Cruising around storms

[lowbass]

We are going on a 4 night Carnival Liberty cruise to Nassau and Princess Cay leaving Port Canaveral on June 26. It looks like there might be a tropical storm or maybe even a hurricane going through the same area around the same time.

 

My question is, what does the cruise line do in those situations? Will they cancel the cruise? Will we just cruise around in the ocean somewhere else? Or do they plan to go to another port away from the storm?

[Old Fart Cruisers]

 They will to go to another port away from the storm.

 

[Elaine5715]

10 minutes ago, lowbass said:

We are going on a 4 night Carnival Liberty cruise to Nassau and Princess Cay leaving Port Canaveral on June 26. It looks like there might be a tropical storm or maybe even a hurricane going through the same area around the same time.

 

My question is, what does the cruise line do in those situations? Will they cancel the cruise? Will we just cruise around in the ocean somewhere else? Or do they plan to go to another port away from the storm?

I have been onboard a ship in the Caribbean during a hurricane and never felt a thing.  Ports were switched around.  We had no high winds, no waves, no nothing.

[Pellaz]

It will depend on the timing of your cruise -- which ports and which days -- and of course, the path and expected severity of the storm.   

 

In extreme cases they could route you to the other side of the Caribbean so your Eastern could become a Western.  It's a complex dance, but as with all the cruise lines, Carnival will take the safety of its guests and crews as paramount.  

[pe4all]

We have had our itineraries changed several times due to weather/storms/hurricanes.   You may get some bumpy seas and totally different ports than you originally had, but the captain does everything possible to keep his passengers safe.

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, lowbass said:

We are going on a 4 night Carnival Liberty cruise to Nassau and Princess Cay leaving Port Canaveral on June 26. It looks like there might be a tropical storm or maybe even a hurricane going through the same area around the same time.

 

My question is, what does the cruise line do in those situations? Will they cancel the cruise? Will we just cruise around in the ocean somewhere else? Or do they plan to go to another port away from the storm?

 

9 hours ago, TreyB said:

Depends on the severity of the weather and the ports being visited. There is no set answer. 

The answer immediately above is correct, but let me list the options Carnival and the Liberty's captain have:

• Do nothing/FAFO
• Delay embarkation and leave late
• Speed up embarkation and leave early
• Cancel ports and sail to different ones
• Cancel ports and add sea days
• Reroute cruise and go to different ports
• Delay return to port, possibly with the addition of sea day(s)
• Change the disembarkation port
• Cancel the cruise

 

Some of these are most costly and/or disruptive than others, which is why some are rarely used.

 

Chances are very good that your cruise will go off without a hitch.  Have a good one! 👍

[Thad409]

We leave out of New Orleans on July 2, going to Key west, Nassau and Freeport. already have a pre payed excursion in Nassau, so watching the storms also

[firefly333]

10 hours ago, lowbass said:

We are going on a 4 night Carnival Liberty cruise to Nassau and Princess Cay leaving Port Canaveral on June 26. It looks like there might be a tropical storm or maybe even a hurricane going through the same area around the same time.

 

My question is, what does the cruise line do in those situations? Will they cancel the cruise? Will we just cruise around in the ocean somewhere else? Or do they plan to go to another port away from the storm?

I was on conquest during the storm that wiped out Galveston about a dozen years ago. We were not allowed to cancel nor did they. We ended up in new orleans and had to rent cars. I never saw my own car again. I swore off carnival then but here I am back. Hurricane Mike.

 

We spent a extra night in cozumel before coming back. I've missed 1 or even 2 out of 3 ports. At ,eat carnival refunds port fees small as they are if you miss ports. Rcl has no such policy if you miss a port. Can be 0 back.

 

I've been to most ports .. though I'd mind if it was unusual ports I missed. Common ports I dont care. 

[ontheweb]

We once had a hurricane (not a Carnival ship) keep us from returning to Fort Lauderdale for 2 days making a 5 day cruise into a 7 day cruise.

 

At one point the Captain took us closer to the storm so passengers could have cell service to call family, airline, or TAs. It was a little rocky then. DW swam in the pool in the morning, and there were waves like in the ocean. By the afternoon, they drained the pool.

 

The next cruise with our cruise landing 2 days late was obviously shorter than it was supposed to be. And I understand the ports were definitely totally different. I spoke to a representative at the airport, and she had no idea how many would really be coming in for the cruise. Later I read that instead of having 2 seatings for dinner, that cruise had just 1. Obviously, there were a whole lot less passengers.

