How many of you who cruise during "hurricane season" have actually...

[GayleR]

never <crossing fingers>

 

and i don't think it would bother me unless i was bound for bermuda, and ended up in canada like those poor people a couple or more years ago.

 

Going to Canada instead of Bermuda? That would suck! :mad:

 

We usually sail during hurricane season; it's cheaper and we cruise for the ship experience as the priority and the ports a low 2nd priority. If we don't make our ports, it's no big deal to us.

 

On our very first cruise back in 1990 we were supposed to go Eastern but due to a hurricane we went Western. That first night out I went to bed at 8pm....that ship was ROCKING and it was a little ship (Dolphin Seabreeze). We were in calm waters after the first night. Didn't stop me from cruising....

[bplazo]

On one cruise our flight was cancelled and we had to fly into a different city and rent a van then our hotel was evacuated and closed and the ship was a day late and a couple ports were missed, however, after all that we did have a great cruise and a good discount off our next cruise.

[mdrobtx]

We did a reverse itinerary a few years back with Hurricane Michelle. Also a full day in 30 foot seas. Everyone was in their cabins sick except maybe 2 or 3 hundred of us. Had a blast. Would do it again in a minute.:D

[cofgren]

I've been on two hurricane cruises. The first was on the Disney Wonder and was to be our first 4 day at the park and 3 days on the ship cruise, which became an 11 day odyssey. It still ranks as our 2nd best cruise ever. Nothing tops the first. An hour into the cruise the Capt. announced that we wouldn't be going to Nassau, but just sailing around. But he gave everyone OBC. Several hours later he announced that now we would be going to Cozumel. After all that we couldn't return to Port Canaveral because of damage underwater so another day and on to Port Everglades to be bussed back and a free day at Disney world. The entire time we had good weather and moderate seas. The second hurricane cruise was on Carnival's Sensation. No altered routes and really rough waves. That's the cruise when we discovered that we were true cruisers. The ship was rocking violently, the waves were crashing over the bow. I left the casino to check on my wife and grandchildren as I normally do in the evenings, every hour or so. I open the cabin door and my wife is out on the balcony taking pictures of the waves, my grandchildren are playing with their toys on the bed. I head back to the casino, next time I go to check on them my wife is soaked on the balcony. A rogue wave slammed into the balcony. She's acting giddy about it , her camera is soaked. She says to hurry to the store and get another camera. Yea, We're cruisers.:D

[Shipbound]

I"ve cruised about ten times during Hurrcaine season ,never been in a hurrcaine but 50% 0f the ten times was very rainy and the ship was all over the seas. One time in October the ship was in 28 foot waves that was an experence.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I've been lucky. Once in the Pacific the Captain swung way out West to avoid a hurricane and told us what he was doing to avoid it. We just cruised faster between Mazatlan and Cabo to make up the time.

 

I've cruised during hurricane season several times and that's been it.:D

[LHP]

Hurricane Gustav turned our 5 day cruise to 2 ports into a 3 day cruise to nowhere.

 

The seas were actually EXTRA CALM because we did not sail until Gustav had blown through Galveston.

[chill6x6]

Yep...

Last October on the Triumph to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel... Of course a tropical storm developed and went right over Belize City... We had a balcony room all the way on the spa deck..(LOVED that location BTW!) Now the Triumph is no small boat and the seas were so rough it would wake me up when we would hit a big wave...."BAMMM" you could HEAR it!

 

Port itinerary completely reversed....ended up missing Belize altogether, tried to go to Costa Maya but it was too rough to dock, and going to Cozumel twice.....When something like that happens it can mess up whatever excursions you planned outside of Carnival...trust me!

[PittsburghGirlee]

Swine Flu pendemic re-routed me a few years back. Was supposed to go Western and went Eastern. Not my preferance, but still had a ball:D.

