Storm Irene..Sailing Thursday

Nickymjw1 · August 21, 2011

We are sailing Thursday out of Jacksonville. Hopefully the storm will have passed but right now it doesn't look good.

Has anyone been through this? If they can't sail out, will they still let you board? Since it's just a Bahamas cruise..not much possibility to change itinerary... :-(

Hoping for the best...

rainbowflag · August 21, 2011

Carnival should reroute you to Bermuda :)

Cruzman · August 21, 2011

Based on current projections, if they hold up, the ship will extend the current cruise by a day which will allow the storm to clear out to the north. In that scenario, you will lose a day of your cruise. Lot's can happen in 4 days, however.

nonna5 · August 21, 2011

Good luck. Let's hope the storm hurries and gets out of everyone's way. I know everyone is anxious waiting to see what happens.

FlaGrl4Evr · August 21, 2011

My thoughts will be with you. We went through this last Oct. when we caught the tail end of Hurricane Tomas. We missed Grand Cayman and had a whole day of very heavy rains in Roatan but did have two very beautiful sunny, warm days in Cozumel and Belize. Yes, it was disappointing after months and months of planning and saving but we looked on the bright side and it just gave us good reason to book another cruise to revisit Grand Cayman and Roatan. So hopefully you will still make your ports.

One thing I might suggest is to bring a good book and some small travel sized games. You would be surprised at how many people had brought travel games on our cruise. You can take them to a nice public seating area and ask others to join you. This way you get to meet other people and are not stuck in your cabin. The ship will also provide some extra inside activities such as more trivia games, bean bag toss etc... Just go with a positive attitude and pray for the best.

Also, go to www dot myfoxhurricane dot com for the track of the storm. If you scroll to the bottom, you can click on Jacksonville for their current weather conditions.

Good luck to you. :)

crewsweeper · August 21, 2011

Doesn't look good, my friend The ship will have to return through the storm from the cruise it's currently on. You should hear something from Carnival by Tuesday when Irene comes off Cuba. A lot of tracks have Irene just skirting Miami and heading up toward the Outer Banks. Medium threat. By Thursday afternoon it's projected western edge cone includes Orlando and Port Canaveral. You'll be hard pressed to sail through it or around it. The Navy will put it's Mayport fleet to sea by Wednesday, if not earlier. Keep your hopes up though.

F22Smitty · August 22, 2011

If the captain feels it is safe to sail out of port on Thursday with passengers he will do so. If he feels it is unsafe he will either delay coming in to port or he will come to port and debark the current passengers ASAP and leave port empty. A ship will not stay in port during a storm. It is safer for the ship to be at sea.

keystonemama · August 22, 2011

Jax scenarios by meterologist George Winterling, he's the best! Act

1. If IRENE goes over the Keys and into the Gulf of Mexico, extreme south Florida and the Gulf coast from Ft. Myers and Tampa to the Big Bend area would experience hurricane force winds. Bands of rain sweeping northward into northeast Florida and southeast Georgia may produce occasional tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.

2. If IRENE strikes the southern peninsula, it would be at least a Category 2 hurricane, maybe borderline Category 3. For northeast Florida and southeast Georgia, IRENE may be reduced to strong tropical storm strength due to passing over land; however, hurricane force winds may continue to rake the coast northward to Fernandina, or even St. Simons Island. Flooding from heavy rains can become widespread over much of our area.

3. A sharp turn northward off the coast of Cuba may cause only a glancing blow to the lower east coast of Florida, but this may be “too close for comfort” for Florida’s Gold Coast with the center of the hurricane over the Bahamas. For northeast Florida and southeast Georgia the indention of our coast from the Atlantic would again be our safety valve, and we would have minimal winds and scattered showers.

Our entire Channel 4 news and weather team will be there for you as we appear to be facing the first threat of the 2011 hurricane season.

Brittasbay · August 22, 2011

We are on this cruise too.....worried about what will happen next but if they let us on the ship I am sure we will have a good time. I will be disappointed if we can't go somewhere :(

keystonemama · August 22, 2011

Monday Jax update a.m., we still think its gonna shift more to the right, but even tropical winds can bring on power outages, plan on bringing some cash.

Published August 22, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Hurricane Irene looks as bad as DORA ('64), but could turn north like FLOYD ('99)

PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE! If this one remains over the Atlantic before striking our coast, it will be worse than hurricane DORA in 1964. We could lose power for more than a week, rain-swollen streams and rivers along with a storm surge along the coast could create record flooding, and worst of all, lives could be lost.If you live in a flood zone, make plans to move to a safer location in our area before Friday. If you plan to leave the beaches and city to travel well inland, Wednesday may be too late to travel. Remember, people from south and central Florida may already be filling our highways by midweek.

I have again shown the possible changes that can take place in this hurricane’s track. The end of these tracks are in the cone of uncertainty 4 to 5 days out where the NHC’s average forecast error has been 200 to 250 miles. In 2004 when Katrina was approaching south Florida, the NHC 4 and 5 day forecast had Katrina hitting the Florida panhandle and moving into Alabama and Georgia. We all know that it struck Mississippi east of New Orleans. Don’t bet that their storm forecast is off this time with your life!

