If cruise is cancelled due to weather?

[madiandcindy]

So Ike is going to hit Galveston today or tomorrow, I was wondering if the pier is damaged and we cant sail out on our cruise on the 21st, will we get a full refund from carnival or what are we looking at here? Anybody experienced this before? I am wondering if they would force us to re book or refund us asap?

[happy cruzin]

Have you called Carnival??? What are they saying???

 

Carnival has - in the past - moved ships to another location and then provided transportation to the "new" port.

[cherun]

With Katrina, we were offered a full refund and discount on another cruise, we rebooked immediately for Tampa a month later.. also had OBC from the change..

[LHP]

Unfortunately, things like this are hard to predict.

 

Katrina hitting New Orleans is the last example we have to go on...but there is no guarantee that Carnival will do the exact same thing this time IF Galveston's port is destroyed.

 

Things that Carnival did last time may not have worked well and they have learned from experience and will be changing it this time.

 

Then there are many variables that come into play.

 

1. The amount of damage.

2. The availability of hotels and infrastructure.

 

Watch the Carnival website. They will advise you on their plans. But remember that they can't give any information until they know what they are dealing with....so it can be a frustrating waiting game...for you and them.

[cherylandtk]

First, realize they cannot make any decision on your cruise until they deal with the one on the 14th. Keep an eye on that one, and stay on top of the weather updates on Carnival.com

 

As noted above, in the past Carnival can and have cancelled and refunded, moved the departure date or location, offered OBC to rebook (varying amounts), shortened or lengthened cruises, and/or a combination of the above. You will just have to be as flexible as you can and keep on top of any announcements.

 

It can take time for them to assess the damage to the pier and determine how long it will take to repair it and the infrastructure. Then Carnival will have to decide what to do with their two ships normally using that pier until repairs are done. Because they have to minimize the amount of "go here, no there, oops, we have to extend, now it is back on" kind of miscues, they may not be able to make a specific determination on your cruise until the day before. Could be earlier, too, but don't think they will have an answer within hours after the storm passes.

 

Its going to take several days, so just sit tight. I know, remaining calm is not going to be easy, but my best guess is you are going to have to wait until the 17th or 18th to get an accurate answer/announcement. But that is just a guess based on past history, the timing of the storm and the number of days before your cruise.

[Yazoo cruiser]

We were scheduled out of Mobile the day Katrina hit. Carnival was in touch with us 3-4 days ahead of time keeping us updated. They called the day before telling us the cruise was cancelled. We got our refund on our credit card within 4 days. We thought they handled it very well.

[newmexicoNita]

A cruise line may do one of several things, whatever, if it is cancelled you will get a full refund and maybe credit toward another cruise but don't count of that. Some cases the ship will depart from a different embarkation port, if this happens you may be offered a refund. it is hard to tell what will happen. I think we are all watching Galverston very closely.

 

Nita

[kjunea]

I was scheduled to take a cruise once out of Tampa during the Blizzard of 93. The cruise ship went through the storm and had so much broken glass, damage inside that they cancelled my cruise (which was good, since I had 24 inches of snow and couldn't even get 15 miles to the airport!)

 

They rescheduled me for 3 months later, no problem.

 

Then we went through a tropical depression, but that's another story.....