Hurricane season

[courtcole0902]

Has anyone cruised during hurricane season? We've been to AI before during this time but never a cruise. We are cruising in September. How often is this a problem? I'm mostly worried about missing ports.

 

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[bmetz34]

It's just so hard to guess at. We are booked mod august. We just had friends cruise in March and they missed half moon cay bc of weather and winds and that's nowhere near hurricane season. Last year we planned beach weekends memorial day and labor day weekend and there were hurricanes both weekends that just missed us and we had amazing weather. I stressed the first couple months after booking and decided to let it go. Pack your dramamine and hope for the best!

 

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[cruzeluver]

Hurricane season runs six months out of the year so a whole lot of folks cruise during it. We have done so several times and have never had severe impact such as a cancelled cruise or a greatly-impacted itinerary. We had ports reversed once and have missed a couple due to weather.

[coevan]

the actual odds of a direct hit are very low, it's more a fear factor than a realistic fear. NOAA has very good information and the predictions are weeks out. Of course the ship can change course, your eastern Caribbean trip can turn into a western Caribbean trip at the discretion of the Captain.

[bobbismith]

Has anyone cruised during hurricane season? We've been to AI before during this time but never a cruise. We are cruising in September. How often is this a problem? I'm mostly worried about missing ports.

 

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We will book in September without hesitation. Get insurance, if months away. :)

 

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[Havingfun2010]

Has anyone cruised during hurricane season? We've been to AI before during this time but never a cruise. We are cruising in September. How often is this a problem? I'm mostly worried about missing ports.

 

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Hurricane Season last 6 months. That makes about 50% of the people who go on a cruise, will do so during Hurricane Season.

[courtcole0902]

Thank you all for the responses. We are going no matter what I'm just hoping for beautiful weather!!

 

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[Cushing985]

It is a crap shoot but this season they are predicting a lower number of hurricanes. Regardless, the captains are not going to put the ships in danger.

[CoW mAn]

I've had a hurricane divert me twice now. The beauty of a cruise ship is that it can just sail around any weather. It helps to keep an open mind and stay positive about any unexpected change.

 

The first time a hurricane got in the way it diverted us from Bermuda to the Virgin Islands...

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[MistyRo76]

I've cruised in September, October and have a cruise booked for November of this year. We've never had any issues. It could happen...but the good thing with a hurricane is that you have a general idea of how it's tracking a week or more out. Of course, it could alter course, but you can watch as things develop. And the cruise lines are watching closely! Often you'll see them reverse the order of the ports or change from Eastern to Western (or vice versa) or potentially just eliminate a specific port if deemed necessary. Rarely will a whole cruise be impacted or cancelled (but it could happen).

 

To mitigate any issues due to unforeseen events, cruise insurance is always a good idea. So is planning to arrive to your port at least a day in advance (in case of airline cancellations that could be caused by the weather). Also, if you book shore excursions through private vendors, know what their cancellation policies are or if your cruise insurance will cover potential lost money due to a last minute schedule change. And go into the cruise with the knowledge that safety comes first and that might require change and flexibility. Roll with the punches! Make lemonade with those lemons! :)

 

Again, we've cruised several times during the height of hurricane season without issue. In fact, it's been some of the best weather we've seen on cruises!

[poz222]

Keep in mind "beautiful weather" in the Caribbean & Florida in rainy season will include afternoon thunderstorms... as far a hurricanes... who the heck knows? If your dead set for your itninerary and unwilling to accept or be happy if there are diversions or skipped ports but can only travel during hurricane season, make sure to buy insurance so you can cancel. If you are more flexible, you will be ok with whatever. The good news is generally, when ships divert to avoid hurricanes, the surrounding weather is generally "beautiful" as the systems sucks the moisture up and leaves the surrounding environs much drier... but hot! September (first week) is peak season, but ya never know??

[Miller_KC]

Has anyone cruised during hurricane season? We've been to AI before during this time but never a cruise. We are cruising in September. How often is this a problem? I'm mostly worried about missing ports.

 

I have enjoyed the lower pricing of Sept-Dec many times and almost always have a great time. Over 15 years I have only been directly impacted by Hurricanes twice. Once was a little more rough water and the order of 2 ports changed. The other cancelled 3 of 4 ports and they shouldn't have tried to get it the one they did. Tendering back to the ship was really rough. However we changed from western Caribbean to eastern added an unexpected port and had a great time.

 

It only matters if you are only going to cruise once or twice and only want to see the ports you have booked.

[cb at sea]

The "season" is not the problem....it's HURRICANES that can cause issues, if it's headed toward your ports! Otherwise, the weather is the same as always...unpredictable! It doesn't take a hurricane to cause issues.... high winds can cause rough seas, and that can happen whether there is a storm or not!

[OCruisers]

Any sort of "Tropical Disturbance" is a problem.

