Sailing Divina out of Miami 9/9 - Getting Nervous

[GOLDENBONNY]

Even if it isn't a direct hit getting a little nervous by the new models. Looks like it going to be pretty close to Miami and pretty close to us boarding.

Wondering about flights... we fly in on the 9th too. We could drive and arrive early but wondering if the Divina will even make it back to port on time if the waters ruff. Or if we will possibly be canceled [emoji30]. Hate to drive that far only to be cancelled. Wondering when they will make the call? I know it's to soon today but would like enough notice to change travel plans if needed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We had same situation many years ago with Ivan. Airport was closed and cruise cancelled . We got full refund . I would not flight early, for what? just to seat in shelter if anything? just wait and see, be ready that your vacation is not happening. Better to cancel that to be in hurricane seas .

[KruiseKween]

We are flying in on Saturday from Toronto Canada. I like to live dangerously... 😧

 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Forums mobile app

[CGTNORMANDIE]

I'm hoping we all get on the sailing for Sept 9th... its very sad where it will hit its a cat 5 and will be a lot of damage. I pray for everyone's safety.

 

If the ports changed that a-ok for me...we are all safe! Question tho if they have to port elsewhere do they need permission from the island:confused:?

 

Sounds like you have your ducks in a row. YES...they need permission or a landing permit at any island they chose to go to...but that is usually no problem. You never know but this whole thing might be as easy as Divina moving up to Fort Lauderdale. It is too early to tell.

[marti2282]

Does the ship have to have a certain capacity to sail out??

I don't think she would stay in port with an approaching cat. 5 storm even if empty.

 

I'm sure it would be safer for the ship at sea sailing away from the storm

[renysmom]

If they can do it safely they will sail although maybe not south initially.

 

I have seen cruise lines head way out into the Atlantic to avoid a hurricane and then head south, I have seen cruise lines head way out and then north completely skipping the Caribbean. I have also seen cruise lines bring a ship in, unload passengers, change the next cruise to depart a day or two later and get the ship back out immediately with just crew on-board to a safe area of the ocean. So many possibilities

[tbmrt]

Check this out for some updates...Some old info/some new...Just checked w/MSC - no info yet on the 9/9 cruise or return of the 9/2 cruise.

 

It will, however, give us some idea of what other cruiselines are doing re: Irma.

 

 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8046

[Reenie75]

Most airlines have given out their warnings for Florida airports about delays or cancellation from Tuesday Sept 5th to Monday Sept 11th.

 

😣😓😓😣😓😣😓😣😓😣

[shackman61]

This is a very long post, but this is what Norwegian just posted:

 

Hurricane Irma

Update #2

September 5, 2017 2:00 PM

At Norwegian Cruise Line, the safety and security of our guests and crew is of the utmost importance. The company is closely monitoring Hurricane Irma, now a major category 5 hurricane, located just east of the Leeward Islands. The storm’s forecasted path includes a potential impact to South Florida this weekend.

Due to the current forecasted path of the storm, we will be making adjustments to the following cruises to ensure the safety of everyone on board:

• Norwegian Escape, Seven-Day Western Caribbean cruise departing September 2 from Miami: We will be amending the ship’s itinerary to a five-day cruise. Instead of calling in Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel on Thursday, the ship will sail for Miami this evening, arriving in the afternoon on Thursday, September 7. Those guests who are residents of South Florida, who drove to PortMiami or who have travel plans already confirmed that will return them safely home by Friday afternoon may disembark the ship on Thursday if they wish to do so. For those guests who did not drive to PortMiami and are unable to secure a flight back home, we strongly encourage them to stay onboard the ship. Norwegian Escape will set sail from Miami on Thursday evening on a course away from the storm. While we are unable to confirm at this time when and where the ship will return to port, we welcome all guests to remain onboard to stay safe and secure. All guests will received a refund for the missed days of their cruise, along with a 25% future cruise credit of the cruise fare paid towards a future sailing on Norwegian. Guests who need to make changes to any flights will be reimbursed for any change fees up to $300 per person.

