Hurricane Stories

We all know that a hurricane season is kicking up and it can bring some itinerary changes to your cruise so does anyone have any interesting hurricane cruising stories?

One of our first cruises we paid EXTRA to have a window. When we were leaving port the crew came and bolted a steal plate over our window!:eek:

Guess we should have booked an inside cabin and saved our money!:D

Last October we rode in on the Carnival Dream during Hurricane Sandy! We had 80 mph winds and 30 + seas for almost 3 days! eek:eek: They kept us out an extra day because PC was closed so we had an 8 day cruise.

We sailed off the coast of Miami for 2 days and we were so close we could see the condos on the beach...:eek: they finally decided they had to take us in and Lordy what a ride that was!!!!!!

When we finally got back in I swore I would not get back on another ship...(yes I was that scared). But in January I was right back on another one cruise....:p

Guess I have a short memory........LOL

The ships will sail, you basically just miss ports...

We cruised with a hurricane in 2004 while on the Navigator, we were sent out to sea for 2 days, then had 2 port days and sent out to sea again, Our 7 day cruise was extended to 10 days because they kept closing the port of Miami and the airport. We had a ball.....we did feel bad for the people on the next cruise who only got 4 days.

WOW, never heard of coming and putting steel plates over the OV windows!!

***

A few years ago we were on Mariner when a Tropical storm was around. We skipped Nassau and headed away from the path. The storm changed direction and seemed to "tether" itself to the ship, just sort of followed us. One day the capt. Stated that we had 80 mph winds and to stay indoors. So, of course, I had to "test the speed" and opened my balcony door. Yup... 80 mph! Got the door shut, met my friend at the Pub on the Promenade and drank beer and watched the people. The ship rode very well so no really big deal..

If you read the threads related to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 you will likely see some of the largest impacts to travelers.

Keith

In 2010 we were scheduled to do a western Caribbean cruise. Hurricane Paula changed everything. We did an eastern Caribbean cruise.

Didn't bother us but the people in the cabin next to us got off in Nassau as they didn't like the new itinerary.

On our 1st cruise in 2003 we didn't get to see our friend in Key West because he's a Naval air traffic controller & was busy dealing with the storm pounding the naval station at Norfolk.

We also got "stuck" in Miami for an extra 8 hours because our plane couldn't fly down the east coast to get us. Better on that end. :)

If you read the threads related to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 you will likely see some of the largest impacts to travelers.

 

Keith

Amen to that Keith!!!

We figure if we were able to ride out Sandy, any other storm we may encounter in the future should be a "piece of cake"........:D

I had a friend that was caught in a hurricane while cruising. They tried to out run it, changed courses and spent one day in Jamaca (which was her least favorite port), tried to get home to Florida and the ship's captain came on the intercom and announced that they had to go back out to sea and their 7 day cruise was being extended by at least 2 days. She said she wasn't scared of the hurricane but of the passengers' reaction when the announcement was made. Some people screamed, one person threw their drink on the ground and walked off in a huff, etc. The funny thing that happened is that they decided to make the best of it and have a good time on the two "extra" days. On the last day (and by then they were ready for land) they won a contest and you know what they won? You guessed it, another cruise. They decided that Alaska was for them.

We were on the Conquest out of Galveston in '08. Our ports were Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Hurricane Gustav kicked up, and we skipped Jamaica, went to Grand Cayman and Cozumel a day early and went to Progresso to replace the stop we missed in Jamaica. The Conquest cruise the next week was the one that got rerouted to NOLA because of Ike. We never had any bad seas. We stayed one step ahead the whole time.

It was August 18, 1991! Two cruise ships, the Celebrity Meridian and the RCCL Nordic Prince were both embarking from NYC on 7 day cruises to Bermuda. We were on the Meridian which was an older ship with a deep V hull built for heavy seas (unlike modern cruise ships). Hurricane Bob was moving up Atlantic about 50 miles off the coast and was about North Carolina's latitude when we left New York Harbor. Our Captain told us this hurricane would not be a problem . but that he was playing it extra safe and would take an easterly heading for a few hours before turning towards Bermuda. He further said the storm would never get closer then 200 miles to our ship.

