Where do the ships go.....

[SS Exeter]

I know that HAL does not have any ships in the Caribbean right now - but where do the ships go when a storm, like Danny, is approching Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, if those are two of the ports the ship is supposed to stop at?

[Krazy Kruizers]

They would likely head to do a western Caribbean cruise.

In 2010 we had a 14 day Collector Cruise in October out of Tampa. The first segment of the cruise was to be a 7 day western Caribbean cruise. We got as far as Key West. Captain came on the PA system in the evening an announced that Hurricane Paula was heading our way. So instead of doing a western cruise we did an eastern cruise. The second segment of our Collectors Cruise was an eastern Caribbean. We did end up repeating some ports since we had 2 eastern itineraries.

[POA1]

Typically out to sea and away from the storm. It usually ends up being a modified itinerary.

 

In related news, all the cruise lines with operations centers in Florida have hurricane contingency plans. I assume that Seattle based Holland America and Princess have them as well, except they don't have to plan for HQ getting hit by the storm as well.

[take us away]

Have sailed the Caribbean when a 'late in the season' hurricane came through just after we sailed out of FL. The storm did a sudden westerly jog from its originally projected track off into the middle of the Atlantic and was headed north and a bit northeast. Needless to say, we missed the Virgin Island ports and beat feet south. Still had waves crashing over the Lido deck which was kind of unique when sitting in the hot tub but our speed probably contributed a bit. Celebrity had 2 cocktail parties to 'apologize'. We did a port not on the itinerary but once we got to Barbados we were back on schedule.

[CaveDiving]

I know that HAL does not have any ships in the Caribbean right now - but where do the ships go when a storm, like Danny, is approching Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, if those are two of the ports the ship is supposed to stop at?

 

The simple answer is the ships go AWAY from the storm.

 

Scott & Karen

[jtl513]

The simple answer is the ships go AWAY from the storm.

... and when all ships are doing that it can make for some crowded ports.

[Mary Ellen]

Our neighbors once took a Caribbean cruise on Princess for their September anniversary. That year the Caribbean was getting pounded with hurricanes one right after another. All of their scheduled ports were impacted. They had either just been hit or in the path of the next hurricane. They didn't make it to even one of their scheduled ports. As the others have indicated, ships head for 'someplace else'.

[sail7seas]

The simple answer is the ships go AWAY from the storm.

 

Scott & Karen

 

It isn't always that 'simple'.

We were on Maasdam, sailing Canada/NE, b-to-b from Boston to Montreal to Boston. Our first week was glorious weather. Our second week, we left Montreal, had a great day in Quebec City and then were told our cruise effectively was ending as there was a very large hurricane headed up the east coast to Boston and Maritimes. We sailed post haste back to Boston and arrived there Thursday for what was to have been an arrival on Saturday.

 

While, of course, we were still on the ship, the entire mood of the ship stopped being fun and enjoying to disappointment and concern. There was no place for the ship to 'run' to. The storm was so big there was no place for her to hide and the decision was made to tie up in Boston and ride it out.

 

I suspect there was some interest in being available for Saturday's embarkation to go as scheduled, if possible, and those of us aboard were the losers.

 

We live in Boston and DH and I left the ship as soon as it was cleared. If the storm was as big and bad as they were telling us, we wanted to be in our home and seeing we had been away, I wanted some fresh food in the house and be sure our house was as secure as possible.

 

Guests were permitted to stay aboard until Saturday for them to continue with their pre-arranged onward travel.

 

The storm veered off and never came near Boston.

So, it is Not always 'that simple.'

 

Edited August 23, 2015 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

For the sake of accuracy, I said we only visited Montreal and Quebec City before the rest of the ports were cancelled but I forgot we actually got to Charlottetown, as well. :)

 

[Boytjie]

I think I remember of what was supposed to be a Caribbean cruise out of Boston or New York that ended up being a Canadian/North East cruise to avoid a hurricane. (Or vice versa)

[sail7seas]

You could be right, Peter.

I remember NCL had a Boston to Bermuda to Boston cruise that ended up going to Canada/NE much to the surprise of most of their guests. :eek:

 

Same might have happened with Veendam though I don't recall that specifically.

[RocketMan275]

I know that HAL does not have any ships in the Caribbean right now - but where do the ships go when a storm, like Danny, is approching Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, if those are two of the ports the ship is supposed to stop at?

 

Royal has announced that this weeks Freedom of the Seas will change from an Eastern to a Western itinerary. Haven't heard but suspect Carnival may be diverting as well. I'm sure that when Freedom returns to port, there will be multiple threads demanding compensation.

Edited August 23, 2015 by RocketMan275

[DocF]

We have had two cruises affected by weather. One merely required an alteration of the route taken to avoid the worst of a tropical storm. On the other, we lost three ports and had two substitutions that were ports we had visited multiple times. Still, this was a good enough cruise so we enjoyed ourselves.

 

Quite honestly if a ship on which I was cruising had to go several hundred mile out to sea and run in circles to be clear of a hurricane, I would not complain.

[Gerd]

.

 

Hello "SS Exeter"

 

I do remember my fantastic 17 days Vancouver – Hawaii - San Diego cruise – on departure the Captain announced about the distance and the average sped to do so.

 

But on the cabin screen I detected as of the second day, that we constantly did sail quite full-speed.

Upon arrival I could ask a deck officer about the discrepancy – his answer was, that we indeed did a huge curve in order to avoid two bad weather zones…

 

So yes, they do prevent us as much as possible to be close to heavy sea and wind conditions.;)

 

 

Happy cruising

 

G E R D