Hurricane Stories

Hi

I will be traveling in September 2005. I was wondering if anyone has travelled during a hurricane and can share your experiences and offer some suggestions.

I was on the Glory last August. We got 4 extra days because of the storm. We even went back to Cozumel. They say it's the best during hurricane season because the best weather is always behind a hurricane and that's were your ship is at. The seas weren't that bad.

Cruise ships don't plow through hurricanes, although they could. They go around, change itineraries, leave early, stay late, etc.

I was cruising in the western Caribbean last September when Ivan was around. I guess they got tired of people asking questions, so they posted satellite images of the hurricane on a regular basis. They knew exactly where it was and were not going to go anywhere close to it. I was kind of hoping for some rock and roll (a little, not a direct hit), but no such luck.

We were in some ports where ships made unscheduled stops and where others ships couldn't get to.

The one I felt the most sorry for started somewhere on the East Coast and missed a few ports because of the various hurricanes bouncing around. They did finally make it to Cozumel, but on the way back, a number of the ports were then closed.

I was on the Fantasy last year when Francis blew in. On the way down to Pt. Canaveral the day prior to the cruise my PVP called from Carnival to let me know that we had three options with the cruise. The first was to cancel and get a full refund. Second was to cancel and we reschedule for another date or go and get 50% off another three, four or five day cruise and also receive a $100.00 per person on board credit. Since we were only about 20 miles from Orlando we chose to go ahead and go.

When we arrived the next afternoon at the port, there was a skeleton crew checking in guests as most of the locals were evacuating the area. I was actually checked in by a casino crew member. We were also handed a letter stating that our three night cruise could turn into a five night cruise as the cruise lines were not sure the port would be open for us to come back in that Sunday.

We were scheduled to go to Nassau and did not make it due to the hurricane hitting that area and in place of that just cruised around down in the Florida Straits and then went to Miami and docked on Tuesday where guests had the option of staying on the ship with hopes to leave in a couple of days and sail back to Pt. Canaveral or leave the ship and find your own way back that day. The cruise line did have buses lined up for the next day to get passengers who wanted to leave the ship and go back to Pt. Canaveral. We chose to get off of the ship on Tuesday and rent a car to Pt. Canaveral to pick up our vehicle there.

Overall Carnival did a very good job with keeping the passengers informed as to what was going on as the weather was a constant changing event. They kept us out of the rough weather and it was a nice five day cruise to nowhere.

We have cruised 12 times during hurricane season, two in August, ten in September.

The good things about this time of year is the weather is still hot, the prices are great, less kids. Don't get me wrong, I love kids. As a matter of fact we took my daughter and two granddaughters with us once and had a great time.

Things to remember are your itinerary may get changed, you may get seasick,and the captain will always do what he can to avoid a hurricane. Be sure and take dramamine with you and take it first thing in the morning if you think it is going to be a rocky day. It will make your day sooooo much better!

Booking tours through private operators at this time of year is a little iffy since you don't know if you will make the port on the day that you are supposed to go. We have had eastern itins switched to western and once on a southern itin, we went to the last island first to avoid a hurricane is St. Thomas.

On our cruise in 1996 out of San Juan a hurricane was approaching San Juan and we did not even know it until we boarded the bus for the port. The ship went the other way around San Juan....unfortunately the hurricane changed it's path too. We were in a little bit of that one! I sat up all night staring out the window and wondering if I should get my life jacket on and go up on deck! By morning everything was fine!

We are booked for this coming September too!

Have a great cruise!

Look at this picture

http://members.dsli.com/schooner/triumph/

I believe it is a fake

Absolute bogus picture.

I will add, I used to never take out trip insurance, but have ever since a "cruise ship" I was booked on was lost in a hurricane and presumed sunk - along with my deposit. The company was a 1 ship company and was bankrupt overnight.

No passengers were onboard and the engine had been removed for repair so there was no choice but to let it ride the storm out.