On Monday, Aug 19 we awoke about 5am to the sounds of crashing overhead (the galley). I realized that our ship was moving a lot, and opened our curtains to look at the sea (it was a little before sunrise). We were on the lowest passenger deck and when I drew the curtains all I saw was water. As the ship rolled the water cleared and the sea looked awful. Hurricane Bob had turned during the night and found our ship and the Nordic Prince. Seas were about 40 feet (for nearly 12 hours) and winds around 100 knots. Our ship did fine, although we rocked and rolled, but the Nordic Prince took substantial hull damage and asked our ship to slow down and stand-by. We all made it to Bermuda but many of the Nordic Prince passengers decided to fly home.

To give you an idea of how violent 40 foot seas can be....there was a good example on our ship. At one point we got hit by a huge wave (at least 40 foot) on an angle off the port bow and our ship violently rolled to one side. The large roulette wheel in the casino flew off its spindle, rolled across the casino floor, and smashed through the glass doors at the entrance. Amazing.

Hank

My one and only time cruising during hurricane season and wouldn't you know it - bingo.

Mariner of the Seas, 8/30/09, Mexican Riviera (the rare Pacific hurricane)

The captain brilliantly decided to reverse our itinerary and we missed most of the hurricane - just had one rough at-sea day at the beginning.

It was very exciting and fun - but I'll stick to cruising during non-hurricane season anyway.

We all know that a hurricane season is kicking up and it can bring some itinerary changes to your cruise so does anyone have any interesting hurricane cruising stories?

my husband has a few. from his Sea duty Days. 40 degree rolls on a ship whose capsize point is 42 degrees.....

The first cruise we went out of Miami just hours before Hurricane Andrew hit Homestead.

Had a difficult time getting to Miami due to flights being canceled. We were diverted to West Palm and NCL had a bus waiting for us to take us to Miami. We did not know if we would make it when we left Charlotte, NC. We were one of the last groups to get on the ship, if not the last. I remember one of the crew members on the bus saying we were the last to get on the ship and the ship was waiting on us.

Once there we were not allowed to use the pay phone to call our parents to let them know we made it due to the rush to get out to open seas to safety. Totally understood and for most of the cruise there was no phone service.

Our itinerary was reversed.

We still had a good time.

Both ex DH and my parents were very concerned for us as I would be for my children. One plus was my ex's Aunt worked for the airline we were flying to Miami on. She was able to relieve our parents minds that we at least made it to West Palm. LOL Our poor parents.

We had 70 mph winds and 30 foot waves on our last DCL cruise. Missed the private island. Fortunately the Captain maneuvered us to more sheltered seas but it became a sea day instead of a day on the private island. Disappointing but even Disney can't control the weather.

It wasn't even a hurricane, just bad weather. I joked that it was the advanced penance so we'd ahve perfect weather on our next cruise, which we did. :)

Probably not a cruise-hurricane story, but certainly a hurricane related cruise story. At noon on the Sunday before Sandy hit New York, American Airlines called to advise that our Monday night flight to Rome to take RC Mariner to Galvestom was cancelled. I asked what they could do, and was told that if we could get to JFK in a few hours they could put us on Iberia Sunday night via Madrid. We packed in no time flat and got to JFK by 4:30 to take the Iberia 7:00 PM. Unfortunately, the Iberia clerks, while acknowledging that we had reservations - and had our "locator code" would not let us board without providing our "ticket numbers" - and refused to contact American. I suspect that they were hoping to sell our seats (at a huge mark-up) to two of the hundreds of desperate people hoping to get one of the last flights out. All other lines except British had already cancelled their outgoing flights and were not bringing any more planes in. In desperation, I left my wife to hold our place at the check-in counter and walked across to British Air. After a two minute wait I asked their rep if she wanted to see if she could show that the British were better than the Spaniards. She phoned someone at American, gave them our "locator code" and in a few seconds gave me our "ticket numbers". I raced back to Iberia, ignoring the shouting crowd and gave the clerk the numbers - and she gave us our boarding passes. We boarded, took off hours late after a lot of empties being relocated and got to Madrid the next morning and had to sprint to catch our connecting flight to Rome. We enjoyed an extra day in Rome before our T/A, and met a lot of people who were stranded there for several days before they could get their flights to New York.