Finally, my thoughts on IRENE, which is expected to be a much stronger hurricane by skirting much of the moutainous terrain of Hispaniola are as follows:

1. If IRENE takes a jog to the left, it would probably be a category 2 hurricane over south Florida and weaken to a category 1 by the time it reaches the Orlando and Gainesville area. After that, it would be reduced to tropical storm strength as it continues over land. Isolated tornadoes and some flooding could be expected in some places.

2. If IRENE remains mainly over Atlantic waters before hitting land, it could grow to a category 3 (major) hurricane. With winds up to 125 mph, the destruction and debris from downed trees and properties could paralyze travel in parts of the city for one or 2 weeks.

3. If IRENE remains more than 100 miles offshore and heads north, we would receive wind gusts near hurricane force at our beaches, but inland winds would be no higher 50 mph. Rip currents and dangerous surf would be accompanied by some beach erosion.

LBumb · August 22, 2011

we sail sept 4, hopefully irene is long gone. this is the chance you take sailing this time of year.

bguppies · August 22, 2011

With the latest forecasts, looks like you'll get out of Jax on Thursday. (maybe even leave early, to ensure getting far enough out to sea.)

But with Irene passing over the bahamas on the way to the north now, you might wind up with a cruise out towards the open waters of Bermuda and straight back in after she passes by.

Best of luck to you.

I am just under 27 days until we have to worry about getting out of Tampa on the Legend. (and apparently whether Irene hits us in SC on Saturday)

Bill

flcruiser4 · August 22, 2011

Carnival can really do that? Force passengers to board a day later? Will they refund a part of the cruise fares?

satbeachbill · August 22, 2011

Keep in mind, many ports will officially "close" during bad weather. They don't want ships sitting at the dock banging around in high winds. There is the possibility of damage to the docks and the ships. So if the weather is bad the ships will be out to sea until the storm passes.

We were returning from a Caribbean cruise to Port Canaveral once with a storm nearby, and the captain ended the cruise in Ft Lauderdale and we were bussed back to Port Canaveral. Probably the best thing too, as seas were 18-20 feet. :eek: But lots of folks unhappy. You just gotta roll with it my friend.

Raven Days · August 22, 2011

I nearly spit my Pepsi all over my keyboard and monitor laughing! Sorry...but yes they CAN and WILL do that. I should know, I had it happen to me this year. I missed 2 (TWO) days of my cruise this year due to the Port of Galveston being closed for fog. Ships couldnt get in or out. Yes, we were comp'd but its up to Carnival how much or even if you get comp'd. If you miss one day then you might get a 25% discount (give or take a few %) off your next cruise. I got 50% discount for a future cruise and a 50% refund for missing 2 days (it was a 5 day cruise) which I thought was very generous.

sdeepdiver · August 22, 2011

we are on the same cruise leaving Thursday....Guess we will find out....Just hope we can get out to see I dont care where we go....just want some time away.....Keeping fingers crossed...

G.C · August 22, 2011

We are also on the 8/25 out of Jacksonville.

Why guess I called Carnival just a few minutes ago. They told me they will decide on our cruise Wednesday based on current information. It is just to far out to make the call now.

Gary

hutat · August 22, 2011

Just read this on Carnival.com

http://www.carnival.com/cms/faq/default.aspx?faq=irene

Hope this helps.

keystonemama · August 22, 2011

Newest update cone, looking better and better for Florida.

BMFL Island Hopper · August 22, 2011

Sailing out of jaxport on Monday Aug. 29th. Hope this hurricane doesnot turn their first curise into a nightmare. As for me put me on the boat and i will be happy as a pig in mud no matter where i go or how the ship rocks.

2000 Fantasy

2009 Triumph

2009 Triumph (canada)

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2011 Fasination ?

2012 Freedom (booked 35 BMFLers)

Raven Days · August 22, 2011

I hate that it looks like its headed to Savannah...that would be like one hitting San Antonio! Savannah wont fare well at all.

Nickymjw1 · August 22, 2011

I'm with you. Cruise to anywhere is better than having to drive back home without going anywhere.

We've been lucky in the past so hopefully this time as well.

I didn't even think about the current cruise not coming back into port on Thursday! Yikes!

If that happens will they put you up in a hotel? Or should I book a just in case hotelroom?

Tamsin72 · August 22, 2011

Thanks for the updates. I'm watching this thread closely. We're supposed to be driving to Jax down the east coast on Sunday. I hope we'll be able to make the drive.

Our cruise leaves Monday.

MaynardsMom · August 22, 2011

Here is the most current NHC track. If this holds out it doesn't look like you could go to the Bahamas on Thursday! And the Bahamas are forecast to take a real hit by this storm so who knows how things wiill be there. The final landfall and path are still up in the air but I don't think forecasters have much doubt about the impact on the Bahamas. I don't know what Carnival does when the ports they are going to do have storm damage.

Between our own cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, our drive south on Friday and our family in Myrtle Beach, we've been watching this one a lot!! We may have dodged the bullet on our cruise but the rest is still up in the air!

Tamsin72 · August 22, 2011

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Bahamas won't have a lot of damage. There will be a week between the hurricane and when I get there.

Storm Irene..Sailing Thursday

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