Storm Irene..Sailing Thursday

[marshhawk]

Good luck to all of you on this cruise. Carnival could choose to stay out at sea and not bring any one back in during a hurricane. The ship traverses a lot of river before it even hits the sea. And they sail under a rather large bridge, so if winds are bad they wouldn't even come in. Good luck. I hope it all works out.

On the other end of the specturm-south Georgia really needs rain. The Okefenokee swamp has been burning all summer.

[Duanerice1]

Couple of years ago we were sailing on a Thur - Mon cruise out of Miami. We went over the night before and after we checked in Carnival called us and said the Port of Miami was closing so the ship could not get back into port. Those on the ship got an extra day 2 days out of their cruise.

 

We on the other hand did not get to go. They offered to let us board on Saturday for 50% off. Didn't work as we didn't want to go home then come back to Miami for a 2 night cruise. Come to find out, others were offered 50% off this cruise then 50% off a future cruise. That deal I would have taken.

 

Anyway, depends on the weather, the ship might not make it back into port. That's really all you have to worry about, will they close the port. Otherwise they will just go around the storms.

Goof luck!

Duane

[keystonemama]

Jax news is saying it has shifted yet again to the right,good for FL, BUT Bahamas is going to get a catastrophic hit as a Cat 3! They are saying it could be downgraded to a Cat 1 by the time it hits Carolina shores. They will know a more definite tomorrow.

[alreadypacked]

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

 

Yes, they can do that. It happened to us in 2004 when we were set to board the Caribbean Princess for a 7 day cruise out of Port Everglades.

 

Hurricane Jean struck Ft Lauderdale and the port authority closed Port Everglades. The ship couldn't come into port at all (not the cruise line's fault--and you can't control the weather). The people on the current cruise ended up getting a 9 day cruise.

 

We boarded the ship 2 days later when it was finally able to get into port and ended up with a 5 day cruise. Princess automatically gave us a prorated refund.

[Nickymjw1]

I want to be the pne stuck on the cruise and having to call my boss it will be a few days before I am coming back! ;-)

[kayakittyyak]

Ah, the suspense of cruising during hurricane season!:eek:

[kayakittyyak]

Oops, I'm cruising during hurricane season too :eek:, but not until October. Will have to use my black magic to keep the hurricanes away :rolleyes:. Haven't had a cruise disrupted before but there is always a first time.

 

Good luck to all cruising this weekend.

[CruisersNC]

They keep changing the path of this storm further to the east....so I'm hoping Irene will curl off to the east and miss the US east coast like all of the hurricane's seem to have done the past few years. That won't help the islands in the caribbean and bahama's though....I hope everyone and everything will be ok there.

[swimmom32]

As of 11pm the Winds are 122 MPH as its approaching the Bahamas the strength is of a Catagory 4 but shifting to the East a little still, even in the best cases they say 40-58 MPH winds for which would mean no school for us here..

[Mom2Evie]

Carnival could delay your cruise a day and I think that would be okay. My bigger concern would be "what are you sailing TO?" THe Bahama may take a dricet hit from a Cat 3 or 4 Hurricane. The island will still be recooperating when you could get there. Vendors, excursions, etc. may not be able to accommodate you guys. I live right at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. We get moderately sized hurricanes here every couple of years (Dennis, Floyd, Isabel) and power can be out here for days, some minor flooding, etc. ANd we have a great infrastructure to handle things like this.l

I don't mean to sound like such a downer, but I think you should prepare yourself for what you may or may not experience. I wish you guys the best of luck though. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[DocF]

At this time, the models are not updated with the information from a high level flight that is out looking at the high pressure ridge that steers hurricanes as they approach the U.S. When that data is incorporated Tuesday morning, a much clearer picture will appear.

 

My personal thoughts are that you probably will be able to depart Thursday from JAX. You may have a bumpy ride to...............................uh, somewhere.

 

Doc

 

PS: The 11 PM estimates still look like the 6 PM ones, so we will see more in the early AM.

[dmwnc1959]

This hurricane could be a devastating hit to the Bahamas. Depending on the amount of damage sustained from a Cat 3 or Cat 4 hurricane the ports could be close for weeks. Nassau and Freeport as well as the private islands of NCL, RCI, and Princess could suffer enormous damage and loss of life.

[Pookeybear1966]

This hurricane reminds me of Hurricane Floyd which took out Jacksonville's pier. It skirted right up the coast of Florida and hit the Carolina's. I have a feeling that's what this one is going to do. I wish everyone the best and hope all your cruises work out.

