Tropical Storm Bertha

[Fla Senior]

Those with Eastern Caribbean itineraries these next few days should plan on possible port and/or itinerary changes.

 

Edited August 1, 2014 by Fla Senior

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

Thank you for posting. Looks like cruises out of tx and New Orleans are clear!

[jakzak10]

With the potential threat of Bertha hitting the Bahamas next week, do you think Carnival might send the ship to the Western Caribbean and only do 2 ports instead of 3? Trying to figure out if the ship can do Cozumel and Grand Cayman out of Baltimore in a week?

Edited August 1, 2014 by jakzak10
Addition

[KirkNC]

Yea, you need to keep an eye on her.

[Playa Cofi]

I live down here so I can tell you that any ship planning to leave San Juan this Saturday or Sunday will be delayed.

 

We are expected to start feeling the winds from Bertha later tonight and into the morning so San Juan will experience TS conditions at least through Monday.

 

That being said the sea conditions are going to be crappy at least until late Monday into Tuesday.

 

That being said I have no clue under what conditions cruise ships sail under. For example, I live on a island 8 miles off of the east coast of Puerto Rico. Our transportation needs are met by passenger ferries and 8 passenger planes. Our ferries do not run if the sea conditions get over 8-9'. There is already talk that they may be running the ferries over to San Juan this afternoon, which is their hurricane hole.

 

This could all change if Bertha strengthens or diminishes. Just keep an eye on the weather channel.

 

BTW for all those cruising out of San Juan this weekend. Now is the time to kick yourself in the butt if you did not buy travel insurance.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Playa Cofi

[beacha]

I am sailing on the Pride this Sunday as well. Hope some experienced cruisers can tell us what we might expect.

[SMSACE6]

Stay safe Playa Cofi! and everyone in the path of the hurricane.

 

tis the season for hurricanes. I can't imagine booking a cruise this time of year without having travel insurance, but I'm sure that some do.

[beachnsnowbunny]

Leaving on the Splendor out of New York on Monday heading to Grand Turk for Thursday the HMC and Nassau looks like it will be gone by then. Just hope we can get around the storm on the way down.

[Playa Cofi]

I am sailing on the Pride this Sunday as well. Hope some experienced cruisers can tell us what we might expect.

 

What is your itinerary?

[Playa Cofi]

Stay safe Playa Cofi! and everyone in the path of the hurricane.

 

tis the season for hurricanes. I can't imagine booking a cruise this time of year without having travel insurance, but I'm sure that some do.

 

Thanks. It is not a hurricane and I do not expect it to get upgraded to one. It is now a weak tropical storm. I expect 30-35 knot winds at the most since I am on an island east of PR. The storm is projected to go between PR & the DR.

 

I am looking forward to rain though, we are scheduled for water rationing Aug 6th so hopefully they will not implement it :)

[beacha]

What is your itinerary?

 

Aug.3 depart Baltimore, two sea days, Port Canavarel on Weds. Nassau on Thurs. Freeport on Fri. And sea day Sat. arrive in Baltimore Aug 10..Sunday.

Worried about a rough ride going down the East Coast.

[snc_cam]

with the current projections in does look like that will happen.

[RuthlessBoss]

Thanks. It is not a hurricane and I do not expect it to get upgraded to one. It is now a weak tropical storm. I expect 30-35 knot winds at the most since I am on an island east of PR. The storm is projected to go between PR & the DR.

 

I am looking forward to rain though, we are scheduled for water rationing Aug 6th so hopefully they will not implement it :)

 

Lots of rain is wanted by the islanders near you due to the drought according to the weather channel. And you verified that with the water rationing. So, good for you, but there will be some upset cruisers. In Florida, we love our sunshine, but welcome the rain.

[Playa Cofi]

Aug.3 depart Baltimore, two sea days, Port Canavarel on Weds. Nassau on Thurs. Freeport on Fri. And sea day Sat. arrive in Baltimore Aug 10..Sunday.

Worried about a rough ride going down the East Coast.

 

Yes, it will be bumpy and no one knows for sure where it will go after it leaves the Caribbean and heads to the Bahamas.

