Worried about cruising during hurricane season

[Anna Chassereau]

Hi all!

We're booked on the Oct. 28th 2017 cruise on the Fantasy to the western Carribean. I just read a comment on the DCL FB page on a post about the HOTHS sailings from two ladies that went on a cruise late Oct. 2012 and were affected by hurricane sandy...they were commenting on how miserable of a time it was and how sea sick everyone was. She said that they couldn't even port at any of their ports and didn't stop at Castaway Cay and were only offered a 20% off voucher for what happened.

It just made me think...should I move our cruise to another time of year?! I just don't know...we really want to do HOTHS but also don't want to spend over $5,000 to be miserable and not be able to go to any ports.

What does Disney typically do if a hurricane is in the Carribean? Has anyone been on a cruise with them when a hurricane has struck and if you have what was your experience?

 

[Anna Chassereau]

Also if there is one when its time for us to cruise would we be able to cancel/move our cruise? I bought
trip insurance.

 

[Sytrace]

We have sailed 7 times during hurricane season (June 1 to November 30th) and have never had a problem. Typically, they will cruise to other ports and avoid storms which may mean missing Castaway Cay because they cannot dock there. Or they might change port days to make sure that they can get there safely and still give guests a good and safe experience.

If you are not sure about sailing during Hurricane season, then December to May are good times to go, although typically a bit cooler temperatures in the Caribbean in both water and air.

 

[Anna114]

Disney as in every other cruise line will take you out of harms way. There are times that you will experience ruff seas. I would say Sandy is a-typical. Most times they are way out of the path of any storm. I wouldn't rebook. I had the same problem in 2006 with hurricane Florence. Celebrity was allowing people to rebook or you could get $250 per room in obc. We stayed on and the only bad part we ended up in Freeport (an awful port) instead of in Bermuda.

 

[PlanoNana]

You may want to read this thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/cruising-with-active-hurricane-tips.3538655/page-2#post-56340310 Lots of info relating to hurricanes.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--we've cruised 3 times now on week long Fantasy Carribean cruises in September and early and late October.

Perfect weather each and every time.

You MIGHT run into hurricane weather--and just as easily might not!!

 

[mmouse37]

As posted up thread hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30th. The height of the season is Oct but we have sailed numerous times that time of year and had beautiful weather. Hurricanes can happen and Sandy was in a class all its own. We have been onboard when a hurricane was in the area and we just diverted around it. Seas may become rough but it would rare for you not to make any ports a all. Unlike a land based vacation, a cruise has the power to move to another area and maybe change itinerary but your vacation most likely won't be ruined.

It is also very rare for a cruiseline to cancel a cruise due to hurricane. Usually they will modify the itinerary or shorten/lengthen the cruise. Once when a storm was due to hit Port Canaveral the people onboard had to stay onboard longer as the ship could not dock at PC. They had to stay at sea for 2 more days. This thus resulted in our cruise (the one after) being shortened to a five day instead of 7 day. DCL was very generous and offered us free cancellation or if we decided to sail we got a partial refund, OBC and a discount off a future cruise. We were already in Florida when we heard about the hurricane so hunkered down at WDW to ride out the storm. We were actually on our way to the port to spend the night there when we heard PC was being evacuated. We pulled into the Polynesian and booked a room for Fri, Sant and Sun night (cruise left Monday), saved all our receipts and our travel insurance reimbursed us our extra hotel nights, meals and rental car expense under the "trip interruption" portion of the policy. We were bused down to Ft. Lauderdale to meet the ship. We could not go to Castaway Cay as it was damaged in the storm but we still had a great time.

My point of this rambling post is that make sure you have trip insurance and go with the expectation that the cruise may not stop at the original ports but it is unlikely your whole cruise will be ruined.

Again, the ships getting stuck in Sandy was an anomaly and definitely not the norm.

MJ

 

[Anna Chassereau]

Thanks y'all! Just a worry wart over here and I tend to think of the worst possible situation first...definitely wish I wasn't like this! I shouldn't let my anxiety get the best of me! We cruised a 4 night on the Dream at the beginning of this month and had an incredible time...prior to us leaving I was so nervous about a Norovirus outbreak! Turns out we had an amazing time and no one got sick and all that worry was for nothing!

So I just need to chill out and pray for good weather and look forward to our cruise! Thanks for all the advice!

 

[psac]

Any cruise can hit bad waters. Take some Bonine (or less drowsy Dramamine) with you just in case.

We were on the Fantasy when Hurricane Joachim formed in the Caribbean. They rerouted us away from Castaway Cay and we sailed along the coast of Cuba. It was rocky, but we were safe. They showed a map (below) of our original route in red and the new route in yellow. It turns out the original route would have brought us where the cargo ship sunk en route to Puerto Rico!!! It was rocky, but they kept us nice and safe.



They loaded up the sea day (instead of castaway cay) with extra activities and character meets.

Also note there's a reason the cruises during hurricane season are much cheaper than not...

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

Well--we've cruised 3 times now on week long Fantasy Carribean cruises in September and early and late October.

Perfect weather each and every time.

You MIGHT run into hurricane weather--and just as easily might not!!

Just curious. What weeks in September?

 

[Uncleromulus]

Last week in September 2013---

Third week in October in 2014 and 2015.

Oct 15 this year!!

 

[MUN]

What does Disney typically do if a hurricane is in the Carribean?

DCL will try to avoid it.