What is the worst that can happen with hurricane season?

[Barefoot Princess]

I've been told that August and fall are hurricane season for Bahama/Caribbean cruises, and this is why the fare is less expensive during this time (that, and the school is back in session). And some people avoid cruising this time of year altogether for this reason. So what is the worst that can happen with hurricanes? The cruise gets canceled altogether? We don't get to disembark at all once we're on the sea?

DH prefers the lower price in August and says he won't mind at all if he gets stuck on the ship, but what if we don't get to go on the ship at all?? Is that a possibility?

TIA!

 

[truck1]

It really depends on any number of factors. Where the storm is predicted to be, when, how big, what itin are you on.....

Most of the time, DCL will just alter the order of stops. An east becomes a west for example, or CC may be first instead of last. They may move the ships departure port to Miami or Ft Lauderdale. DCL hasn't canceled a cruise due to a hurricane since 2004 and that was more to put the ship back on her scheduled days, and a 4th hurricane in Fl then anything else. That's extremely rare. Since cruises to nowhere have pretty much been banned, the ship has to make 1 foreign port stop now.

 

[bumbershoot]

A hurricane before your cruise can stop you from getting to the port.

A hurricane during your cruise could change the itinerary entirely, and you could have very very rough seas.

A hurricane at the end of your cruise could keep you from getting home.

You choose which is the worst for you.

 

[diznymom]

You are on a different cruise line that decides to sail through the hurricane b/c their schedule is more important than anything else.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I would book at cruise during hurricane season (if we are going to be technical, it runs half the year - June 1-Nov 30). If I were going during the height of hurricane season, I would strongly consider trip insurance.

 

[MUN]

I've been told that August and fall are hurricane season for Bahama/Caribbean cruises, and this is why the fare is less expensive during this time (that, and the school is back in session). And some people avoid cruising this time of year altogether for this reason. So what is the worst that can happen with hurricanes? The cruise gets canceled altogether? We don't get to disembark at all once we're on the sea?

DH prefers the lower price in August and says he won't mind at all if he gets stuck on the ship, but what if we don't get to go on the ship at all?? Is that a possibility?

TIA!

IMHO, the worse thing that can happen with a hurricane is it can kill you and the ones you love.

However, on the positive side, it typically is cheaper to sail during the portion of hurricane season when school is in session.

 

[mom4fun]

Read these boards about when the Fantasy went through hurricane Sandy a few years ago in October.

 

[DCLSailing]

I would recommend travel insurance for any booking personally. I sailed the Fantasy in 2012 when Hurricane Ernesto occurred. Our sailing was on the 4th and Disney sent an e-mail on the 3rd announcing the storm and, as Ernesto was due to strengthen to a hurricane the day of our sailing, the itinerary impact. This detailed each port of call and day at sea. As a result, Disney pro-actively re-routed the trip. Our Western became an Eastern and we had no weather impacts. There were some periods where additional changes were made but they kept us informed along the way.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

I've been through some really bad hurricanes on land..so bad I prayed the roof would stay on my house . The last place I want to be is at sea during one and that is why we sail off hurricane season. I highly recommend getting insurance if you plan for a cruise during that time.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Back in 2010, the week before Thanksgiving, was apparently a much rougher cruise than the one I had been on. The ship Crew Members told me that although deck 4, 9 and 10 were off-limits to us because of the high waves, the week before people were asked to remain in their cabins. The waters had been so rough that many of the crew members were throwing up.

 

[bumbershoot]

You are on a different cruise line that decides to sail through the hurricane b/c their schedule is more important than anything else.

AKA the Fantasy.

More recently, unforseen (by those that the cruiseline listened to) hurricane-FORCE winds (not a hurricane) that came on quickly affected a Royal ship. And Royal reacted and responded incredibly well, helping out the people who were freaked out by the experience, communicating with them the whole time, and really taking care of people.


And I'm sure there are many many other lines out there that have made decisions (Fantasy) or oopsies (Royal's ship) or somewhere in between....


(and there are those, like my husband, who would love to be on a ship during a storm...to my husband, that's REAL sailing, not cruiseship flat seas nonsense. dude was on oil tankers in Valdez...his dad was in the Navy and Merchant Marines...cruiseships feel like nothing to people like that!)

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I had a friend who was on DCL during Hurricane Sandy. The ship never docked at any ports and she said things were flying all over her cabin. She then got stuck in Orlando for days because she couldn't get a flight home and it was next to impossible to find s hotel room to stay in. DCL will do everything in their power not to cancel and have to refund money. If there are delays, guests would need to turn to their insurance and not DCL for compensation. Would I do it? Probably, but I would definitely buy travel insurance.

 

[Sytrace]

We have sailed once (soon to be twice) in June, two times in September (soon to be 3) , and once in mid November with no weather issues. (knocking on wood here) Along with a few others in off hurricane season.

