Tropical Storm

[jimandshane]

Any idea how the storm might affect Friday’s sailing? Anyone experienced this before?

 

[Mr. Drauer]

it won't.

 

[jimandshane]

Thanks. Only cruised once before and have no experience with this. Appreciate the peace of mind.

 

[Marc D]

Unless the storm prevents the ship from leaving port during turnaround day, it is not a problem. They sail around it and modify ports if required. We once saw our St Marteen stop replaced by a second CC day because sailing there by bypassing a storm would only give us 3 hours in port.

 

[Lynes88]

Don't forget the case where the storm prevents the ship from returning. That happened to us, and the ship returned early and we lost 2 days of our cruise and skipped all ports but one, no Castaway Cay.

 

[jrapps]

Don't forget the case where the storm prevents the ship from returning. That happened to us, and the ship returned early and we lost 2 days of our cruise and skipped all ports but one, no Castaway Cay.

I had the opposite situation...Hurricane Dorian turned our 3-day cruise into a 6-day cruise!

But for the most part, it is very rare for hurricane season to dramatically affect a cruise. It does happen, but don't stress about it too much.

 

[Lynes88]

The nightmare for many on our cruise could be seen for the International travelers. There was a mandatory evacuation order in FL and included Orlando (airport). There is little to no access while onboard to travel agents, internet etc. so we had lines at Customer Service that were crazy long and all night long. People were freaking out with no way home and multiple translators were walking the lines trying to help. With no way home, and no hotel there was a sense of panic for some. We jumped in our car at 5:00 PM at the Port and drove all night to VA. The drive was crazy getting out of FL and through to SC.

 

[hrhdhd]

The nightmare for many on our cruise could be seen for the International travelers. There was a mandatory evacuation order in FL and included Orlando (airport). There is little to no access while onboard to travel agents, internet etc. so we had lines at Customer Service that were crazy long and all night long. People were freaking out with no way home and multiple translators were walking the lines trying to help. With no way home, and no hotel there was a sense of panic for some. We jumped in our car at 5:00 PM at the Port and drove all night to VA. The drive was crazy getting out of FL and through to SC.

What storm was this? I've lived in Orlando for 25+ years and have never seen a mandatory evacuation order.

 

[sethschroeder]

What storm was this? I've lived in Orlando for 25+ years and have never seen a mandatory evacuation order.

Not sure if they are just talking about Dorian shutting down the airport?

 

[Lynes88]

Not sure if they are just talking about Dorian shutting down the airport?

Yes, sorry it was Dorian and yes I meant that the Airport was shut down, and the area around Port Canaveral was under a mandatory evacuation. Because of this, no hotels were available anywhere around Orlando etc. Many families has no where to go when I talked to a few...

 

[Lynes88]

Yes, sorry it was Dorian and yes I meant that the Airport was shut down, and the area around Port Canaveral was under a mandatory evacuation. Because of this, no hotels were available anywhere around Orlando etc. Many families has no where to go when I talked to a few...

Sorry, my memory is failing me. This was Hurricane Irma in 2017. We were on the western voyage of Fantasy and turned back early. The Sept. 09 sailing was cancelled along with several other. It was a mess...

 

[OKW Lover]

Any idea how the storm might affect Friday’s sailing? Anyone experienced this before?

There is very, very little chance this storm will affect Friday's sailing. Check out the latest, non-sensationalized storm track at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

 

[Disneyloverliz]

Don't forget the case where the storm prevents the ship from returning. That happened to us, and the ship returned early and we lost 2 days of our cruise and skipped all ports but one, no Castaway Cay.

Just curious...are you reimbursed some portion of the cost of the cruise? In all honesty, one of the reasons I moved my cruise from September to May was because of hurricane season. It's a once in a lifetime cruise for us, likely, and I didn't want to get gypped!

 

[ahain]

Just curious...are you reimbursed some portion of the cost of the cruise? In all honesty, one of the reasons I moved my cruise from September to May was because of hurricane season. It's a once in a lifetime cruise for us, likely, and I didn't want to get gypped!

Technically, Disney is under no obligation to reimburse anything (per the cruise contract). A good reason to have trip interruption travel insurance, I suppose! I do believe that I have read here that DCL has made some accommodation when this happens though.

 

[Lynes88]

Just curious...are you reimbursed some portion of the cost of the cruise? In all honesty, one of the reasons I moved my cruise from September to May was because of hurricane season. It's a once in a lifetime cruise for us, likely, and I didn't want to get gypped!

Yes, we were reimbursed for lost days (2 of them) and given a 20% discount on a future booking, which we took advantage of too.

 

[Cheburashka]

Always get good travel insurance if you book a flight during high hurricane season (August - October). This insurance should cover flights and hotel nights as well as the cruise itself. It can also help to book your flights via DCL, so they can adjust any return flights as needed due to disruption, rather than you having to do it all by yourself during your cruise. And of course if DCL cancels a cruise due to impending hurricane, and you booked flights via DCL, your flight money will automatically be refunded along with the cruise fare.

But if you're sailing soon and haven't done any of that, don't worry. Very few hurricanes disrupt cruises themselves while on the water, because the ships can typically sail around them. The bigger issue is when a hurricane is headed to the home port, but that is also rare. It happens occasionally and can cause your cruise departure or return to be delayed, or the cruise itself to be cancelled, but the odds are against it happening to any one particular cruise during the long hurricane season.

 

[HiStitch626]

I had the opposite situation...Hurricane Dorian turned our 3-day cruise into a 6-day cruise!

But for the most part, it is very rare for hurricane season to dramatically affect a cruise. It does happen, but don't stress about it too much.

Was that the Dream? My sister and her family were on that cruise and loved it. Of course, they are Floridians so no transport issues and they were okay to miss work.

 

[rhinodadz]

The current (Wed night) forecast track outs Fred in the Gulf, so likely minimal impact to Port Canaveral and CC.

 

[OKW Lover]

The current (Wed night) forecast track outs Fred in the Gulf, so likely minimal impact to Port Canaveral and CC.

Not only that, but on Friday it will still be off the coast of Cuba. That's hundreds of miles away from Port Canaveral.

 

[Disneyloverliz]

Always get good travel insurance if you book a flight during high hurricane season (August - October). This insurance should cover flights and hotel nights as well as the cruise itself. It can also help to book your flights via DCL, so they can adjust any return flights as needed due to disruption, rather than you having to do it all by yourself during your cruise. And of course if DCL cancels a cruise due to impending hurricane, and you booked flights via DCL, your flight money will automatically be refunded along with the cruise fare.

But if you're sailing soon and haven't done any of that, don't worry. Very few hurricanes disrupt cruises themselves while on the water, because the ships can typically sail around them. The bigger issue is when a hurricane is headed to the home port, but that is also rare. It happens occasionally and can cause your cruise departure or return to be delayed, or the cruise itself to be cancelled, but the odds are against it happening to any one particular cruise during the long hurricane season.

Thank you for this. I have my cruise, air and insurance booked through Disney!