[Linsuesue]

We sailed the Elation in July of 2002 to the Mexican Riviera. We didn't miss any of our ports, but the weather was horrible in Mazatlan. It was windy, and it poured all day. Every excursion was cancelled. My husband had just finished scuba diving classes and got certified. Mazatlan was going to be his first big dive, and all of the dives, snorkeling, horseback riding, kayaking, swimming, hiking, bicycling...were canceled. When we got to Cabo the water was so rough that they threatened to cancel the tenders if it got any worse. We heard that the week before a tourist had died while tendering, and they didn't want a repeat of that. I like Alaska on the Spirit better, because you don't have to tender in anywhere.

[DarthGrady]

had it effect your cruise? Like being rerouted or having rougher-than-normal seas? Or the opposite and your cruise hasn't been effected?

 

Just curious.

 

We cruised through the outskirts of a hurricane on Inspiration back in 2008. They cancelled our call on Grand Cayman and we just had a sea day. We were in E-1 (all the way at the front) and it was a wild ride! some were angry about the change, but there was nothing else that could have been done. They had to cruise very slow due to the rough seas, so calling at another port just wasn't possible.

[golfadj]

Have cruised during hurricane season on about 6 of our cruises. Only once affected by changing the order of our itinerary so no big deal.

 

Going to Bermuda during Sept so who knows.

[ATL2LAS]

Got a chance to dance with hurricane Paula last year on the Imagination. We were supposed to hit Key West and Cozumel, ended up with Key West and Nassau.

[IslandSliderGirl]

Huricane Earl changed our itinerary from Eastern Caribbean to Western.....no worries, just gave us reason (like we need one) to book another cruise. :D

[Ruggled]

We often cruise during hurricane season and will again in early September this year. We cruised between Katrina and Rita in 2005 and had amazingly flat seas...we also cruised to Bermuda last year between Earl and Fiona...again were lucky to have amazingly flat seas. We heard that the cruise prior to ours (which was rerouted due to Earl) was horribly rough.

 

We've never been rerouted but would certainly go with the flow. The benefit to cheaper rates during hurricane season does have the "luck of the draw" trade off.

[Bandman]

Had to hide behind Cuba for a day waiting for hurricane to pass. We simply swapped the port/sea day schedule. Missed nothing.

[TrulyTexan]

We sailed through the first tropical storm of the season in early June a couple years ago on a Disney Cruise. The seas started getting rough early in the day and the captain couldn't dock the ship at Castaway Cay. So we had an extra day at sea instead and played lots of bingo. Then on the way back home the real storm hit. We sailed past several ships that were anchored out at sea. But our captain came over the speaker and said he had to sail straight through the tropical storm in order to get us back home in time. He warned everyone that it was going to be a rough night. Sure enough ... at dinner you could see the waves hitting the windows on one side of the ship, then the ship would list to the other side and do the same thing. Then about halfway through the entertainment show later that night, it got real bad. The auditorium began emptying out because people were getting so sick. My young son included. We walked out to the lobby and there were employees in hazmat suits cleaning up vomit all over the ship. And bartenders walking around asking people if they wanted ginger ale. Shortly thereafter the captain came on the speaker again to ask everyone to return to their cabins for the rest of the night for their own safety. We gave our son some Bonine and he was fine an hour later. But I remember laying in bed hearing the hangers in the closet slide from one side to the other all night long. Disney didn't give us any kind of credit, but we still had a great trip. And next week we set sail for Alaska on the Spirit!!

[Beseda]

About 10 years ago on RCI, we were re-routed from eastern to western because of hurricaine Jose'. It was no problem for us because it was our first cruise and we were just there for fun, (ports of call were incidental), but there was an engaged couple who was to meet their families in St. Thomas to get married and consequently couldn't. I can't imagine how heart broken I would be if my family was unable to attend my wedding. They got married at one of the ports of call without family present and celebrated with their temporary "family" on board.

 

If the ports matter, consider carefully whether cruising during hurricaine season is wise.

[Duanerice1]

Missed an entire cruise when they closed the Miami port. Hurricane Katrina was coming through, at that time just a small cat 1 hurricane, long before it hit the N Gulf Coast.

