Hurricane Florence

[BillOh]

Florence will make for an interesting week for me. This is our 2nd cruise of the year and we have been to the ports before. I will enjoy what ever port we go to next week, but I may have to alter my driving route. Below I sloppily marked my planned driving route. I may have to cancel my Savannah hotel and think about I75 through KY, TN, GA, and the FL turnpike to PC. I will be off work next week.

 

[emdia43]

At least some of the airlines have travel alerts already for N.C. I just changed our American Air flights, which were scheduled on 9/15 to FLL from Louisville thru Charlotte, to connecting in Dallas DFW without fee. SWEST airlines also has a no fee change in place..

[Rogueperson]

Florence will make for an interesting week for me. This is our 2nd cruise of the year and we have been to the ports before. I will enjoy what ever port we go to next week, but I may have to alter my driving route. Below I sloppily marked my planned driving route. I may have to cancel my Savannah hotel and think about I75 through KY, TN, GA, and the FL turnpike to PC. I will be off work next week.

 

 

My guess is that Grandeur will be delayed getting back to Baltimore. On Wednesday and Thursday, it appears that Florence will be smack in the middle of the path between Nassau and Baltimore. If they left today, they MIGHT beat it, but since they've just pulled in, they're not going to decide to pull back out and make a speed run in front of the Hurricane path.

[emdia43]

http://www.wbtv.com/2018/09/10/many-travelers-can-rebook-their-flights-avoid-hurricane-florence-carolinas/

 

 

If you are flying Thursday thru Sunday...

[Taylors]

We are also booked on Grandeur for the 13th., and are concerned. We have friends on there now heading for Nassau. Why Nassau ? It's no better there that Bermuda. They should have headed north not south into Florence. Doesn't anybody at RCCL look at NOAA hurricane center data. Florence is getting bigger and stronger my the minute. We survived the a cat. 4 hurricane on Anthem Feb.6, 2016 and would not want to put anyone through that again. I served in the Navy years ago and they have the right idea. Tomorrow they are planning to put the fleet to sea out of Norfolk to ride out the storm. The problem with changing Grandeur's itinerary is it still must exit and return one way, Out the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Florence will be there Wednesday and Thursday if the track doesn't change. It seems they can't win no matter where the ship goes.

 

 

Yes! Got a text from my nephew stationed in Norfolk this morning that they were heading out on Emergency Underway orders. I'm relieved that they will be away from land when it hits. We are from California and this is his first hurricane!

[sail7seas]

[quote: posted by Set sail:

 

There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea,but the best ships are friendships and may they always be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a friend on HAL ships who was a l long time hotel director r, That was s a favorite toast of h his and one he often made when treating the table e to nice wine. :) I've not heard tht toast since he r retired . Brings back lovely memories.

 

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Edited September 10, 2018 by sail7seas

[SeaHunt]

He still has a job?

 

IKR? I remembered him from his stint as a weatherman at a local TV station (Orlando, before he moved to Tampa) where he presented a feature called "Weather Babies" and sang country songs with the weather.

 

I was very disappointed at his handling of the Galveston debacle. Now it looks like he better be hitting up RCI for a raise with all this hurricane work because he's being sued for lawyers fees in a Tampa case and blaming having to take a $55K pay cut when joining RCI:

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/Ex-WTSP-meteorologist-sued-over-almost-60-000-owed-to-lawyers_170784447

[setsail]

[quote: posted by Set sail:

 

There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea,but the best ships are friendships and may they always be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a friend on HAL ships who was a l long time hotel director r, That was s a favorite toast of h his and one he often made when treating the table e to nice wine. :) I've not heard tht toast since he r retired . Brings back lovely memories.

 

.

 

Nice, I like it also. It works for cruising and new friends

[djjoe]

Bermuda is directly east of the Carolinas. The Bahamas is southeast of Ft Lauderdale/Miami. Very big difference.

 

I live in Jacksonville FL, last year during a hurricane due to my wife's business response needs we evacuated to Raleigh North Carolina.

I understand the major difference in location between Bermuda and Bahamas. I meant they should have headed north and avoided Florence as best they could and not be stuck in Nassau trying to figure out how to get back to Baltimore.

[ONECRUISER]

I understand the major difference in location between Bermuda and Bahamas. I meant they should have headed north and avoided Florence as best they could and not be stuck in Nassau trying to figure out how to get back to Baltimore.

Agree with other poster. As they did here coming up behind Hurricane staying out of path or potential path in the north is common. Been on cruise ships dodging dozens Hurricanes over last 30yrs.. Use to sail almost only during Peak Season...

[BND]

Grandeur is leaving Nassau tomorrow and spending at least two days in PC and not returning to Baltimore til Sat or Sun all thanks to Florence.

[Tee & Chilli]

Grandeur is leaving Nassau tomorrow and spending at least two days in PC and not returning to Baltimore til Sat or Sun all thanks to Florence.

How many days was the original sailing? I would enjoy a few extra days.

[BND]

How many days was the original sailing? I would enjoy a few extra days.