That being said, we always have vacation protection. The routes would change and would have to skip a port if the weather made it unsafe to dock.

I agree with Bumbershoot, be aware of the timing of all your methods of travel and understand that even if the cruise part was worry free, that the flight side of it might be difficult. If not leave you stuck a day or two in Orlando. Althouh, Disney during a hurricane is probably the BEST place to get stuck as they have their own sources of power (and entertainment, food, water etc.) and lots of ways to stay safe in the midst of a bad hurricane.

 

[Barefoot Princess]

Thank you for all your replies. I guess I should've clarified that I meant what is the worst thing that can happen if I were on a DCL cruise in the Bahamas or the Caribbeans during a hurricane season within a reasonable expectation considering historical trends. We would get trip insurance regardless of the season (too much at stake!). Especially after watching the video clip of that lady in New Ark airport losing her marbles for nearly missing her Disney Cruise

I have to say, being stuck on Fantasy doesn't sound too bad. Though throwing up along with crew members, not so much. It's hard after seeing some of the prices for 2017 summer cruises - we'd like to go but the prices are tough to swallow for mid-summer

 

[truck1]

Realistically the absolute worst thing that could happen is that you get a rougher ride, then what is normal, and get stuck in Orl for a few days. Maybe stay an extra day at sea.

No ships Capt, with 1 notable exception, is going to put his ship, crew and passengers in deliberate danger. They'll rearrange the schedule as needed to avoid the storm.

 

[Momof2inCT]

We sailed too closely to a hurricane oh, back in 2012 I think. It was our very first cruise (and it was with Disney) and we had no idea what Hurricane Season was, so it was an interesting experience. The good: It was like we had the boat to ourselves. Everyone there was super nice. The rocking put my kids right to sleep.
The bad: I stayed up all night glued to the announcements on our tv from the crew. It was scary to see how close we came to being in real trouble.
I would not sail during hurricane season again, but my husband said he would. I think a lot of it has to do with your appetite for risk and ability to sleep through a storm.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Worst case? Other than your entire cruise being cancelled or your flight delayed? They sail it into a storm. That's happened (even on DCL). Not with anything more than minor injuries. Most of the time they will wait it out or go around it. That can cause variation to cruise schedules, loss of ports, etc. You don't get any compensation for skipping ports.

A reasonable expectation is that nothing at all will happen. But you need to watch the weather. NOAA tracks tropical disturbances and storms. Much of the time they can see if they will be a problem. You can read all of this on their website. Once in awhile, weather does do something it wasn't expected to do.

Trip insurance would be useful to deal with flight delays, especially if the delay is on your end and not where the cruise is leaving from (like when Hurricane Irene caused east coast flight cancellations that prevented some from getting to Vancouver in time for an Alaska cruise, August 2011)

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Hurricane season is June through November so it's a pretty big time period to avoid. The vast majority of time a hurricane won't be an issue, even if you sail in the peak of the season which is August and September. RCCL's Anthem of the Seas ended up sailing into hurricane force winds from a storm in early February so sailing outside of hurricane season isn't even a guarantee you won't face similar conditions.

Usually, the cruise line will make changes to the itinerary to avoid the storm. Eastern Caribbean cruises become Western Caribbean. Or ports are shuffled around.

I suppose the worst that could happen is something similar to what Anthem cruisers experienced, or DCL's Fantasy during Hurricane Sandy. But the odds of that are slim as compared to just missing a port or having a different set of ports.

Above all else, purchase trip insurance.

 

[KORY]

Hurricane season is June through November so it's a pretty big time period to avoid. The vast majority of time a hurricane won't be an issue, even if you sail in the peak of the season which is August and September. RCCL's Anthem of the Seas ended up sailing into hurricane force winds from a storm in early February so sailing outside of hurricane season isn't even a guarantee you won't face similar conditions.

Usually, the cruise line will make changes to the itinerary to avoid the storm. Eastern Caribbean cruises become Western Caribbean. Or ports are shuffled around.


Above all else, purchase trip insurance.

so what would happen to your port adventures if your cruise would change from a west to a east

 

[Maggie'sMom]

so what would happen to your port adventures if your cruise would change from a west to a east

If booked through Disney, you would not be charged for any port adventures missed. I've never been in this situation before, but I would imagine DCL would attempt to schedule port adventures in the new ports with their existing port adventure companies. I just don't know what they might be able to arrange on short notice.

If you booked excursions privately, it would depend on the tour operator you booked with. When I was looking to book private excursions for our Eastern Caribbean cruise, I checked out cancellation policies for companies I was considering booking with and it seemed most were understanding if a port will be totally missed due to weather, but that doesn't mean some companies wouldn't still keep a deposit. Again, I've never been in this situation so I can't say for sure.