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Norwegian Escape - Miami - Sept 02 - 09 Hurricane Irma

deltaalphalima

By deltaalphalima,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Sand and Seas

Sand and Seas

Posted
Posted

NCL dot com says they will be posting an update regarding the storm later today. Your Captain will be informing you if there will be changes to your cruise. It may take them a couple of more days to know for sure, but your ship will be able to keep you out of harm's way. We have been on one 14 day cruise that was shortened by one day due to a hurricane. On another cruise they just changed ports and our cruise ended on the correct day.

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PelicanBill

PelicanBill

Posted
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Looking at the NHC "earliest arrival of tropical storm force winds" suggested that Friday morning is still a safe arrival with a safety margin. I predict a day early return for their ship. NCL could still possibly still have the next sailing a day late too but that's looking a bit too far out.

 

So your family is in Harvest Caye today. They would have to make one more short port stop then haul full speed home. The only other option I see is cancel both of the next 2 ports and head toward Jamaica, sail around the east end of Cuba and come in behind the storm, and that would mean returning 1-2 days late. let us all know if you see news on their itinerary change.

S

All assuming path and speed forecast does not change of course.

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted

Staying on the ship seems a far better option to me. Why chance getting stuck at an airport through a storm when you can extend your vacation on the ship? I suppose some FL locals will want to get off and secure their homes.

 

Edit: I wonder if they will let people off the ship to move their car to a higher parking lot deck and get back on?

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Laszlo

Laszlo

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Posted
Staying on the ship seems a far better option to me. Why chance getting stuck at an airport through a storm when you can extend your vacation on the ship? I suppose some FL locals will want to get off and secure their homes.

 

Edit: I wonder if they will let people off the ship to move their car to a higher parking lot deck and get back on?

 

 

Yea, thats a tough call........being stuck at the airport or being stuck on a cruise ship:')

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zqvol

zqvol

Posted
Posted
My family is on on Escape for 9/2 - 9/9 journey.

This is supposed to return to Miami on the weekend. If Miami is in the path of the hurricane, what are possible options?

 

Thank you.

 

From ncl.com

 

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.

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BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

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Posted
Yea, thats a tough call........being stuck at the airport or being stuck on a cruise ship:')

We were in a bad storm during a transatlantic. At the peak of the storm, all of the glasses in our suite went flying from one side of the room to the opposite wall. Poor stewards were trying to clean up broken glass all night.

 

Compilation video (not mine) of being stuck on a cruise ship in a storm

 

And the Athem of the Seas last year

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Laszlo

Laszlo

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We were in a bad storm during a transatlantic. At the peak of the storm, all of the glasses in our suite went flying from one side of the room to the opposite wall. Poor stewards were trying to clean up broken glass all night.

 

Compilation video (not mine) of being stuck on a cruise ship in a storm

 

And the Athem of the Seas last year

 

 

I'd still take the ship, I'm the adventurous type :D

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crayola1932

crayola1932

Posted
Posted
I'd still take the ship, I'm the adventurous type :D

 

We were in Hurricane Bob on the Atlantic back in the 90s. A much smaller ship. We had 30 foot seas, and it was a bit frightening as we rocked and rolled. The waves came up to our port-hole. My DH quizzed me on all the state capitols, since neither of us could sleep, and I needed a distraction. All the glass and dishes broke in the dining room during the night, and the captain announced on the P.A. that all crew should assemble in the dining room. I was sure this was preparation for shepherding us all to the life-boats. But it was just broken crockery. All was sunny and calm in the morning.

 

That experience aside, I would still stay on the ship, albeit with a little trepidation. These big cruise ships are very stable.

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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

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They will be back in port tomorrow, long before any direct impact other than possibly some bumpy seas will occur and then they can either disembark and head home, or stay on board (the ship will most likely be heading to the Houston/Galveston area to wait out the storm based on current track) then return to Miami sometime around the 10th or 11th.

 

Is there a way to track the NCL Escape? My parents are on that ship and the rest of us are worried about them.
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POA1 "Live from...." Rare

POA1

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Posted
They will be back in port tomorrow, long before any direct impact other than possibly some bumpy seas will occur and then they can either disembark and head home, or stay on board (the ship will most likely be heading to the Houston/Galveston area to wait out the storm based on current track) then return to Miami sometime around the 10th or 11th.

