentary drink of the day, but we don't drink so I don't know if that's true.

 

[DCLPrincess]

In April we couldn't "dock" in Grand Cayman so we had a sea day instead. From what I've heard it's pretty common for Grand Cayman. While it was disappointing it didn't ruin the trip and they had fun activities that day

 

[cruiser21]

20 something cruises an I’ve never missed a port...knock on wood. I think you’ll be in the clear with Florence. At this point it looks like it will hit north of a Florida, but there is a lot going on behind it. My biggest concern is flying in and out during hurricane season. I can deal with missing ports and rain. It doesn’t take much weather for flights to cancel. If your flying in Thursday or Friday that would probably be my biggest worry.

 

[meliscan]

We are scheduled to leave on the Fantasy (Western Caribbean) on 9/14. The tropics are umm, rather active right now. Although I will be watching the weather like a hawk this week I'm not one to stress about change. We have a week off and we ARE going somewhere. However, I'd like to know of some possible outcomes just in case. Is there a chance that DCL could change our cruise to the Eastern itinerary? Two stops at Castaway? Are there offers of shipboard credit if the itinerary drastically changes? I believe for the Irma cancellations last year it was full refund and 25% discount on future cruise.

Edited to add: I'm confident Disney will take care of us, not worried about that at all.[/QUOTE

For Irma it depended on the cruise. We were refunded the days we missed and given the 25% discount on a future cruise. The cruise the week after ours was cancelled out right and they got a refund. Our port schedule was reversed but there were not shipboard credits. If you look at the contract you sign there is no guarantee of ports.

If you are flying watch your flights. We have taken an earlier flight in the past at no change fee to make sure we make it to the cruise. The airlines will often offer that if the weather looks iffy.

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

We have had a few changes over the years. Last year we missed Cozumel on our Western due to Hurricane Franklin. In 2014 at the sail away part we were advised we would not be visiting Saint Maarten, but rather stopping at San Juan due to Hurricane Cristobal. Once in February so not due to a hurricane, we missed CC and went to Nassau instead, And lastly twice (once Dec and once hurricane related)we had to change CC and our sea day so we didn't miss anything just had a bit of a change of itinerary.

We have never been offered compensation, nor would I have expected it, however we did get our port charges refunded from missing Cozumel. Disney can do a lot but they can't control the weather.

We were on the same cruise in 2014. We were actually happy with the change as we aren’t that impressed with St. Maarten. Last year, on our western, they simply switched the order of the ports. We went to Jamaica first and Cozumel last. Those are the only weather related itinerary changes we’ve had. One note, relating to refunds, if the new port you visit has lower port fees, they will refund the difference in those. If you miss a port altogether the fees will also be refunded.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yeah, we are on that same cruise. I’m not liking how low Isaac is staying, either. Hubby & I were just talking about it. I’ll be watching closely as well. Notsomuch for itinerary change but for getting my house prepped and a plan for my boys to get out of town.

 

[cruiser21]

Yeah, we are on that same cruise. I’m not liking how low Isaac is staying, either. Hubby & I were just talking about it. I’ll be watching closely as well. Notsomuch for itinerary change but for getting my house prepped and a plan for my boys to get out of town.

Some forecasts are saying it may affect San Juan and Virgin Islands. Neither one of those areas needs another Hurricane. We're headed to WDW next week. I'm keeping an eye on the storms for any flight problems. I hope the storms stay far away from Houston. I remember your posts from last year.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Some forecasts are saying it may affect San Juan and Virgin Islands. Neither one of those areas needs another Hurricane. We're headed to WDW next week. I'm keeping an eye on the storms for any flight problems. I hope the storms stay far away from Houston. I remember your posts from last year.

We still haven’t finished the flood rebuild. We are crossing our fingers. It’s never a good time for anybody with these things.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We had to fly down a couple days early so we wouldn't have to worry about flights being cancelled when a TS was hitting WDW a day or so prior to our cruise in 2016. Cruise sailed as scheduled but alot of people on the sailing left on their originally planned flights and had issues.

We had our eastern turn western last year after all those storms. We were offered to stay on it or change sailings without penalty. Since the eastern route was out for the foreseeable future we went ahead and sailed it as a western.

I'd say just watch the flight situation and if you need to, head down early so you are at least in FL and can get to the ship...wherever the ship may go.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

My friend was on a cruise scheduled from NYC to the Bahamas a couple of years ago. Matthew screwed it up and made it a cruise to Canada instead. They offered her substantial onboard credit as well as a 25% off discount on a future cruise. She really didn't want a Canadian cruise, so she ended up getting them to switch her to the Fantasy instead and they drove to FL (through awful weather!). She stayed at WDW for one night prior to the cruise, and they comped her room and 1 day park hoppers for her family. IIRC the Fantasy was only 6 nights, instead of 7 during that time (I forget!) She really made out well, especially considering she did NOT have trip insurance!

 

[apathetic]

We were on the 2015 EBTA that cancelled 2 ports (Iceland and Newfoundland) because of ice in the water. Obviously a smart move for safety. They replaced them with 2 underwhelming ports (Halifax and Stavanger). The biggest issue for me was they sold this at a premium price based on those 2 ports. There is nothing you can do, but it hurts when you realize you paid more than twice the cruise is worth because of the cancellations. Plus, the cancellations were very last minute, so you couldn't book excursions for the new ports until you were on the ship. Well, taking the bus from WDW meant all of the good excursions were gone before we ever got on the ship. The reshuffled itinerary left 6 straight days at sea A year in the planning for what should have been the best cruise ever is still one of the worst cruises we've been on.