Sailing during hurricane season....good idea?

[jor689]

Found a cruise leaving from San Juan PR, going south to Aruba/curacao, st kitts in September 2018 for $1300 for the three of us, half of what we just paid on our cruise in February. It's the height/middle of hurricane season at that point. How does Royal Caribbean deal with hurricanes?

[Pitzel]

Purchase cruise/travel insurance that will cover your trip, including any flights.

 

Royal may cancel cruises or change itineraries if a hurricane disrupts a port or makes sailing dangerous.

[mensch1836]

Purchase cruise/travel insurance that will cover your trip, including any flights.

 

Royal may cancel cruises or change itineraries if a hurricane disrupts a port or makes sailing dangerous.

Not to worry, hurricanes don't just appear cruises moniter paths and don't even get within a hundred miles. Enjoy.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

[mafig]

People sure have short memories.

 

Remember last year?

 

There were people in Puerto Rico waiting for a cruise.

The cruise was cancelled.

However, they were stuck in Puerto Rico because the airlines cancelled flights.

 

Or....

 

They couldn't get flights because Puerto Ricans were trying to leave the island themselves before the approach of the hurricane.

 

Think carefully.

[blackshirt]

Sure, just cruise somewhere other than the Caribbean :). Seriously, the biggest risk is the departure port. If a hurricane hits there, your cruise will likely be disrupted somehow but as for any destination ports, as noted above the ships are quite good at staying away from hurricanes. Your itinerary may change but you will still cruise.

[lovelife]

Guess I've been real lucky to have cruised a couple dozen times during hurricane season without issue (big knock on wood).

[tullers]

People sure have short memories.

 

Remember last year?

 

There were people in Puerto Rico waiting for a cruise.

The cruise was cancelled.

However, they were stuck in Puerto Rico because the airlines cancelled flights.

 

Or....

 

They couldn't get flights because Puerto Ricans were trying to leave the island themselves before the approach of the hurricane.

 

Think carefully.

And sailing during the winter runs risk of weather disruption too. The example that you cite is extreme and rare. Sh*t happens but then again, a little planning and monitoring goes a long way.

[Oceansaway17]

Consider New England or Alaska. That way you are close to mainland.

 

I also agree. Dont go out of P Rico. Even before their hurricane that airport was not so good to be stuck at. And less folks speak English these days even though they are part of USA

[mafig]

And sailing during the winter runs risk of weather disruption too. The example that you cite is extreme and rare. Sh*t happens but then again, a little planning and monitoring goes a long way.

 

 

Yes, but......

if they cruise out off Puerto Rico they run the risk of being stuck on an island. Better to cruise from Florida if you must cruise in Sept.

 

Remember, last year the cruise lines did not cancel the cruise until the very last minute. Before that they told the people it was their responsibility to get to the cruise port. Then they got to the cruise port but the ship didn't come in.

 

Remember the problems in Galveston?

 

No one knows how good or bad the season will be.

[OCruisers]

People sure have short memories.

 

Remember last year?

 

There were people in Puerto Rico waiting for a cruise.

The cruise was cancelled.

However, they were stuck in Puerto Rico because the airlines cancelled flights.

 

Or....

 

They couldn't get flights because Puerto Ricans were trying to leave the island themselves before the approach of the hurricane.

 

Think carefully.

 

Unfortunately, people do have SHORT memories! :eek::eek:

[BillOh]

Sure, just cruise somewhere other than the Caribbean :). Seriously, the biggest risk is the departure port. If a hurricane hits there, your cruise will likely be disrupted somehow but as for any destination ports, as noted above the ships are quite good at staying away from hurricanes. Your itinerary may change but you will still cruise.

 

 

You can still cruise the Caribbean, But San Juan adds to the risk. We are in year 3 of this gamble, getting great cruise rates. Year 1, one week after Matthew, no problems, great cruise. Year 2, a few days after Irma and Maria, 4 day cruise shortened 3 days, refund made, still had a great time. Year 3, we will see, but I'll be watching the NOAA website from July on.

[IrishLassie]

We never worry about hurricane's as the Captain is not going to risk his ship being hit by one. We were on Oasis last year when Irma was hitting P.R. but we were in the western Caribbean & ended up with 3 extra days at no additional cost, free use of the phones on the ship to call home & half price drinks, so IMO it was great !

Living in Florida for over 60 yrs. we don't let storms rule our lives. :D

[Starry Eyes]

Some people are saying avoid the Caribbean during height of season. I felt that way once upon a time, so I booked a Canada-New England cruise. Well, that did not work out so well. It was a busy storm time in North Atlantic. One tropical storm caused changes in our itinerary, eliminating some nice ports. Then a hurricane blew north, hitting Halifax. Our stop there was delayed, trees were uprooted, many people/businesses lacked power. Locals were super nice to us, but it did not feel like to right time to be a tourist. All those delays kept us from doing the trip down and back the St Laurence, a large part of the reason we selected that cruise. Weather was bad most of the cruise; I fell and broke my ankle. That year, I’d have been better off booking in the Caribbean during hurricane season. You just never know.

 

So, I say: book the cruise you want, but do not get too attached to those specific ports, dates or times; be flexible. Read the fine print on your travel insurance before you buy it (for example, does the airport have to close for 24 hours or more for it to kick in...or will it cover if your flight is cancelled and you cannot get on another?).

