Hurricane Maria Discussion Here

[PelicanBill]

Sadly, we must do this again. Maria is following a path that is parallel but south of Irma.

 

This thread is to discuss the storm, and any aspects of impact on crusing, the islands, your concerns, and help answer questions. We are not meteorologists but there are a few of us who follow manyt sources and we try to interpret for you, as the news and even The Weather Channel does not cover the whole story and can be seen to cover these storms with an eye toward ratings and advertising sometimes. If you want the official information, watch the actual NOAA Hurricane Center reports at

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Wind fields can be seen more clearly with their maps based on the NHC report:

http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/

[PelicanBill]

Well, this could not be worse news. Some islands that were spared or brushed by Irma may be looking at a full hit from Maria.

 

As of the 5pm Sunday NHC report:

 

The path crosses Dominica and Guadeloupe first, at category 2. That's bad. It also affects Barbados, Martinique, and St. Lucia as it comes in.

 

It stays south of Antigua, St. Maarten/St. Martin, Saba, St. Barths and St. Kitts but it is strengthening to category 3 at that time and effects depend on size of the storm and far the hurricane wind fields reach.

 

Then it passes south of the BVI, St. Thomas and St. John but gets close... and too close to the to St. Croix, which was spared by Irma, may take a direct hit at category 3. From there, staying Category 3, it strikes Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra. We can only hope it moves further south and weakens and doesn't do this.

 

It's too early to talk about what happens after that. If it it hits Hispaniola (DR and Haiti) it will weaken. If not, it could pass north and act a lot like Irma did depending on troughs and shear.

[PelicanBill]

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for starting this thread and posting links. This is our present itinerary. Although we haven't been officially notified, two of our port calls (Tortola and St. Martin) are probably going to change, and possibly more if Maria causes a lot of damage.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

AT SEA

AT SEA

Road Town (Tortola), BVI

Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis

Castries, Saint Lucia (and Cruising Soufriere Bay)

Bridgetown, Barbados

Saint Georges, Grenada

Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

AT SEA

AT SEA

Fort Lauderdale, FL

We would not be upset if we had a different itinerary. We love being on a cruise. This will only be our second on HAL and we are very happy to be on HAL again. I will give my TA a call tomorrow and see if he has heard anything from HAL.

 

Thanks again

[CarolGeorge]

We are waiting to hear what direction Carnivals Fascination will take for our 10/8 cruise out of PR.

[Anthomaniac]

Yeesh, what a year for storms

[OCruisers]

While we hate it do need to follow ....

[Tapi]

My family lives in Puerto Rico. Even though Irma didn't hit them directly, a lot of people are still without electricity since Irma hit last week. Stores had replenished their shelves only to be completely emptied in preparation for Maria. My parents never took the hurricane shutters down as a precaution. Monitoring this closely

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cltnccruisers]

Thanks again, Bill. This is shaping up to be the worst storm season I can remember in my 63 years.

[PelicanBill]

Thanks for starting this thread and posting links. This is our present itinerary. Although we haven't been officially notified, two of our port calls (Tortola and St. Martin) are probably going to change, and possibly more if Maria causes a lot of damage.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

AT SEA

AT SEA

Road Town (Tortola), BVI

Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis

Castries, Saint Lucia (and Cruising Soufriere Bay)

Bridgetown, Barbados

Saint Georges, Grenada

Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

AT SEA

AT SEA

Fort Lauderdale, FL

We would not be upset if we had a different itinerary. We love being on a cruise. This will only be our second on HAL and we are very happy to be on HAL again. I will give my TA a call tomorrow and see if he has heard anything from HAL.

 

Thanks again

 

What's your sailing date? My own is Dec. 3 on NCL Breakaway. We know we can't go to Tortola, St. Maarten and St. Thomas already. Now worried about San Juan, Antigua and St. Kitts, our other 3 ports. We sail from NYC so a western itinerary is a stretch but maybe our only option.

 

The forecast is for Category 4 over St. Croix and Puerto Rico now. ugh.

[let's go cruising]

Can anyone tell how bad it will be in Barbados?

 

Renee

[hannahsnana]

Well, it looks like we won't be able to go on our Adventure of the Seas cruise departing Saturday 9/13 from San Juan. We have flights booked to fly from Charlotte on Friday and the Courtyard Isla Verde for Friday night. We do have insurance but am wondering what to do! Need to cancel hotel by 9/20 to avoid charges. And will RCI wait until the very last minute to change itinerary? Too many unanswered questions! And I do feel for those in Maria's path! That totally overshadows my plight! Just hoping the path will shift north!

