? about hurricanes

[old steamer]

Have any of the cruises had to change their itineraries due to hurricane or other storm conditions?

[Jennib]

hi

Yes cruises will change there itinerary's if the hurricane is hitting that island. But sometimes they do not re-place it with another island. Sometimes they will just stay at sea an extra day. We almost did not dock at castaway cay beause a hurricane had hit the week before. But at the last minute we were able to go but several things were closed like the adult beach and some of the trails.
It is up to the captain to decide if it is safe enough to try and port in an island.
Hope this helps

[diana's mommie]

It is always up to the captain if he does wish to change the itineary. I have had clients who were suppose to go to bermuda go to canada/new england eastern carribean go to western. I was on a princess ship in April/May and we didn't go to one of the islands because the seas were too rough to dock. the captain doesn't want to put his passengers at risk or his boat. Lisa

[Bmwdsny]

Last October when i was on the 7 night Disney Magic Cruise, there was a hurricane going on down by St Maartin area so the captain changed the itenary and were re routed from St Maartin to Puerto Rico instead. It was very nice there. We also end up going to Castaway Cay TWICE!!!! [img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img] I never worry about the hurricane since the ship will go away from it anyway. You might just feel some rocking because of the rough waves like it did to us the one day on that cruise we were on. [img]graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Ghost1000]

The keys to cruising during hurricane season are flexibility and understanding. Keeping in mind that sailing directly into a hurricane is not a novel idea, it is easy to see how one would be accepting of whatever the fate of their voyage becomes. It's better to still have a vacation aboard a wonderful vessel than to have your entire vacation ruined by being denied passage.

Early in it's innaugural season, I sailed on a four night Disney Wonder cruise and because of a tropical storm that had come very close to the eastern coast of Florida while we were out, our return home became quite different. Instead of docking in Port Canaveral and only having a 45 minute car ride home, we sailed into Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale where Disney Cruise Line buses shuttled most passengers back to Port Canaveral and Orlando. I had not been prepared for the 3.5-4 hour journey plus the 45 minutes additional from the port.

All the while though, I still had a good time. We had been advised at embarkation that our itinerary would be altered and that, instead of Nassau, we would be going to Key West. This was no problem for me as I had never been. As it turned out, that was our only port of call for the entire voyage. It had been determined, while at sea, that the storm's course would not allow us to visit Castaway Cay. As I'm sure this was a huge disappointment for most, I was again not terribly upset as I had been several times before. There was something kinda nice about just being on the ocean, albeit rough, at times.

So, sailing in hurricane season may not be the best idea but it's not always bad. You just have to be prepared to ride the waves. [img]graemlins/sick.gif[/img]