 

Are you sure about this? Sailing from Miami to Galveston requires sailing into the storm.

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HazelSmrf

HazelSmrf

Posted
Posted

The storm seems to be veering right so right now it looks like it'll go north up to florida and then either stick to the coast or maybe even back out to sea? It's not looking likely that it'll head into the gulf, but things change. Either way, the ship can easily stay ahead of a storm that is advancing at 15 MPH, and that storm in the south of the gulf does not seem to want to budge from that spot.

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Vacationdreamer<><

Vacationdreamer<><

Posted
Posted
Staying on the ship seems a far better option to me. Why chance getting stuck at an airport through a storm when you can extend your vacation on the ship? I suppose some FL locals will want to get off and secure their homes.

 

Edit: I wonder if they will let people off the ship to move their car to a higher parking lot deck and get back on?

 

Yes - I was playing this out in my mind.

Folks from FL who drove to cruise would likely elect to disembark and head home to prep their own homes.

Folks who drove there from other areas might want to get out of Florida before it becomes a difficult place to navigate AND to get out of the way so that resources can be directed to residents.

 

 

Now - if you flew in (we always drive, so help me with this) - would the ship probably be offering free wi-fi, or such, to allow people to start working on changing travel arrangements?

 

I also suppose, if you just flew in and have no vehicle at the port that you could theoretically be brought to a different port to disembark? Wasn't this an option for many on RCCL and CCL for Harvey?

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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

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I wasn't expecting the ship to go to Galveston proper, just the bay area to wait out the storm, but now with Katie in the area not so sure. The thought behind Galveston was that it was still fairly close to Miami, will let them get back in behind the storm, and allow NOLA and Bayport to serve as alternate ports if Miami and or FLL/PC is unavailable for a while. Their other option is to head south, but there's a lot less options there.

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ocdb8r

ocdb8r

Posted
Posted

Hey all, on the Escape now and we're sailing into Miami at the moment. Last two days (since we left Harvest Caye) have been gorgeous weather and smooth sailing. Miami mostly sunny and clear. Most know the general details of our plans, but I'll recap: We expect to dock Miami about 3pm. Everyone has been given the option to disembark or stay on the ship. We will sail again promptly at 8pm. US citizens staying with the ship may get off (say to move a car or pick up medication) and re-board before we leave at 8pm. Non-US citizens staying with the ship are not being allowed to get off and re-board later due to an expedited customs process. We have been advised NCL cannot predict when we will return to port or what port we will eventually return to.

 

I thought I'd post a few details of how (relatively well) they're treating us:

 

1) you have seen the public post about a pro-rated refund for the missed cruise days (regardless of whether you stay on the ship or disembark) along with a future cruise credit of 25% of your total fare paid.

 

2) there will be no additional charge for those staying with the ship regardless of how long we stay at sea. The one exception is they will be charging the daily service fee of $13.99/each.

 

3) they are honoring all on board packages until Saturday (unlimited drinks, dining plans, unlimited internet, thermal suite...etc). Starting Sunday these items will carry their normal charges.

 

4) the crew have been very upbeat and are doing a good job of adding as much "programming" as possible. Lots of activities, demonstrations, movies...etc have been added. Additional comedy shows have been added with the comedians running through fresh material and even improvising quite a bit (lots if jokes about the hurricane and in board situation). Sounds like they will be staying on board with us for the duration. I'm a bit unclear as to the plan for the big shows - we were booked for "For the Record" this evening, but it doesn't appear on the schedule.

 

If you have any questions, shoot. I'll try to check in here occasionally but rest assured if you have family and friends aboard, we are being well cared for. I expect we will have some minor weather but it's clear we will be WELL away.from the hurricane and should be relatively smooth sailing.

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mking8288 "Live from...." Rare

mking8288

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Posted

Ship is one of the safest shelter in place, thanks for sharing. Might wish to stock up on personal OTC & prescribed meds near the pier, if accessible, in the next few hours. Extra drinking water bottles when eventually disembarking next week might be wise too.

 

Things on land next week can be challenging, to say the least. Stay safe & be happy.

 

via Nexus 5X on Nougat 7.1.2 using Tapatalk, VPN secured.

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