Cruising during hurricane season

[mrobstad]

I've only cruised in February, March and April during school holidays, but now that I'm retired, I'm wondering what weather I can expect from Sept-Dec, hurricane season.....

[triptolemus]

In hurricane season, you can expect.... Hurricanes.

 

Hurricanes can occasionally delay, re-route, or cancel a voyage entirely, although that's rare.

 

Cruises may change ports, experience rough seas or bad weather while in port. Ships do their best to avoid storms, but stuff happens sometimes...

[Sauer-kraut]

I wouldn't worry.... you might have a totally different itinerary from what you booked but you'll still be sailing. You might see Canada/New England instead of the Bahamas. You might have several relaxing sea days, one just never knows when a storm comes up and if the cruise will be affected.

[WMQueenie]

We've cruised 9 times, 8 of which were in hurricane season - out of 60 days cruising, we had 1 bad weather day and not because of a hurricane. You can't beat the prices and the ships are less crowded. Love fall cruising!

[OCruisers]

In hurricane season, you can expect.... Hurricanes.

 

Hurricanes can occasionally delay, re-route, or cancel a voyage entirely, although that's rare.

 

Cruises may change ports, experience rough seas or bad weather while in port. Ships do their best to avoid storms, but stuff happens sometimes...

 

Agree with the above!

 

LuLu

[emmak8]

I wouldn't worry. We were happy to be sailing during Hurricane Sandy. We had a great time and the ship stayed in Boston harbor one night. After that, cruise went on.

[cb at sea]

Unless there IS a storm which reroutes you, nothing is different. The water is no rougher and it's all the same!

[Keith1010]

Hurricane Season normally runs through end of October although there are exceptions. If a hurricane is in the path the ship will be rerouted to other areas.

 

Major impact would be if it is a port of embarkation or disembarkation.

 

Keith

[OCruisers]

Hurricane Season normally runs through end of October although there are exceptions. If a hurricane is in the path the ship will be rerouted to other areas.

 

Major impact would be if it is a port of embarkation or disembarkation.

Keith

 

Agree! The BIG concern is if it's a embarkation/disembarkation port and travel getting to and from home! :eek:

[hypercafe]

Here I NY the month that is most effected is September. Sandy came the end of October however that was very rare. In that case the port was closed for a while and all three terminals were damaged. All the damage it caused was the result of it coming right down long island sound, again a first I think. Usually if a storm is coming here the ships end up going to Canada.

[MaryLS]

We cruised out of NY right through Sandy. Left the port at 4:00 and they closed the port at 6:00. The first 24 hours on the ship were very rough. We were hardly able to walk. In our cabin during the middle of the night, things were being tossed about. However, after that, it was smooth sailing. However, no power at the port upon our return.

[Editor Gina]

Hi, mrobstad. We have a few tips and "how to prepare" articles on cruising during hurricane season. This is also where we post updates on any ship itinerary changes. Hope this helps. :)

[mrobstad]

All very helpful, thanks! I can handle rough seas and changes in itineraries, but rainy days stink!

[mrobstad]

Great article CCGina! Thanks!

[rpb718]

Usually if a storm is coming here the ships end up going to Canada.

 

I think I heard of this happening on NCL maybe once - the going to Canada part instead of South from either Boston or NY. What I do know is that when we embarked the Dawn out of Boston during Hurricane Igor, we went south instead of Bermuda.

 

I'm really curious now how many times a storm has caused an NCL cruise from either Boston or NY to go to Canada instead of either Bermuda or a southern itinerary? I keep hearing the word "usually" bandied about when talking about this scenario, but I'm thinking for a non-NE/Canada cruise to be diverted to NE/Canada instead of a warmer destination is a rarity. Did it happen more prior to the 2000s?