• Norwegian Sky, Four-Day Cuba Cruise departing September 4 from Miami: We will be amending the ship’s itinerary to a three-day cruise. Instead of calling in Great Stirrup Cay on Thursday, the ship will sail for Miami following her departure from Havana tomorrow, arriving in the morning on Thursday, September 7. All guests will receive a refund for the missed day of their cruise, along with a 25% future cruise credit of the cruise fare paid towards a future sailing on Norwegian. Guests who need to make changes to any flights will be reimbursed for any change fees up to $300 per person

• Norwegian Sky, September 8 from Miami: The ship’s three-day Bahamas cruise has been cancelled. We will be providing a full refund to all guests, plus a 50% future cruise credit.

• Norwegian Escape, September 9 from Miami: The ship’s seven-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise has been cancelled. We will be providing a full refund to all guests, plus a 50% future cruise credit.

All other cruises are currently sailing as scheduled. We continue to monitor the storm’s projected path and will provide any updates as quickly as they are available.

We truly appreciate our guests understanding during these unforeseen itinerary changes and apologize for any inconvenience these unexpected, but necessary, changes may cause our guests. Any further updates will be communicated to guests and posted on our social media channels, and www.ncl.com under the Weather Alert.

[Reenie75]

I think it's great that NCL did this now before ppl starting flying. I can only hope MSC will make a decision soon. If NCL thinks it's unsafe I would tend to believe any cruises leaving Miami will follow suit.

 

It's so very crappy it's happening but ppl are safe.

[doitalone]

NLC and RCI both canceled their 9th out of Miami I believe.

 

I suspect MSC will follow suit soon enough.

Edited September 5, 2017 by doitalone

[doitalone]

9/5/2017

Hurricane Irma has now been elevated to Category 5 and is strongly affecting ship operations across the entire Caribbean region. The state of emergency has already been called across all of Florida and a number of islands in the area.

 

With the hurricane now forecasted to hit Florida on Saturday and the USCG warning regarding a possible closing of Port Miami as of Friday, we have decided to deviate MSC Divina from her current itinerary and she is now scheduled to arrive in Miami on Thursday morning. There, guests who wish to disembark and return home will be able to do so.

 

As soon as the disembarkation is completed, the ship will sail to Cozumel (Mexico), beyond Irma’s reach, allowing those guests that wish to remain on board to continue their cruise holiday. MSC Divina will sail back to Miami to end the cruise as soon as the weather conditions allow it and the emergency is over.

 

Our global Operations team is closely monitoring Irma’s expected path over the coming days in close cooperation with the relevant entities. We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate any further changes as required.

 

 

Nothing about ours - but safe to say I think we're screwed

[Morgsmom]

oh wow. My friend is on the 9/2 but they left Grand Cayman a bit ago so I can't get in contact. Wonder if she will get off or head back out to Cozumel....

[Reenie75]

Where did you finD this?

 

9/5/2017

Hurricane Irma has now been elevated to Category 5 and is strongly affecting ship operations across the entire Caribbean region. The state of emergency has already been called across all of Florida and a number of islands in the area.

 

With the hurricane now forecasted to hit Florida on Saturday and the USCG warning regarding a possible closing of Port Miami as of Friday, we have decided to deviate MSC Divina from her current itinerary and she is now scheduled to arrive in Miami on Thursday morning. There, guests who wish to disembark and return home will be able to do so.

 

As soon as the disembarkation is completed, the ship will sail to Cozumel (Mexico), beyond Irma’s reach, allowing those guests that wish to remain on board to continue their cruise holiday. MSC Divina will sail back to Miami to end the cruise as soon as the weather conditions allow it and the emergency is over.

 

Our global Operations team is closely monitoring Irma’s expected path over the coming days in close cooperation with the relevant entities. We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate any further changes as required.

