For veteran cruisers, a weather related question

[annim]

We just got back from our cruise a few weeks ago........sigh...........

Anyway, my husband and I were talking, and wondered what would happen if, say, you were cruising out of Jacksonville, or Tampa, (wherever) and there were some really bad thunderstorms, winds, tornadoes, on the day you were to set sail. Do you board and sail right thru it? Board and sit in the harbor and wait it out? What about if you're headed back from your cruise. Do they arrive at the scheduled time? Just curious......

[SteelerCruiser]

I believe if it gets extreme enough they will divert to another port and shuttle you back to the origional port.......they may also delay coming back into port as well.

[alexieb]

I live in South Florida and those types of storms typically blow through quickly. They can be intense but then they're over. I would think that they would sail through it.

 

That being said, I worked and lived onboard 2 Carnival ships and I can recall during Hurricane Andrew we stayed out to sea for an extra day while the hurricane occurred and then were stuck in Miami for a week on the ship afterward.

[lidodeckbound]

We had been on a cruise or two that have sailed "around" bad weather. They try if they can. Depends on what they can do.

[Kiln Wood]

We just got back from our cruise a few weeks ago........sigh...........

Anyway, my husband and I were talking, and wondered what would happen if, say, you were cruising out of Jacksonville, or Tampa, (wherever) and there were some really bad thunderstorms, winds, tornadoes, on the day you were to set sail. Do you board and sail right thru it? Board and sit in the harbor and wait it out? What about if you're headed back from your cruise. Do they arrive at the scheduled time? Just curious......

 

We were on the Splendor for the repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco two years and were docked at Ushuaia making ready to sail when high winds came through. The wind continued unabated for four hours; finally the winds died down, and we sailed away. We made up the time the following day.

 

I've been sailing since the mid 1980's, and while I've seen a lot of changes, I'm can honestly say that no matter what line nor ship on which I've sailed, safety is always first!

[Havingfun2010]

We just got back from our cruise a few weeks ago........sigh...........

Anyway, my husband and I were talking, and wondered what would happen if, say, you were cruising out of Jacksonville, or Tampa, (wherever) and there were some really bad thunderstorms, winds, tornadoes, on the day you were to set sail. Do you board and sail right thru it? Board and sit in the harbor and wait it out? What about if you're headed back from your cruise. Do they arrive at the scheduled time? Just curious......

 

Ships can go faster than they do and will make up lost time if needed due to a delay in leaving. Bad thurnderstorms and tornado's are not really that much of an issue, because in the South, it's short and fast. Hurricanes, will cause the ship to alter course, and iteneraries, but a big one will cause issues, in which case the ship will either go to another of the many docks in FL or just wait it out at sea. It's actually safer at sea than in dock for a ship.