 

Do not be surprised if your itinerary changes, as it may happen.

[beacha]

Thank you, Playa Cofi. I sure would rather change the ports than watch people suffer through motion sickness. And I know that there is always a possibility of rough seas, that is part of the fun of cruising. We have several first time cruisers with us, and of course I wanted this to be an amazing experience. Life happens, and sometimes you can't control everything.

[BigAlexC]

Stay safe Playa Cofi! and everyone in the path of the hurricane.

 

tis the season for hurricanes. I can't imagine booking a cruise this time of year without having travel insurance, but I'm sure that some do.

 

I am relatively new to cruising and have never sailed during hurricane season, until now. I've researched travel insurance but it seems to me the only coverage one would have if the cruise is cancelled in its entirety OR if you purchased the "cancel for any reason" option. Am I correct in this assumption? From what I've gathered it seems if your cruise still sets sail, even with a rerouted Itinerary due to a storm, travel insurance wouldn't cover this.

[GTO-Girl]

I am relatively new to cruising and have never sailed during hurricane season, until now. I've researched travel insurance but it seems to me the only coverage one would have if the cruise is cancelled in its entirety OR if you purchased the "cancel for any reason" option. Am I correct in this assumption? From what I've gathered it seems if your cruise still sets sail, even with a rerouted Itinerary due to a storm, travel insurance wouldn't cover this.

 

that is correct........

 

When you sign the cruise contract you accept that there could be itinery changes or even shorten stay times at a port.

 

Just part of cruising......

[DocF]

I would not get too excited regarding this minimal tropical storm. It looks to be mostly a rain event in the forecasts.

 

Yes, you may get a port call or two changed. This is not a big deal as it can actually be an extra adventure. The disappointment will be gone in a matter of minutes and you will enjoy your cruise. The whole object, in my opinion, is to be on a ship on the ocean.

 

As to traveling up and down the coast, we were aboard the Pride several years ago as a tropical storm made its way up the Atlantic. Swells were about 32-36 feet high and the Captain had made the decision to make both the southbound and northbound trips well off the continental shelf, so we were not able to see my mother's condo in Florida. Normally, we would have been 12 miles offshore and it would have been clearly visible. We were about 120 miles offshore, so it was not.

 

We lost three of our four port calls and ended up with stops that we had made before. No big deal as we are now booked to make the same port calls on our next cruise.

 

Doc

[cruizinisthebest]

Don't care if we wind up in different ports. Been to all but one that's scheduled anyway. My only issue is with a bad flight down. Not a fan of flying to begin with. Ugh.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[rpmljm]

I am relatively new to cruising and have never sailed during hurricane season, until now. I've researched travel insurance but it seems to me the only coverage one would have if the cruise is cancelled in its entirety OR if you purchased the "cancel for any reason" option. Am I correct in this assumption? From what I've gathered it seems if your cruise still sets sail, even with a rerouted Itinerary due to a storm, travel insurance wouldn't cover this.

 

"Cancel for any reason" does not apply if you cancel within 2 days of sailing.

[beacha]

Thank you for taking the time to post,Doc. I appreciate your sharing of the coast trip. I didn't think about the ship going out past the continental shelf. Feeling better. Guess I can turn off the Weather Channel and go cut my grass!

[thomarvin]

anytime you sail you need to know that the itinerary can be changed for any reason. Last year we sailed the Splendor and were scheduled for Grand Turk, HMC then Nassau. We ended up going to Grand Turk but 3 days later and they substituted Nassua and HMC for St Thomas and San Juan.

[Playa Cofi]

One part of the travel insurance is also for cruise delays. I pulled my policy earlier to verify that.

 

It covers $500 for trip delay.

 

Trip interruption or trip cancellation cover up to 100% of airfare.

[ThuviaRN]

Latest from Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground

 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2743

[Fitforlife]

I have paid in full for our October 12th cruise on the Magic from Galveston Texas. Can I now get travel insurance for this cruise? Will it cost me more since it was not puchased at the time I booked and paid for my cruise? Is this insurance purchased from Carnival? What can I expect to pay for the 2 of us that have an inside stateroom?