What happens if a cruise is cancelled because of a hurricane?

Howdy,

I am getting very nervous about this year and all of the hurricanes! (I am being selfish, because the people I should feel sorry for are those whose homes are damaged or lost by the storms—saying this…) I am on the 7/30 Zuiderdam. This season is beginning to look bad! Normally going in late July is safe, but this year is certainly not a normal year in the Atlantic. I take a cruise the end of July every year. I REALLY WANT TO GO AWAY! I have also booked a nice room at the Mariott in Ft Lauderdale for several days prior to the cruise. I booked everything myself, including the air on Jet Blue. I don't even care where the Zuiderdam sails to at this point! I just want to go away and be pampered for ten days (hotel and cruise). I am curious if anyone has ever experienced a cruise cancellation because of a hurricane?

Thanks!

I have never heard of an HAL cruise being cancelled because of a hurricane....or any other weather. I have heard that the itinerary changes; the ship stays longer at sea to avoid being caught in port during a storm. Last summer, I think there were two cruises which were supposed to disembark and embark on Saturday but stayed at sea until Monday or Tuesday.

I have heard of a ship changing port of boarding and disembarking if a port suffered bad damage.

Chances are very strong in favor of your sailing on time.....who knows if maybe with a rerouted itinerary.

We, also, have cruised a great many times during summer/fall hurricane season and have, in all those cruises, only once missed a single port call in order to avoid a storm.

They won't cancel a cruise ... they might postpone it, though.

If the weather is bad, Port Everglades could be closed down. If that happens, the cruise can't get back to port in time to pick up embarking passengers. Of course, those embarking passengers can't get flights into Fort Lauderdale either.

In such a case, the cruise goes out late. You will miss a day or two. In such a case, HAL will offer you options. You could cancel your cruise. You could reschedule for another sailing. Or, you could go as planned on the shorter cruise and get a nice credit on another future cruise as well.

I was on the Zuiderdam last summer when this exact thing happened. I was on a b2b and the first half got extended from Saturday until Monday because the port was closed in Fort Lauderdale. On Monday evening, we sailed on the second half of the b2b ... a shortened cruise. There were only about 800 passengers onboard. The Zuiderdam holds over 2000.

Regardless, we sailed. A ship isn't making revenue sitting at the dock.

Blue skies ...

--rita

If you are worried, purchase trip insurance. This will cover your flights and hotel if you need to cancel them or make changes.

I wonder if it is too late to write insurance for a July 30 sailing.

Long range weather forecasts start to show up ten days (and more) out and insurance companies may not allow it now???? I don't know the answer to that; I am asking.

Does trip insurance even cover weather-related problems?

I don't know -- just asking. Also, if a person booked his own flights and a pre-cruise hotel stay, would he have to get three separate policies, one on the flight, one on the hotel and one on the cruise?

Sailing during hurricane season: The season is 6 months long -- difficult for some to avoid!

I have regularly cruised in early November, as the hurricane season is winding down. Never had a problem with a 'cane, but we did have a storm one year that prevented us from calling on St. Martin. I would not book a cruise in September, just because it is the peak hurricane period.

However, this season is really unusual, with TS Franklin now out there churning ... last year we didn't get the "F" storm until September [Frances].

I was on a Holland Caribbean itinerary a few years ago. We were caught the first night out by a hurricane, and ended up cruising around Bermuda for a day or so before we could head into the Caribbean (with a few hours of 30 foot plus waves as the captain had initially tried to beat the hurricane as we left Florida - he lost!). We were able to only stop in one port due to damage to the others, then couldn't snorkle, etc. due to the way the water was churned. Bottom line - seven days on the boat with no excursions, no sun to sit in, no offer of HAL to make up for it in any way. I'm not trying to sound negative, but I'm just really glad I had take a LOT of reading materials. (Just completed an Amsterdam Alaska route, so I'm clearly over the hurricane issue.)

Does trip insurance even cover weather-related problems?

I don't know -- just asking. Also, if a person booked his own flights and a pre-cruise hotel stay, would he have to get three separate policies, one on the flight, one on the hotel and one on the cruise?

