After the Storms: How Much Did the 2010 Hurricane Season Affect Cruises?

[LauraS]

Cruise Critic has just posted the following news:

After the Storms: How Much Did the 2010 Hurricane Season Affect Cruises?

Read the entire news article...

[compman9]

I would like to thank Erica for the report, but I have additional questions after reading it.

I can understand the re-routing of cruises and closed ports, but the article didn't go any further in its explanation of how it affected passengers.

If a cruise ship is re-routed what are the choppy seas like? How uncomfortable is it for passengers? Do captains ever misjudge it, and go a little nearer to the storm than he should have? How near is dangerous?

Many thanks for anything additional you can add - it is a time that we would very much like to take advantage of, but despite trawling Cruise Critic all I have found is references to severe weather experiences.

What I would really like to know is, accepting there will be severe weather, and that captains take every precaution, what is the average cruise experience like during hurricane season?

[Desiree D]

I'll add my two cents, although it's not worth that even-LOL.

We have cruised during hurricane season 5 out of 6 cruises. Only once, this past October, it seemed we would have missed two ports due to a hurricane. Disappointing, to be sure. But, then the hurricane (Earl I think it was?) turned- and we were able to stay on our planned itinerary. What I remember, is having perfect weather, for every cruise (I know we have seen some rain, but it didn't last long).

It's "hit or miss". No way to predict or plan for, and it seems sailing during hurricane season (with Carnival) is about half the price of sailing "peak season".

It has been worth the gamble for us, so far!!!!

[Erica@cruisecritic]

Thanks compman9! The answer is it really depends. Most people who cruise during hurricane season experience no problems because there aren't storms that week or the storms aren't near their cruising region. Others may encounter rain or choppier seas kicked up from a storm -- what otherwise would be typical bad weather. Passenger experiences will differ in bad weather too -- some people love the excitement of high seas, while others who are prone to seasickness may be miserable. (Definitely bring seasickness meds if you cruise during hurricane season.)

In extreme cases, the ship will be re-routed, either to another port or sometimes another cruising region (the most dramatic being when a Bermuda cruise got re-routed to Canada), or cruises will leave or return to their homeports late. You certainly don't have to worry about the captain getting too close to a storm. Hurricanes are not as sudden as, say, tornadoes, and with all the advanced meteorological technology onboard, the ships' crews are well informed of weather conditions and stay well away from storms.

Here's an article of ours about cruising during hurricane season you may find helpful: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=146