Worried about Matthew and the Valor

[Graptor]

My 5 day Bahama cruise starts on the 8th. I fly into Orlando on the 6th. From the weather reports I see, the hurricane should be just south of Orlando when I fly in on the 6th at 7PM. The report on the 7th shows Matthew on or near Orlando where I'll be staying. That's the same day the Valor is on its way, following the Hurricane back into port from Grand Turk. The report on the 8th the day of embarkation shows Matthew just north of Port Canaveral. This all seems to work if I decide to stay in a hotel while a Hurricane could land on top of me. There are a lot of variables to this and anything could go wrong.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Graptor

[BoDidly]

My 5 day Bahama cruise starts on the 8th. I fly into Orlando on the 6th. From the weather reports I see, the hurricane should be just south of Orlando when I fly in on the 6th at 7PM. The report on the 7th shows Matthew on or near Orlando where I'll be staying. That's the same day the Valor is on its way, following the Hurricane back into port from Grand Turk. The report on the 8th the day of embarkation shows Matthew just north of Port Canaveral. This all seems to work if I decide to stay in a hotel while a Hurricane could land on top of me. There are a lot of variables to this and anything could go wrong.

 

Best of luck to you. Maybe it will make that turn and head out to sea.

[fshstck]

I think your biggest concern is getting to Orlando. The ship can alter its course or delay for a day to get everyone back to port safely.

[coevan]

you and the weather people have no idea of it's exact path. 48 hours before you leave you will have a much better reason to worry.

[Graptor]

I agree, the airport being open at 7pm on Thursday is the biggest concern. It's an 18 hour drive, so leaving on Thursday night and driving is also an option, all be it a bad one. I guess I'll have to make a quick decision if flight is canceled.

 

The best option is for the Hurricane to just get out of the way. I guess my first world problem is nothing compared to what those poor people in Haiti have to deal with Tuesday.

[FlaMommy75]

We are also cruising on the Valor on the 8th. I am cautiously optimistic that it will be fine. Even if the hurricane ends up coming close to the eastern coast of Florida, we are on the "other side" of the cone. The west side of the cone doesn't get all the storms. We live in Tampa and our weathermen are always cautious when storms come up the Gulf because we would be on the eastern side of the cone, which is the bad storms.

I do worry about rough surf on Friday delaying the Valor arriving to Port Canaveral on time Saturday morning though.

 

 

 

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[Graptor]

Coming from a local, that's making me feel better. What do you think about

Orlando Sanford being open if the Hurricane is to the south?

 

We are also cruising on the Valor on the 8th. I am cautiously optimistic that it will be fine. Even if the hurricane ends up coming close to the eastern coast of Florida, we are on the "other side" of the cone. The west side of the cone doesn't get all the storms. We live in Tampa and our weathermen are always cautious when storms come up the Gulf because we would be on the eastern side of the cone, which is the bad storms.

I do worry about rough surf on Friday delaying the Valor arriving to Port Canaveral on time Saturday morning though.

 

 

 

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[LadyBeBop]

Check your airline home page periodically. Chances are, if they think weather will be iffy to fly in on Thursday evening, they'll probably allow you to change to Wednesday or earlier Thursday without a change fee. But wait before they actually announce it. Hopefully, they will in the next 24 to 36 hours.

 

Good luck.

[Graptor]

I don't think there are many choices of flights with alliegent. That's a big problem.

[BoDidly]

I agree, the airport being open at 7pm on Thursday is the biggest concern. It's an 18 hour drive, so leaving on Thursday night and driving is also an option, all be it a bad one. I guess I'll have to make a quick decision if flight is canceled.

 

The best option is for the Hurricane to just get out of the way. I guess my first world problem is nothing compared to what those poor people in Haiti have to deal with Tuesday.

 

A little tip for you if you are driving down, make sure you fill the gas tank before you park the car in FL.

I have seen price gouging at it's worst leaving FL after a storm . Five gallon gas jugs for 25 bucks a pop, no gas was not included. Gas was not available until we traveled well over half of FL. I'm not trying to scare you just trying to prepare you, ;).

[Pellaz]

A little tip for you if you are driving down, make sure you fill the gas tank before you park the car in FL.

I have seen price gouging at it's worst leaving FL after a storm . Five gallon gas jugs for 25 bucks a pop, no gas was not included. Gas was not available until we traveled well over half of FL. I'm not trying to scare you just trying to prepare you, ;).

 

Good to know. We're driving down Atlanta -> Jax -> Ft. Lauderdale for our cruise leaving the 9th. I'll be sure to tank up before leaving Georgia on Friday. (It's a bit cheaper here anyway.)