I would say they would book on policy that covered all of their personalized travel. Their flights, their hotel, their cruise.

 

I have regularly cruised in early November, as the hurricane season is winding down. Never had a problem with a 'cane, but we did have a storm one year that prevented us from calling on St. Martin. I would not book a cruise in September, just because it is the peak hurricane period.

 

Was that cruise the Maasdam, November, 2003? We were on that cruise and that is the port I referenced when I said we missed one port one time due to a hurricane.

The trip insurance that we buy covers medical, air, hotels, cruise, luggage, everything. We may a little more but at least we are trying to protect ourselves as best as we can.

Right now tropical storm Franklin is hovering over the Bahamas - doesn't look good for the Zuiderdam to go into Ft Lauderdale tomorrow - rough weather.

I would imagine that unless Port Everglades is closed, ZUDM will head into port.

I don't know, of course, but think the harbormaster will close the port if it is too dangerous to try to dock the ships.

Right now tropical storm Franklin is hovering over the Bahamas - doesn't look good for the Zuiderdam to go into Ft Lauderdale tomorrow - rough weather.

What is your qualification to make a statement like that? There is no reason to upset people that are booked on the Zuiderdam 7/23. If there is no basis for such a inflammatory statement, keep your ignorant thoughts to yourself.

S7S:

No, we were on the Zuiderdam. We ran into a tropical system that brought us gale-force winds, high seas [16-18 ft. waves] and driving rain.

Could not get into St. Martin, so we headed to St. Thomas, our next port.

We were abled to dock in St. Thomas that night at about 9, as I recall. Some of the crew got off to hit the night spots, our steward told us.

We got off in St. Thomas the next morning, and it was awful -- still raining, localized flooding, etc. So we bought rain ponchos and went shopping!

I was on a Holland Caribbean itinerary a few years ago. We were caught the first night out by a hurricane, and ended up cruising around Bermuda for a day or so before we could head into the Caribbean (with a few hours of 30 foot plus waves as the captain had initially tried to beat the hurricane as we left Florida - he lost!). We were able to only stop in one port due to damage to the others, then couldn't snorkle, etc. due to the way the water was churned. Bottom line - seven days on the boat with no excursions, no sun to sit in, no offer of HAL to make up for it in any way. I'm not trying to sound negative, but I'm just really glad I had take a LOT of reading materials. (Just completed an Amsterdam Alaska route, so I'm clearly over the hurricane issue.)

You're kidding, right? They didn't even give you onboard credits?

We got all kinds of credits and stuff for our "Hurricane" cruise. Same thing as you ... several missed ports, something like five sea days in a row. HAL gave shipboard credit (I think it was like $100 plus refunding port charges when we couldn't stop) and then, to try to entice passengers to stay onboard for the following week (a shortened five-day cruise), they were giving unbelievable discounts ... something like $300 for an outside cabin.

I was on a b2b, so was scheduled to be on the boat for the second week anyway. In actuality, I bought 14 days, and got 14 days. I also got some really nice "considerations" ... the same sort of deals that people who hadn't booked a b2b originally got including a discount on a future cruise amounting to one-fourth of the price I originally paid for the second half of my b2b. Only get one year to use it, and it was only about $150 in my case ... but it sure came in handy when booking my Hawaii/South Pacific cruise for this coming January. Hey, every little bit helps. :)

Seems strange they didn't do something similar on your cruise.

I will admit though ... I will never sail HAL or any other line during hurricane season anymore. It's just not worth it. Too many missed ports, and even at those we did manage to stop ... I really missed out on a lot of activities that were cancelled because of the weather. Really took away from my cruise experience.

Personally, I'd rather not get the discounts and credits, and have a cruise where I get to enjoy the full range of port stops.

Blue skies ...

--rita

Right now tropical storm Franklin is hovering over the Bahamas - doesn't look good for the Zuiderdam to go into Ft Lauderdale tomorrow - rough weather.

What is your qualification to make a statement like that? There is no reason to upset people that are booked on the Zuiderdam 7/23. If there is no basis for such a inflammatory statement, keep your ignorant thoughts to yourself.