When cruising in September and October, it's always dicey. ;)

[jsglow]

I think the greatest risk is to the home port. There's little that a cruise line can do if a major hurricane is bearing down on the east coast of Florida. But one usually has several days notice and can alter plans accordingly. During the cruise, they'll just drive the other way. Often these revised itineraries can be decided several days in advance. I remember that hurricane bouncing off the east coast of Florida last year. Seem to recall several alterations but no cancellations.

 

Frankly, the two cruise ports I'd be most hesitant about during hurricane season are Baltimore and Charleston. There really aren't any decent alternatives if the storm is directly south of their path. In Miami, assuming they can get past the keys they can head to the west.

[Taylorcast]

I cruised on the Sensation in August 2005 out of NOLA. The week before Katrina hit the city. They switched the order of two ports, we didn't miss either and the shore excursions desk just switched all reservations for everyone between the 2 days. The only "inconvenience" (it really didn't make anyone upset) was that we had to go down to the desk to get the new tickets with the new date.

 

We were supposed to stay in NOLA for two days after the cruise, obviously we left due to the mandatory evacuations.

 

My dad (I was cruising with him and my sister, I was 16 at the time) is a stickler for only getting direct flights. We wound up renting a car and driving to Nashville (14 hour drive) to get a direct flight back to JFK because the only available flights would have had a layover in Dallas and there were no available seats next to each other. So rather than being separated on the plane, we drove 8 hours, stayed at a motel in Mississippi and then drove the last 6 hours the next morning. Wish he would have let us stay in Nashville the extra night, but we didn't know how far north the storm was headed and didn't want to risk not getting back home.

 

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[ABQrobin]

cruised Aug 2015 out of Miami on Glory = supposed to be Eastern Carib....... hurricane diverted the cruise to Western Caribbean. Great cruise but lots of people upset. Would have been more than upset if we had cruised right into a hurricane headon (it was hitting St Thomas the day we were supposed to be there).

 

cruised Oct 2014 out of Galveston on Magic = a tropical storm was pounding Belize the week before. All land excursions and tubing excursions canceled the day we were there due to rain/flooding everywhere in country. Refund given to everyone for excursions booked thru ship. Still had a great cruise, we did a snorkeling excursion instead.

 

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[cajunfla]

We cruised last September out of NOLA for Key West and Bahamas. We got rerouted by a storm to Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan. Oh darn! Rerouted to better ports IMHO!

 

You pays your money, you takes your chances.

[Siora7777]

September seems to have the most hurricanes in the year. I wouldn't go during that time. The ships cruise around the hurricanes but too chancy for me. Good luck!

[luv2trvlnow]

We avoid going out of Galveston during hurricane season. That is because we drive. After what happened with Hurricane Ike in 2008 we won't take the chance. All the cars parked near the port were flooded and the ships didn't even come back to Galveston instead they disembarked in New Orleans because it was such a mess in Galveston. A lot of people lost their cars.

[pusywillow]

Has anyone cruised during hurricane season? We've been to AI before during this time but never a cruise. We are cruising in September. How often is this a problem? I'm mostly worried about missing ports.

 

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We sailed during Hurricane Matthew this past Sept/Oct. Instead of sailing to the Bahamas we were rerouted to NYC where we spent two days. Then we sailed up and down the coast for the next five days. Things happen and there's nothing you can do.

[skrufy]

We also have cruised in hurricane season a few times. Never during a hurricane, and never took into consideration that a hurricane can spoil our cruise. What ever happens we will deal with it. We have been to all the Caribbean ports, so another sea day or two or complete change of itinerary would be fine. Ours have been in Sept and Oct.

[BiscayneBay460]

We have cruised in October 3 times. Our second cruise was October 2014 out of Miami, on the Conquest. We diverted from eastern to western Caribbean. We received a notification at boarding that they were watching hurricane Gonzalo. After the muster drill, we were informed of the change. Talk about a LOT of unhappy people, thought there was going to mutiny. LOL! We were just happy to be on vacation. Cruising that time of year, You just need to go with an open mind, that changes might occur. We have booked this October on the Magic, counting down the days!

[justme_85]

We have the Glory booked for this September. It will be my first cruise during hurricane season. I do try to cruise in May but it wasn't feasible for us this year. I am quite nervous about cruising during hurricane season not with missing ports but more so rougher than usual waters. I also made sure I booked my flights to arrive a day early in Miami. I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! Reading everyone's experiences has definitely calmed me!

 

 

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[courtcole0902]

We have the Glory booked for this September. It will be my first cruise during hurricane season. I do try to cruise in May but it wasn't feasible for us this year. I am quite nervous about cruising during hurricane season not with missing ports but more so rougher than usual waters. I also made sure I booked my flights to arrive a day early in Miami. I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! Reading everyone's experiences has definitely calmed me!

 

 

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We are on the Glory September 2! We planned on arriving early that morning but have decided on the day before just to be safe!

 

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