 

The cruise itself should be okay (Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Half Moon Cay) assuming the hurricane leaves anything standing on HMC.

The drive down to FLL might get....interesting.

[Graptor]

I reserved a car to drive down on Thursday morning if things look bad. I'll just cancel it, if Matthew heads out to sea. I figure two days of a nice cross country ride are better than two days in the rain prior to my cruise. The gas tip is a great one. I never thought about that before.

[put me on a ship]

We're on the Valor on the 8th also. We live about 30 miles south of Port Canaveral, and well....we're hoping for the best! The "good" news is, the storm is predicted to go between the Bahamas and the east coast of Florida. We'll be on the "good"side. Bad news is, the Bahamas are on the "bad" side.

 

And yeah, if you're driving, make sure you have a full tank of gas! We're going tomorrow to top off our tanks, and get gas for the generator. Hurricane shutters will probably be going up Wednesday. Florida has already been declared a state of emergency by our governor.

[Angus1963]

we are also on the Valor on the 8th and we live in St Petersburg. Im guessing that we will be rerouted to Mexico/Key West or something as I would think the bahamas ports will be closed for a couple days. Im guessing there will be a sort of delay though maybe cut a day short

[put me on a ship]

we are also on the Valor on the 8th and we live in St Petersburg. Im guessing that we will be rerouted to Mexico/Key West or something as I would think the bahamas ports will be closed for a couple days. Im guessing there will be a sort of delay though maybe cut a day short

 

If this storm does what they are now saying, I agree Bahamas will probably be closed. Looks like they are going to be hit pretty hard.

[lizzyplague]

Hoping the storm doesn't disrupt air traffic too much around south Florida come Friday. :( We're sailing the Western Caribbean though.. so don't really have to worry about our itinerary being changed. Frankly just very worried about getting to FL Friday. (sail date is Saturday)

[cruising maniac]

No one knows at this point what is going to happen with Matthew. The airlines and the cruise lines will keep you safe by cancelling when necessary and changing itineraries when necessary. The one thing I do know for sure, it will be rough as hell on the seas. Bring your motion sickness pills.

[BeachChik]

I'm local and I have to say I'm concerned.

 

If someone was suppose to fly in Friday I would be concerned about getting in. It should be right off the coast by Friday at 2am so Friday in general will be very poor weather. Wouldn't be surprised to see flights cancelled.

[JaniceB]

Supposed to fly to PBI on Thursday night. The weather channel said all of FL should be worried even the gulf coast. Ughh!

[Homosassa]

I don't think there are many choices of flights with alliegent. That's a big problem.

 

Alliegant flies into the Clearwater/St Petersburg airport. It would then be a cross state drive to the east coast.

[Homosassa]

I reserved a car to drive down on Thursday morning if things look bad. I'll just cancel it, if Matthew heads out to sea. I figure two days of a nice cross country ride are better than two days in the rain prior to my cruise. The gas tip is a great one. I never thought about that before.

 

Where are you driving from. We originally had plans to leave Thursday morning from Florida's west coast to drive up to the Baltimore, MD area via I-95.

 

We have switched to leaving on Wednesday because we we need to drive east to drive I-95. Although Florida and the rest of the east coast is suppose to be east of the storm's track, we still don't want to deal with the rain and wind of the storm's bands. We hope to stay ahead of the storm.

[mouche]

We are also driving down to Florida from North Carolina, we had plan to travel down via 95 but now thinking 85, we leave on the Magic from Port Canaveral on the 8th we had plan on staying in Coco Beach on Friday, but now we may stop hallway to Florida, stay more inland, then get up early Saturday morning to drive to the port. I just pray the storm moves out further east. Guess we just have to wait and see.

[Graptor]

I had booked a car last night and thought about driving down from NY. I can't think of a way of out running a hurricane. If my plane leaves, I'll be going. I booked three days early. If that isn't' enough time, it wasn't meant to be.

[loubetti]

Hoping the storm doesn't disrupt air traffic too much around south Florida come Friday. :( We're sailing the Western Caribbean though.. so don't really have to worry about our itinerary being changed. Frankly just very worried about getting to FL Friday. (sail date is Saturday)

 

It will have an affect. Not too worried about departure on the ship Saturday, but airline arrival Friday.

 

Otherwise you can expect the flight to be cancelled- be prepared for this!

[loubetti]

I'm local and I have to say I'm concerned.

 

If someone was suppose to fly in Friday I would be concerned about getting in. It should be right off the coast by Friday at 2am so Friday in general will be very poor weather. Wouldn't be surprised to see flights cancelled.

 

You are quite correct, my fellow Floridian, and I live at Boca Raton! Expect many flight cancellations as early as today. Florida has already declared a state of emergency.