I agree; except for the ignorant part; uninformed speculation is more appropriate.

You're kidding, right? They didn't even give you onboard credits?

 

We got all kinds of credits and stuff for our "Hurricane" cruise. Same thing as you ... several missed ports, something like five sea days in a row. HAL gave shipboard credit (I think it was like $100 plus refunding port charges when we couldn't stop) and then, to try to entice passengers to stay onboard for the following week (a shortened five-day cruise), they were giving unbelievable discounts ... something like $300 for an outside cabin.

 

I was on a b2b, so was scheduled to be on the boat for the second week anyway. In actuality, I bought 14 days, and got 14 days. I also got some really nice "considerations" ... the same sort of deals that people who hadn't booked a b2b originally got including a discount on a future cruise amounting to one-fourth of the price I originally paid for the second half of my b2b. Only get one year to use it, and it was only about $150 in my case ... but it sure came in handy when booking my Hawaii/South Pacific cruise for this coming January. Hey, every little bit helps. :)

 

Seems strange they didn't do something similar on your cruise.

 

sad but true. Perhaps we didn't push hard enough, but having only been on one cruise prior to that one, I guess I wasn't sure what to do. But, you know what - it wasn't their fault, especially since it was a very late-in-season hurricane. No harm, no foul - lots of good reading to do!

You're kidding, right? They didn't even give you onboard credits?

 

We got all kinds of credits and stuff for our "Hurricane" cruise. Same thing as you ... several missed ports, something like five sea days in a row. HAL gave shipboard credit (I think it was like $100 plus refunding port charges when we couldn't stop) and then, to try to entice passengers to stay onboard for the following week (a shortened five-day cruise), they were giving unbelievable discounts ... something like $300 for an outside cabin.

 

I was on a b2b, so was scheduled to be on the boat for the second week anyway. In actuality, I bought 14 days, and got 14 days. I also got some really nice "considerations" ... the same sort of deals that people who hadn't booked a b2b originally got including a discount on a future cruise amounting to one-fourth of the price I originally paid for the second half of my b2b. Only get one year to use it, and it was only about $150 in my case ... but it sure came in handy when booking my Hawaii/South Pacific cruise for this coming January. Hey, every little bit helps. :)

 

Seems strange they didn't do something similar on your cruise.

 

I will admit though ... I will never sail HAL or any other line during hurricane season anymore. It's just not worth it. Too many missed ports, and even at those we did manage to stop ... I really missed out on a lot of activities that were cancelled because of the weather. Really took away from my cruise experience.

 

Personally, I'd rather not get the discounts and credits, and have a cruise where I get to enjoy the full range of port stops.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

I won't cruise in the Atlantic during Hurricane season either. My first two caribbean vacations were perfect because I sailed before June. Of course, there can always be that odd freak storm.

bkonner:

We are on the same cruise, Zuiderdamn July 30th. Getting a bit nervous myself with all the Florida bad weather. We cruised last year and hit the tail end of Charley but the ship sailed on schedule. It was a nerve racking few days however.

Join us on the roll call boards for this ship. We are having a Cruise Critic meeting if you are interested.

Right now tropical storm Franklin is hovering over the Bahamas - doesn't look good for the Zuiderdam to go into Ft Lauderdale tomorrow - rough weather.

Here is the weather forecast for today in Fort Lauderdale...

http://www.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/tenday-details.html?locid=USFL0149&from=dayDetails_bottomnav_undeclared&dayNum=0

It is a beautiful, hot, sunny day in South Florida!

Thankfully Franklin decided he wasn't interested in paying us a visit! ;)

Maybe the storms are taking a hint (seeing as how Franklin has dropped in winds and changed course) - we don't want them!

We have sailed on 3 cruises last wk of August, 2 in October, 1 November & 1 May. Only had storm problems twice - August - we skipped a port. The other was May 05 - boat was a rocking!!!!!!!!! Hangers flew out of closet, glasses & plates broke on board, decks were all closed and we floated around at sea til it passed. Ended up with an 8 day cruise (was a 7).

Keep the faith - you'll sail!