[cruiserNC]

Anything that you could imagine could happen. The cruise could be canceled, ports changed, cruise shortened. 

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

The answer immediately above is correct, but let me list the options Carnival and the Liberty's captain have:

• Do nothing/FAFO
• Delay embarkation and leave late
• Speed up embarkation and leave early
• Cancel ports and sail to different ones
• Cancel ports and add sea days
• Reroute cruise and go to different ports
• Delay return to port, possibly with the addition of sea day(s)
• Change the disembarkation port
• Cancel the cruise

 

Some of these are most costly and/or disruptive than others, which is why some are rarely used.

 

Chances are very good that your cruise will go off without a hitch.  Have a good one! 👍

I LOVE HB's answer. I'll do the Cliff Notes version........

 

Cozumel. 😊

[BobbiSox]

I'm never too disappointed when the itineraty changes, due to bad weather ahead, or whatever. As long as I'm on a ship, and safe, everything else doesn't matter too much. Seems the ships' crews are always prepared for any kind of emergency. 

[pe4all]

1 hour ago, cruiserNC said:

Anything that you could imagine could happen. The cruise could be canceled, ports changed, cruise shortened. 

Or lengthened, if you are "stuck" waiting for weather to clear or a port to re-open.

[shof515]

earlier this year on the carnival sunshine 4 day cruise to the bahamas. strong winds preventing docking making the cruise a cruise to no where cruise  

[Pellaz]

7 hours ago, jsglow said:

I LOVE HB's answer. I'll do the Cliff Notes version........

 

Cozumel. 😊

 

LOL, you're not totally wrong.  

 

A few years ago we were on a Western Caribbean itinerary that already included Cozumel.  A hurricane had messed up the Eastern ports and many ships had to divert....to Cozumel, of course.  EVERY dock had a ship (Puerta Maya, International and city piers) and a HAL ship was tendering its people in.   It was a madhouse...although in a sorta good way.  

[lazydayz]

With the shorter cruises, they have fewer options.  But historically, I would think your cruise will either go off as planned or turn into a cruise to nowhere.  We once cruised through a hurricane and while we were safe, it was not pleasant.  The other time our Eastern became a Western and we enjoyed great weather for most of the cruise.  The cruise lines have this down, and now, I just don't worry about it.  I go with the flow and hope for good weather.  

[ray98]

There is no set answer.  All options are on the table.

[slimknyzer]

We leave out of Galveston on Saturday, June 24.  I am confident the Ship will avoid the tropical storm(s).

[evandbob]

It looks like the OP's storm will be no where near the Bahamas, and it will be no where near hurricane strength.

 

It will be a rain storm way south of the OP's ship - wind shear will downgrade it from a minor depression.  Nothing to worry about, enjoy your cruise.

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 6/19/2023 at 9:20 PM, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 They will to go to another port away from the storm.

 

not many options to switch to on a 4 day Bahamas cruise.

[evandbob]

Bret is now forecast to travel over St Lucia as basically a rain storm, over 1,300 miles south of the Bahamas, where the OP is cruising to......not an issue

[geneparmesan]

Bumping due to the forecast pictured below... I'm on the Panorama sailing this Saturday going to PV, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas. Does anyone have experience with how a Mexican Riviera cruise could be affected? Seems like there are less port options or port regions to to consider as alternatives than there are in the Caribbean. 

 

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, geneparmesan said:

Bumping due to the forecast pictured below... I'm on the Panorama sailing this Saturday going to PV, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas. Does anyone have experience with how a Mexican Riviera cruise could be affected? Seems like there are less port options or port regions to to consider as alternatives than there are in the Caribbean. 

 

the same as the Caribbean or anywhere else - they’ll go around, even if it means your cruise ends up not stopping at any ports (but that’s rare). Cruise ships are not designed to weather tropical storms. 

[stobe1]

I vaguely seem to recall that several years ago in the 2010ish year range there was a hurricane along Western Mexico that caused a Princess or HAL ship to do a mini Alaska cruise with a stop or two plus Victoria, BC instead of Mexico. It would be 2 sea days each way plus a stop or two in Alaska and Canada if my memory serves me correctly.  

Edited August 2, 2023 by stobe1

[geneparmesan]

Thanks for the replies. We found a good example of a Mexican Riviera itinerary change on the Panorama last September due to Hurricane Kay. So it seems like there are options even in that region.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-ship-changes-itinerary-due-to-hurricane-kay/80975