So, not exactly a cruise hurricane story, but certainly a pre-cruise hurricane story.

Impressive picture!!!

We were slated to sail to Bermuda in August 2011. Our youngest son who lives in Knoxville was to meet us in NYC and join us on the cruise.

Irene showed up and we all watched closely. Our ship was to sail on Sunday, but by Friday it was apparent Irene would hit and hit hard. We were finally able to convince our airline to cancel our reservations, but the airline that our kids were flying on refused to cancel (without a penalty) saying they were going to be flying!

We left NC in the pouring rain and drove up to NYC. Our kids boarded their plane and got to Atlanta. Their flight was delayed, but eventually they were airborne for NYC. They called us from Dulles saying, the airline had diverted due to the storm (duh) and had been dropped of in Dulles and were left to their own devices until the storm passed and then the airline would fly them into NYC. since we were within 50 miles of Dulles anyway, we picked them up and off we went! En route we booked a hotel in NYC close to the port. The drive was awful, but we finally got to NYC. Overnight Irene hit NYC and the city was pretty battered, but ok.

Holland had been able to dock and we were allowed to board as planned, but the airport was still closed, to the people onboard had no where to go! Holland let them stay another night on the ship and delayed departure a day. We took advantage of the day to visit in NYC and still had a great cruise to Bermuda.

I thought the way that Holland treated it's guests was outstanding - they could have sailed as planned and just booted the passengers saying "you are on your own", but they didn't. I'm sure some people complained that they missed a day in Bermuda, but we applauded their efforts and concern (one day it might be ME in need of that type of assistance!!)

Funny side note....before leaving NC I had stopped by the ABC store and purchased a bottle of premixed Hurricanes (an alcoholic drink). We sat in the hotels lobby drinking Hurricanes IN a hurricane - we thought it was funny! :p

In July of 2005 DH suggested that we go on a cruise the last week of August. I looked at cruises and was nervous booking a cruise out of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico area because I just had this feeling that a hurricane was going to wreck havoc to our home port either before or during our cruise making travel a nightmare. I said if you really want to cruise then I will go as long as its out of San Juan. So that is what we planned. Hurricane Katrina went over South Florida the Friday before our cruise and on the Monday of our cruise New Orlean's was her target.

We had great weather on our sailing visiting the southern Caribbean and the only thing that struck us as odd, was the very high temperature of the ocean in San Juan on the Sunday of our return home.

We found out the Thursday of our cruise about the disaster in New Orlean's. Like everyone else we were horrified by the images and we counted our blessings. Some of our fellow guests were from the affected areas. Must have been awful for them not knowing if their family, friends and homes, work etc were safe while they were away on vacation.

In 2010 we were scheduled to do a western Caribbean cruise. Hurricane Paula changed everything. We did an eastern Caribbean cruise.

Didn't bother us but the people in the cabin next to us got off in Nassau as they didn't like the new itinerary.

We had that experience on a Princess cruise. On Azamara we had to change from landing in Miami to landing in Tampa. We live near Tampa but our car was in Miami, so we had to be bussed back and the bus broke down. They sent a new bus and we changed and got home very very late.

We were scheduled to sail on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas on Sunday, August 26, 2012. Hurricane Isaac was brewing out in the Atlantic but we just figured the captain would sail around and it wouldn't be any problem.