[Nickymjw1]

I am assuming that the are already back on their way home trying to out run the storm...I wonder if they were able to go to any of their ports...

[BaseballMomof4]

I am a real planner and we can only cruise once every 2 years financially so I am feeling the pain of the folks who were scheduled to cruise this week. :(

 

With that being said, I have also experienced a category 3 hurricane and have to say that the absolute LAST place I would want to be while one of those babies was within 100 miles is on a ship. :eek:

 

There will be plenty of complaining on these boards in the next couple of weeks about missed ports, changed ports, altered cruises, maybe even cancelled cruises. I think each person who complains should sit through a hurricane and truly experience the terrifying force it exhibits and maybe then they will fully understand the dangers associated with them and be a little more understanding of why Carnival chooses to alter/cancel ports/cruises. :cool:

 

When you have seen uprooted trees and small buildings like sheds sailing down the street, you worry a lot less about one port versus another. :D

 

I hope everyone who has a vacation planned for this week has an enjoyable time, but you also have to remember that trying to cruise at the height of hurricane season has it's disadvantages.

[keystonemama]

Jax update, as of the current shift, Irene should stay 150 miles offshore, so the most we will get is little wind and some high surf, Bahamas however is going to get hit hard as a Cat. 4.

 

Let's hope it shift one more time east, if so, our meterologists think it could entirely miss the US coast. Fingers crossed!:)

[zqvol]

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...

 

 

The short answer to your question is no, because if they don't think they can get out they are not going to come in and dock to begin with. they do not want a ship tied up to the pier in a hurricane, it is much safer out at sea.

[caljencruisers]

On our very first cruise our itinerary was changed to avoid a hurricane. They kept the same 7 days, but we had 3 port days instead of 4. Carnival ended up giving back $100 OBC per cabin. We had fun anyways!! As you can see I am still addicted to cruising!:p

[Nickymjw1]

I am not complaining at all, just hoping that we get to go.

And a little anxcious to know whether we will or not.

 

I know that Carnival will do what is best for everyone's safety.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Medium threat.

 

What do you mean by medium threat? Its projected to be at least a Cat 3. I would say thats a major threat to those in its path.

[BaseballMomof4]

I am not complaining at all, just hoping that we get to go.

And a little anxcious to know whether we will or not.

 

I know that Carnival will do what is best for everyone's safety.

 

I hope you don't think I was implying you were complaining because I didn't mean that at all. I just meant that there will be others who will.

 

Fingerscrossed you have a great cruise - wherever you wind up! :D

[keystonemama]

Irene 11:00 update out of Jax, FL is great! Irene will stay at least 250 miles offshore so we get minimal winds (13-20), so very little impact if any. Norfolk, VA next on her path, but one more good shift and its open ocean for her! :)

[buckeyefrank]

Irene 11:00 update out of Jax, FL is great! Irene will stay at least 250 miles offshore so we get minimal winds (13-20), so very little impact if any. Norfolk, VA next on her path, but one more good shift and its open ocean for her! :)

 

 

 

We will be on the Fascination on Sept 3 scheduled to go to HMC and Nassau. There doesn't appear to be anything on the radar after Irene goes through so that's good news. We're hoping for the best and that we get to go to both places but we're planning something to do in both Bermuda and Key West adn Port Canaveral just in case.

 

While I want to get to the Atlantis with my children, my thoughts and prayers are with those folks on the island.

[Nickymjw1]

We will be on the Fascination on Sept 3 scheduled to go to HMC and Nassau. There doesn't appear to be anything on the radar after Irene goes through so that's good news. We're hoping for the best and that we get to go to both places but we're planning something to do in both Bermuda and Key West adn Port Canaveral just in case.

 

While I want to get to the Atlantis with my children, my thoughts and prayers are with those folks on the island.

 

I'm not crazy about going to the Bahamas so Key West would be great. Never been to Bermuda and always wanted to go, but they have a lot of restrictions so I doubt that it will be used as an alternate port...

 

Praying for the people in the Bahamas that they won't have any major damage...

[cuyahoga11]

We will be on the Fascination on Sept 3 scheduled to go to HMC and Nassau. There doesn't appear to be anything on the radar after Irene goes through so that's good news. We're hoping for the best and that we get to go to both places but we're planning something to do in both Bermuda and Key West adn Port Canaveral just in case.

 

While I want to get to the Atlantis with my children, my thoughts and prayers are with those folks on the island.

 

Cant stop in Key West or Canaveral if they dont stop at a foreign port