Huricanes

[peekskillny]

I have been watching the news about this being a record breaking year for huricanes. I am taking my first cruise in August on GOS from Baltimore. Has anyone ever been on a ship when a huricane was in the area. Can anyone let me know what usually happens? and how the huricane affected the cruise?

Just want to be a little prepared

Thanks

[PelicanBill]

Hello Peekskillny (I grew up in the Hudson Valley)...

 

Hurricanes usually generate some schedule changes but rarely cancel cruises. If any of your ports are affected, they may change ports or cancel them for another day at sea.

 

Most hurricanes move through quickly enough and have a narrow enough serious effect that all your ports are not affected.

 

In rare cases, where the route is affected or the home port is affected, your trip could be extended or shortened. Even rarer, if the home port were seriously affected, the ship could return to a different port.

 

The worst things you would typically deal with would be

- lousy weather

- rougher seas

- destination port changes or cancels

 

Many cruises went through it last year and years before and it becomes a little more of an adventure but they are very good at keeping you out of harm's way.

[2forthesea]

Yes, we've sailed through two hurricanes. Rough seas was the worst of it, so take your bonine (or seasickness med of choice) prior to sailing and keep it going through the cruise if you think you'll hit rough seas.

 

Just keep in mind that RCI is NOT in the business of sailing through hurricanes: they avoid them as much as possible, and are experts at it. This can mean a change in the itinerary, though. Our second experience was a few years ago and we went out to sea for a day instead of going to St. Thomas. We had a very nice day at sea.

 

If you book shore excursions through the ship, they will refund your money if they go to another port, or skip one. Private tour operators won't do this, so if you're sailing during hurricane season, I'd plan accordingly.

[Ella2]

Yes, I've sailed when THREE hurricanes were in the vicinity of the ports we were scheduled to visit. After some uncertainty, and some missed/switched ports, everything was great. :)

 

I know that sailing during hurricane season means you risk missing ports or even having a completely altered itinerary. It's a risk I'm willing to take, because it's the only time we can go as a family, when my daughter is out of school.

 

And it's also a reason I ALWAYS get trip insurance that would cover me if I were not able to get to the port due to a delayed or cancelled flight, among other things.

[Flossie]

We too sail during this season for a variety of reasons.

Guess you can sum it up like this, just be prepared to "BE FLEXABLE" !

[PhoenixCruiser]

Last year some cruises were lengthened since they were unable to dock, this resulted in some cruises being shortened the next week.

 

Be sure to get insurance ;)

 

###

[LonW]

First cruise we went on was the second week of September, did not know it then, but it is historically the worst time for hurricanes. Only problem we had was that the Bahamas got hammered about 2 days before we got there. A lot of the things we wanted to do were closed. :confused:

 

Above Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season Expected

 

 

Another above normal hurricane season is expected this year according to hurricane forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, forecasters are predicting:

• 12-15 tropical storms (average is 10)
  
• with 7-9 becoming hurricanes (average is 6)
  
• of which 3-5 could become major hurricanes (average is 2)
  

Since 1995, all but two Atlantic hurricane seasons have been above normal. Last year 12-15 tropical storms were predicted and 15 actually occurred; 6-8 hurricanes were predicted and 9 actually occurred; 2-4 major hurricanes were predicted and 6 actually occurred.

 

 

What will make 2005 an above normal hurricane season?

 

NOAA hurricane forecasters say there are four main factors that will contribute to an above normal season:

• Warmer seas, low wind shear and surface pressure
  
• Favourable African easterly jet
  
• Weaker easterly trade winds
  
• Upper-level easterlies expanding westward
  

The first named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1-November 30, will be Arlene. Storms are given names when they reach tropical storm strength which means they have maximum sustained surface winds of 63 km/hr.

 

NOAA says the vast majority of the tropical storms and hurricanes in 2005 will form during August-October. Many of these are likely to form over the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea in the region between 9°N-21.5°N (deep tropics), which is typical for above normal seasons. These systems generally track westward toward the Caribbean Sea and/or United States as they strengthen. Historically, similar seasons have averaged 2-3 landfalling hurricanes in the continental United States and 1-2 hurricanes in the region around the Caribbean Sea.