It's Saturday morning, August 25, 2012 and we're in line for security at our home airport, Atlantic City, NJ. We get an automated call from the cruise line informing us that our cruise has been delayed 'til Tuesday, August 28. We briefly wondered if we should turn around and go home and try to rebook the flight for Monday, but we wisely decided to fly down to Fort Lauderdale anyway.

From the airport, we called our travel agent who was able to book us two more nights in the room we had already booked for Saturday night. In the first 24 hours or so there was a great deal of confusion about whether RCCL'S would be paying for extra hotel nights, and if we needed to have them arrange it or if it needed to be pre-approved by them. It was nearly impossible to get through on the phone lines, and when we did we got wildly conflicting information. Our Cruise Critic Roll Call forum was an incredibly valuable tool in helping us all collectively gather information and help each other.

It was my wife and I and our 12 and 9 year olds. We're the type of people to try to make the best of things rather than sit and complain how bad things are. We managed to make Saturday, Sunday and Monday as fun for the kids as possible, but it was not only boring to be stuck in a beach town as a tropical storm passed, it was eating us up that we'd be missing 2 days of our cruise.

It was an extra special celebration to finally board the ship on Tuesday. But the first few hours were complete bedlam with rescheduling shore excursions, shows and specialty restaurant meals. Our itinerary changed from three ports in the Western Caribbean (RCCL's private area in Labadee, Haiti/Cozumel/Falmouth, Jamaica) to two ports in a Western-Eastern hybrid (Cozumel and Nassau). Waiting in long lines to reschedule everything was a big damper on the fun but it was a necessary evil.

We totally understood the extraordinary circumstances and we really couldn't complain. I think the crew did the very best they could. The cruise director put a funny spin on things, saying we can fit in the fun of seven days into five days as long as we refused to sleep. :-)

So while there were some rough patches on that first day, the company itself really came through, in my opinion. We automatically received onboard credit for shore excursions that would be unused, as well as prepaid tips for the first two days. They also issued onboard credits depending on type of cabin, and for us I believe it was $650 per cabin. I think one of the best parts is that any unused onboard credit was immediately credited back to our credit card after the cruise, it wasn't a use it or lose it situation.

The most generous allowance they made was for food during our extra two days in Fort Lauderdale. We were allotted $200 per person per day for Sunday and Monday. We saved receipts and mailed them into the cruise line and quickly received credit back to our credit card.

This was a weather event and the port itself was closed, so it's not like the delay was in any way the fault of the cruise line. I think they took pretty good care of us for something that wasn't their fault. The only time they really dropped the ball was in the first 24 hours when there was poor communication and miscommunication ... you'd figure a cruise line would have an established procedure in place rather than making it up as they went along in what seemed to be a nearly panicky fashion.

Our three days holed up in a hotel room in Fort Lauderdale in some ways helped us prepare for when we had to evacuate our home for Hurricane Sandy in October/November of last year. Our beach town shares the boardwalk with Atlantic City, NJ, and the storm made landfall 4 miles from our house. We spent a week in a hotel 50 miles from our house. We were very lucky in that our house sustained relatively minor damage (in the low five-figures), but the effects of the storm remain all around us, as well as in us. As a community, we really are Stronger Than The Storm.

Our first cruise was September 2005 on the Carnival Conquest right after Hurricane Katrina. When we boarded her in Galveston we didn't know that there was something churning up in the Gulf. Our last day at sea the Captain came on the overhead system and told all of us that since the Port of Galveston was closed, due to Hurricane Rita, we would be staying at sea an additional two days.

Costa Maya, who was not on our original itinerary, opened up their port to us for one day. This became our best port out of the three we visited.

The weather was beautiful. The skies were sunny and the seas were calm with not a ripple in the waters. Little did we ever imagine the devastation that waited us back in Galveston and I live in hurricane country, Southern part of Louisiana.

I feel in love with cruising that week and I am getting ready to take my fourteenth cruise in less than two weeks.