Who Has Been Through A Hurricane On A Cruise?

Hi! I'm a new cruiser, and I was wondering...1). If you've been on a cruise that has been changed because of a hurricane? 2). Were you able to do things at the new ports in comparison to the original ports planned?, and if so..did the cruise line return your money from the excursions planned that you weren't able to do because you are no longer going to that port, and 3). Did you ever depart a lot earlier than usual, get a departation cancelled, or an arrival back in port cancelled or delayed? If so...what about your flights in and out?

We are flying into Miami a day ahead, but flying out the afternoon that we arrive back in Miami.

We are sailing in 3-1/2 weeks and with Hurricane Charley, and now Frances, I'm a bit worried. I know...I should have expected this, but my boyfriend insisted we go since it was cheaper..and for my birthday. I am so excited because this is something I've always wanted to do, and I've saved every penny to pay for it, and our excursions. Call me a worry wart...but I was just wondering about others' experiences. Please help me relieve some of my fears! :o Thank you!

If your excursions were booked thru the cruise line, you will get a refund. If you booked them directly, hopefully the provider gives a refund if the ship does not arrive. This refund policy needs to be clarified before booking direct excursions.:)

We cruised around hurricane Roxanne several years ago. We left Cozumel six hours early as Roxanne was predicted to hit the same time as our scheduled departure. Cruised down towards Belize and made Grand Cayman on schedule, however high seas prevented tendering ashore. The ride was rough at times, but meds took care of that for us. Didn't miss any meals :). Our flights were not affected as Roxanne was south and travelled on thru Mexico. Just be flexible, let the captain worry about the weather...the cruiseline will keep you (and their expensive ship) safe. We are leaving Sep 13 on our sixth cruise, so you know the experience has not kept us from enjoying every cruise we've had, four during hurricane season. Enjoy your cruise!!

We booked the Enchantment western caribbean itinerary for our 25th anniversary in October of 2001. Hurricane Irene was coming up the coast of Mexico so when checking in, everyone was told we would be changing to the eastern itinerary.

A lot of angry passengers, but since we had never done the eastern itinerary either it was fine for us but I was unprepared as I had only done lots of reading on the western ports and had no idea what to do in San Juan or Nassau.

We had a terrific cruise anyway and made the best of it.

We did hit rough seas in the east too and very bad on the way back to Florida. I had taken my Bonine faithfully everyday and was one of the few passengers out and about that night. (My sister was very sick as didn't take my advice to take it daily and the Bonine did not help once she had become sick.)

Just make the best of it as any cruise is a GREAT CRUISE!!!!!

(It also gave me an excuse to book another Western Caribbean cruise when we got home.)

Spent a day and a half in the Atlantic on the Dreamward during Hurricane Edward----that was an experience, especially since 3/4 of the crew got sick along with the passengers.

Was on the Norway just after a hurricane (can't remember which one) had passed though the Caribbean---they cancelled all the water excursions and cancelled the stop at their private island (it was under water).

You just have to make the best of it. We leave this Sunday for Miami getting on the Majesty on Monday. I am more concerned with getting into Miami than what will happen on the cruise.

We were in the Gulf dodging Isidore last fall. Had to substitute Belize for Grand Cayman. Those who booked private tours in GC were out of luck. There was not an abundance of tours available in Belize at that time because RCI had just initiated the logistics of docking there...and we were the first RCI ship to go there--a little ahead of schedule.

We were on the Explore of the Seas in 2001 and a hurricane was actually chasing us as we were in grand Cayman. After we pulled out of port, Grand Cayman was going to close it's port & board everything up. Our next stop was supposed to be Cozmel, Mexico, well we got notified that we were going to spend a day at sea then head to Nassau, Bahamas. Let's just say that there were some very unhappy passengers when we were told this. They actually wanted to go to Cozmel. The ships are fast enough to be able to out run a hurricane and they have enough notice to alter there course to keep the ship 7 passengers safe. The only down side was Nassau was offly croweded with 7 cruise ships in port that day, not to mention all the passengers.

Our shore excursions we had purchased for Cozmel were refunded and swe were able to select new ones for Nassau with no problems.

S-Douglas...I wish you well on your trip! I would worry also about leaving in your port since the hurricane is suppose to hit Saturday afternoon! Good luck to you! I hope things will clear up and you'll have an excellent adventure!

Thanks to everyone else who has answered! I'm going to try and keep a positive outlook..but I must admit, it will be hard for me until I know what will be going on that week!

Safe travels to everyone!

It was August, 1992 and my family and I cruised on the Majesty of the Seas. We left the day before Andrew hit, so we actually missed it. Some people didn't make it on the ship because the airport closed after noontime. But when we returned a week later we saw all the damage and destruction. :(

HI SAPHIRE,

The odds are in your favor...You will not be affected by a hurricane. As you can see from some of the above posts..."Let the Captain do the worrying".

When we left FLL last Octobe the Captain rerouted the ship and no one noticed a thing.

I have sailed thru a hurricane...mid Atlantic...onboard the QE II in 1975...Quite an experience!!!

ROSS

We were on Rhapsody last summer when TS Claudette decided that she wanted to do our itinerary, too! Instead of sailing to Georgetown & Cozumel from Key West, we headed out to the Bahamas and then made a long leg back to Galveston. On the way back we did encounter some rough water -- you know when you see barf bags conveniently placed in all the stairwells that it won't be a pretty sight! I learned quite a bit about the nature of the "contract" between you the passenger and the cruise line, though. They contract to give you "x" amount of stops -- they don't HAVE to be the ones advertised, though. We made all our scheduled ports -- they just weren't the ones we wanted!! Oh well -- growing up in Louisiana (and husband in Florida) has made us very wary of the power of wind and rain. We were dumbfounded at one completely idiotic woman who gave the C&A rep all kinds of h*ll, insisting that we just "sail through it!!" Oh, man... he earned his money that day.

No hurricanes but we did have 12 foot seas with a tropical storm on our first cruise. Made for an interesting few days. We missed one port but had more time in others. We were refunded for the port we missed and offered new excursions in the others where we had more time. If we hadn't been standing by another disabled ship for approximately 24 hours, we most likely would have sailed into calmer waters much sooner and had more time in the ports that were not affected by this storm.

Maybe Toto2Kansas will add her experience. I know she went through Hurricane Michelle on the Millenium.