What happens if you are in a hurricane during a cruise?

[lrmanning]

I am going on my first cruise next week. With all the talk of Hurricanes, what happens if the weather is bad when you set sail, or once you are at sea and a hurricane is in the path of where you are going to port? I am just wanting to get an idea of what maybe to expect.

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Lisa

[Chevdiver]

Hurricanes move fairly slowly across the ocean and therefore are fairly easy to plot. This gives the Captains plenty of time to change the itinerary to ensure that the ship stears clear of it. In the case of Emily, it is projected to make a bee-line for Cozumel. Therefore, the cruise lines will most likely alter their plans and stay in the Eastern Caribbean for that week. They will not intentionally sail into a storm. Having said that though, it doesn't mean that you won't hit some rough water. Some of the ships that were avoiding Dennis hit some rough seas on their last night out. There are several posting on this board that talk about this in more detail. Another example was the Explorer of the Seas last week. It was supposed to sail to Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Grand Caymen. But the captain decided to bail early on the western caribbean, bypass Cozumel and Grand Caymen and sail directly to Nassau, Bahamas instead. I was watching the ship tracker web site and you could literally see almost all the ships leaving the Western Caribbean to avoid Dennis.

 

With Emily gaining strength and heading right towards the Yucatan Pennisula, I would bet that you will have a very nice time in the Eastern Caribbean instead. Just my guess, but sounds like the logical thing for them to do.

[brn2crz]

Something like this

 

 

[lilmsonry]

brn2crz, way tooooo funnnnnny!!;)

[SailBolt]

One thing you need to remember is those ships are a MASSIVE investment and the cruise lines don't want to put them anywhere near harms way. The Captain will move the ship away from any severe weather that a storm might spawn.

We were on the Mariner of the Seas last September when all the storms were pounding the Caribbean. We left on time (after LOTS of questions and phone calls to RCL) but due to the storms, we ended up getting two extra days on the ship. As the Captain put it during his morning announcement "Good Morning and welcome to day 9 of your 7 day cruise!"

Needless to say, we adjusted rather well.

Relax and Enjoy!

[tomc]

It's not a bad storm until the engine bolts tear loose. Until then, hang on and enjoy it; you will have something to embellish to your grandchildren.