The Sir Francis Drake was no modern cruise ship, however, it was one of the tall ships:

http://www.seadragon.com/schooner/drake.html

Look at this picture

 

http://members.dsli.com/schooner/triumph/

 

I believe it is a fake

Yea, it's a fake. But I think it looks pretty real. Who ever edited that did a good job.

Was on Sensation during Francis...five day cruise turned into eight. Check out my review linked in my signature.

My boyfriend and I were scheduled on the Triumph in September, 2004, out of Miami, during Hurricane Jeanne. We were scheduled to sail on a 7 day E. Caribbean itinerary. We live in Orlando, so we decided to drive to Ft. Lauderdale Friday night, stay there, and then drive the next day to Miami. I made reservations at the Marriott right on the inlet. Anyway, we didn't find out that Carnival was changing our cruise sailing date, and itinerary, until Friday afternoon. Carnival ended up changing our sail date from Sat. to Mon. and doing the W. Caribbean. I immediately called the Marriott to see if we could change the reservation from Friday night to Sunday night after explaining about the hurricane dilema. The Marriott said "I would not get the same rate." I then asked if I could just cancel the reservation. The Marriott said "I could, but I would lose my deposit since I didn't cancel within the 72hr cancellation period." I explained again that I didn't know about the cruise problem 72hrs earlier. Well, we decided to go anyway, and my boyfriend made reservations, in Miami, for Sat. and Sun. night, at the Raddisson in downtown. Good thing he did, because Sat. morning they ended up evacuating the Marriott. So, we drove to Miami and dodged the hurricane there. Carnival ended up giving us a 30% refund, on that cruise, and a $100pp onboard credit. I guess alot of people cancelled their cruise when they found out the itinerary had changed. The Port of Miami was in absolute chaos. Carnival was in a terminal they had never been in before, so any questions you had, they could not answer. Also, we ended up not paying for parking because the lot we parked in didn't have anybody, or booth, present to give us a ticket, when we arrived, or to take our money when we left. I will never book during hurricane season again. If you don't have your heart set on a certian itinerary, and you don't mind the possibility of a total cancellation, then that is definitely the cheaper time to cruise.

Crazy stuff. What was the movie that came out in the 70's or 80's about the ship that flipped over? Came out when they had all those movies like Towering Inferno, Airport 77 etc? Was that supposed to be a hurricane that knocked them over?

One note of truth, I do recemember hearing about a sailing cruise ship...I just found it http://www.schoonerman.com/fantome.shtml looks like they even wrote a book about it. All passengers were evacuated but crew was lost in Hurricane Mitch! http://www.harcourtbooks.com/authorinterviews/bookinterview_Carrier2.asp

Crazy stuff. What was the movie that came out in the 70's or 80's about the ship that flipped over?

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069113/

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078856/

Well done documentary on the fans of The Poseidon Adventure. First half features the 30th anniversary.

from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397050/

Cruised on the SS Norway in early Oct. '95. Can't remember which hurricane we spent the trip running away from but it was a lousy week weatherwise. No sun until the last day and a couple days when the ship was REALLY rocking. This sip was built for transatlantic crossings (SS France) so it probably handled the waves better than some but there were still a few times when I got nervous, we were swaying so much. We also went on the Norway once the first week in Nov. and had lousy weather that week as well. We still had a good time on our trips, we always do, but after the 2nd one we decided no more cruises in Oct., early Nov. We've been on quite a few now towards the end of Nov. and have always had fantastic weather so that is typically when we cruise if going later in the year. There are not too many kids at this time of year unless you go Thanksgiving week (we usually go the week after and it's great!)

I was scheduled for a 7 day cruise on the Navigator of the Seas in September last year. Thanks to Hurricane Jeanne, it was a 5 day cruise. We were given a $500 on board credit per room and a 50% certificate for the next cruise. We were supposed to go to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. We went to Jamaica and Labadee (Haiti) I was a little disappointed since I had been to Jamaica and really wanted to see the other ports. We drove to Miami the morning before the Hurricane hit. We were hoping they would leave early to avoid the hurricane. They left 2 days late instead and the people before us got 2 extra days on the ship. Why didn't I book the week before. :) I probably will book again during hurricane season. The rates are great and not many children.