 

 

Nothing about ours - but safe to say I think we're screwed

[kathiean]

Previous poster is correct. I have friends on Divina right now. We are messaging each other as I write this. Divina will drop off passengers on Thursday then sail with those who wish to remain onboard to Mexico to wait out the storm. Divina will return when the port reopens which should be the middle of next week.

[BiscayneBay460]

My sister and her husband are on MSC Divina now. She messaged me as the same above. Heading to Miami now. Those who wish, can disembark. Those who disembark hopefully are the ones who drove and can get out of South Florida quickly. My sister's flight is not until Sunday, so as of now, they are staying on ship and heading to Cozumel to wait out Irma.

[Reenie75]

This so pisses me off MSC cannot release something about Sept 9th sailing. Disney now has join RC & Norwegian on cancellations.

Very frustrating.

[m cruiser]

Look for a public cancellation notice from MSC on Wednesday am for the sept 9th sailing of Divina. trust me, nearly a sure thing.

[doitalone]

It was on the site, but then they took it down - I mean their site sucks so it's not surprising.

 

I called the 800 number tonight - they said they would have info on the 9th decided tomorrow. I don't think there's anyway they don't cancel if they are announcing tomorrow because there's still so much we don't know.

[danhockey04]

The September 9 cruise is cancelled. We are on the ship and they said that. We are staying aboard despite driving from Orlando. We don't want to deal with the chaos we are seeing. The house was prepped. We are going to cozumel and chilling there until Miami opens. They are figuring the compensation portion before announcing it.

[dexddd]

The September 9 cruise is cancelled. We are on the ship and they said that. We are staying aboard despite driving from Orlando. We don't want to deal with the chaos we are seeing. The house was prepped. We are going to cozumel and chilling there until Miami opens. They are figuring the compensation portion before announcing it.

 

Thanks for the post. See post #33 for what NCL is doing money wise. Actually pretty proactive for NCL and fair IMO.

[shackman61]

MSC just posted the below message on their Facebook page:

 

Hurricane Irma has now been elevated to Category 5 and is strongly affecting ship operations across the entire Caribbean region. The state of emergency has been called across all of Florida and a number of islands in the area.

Due to these extraordinary circumstances, as the safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority, MSC Divina will now head directly to Miami where she will arrive in the morning of Thursday, September 7, ahead of the Port’s likely closure on Friday, to allow guests who wish to disembark to go home. As soon as the disembarkation is completed, the ship will sail to Cozumel (Mexico), beyond Irma’s reach, allowing those guests that wish to remain on board to continue their cruise. She will then stay alongside there until it is safe for her to return to Miami.

Guests who disembark on Thursday will receive a refund for the two days shortening of their cruise vacation and, in addition, will also get a voucher for a 25% discount on the price of a future MSC Cruises vacation. Guests who will continue the cruise after Thursday’s call to Miami will also receive the same voucher.

Due to the timing of Irma’s likely arrival to the South Florida coast, it will be impossible to complete the turnaround operation scheduled for Saturday, September 9. For this reason, we have taken the difficult decision of canceling MSC Divina’s next cruise originally scheduled to sail on that day. Guests scheduled to depart on this cruise will have the option to either be reprotected on another MSC Cruises vacation or receive a full refund as well as a 25% discount voucher on the price of a future cruise.

Please visit our website for most up-to-date information: https://goo.gl/iotC4Y

Should you have any other questions, please contact our call center at 1-877-665-4655.

[champagne123]

Thank you for sharing.

[marti2282]

I know this is a huge disappointment to so many.

So sorry!

[wahine56]

It would have been nice if they sent out an email, explaining how they were going to handle this. Customer service said to keep checking their website, since we're done here already, I'll wait until we get home to deal with this. On the road tomorrow before Irma hits. Anyone else traveling home have a safe trip.

[doitalone]

Oh - my customer service lady refunded the trip for me. 7 to 10 business days to process for the actual cruise, but the onboard purchases are already back to me.