 

Actually they postponed the cruise, it was a Thursday to Monday cruise and they changed it to Sat - Mon and gave you 50% of the value toward a new cruise. They didn't tell us about the 50% credit, I only found out on Cruise Critic afterward. SO we declined the 2 day cruise and asked for a refund.

 

Since we live here on the West Coast of Florida, we just drove home and re-booked for 2 weeks later.

 

enjoy,

Duane

[laurenpie]

Last October we cruised on the Valor from Miami, and our first port of call was Grand Cayman - the water was quite rough there... The captain had previously told us that he was keeping an eye on Hurricane Paula in the Gulf Of Mexico.

 

When we got the message over the loudspeaker from the captain saying that were leaving Grand Cayman he also said that we would not be going to Belize, Isla Roatan or Cozumel (due to the hurricane)

 

Instead we went to Ocho Rios and Nassau... We were excited that we were getting an extra day at sea & we were also getting to go to the Bahamas :)

 

There was a note from the captain in our room that night saying for the inconvenience we get a 25% discount on our next cruise - so we have used that towards our next cruise (on the Magic) next October..

 

We are aware it is hurricane season but we do not mind ... We will always still have a great time because we are on vacation :)

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Since 1999 we've cruised every September or October and had a few missed or switched ports. I can't remember them all but in 1999 we were doing the Southern Carib. out of San Juan and the only port we wound up making on our scheduled itin. was St. Thomas due to two hurricanes.

 

There have been a few others, that I don't remember specificaly, because it didn't matter to us or impact our cruise. But the most memorable was onboard the Sun as Wilma approached Cozumel. (you may remember this is the storm that tore up all the piers and closed Cozumel to cruises for several months). Due to the mass evacuation of the island it was decided that we would not leave port as scheduled, but overnight and leave in the morning because our wake would delay the departure of smaller vessels and we could "outrun" all the other vessels. It was very peculiar to roam the streets of Cozumel and watch them board up windows and even down the street lights and signs. The next morning we left about 11 am and were the last ship out of Coz. before Wilma hit. We put into Santa Cruz and had a delightful day. (but that's another story). NCL kept us so well informed and it is the only time I can honestly say that when an announcement was being made on the PA system NO ONE said a peep.

 

As we sailed out of Cozumel, everyone was at the rail and waiters circulated with free drinks compliments of the captain, to thank the staff for being so coooperative.

 

A few years later we were to depart from New Orleans and were switched to Houston. Made no difference to us, since it is an equidistance drive, but there were lots of compainers who had airline reservations. I guess Katrina did not register on their personal radar.

[psbtrvlr]

Once in October. Rerouted. Went to the same ports, but in a different order, and several excursions (both Carnival and not) were cancelled.

[4THELOVEOFBOO]

We are sailing on the Dream on November 5th 2011(eastern). Is that considered the end of hurricane season??

[MiamiSpartan]

Getting old and can't remember if I have responded to this or not...

:p

A few years back on HAL Westerdam at Halloween....Hurricane Noel was in the area so for two days we had 18-28 foot seas....

Really didn't affect our having a good time at all....kind of exciting to be out there....We obviously didn't travel right into the middle of it or anything...Interesting being in the pool and being in water up to our necks.....then dry.....then in water up to our necks, etc....

:D

[richfret]

I've lived in the Fort Myers area for the last 11 years and I can tell you the hurricane season starts in June and ends about October with an occasional front in November. You can use that as a guide for most of the Caribbean. Some times you get lucky and you can do a cruise during that time without any problems and will experience calm waters. You can even get lucky for 3 or 4 years but in the end, it will catch up with you. The Captain will do all he can to avoid a hurricane but even the out skirts can have 15 footers.

 

So you look up the odds and throw the dice. If you want the best odds, avoid the hurricane season. I have been on 14 cruises with the 15th planned for March. That is a good month to cruise.