[let's go cruising]

Well, it looks like we won't be able to go on our Adventure of the Seas cruise departing Saturday 9/13 from San Juan. We have flights booked to fly from Charlotte on Friday and the Courtyard Isla Verde for Friday night. We do have insurance but am wondering what to do! Need to cancel hotel by 9/20 to avoid charges. And will RCI wait until the very last minute to change itinerary? Too many unanswered questions! And I do feel for those in Maria's path! That totally overshadows my plight! Just hoping the path will shift north!

 

What date?

[hannahsnana]

Mistake on date! September 23, this Saturday !

[PelicanBill]

Mistake on date! September 23, this Saturday !

 

Do you have trip insurance? It would cover the hotel penalty. If not, call and negotiate. They may be willing to release you from the penalty if the storm prevents you from traveling.

[PelicanBill]

Can anyone tell how bad it will be in Barbados?

 

Renee

 

Barbados is well south of the storm at this point. Should only see a rainy, windy day.

[PelicanBill]

See the article posted on itinerary changes already being made as Maria comes in.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8073

[PelicanBill]

Here is the best GOES-16 image I can find right now. If anyone finds better please post link. I think you can see an eye forming. The final image is about 45 minutes old.

http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/products/tc_realtime/loop.asp?product=4kmirimg&storm_identifier=AL152017&starting_image=2017AL15_4KMIRIMG_201709181000.GIF

[let's go cruising]

I feel like we will need a list of ports we CAN visit. It is heartbreaking.

 

Renee

[PelicanBill]

Maria strengthened to Cat 3 as it is hitting the leewards rather than after. It has shifted south which hurts Martinique and spares Guadeloupe. Dominica still in direct path. The shift lessens effects on the rest of the leewards and the BVI and USVI, and may lessen impact to St. Croix. But category 4 soon and that includes crossing Puerto Rico. From there forecast suggests a turn to NW that could still hurt the Turks & Caicos but spare the Bahamas. A little early to be sure though.

[SailinC2C]

So far our Dec 30 ABC cruise is looking pretty good. These could end up being the only 3 islands not hit by a hurricane this year!

I'm thinking that going forward cruise lines may have to reconsider cruises in the Caribbean this time of year.

[PelicanBill]

Getting tired of network and TWC coverage of hurricanes with sloppy geography. Maria is NOT following a similar track as Irma! TWC did a lot better at 1:00pm EDT though.

 

Maria is much further south. 50 miles makes a huge difference in hurricane force. This one is 100 miles further south! A completely different set of islands is being impacting on the eastern edge of the caribbean. The present forecast suggests it will end up crossing Irma's path, but at a much sharper NW angle toward the US heading to the Turks & Caicos and maybe the Bahamas.

[let's go cruising]

Getting tired of network and TWC coverage of hurricanes with sloppy geography. Maria is NOT following a similar track as Irma! TWC did a lot better at 1:00pm EDT though.

 

Maria is much further south. 50 miles makes a huge difference in hurricane force. This one is 100 miles further south! A completely different set of islands is being impacting on the eastern edge of the caribbean. The present forecast suggests it will end up crossing Irma's path, but at a much sharper NW angle toward the US heading to the Turks & Caicos and maybe the Bahamas.

 

Yes, I noticed that too. The islands that were doing well, will be hit. The islands devastated will get rain. Which they can't handle right now. I keep having to look up where each island is because the map never shows them. The final payment for our Christmas Cruise is a week from today. Cruise Critic has that really nice page telling how each island is fairing. TWC will just show some guy on the beach in Virginia and tell us not to swim. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for your information!

Renee

[CarolGeorge]

Can you give us the link to the CC page that tells us how each island is doing.

Carol

 

 

Yes' date=' I noticed that too. The islands that were doing well, will be hit. The islands devastated will get rain. Which they can't handle right now. I keep having to look up where each island is because the map never shows them. The final payment for our Christmas Cruise is a week from today. Cruise Critic has that really nice page telling how each island is fairing. TWC will just show some guy on the beach in Virginia and tell us not to swim. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for your information!

Renee[/quote']

[let's go cruising]

Can you give us the link to the CC page that tells us how each island is doing.

Carol

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8067

 

Is about each port.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8073

 

Is about the Itinerary for the ships.

 

Renee