Cruised on the SS Norway in early Oct. '95. Can't remember which hurricane

Was it hurricane Opal

from

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1995/

Hurricane Opal made landfall near Pensacola Beach, Florida

from

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1995opal.html

Hurricane Opal, which formed Sept. 27 near the Yucatan Channel,

from

http://www2.sptimes.com/weather/HG.9.html

Was it hurricane Opal

from

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1995/

 

Hurricane Opal made landfall near Pensacola Beach, Florida

from

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1995opal.html

 

Hurricane Opal, which formed Sept. 27 near the Yucatan Channel,

from

http://www2.sptimes.com/weather/HG.9.html

Yep, that strikes a bell. I believe that was it. Like I said when you were standing on International Deck (which was a glass enclosed promenade around the outside of the ship) and the ship swayed so far to one side that all you saw was water, it was scary! It was also a "lot of fun" walking down the halls crashing from one side to the other. And this was without any drinking! :D

We were on the Conquest last October, after all the hurricaines, and when we were returning to New Orleans we hit the remains of a tropical storm. Lots of swaying and glasses crashing in the bars, but the rest of cruise was great! Just enough winds so that the outside doors were a real pain to try and open and when you did everything light went flying around. Everyone just made the best of it and still had a blast.

When we went to the Mexican Riviera we encountered Hurricane Kenna. We don't get seasick so the wild rough seas made for the best time for us!! We would do it again in a hearbeat. However many folks were pretty miserable so I guess it all depends on how you look at things.

When we went to the Mexican Riviera we encountered Hurricane Kenna.

Hurricane Kenna Approaches Mexico

from

http://www.redcross.org/news/in/hurricane/021025kenna.html

HURRICANE KENNA

from

http://www.greatdreams.com/kenna.htm

We sailed last labor day week end when hurricane frances hit. We were supposed to sail Sunday but instead sailed late Monday night. We were flying down a day in advance so had to change our airline reservations (we booked on our own). We had a lot of stress because our tickets were free from frequent flyer miles and we were getting mixed info from the travel insurance company. Mostly they said it would be covered if we had to buy tickets last minute on a different airline. We also had to be careful when rebooking because if we were wrong and had to rebook again there may not be any seats left because of everyone else rebooking! Anyways it worked out as we rebooked for Saturday afternoon and just prayed that Frances would be gone. We left Baltimore while she was still raging in southern florida. We had a connecting flight in Cincinatti and were pleasantly surprised it was not cancelled. I was expecting a rough plane ride but it was smooth all but the last 2 minutes. We landed in Fort Lauderdale around 8 pm. The airport was a ghost town! 90% of the jetways were empty. Apparently we were among the first few planes to arrive as the airport had reopened for a few incoming flights. We lost one day off our cruise and one port , Aruba, which we really wanted to go to (we were on the Paradise as it repositioned to the west coast). We heard that 500 people did not make the cruise ship or decided to cancel. Either way we had plenty of people on board but not too many. (Any one want 10 deck chairs mid day by the pool?).

Of all the days from mid August through October when most hurricanes hit the chances are slim that your vacation will be impacted. For us, we will not sail during that time again. With grown kids we can sail other times without having to worry.

I was supposed to be on the Carnival Inspiration last September. The cruise dates changed and instead of leaving on Sunday they changed to leave on Monday then the date was pushed back to tuesday. We were still going to go since my friend was slated to get married on the Cayman islands when the ship docked there. In the end we deceided to cancel since only while a bunch of us were able to get flights from NY to Miami the the bride and the rest of the wedding party could not get flights out from Baltimore. Lucky for me I had a wedding on the west coast that I was able to attend instead so my vacation was not a total washout