 

It was supposed to be a 5 night Bermuda but turned into a 5 night Nassau with a return on Thursday, but now returning 2-3 days late.

[momofthree3]

We are on the Grandeur now- happy campers!

[Tee & Chilli]

Did Royal extend the drink packages? :)

[Thechamp555]

2-3 days late , wow !

 

Sent from my LG-H831 using Forums mobile app

[Goodtime Cruizin]

IKR? I remembered him from his stint as a weatherman at a local TV station (Orlando, before he moved to Tampa) where he presented a feature called "Weather Babies" and sang country songs with the weather.

 

I was very disappointed at his handling of the Galveston debacle. Now it looks like he better be hitting up RCI for a raise with all this hurricane work because he's being sued for lawyers fees in a Tampa case and blaming having to take a $55K pay cut when joining RCI:

 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/Ex-WTSP-meteorologist-sued-over-almost-60-000-owed-to-lawyers_170784447

 

So when someone books a cruise in the caribben during hurricane season and a hurricane approaches and messes up a vacation, blame the weather man... when it's a real bad hurricane, sue the weatherman.

 

Or one could just choose to cruise to the caribbean when it's not hurricane season.

[cwsdks48]

Florence will make for an interesting week for me. This is our 2nd cruise of the year and we have been to the ports before. I will enjoy what ever port we go to next week, but I may have to alter my driving route. Below I sloppily marked my planned driving route. I may have to cancel my Savannah hotel and think about I75 through KY, TN, GA, and the FL turnpike to PC. I will be off work next week.

 

 

Check on evacuation routes when heading to South Carolina. There could be lane reversals.

[amzn-grace]

My husband and I are in the same situation. Received two messages from Royal Caribbean this afternoon about our cruise leaving Baltimore, MD on September 13th. They're saying the ship should arrive 3-days later on the 16th now. We're standing by to see if the airlines are issuing waivers in order for us to reschedule our flight to the later date at no charge. RCCL already gave us the option of canceling the cruise. We're just standing by!:')

 

Ironically, we were on standby last year sailing on the Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston in September. The airport and port opened in time for us to get on the ship and we sailed without incident in between hurricane's Harvey, Irene and Jose.

[dswallow]

So when someone books a cruise in the caribben during hurricane season and a hurricane approaches and messes up a vacation, blame the weather man... when it's a real bad hurricane, sue the weatherman.

Did you even read the article about who is suing him?

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Did you even read the article about who is suing him?

 

Nope.

 

But each year, during or right after hurricane season we all begin to read the posts of complaints of problems either w/ travel services or the cruiseline.

[time4u2go]

So when someone books a cruise in the caribben during hurricane season and a hurricane approaches and messes up a vacation, blame the weather man... when it's a real bad hurricane, sue the weatherman.

 

Or one could just choose to cruise to the caribbean when it's not hurricane season.

Do you even know the story of what he did in regards to Hurricane Harvey? If not, you might want to research it.

[Norwegian2016]

Nope.

 

But each year, during or right after hurricane season we all begin to read the posts of complaints of problems either w/ travel services or the cruiseline.

 

Except that neither of the Grandeur itineraries are Caribbean ones. If they had not redirected from Bermuda to Nassau, there likely would have been no issues, so yes, absolutely blame the weatherman since the first cruise did not depart until Saturday, when it was evident Bermuda was in the clear.

 

I do take your point though. People do often seem surprised hurricanes exist.

[ginger123snaps]

We were on the Hurricane Harvey Liberty of the Seas cruise last year. While in port in cozumel.....Carnival had already decided to spend the night. We were surprised Royal Carribean decided to set sail for Galveston. It wasn't until we were sitting right outside the port of Galveston did they make the decision to divert us to Miami. I know some were really upset and I don't blame them...specially those that were boarding on Sunday after we were suppose to disembark. We didn't return back to Galveston until the following Friday. We live in Texas so we didn't have to worry about flights. We were worried about our Van being flooded. For those on the ship it worked out because people were able to fly out of Miami (bonus because Houston airports were closed). There were a lot of very angry passengers. Yes RC made a late decision but I hope they have learned their lesson from that move.

[time4u2go]

We were on the Hurricane Harvey Liberty of the Seas cruise last year. While in port in cozumel.....Carnival had already decided to spend the night. We were surprised Royal Carribean decided to set sail for Galveston. It wasn't until we were sitting right outside the port of Galveston did they make the decision to divert us to Miami. I know some were really upset and I don't blame them...specially those that were boarding on Sunday after we were suppose to disembark. We didn't return back to Galveston until the following Friday. We live in Texas so we didn't have to worry about flights. We were worried about our Van being flooded. For those on the ship it worked out because people were able to fly out of Miami (bonus because Houston airports were closed). There were a lot of very angry passengers. Yes RC made a late decision but I hope they have learned their lesson from that move.

There's also the other side to that story for the people that were supposed to be on the next cruise. RC waited WAY too long to cancel that cruise. This caused people to travel to the Houston/Galveston area despite the warnings, stranding some there because as you stated, the airports closed.