[SchoolNurseMom]

We cruise every year in September since 2010. We've never had an itinerary change, even with a couple of hurricanes in the area. Can be some movement on the ship, but we've never had any issues.

[LeeW]

Cruising since 2004 in September every year and last year is first time we were impacted. San Juan is our favorite port to cruise out of since you can get farther south and see more islands. BUT, as blackshirt says the departure port is the critical one. If you or the ship can't get there you won't have a cruise.

 

While insurance is a good idea (and for San Juan it should cover hotels and flights) it may or may not be needed for the cruise itself. Last September on Allure we couldn't get back to Ft Lauderdale and cruise was extended three days. Went west instead of east to avoid the hurricane and made extra stops in Cozumel and Puerto Maya that let some folks fly home. The next cruise was shortened to four days and went only to Nassau. People had problems getting to Ft Lauderdale and getting flights out when we finally got in. If you didn't or couldn't sail on the second cruise you got your money back as a future credit (but did not get air/hotel credit) - didn't need insurance. Or if you got there and sailed you got 50% back as onboard credit and 50% as future credit - again didn't need insurance. Lots of folks living in Florida but without power at home or who couldn't get a flight out just stayed on and got really good rates for the second cruise.

 

San Juan is another story. If a storm is approaching there you will not want to fly in. Make sure you have cancellation insurance for flights and don't cancel the cruise until RCI announces the deals for cancelling. Once you are on the ship you will be fine but might have to fly home from somewhere else (like Cozumel).

[Tatka]

We actually had the best cruises in August and September in terms of weather. Not even showers, but also remember that in 2004 right after our cruise on the next ones ships could not return to Fort Lauderdale for several days after they were scheduled due to hurricane... So it is always a risk.

[slyster]

I have cruised the Caribbean at least 10 times during September-November and never had any deviation of plans with the exception of 2 or 3 port changes due to weather (taking a wild guess, but out of 25-30 or so ports?) With that said, I always purchase travel insurance. So many people were upset last year that their cruise plans were disrupted, they were losing money. As long as you know there is a very small chance your cruise could be affected, and you are prepared, I say go for it.

[Tatka]

We cruised a lot in November and never missed a port

[tOSUSteve]

Had done 3 cruises in Sept without any issues. Last year not so much.

 

Got caught up in the hurricane Irma fiasco. The cruise did eventually sail, but was shortened & went to Nassau only.

There were more crew members on board than passengers on Allure.

 

Would I sail again in Sept? It would be more towards end of Sept than middle, even then I would get insurance & be prepared to not go or have a completely different itinerary than expected.

[ReneeFLL]

We never worry about hurricane's as the Captain is not going to risk his ship being hit by one. .........

People also seem to forget about the severe storm in February 2016 that the Anthem Of The Seas sailed into. Granted not a hurricane, but it did have hurricane force winds. Captain sailed right into it before deciding to turn around. The seas/winds were worse than expected, but I'm suprised they didn't change course before it got as bad as it did.

[Starry Eyes]

People also seem to forget about the severe storm in February 2016 that the Anthem Of The Seas sailed into. Granted not a hurricane, but it did have hurricane force winds. Captain sailed right into it before deciding to turn around. The seas/winds were worse than expected, but I'm suprised they didn't change course before it got as bad as it did.

Not on RCI, but twice on NCL Captains knowingly sailed into horrible conditions while I was aboard. Once out of LA, while other lines diverted safely north, our foolish Captain stuck to the itinerary, sailing right into the hurricane’s cone of probability. Hurricane move a little and we were close to the eye. Really rough with lots of sick people, though ship stood up the the challenge. Second time, Captain sailed through horrible weather to make a port call in Iceland; afterward he told us we were in hurricane force winds. He thought we’d want to tell everybody about it like it was a badge of honor; I thought him a fool, though again, the ship (same one NCL Star) Withstood the seas...not all passengers were standing, though.

[saroede97]

living in florida for over 60 yrs. We don't let storms rule our lives. :d

 

exactly!

[lbjen]

If you’re a person who can go with the flow and you get good independent insurance (ie not from the cruise line), you’ll be fine. The biggest risk is that you either won’t be able to get to the port, or will get trapped there in a hurricane because RC waits too late to cancel your sailing.

[zackarykeef]

I've done several during hurricane season...it's much cheaper (usually), and the weather has MOSTLY been great.

 

In 2015, Erika changed our eastern route to western several days before the cruise. However, she turned west, and as we boarded the ship, we were handed a letter that said our route had returned to the original eastern one. The weather was perfect, without a cloud in the sky. People were annoyed with the back and forth of excursion planning, but it ended up working for us.

 

Last year, everything was ruined by Maria. RCCL cancelled our ABCs cruise from San Juan 4 days prior to departure. We were given a full refund. Even though they kept delaying cancelling, we (obviously) knew it would be, so we stuck it out. People who dipped early only got partial refunds or future cruise credit. It pays to wait.

 

Also, I don't think insurance is necessary (for this reason). Our airline refunded us 100% after we explained the situation. The weather put the airport out of commission, so they didn't have much option. However, I was reading many people had issues.

 

As people said, if you're easy-going and can wait until last minute to change plans as necessary and don't mind making a few phone calls if needed here and there, go for it! The chance of having a good cruise is much higher than a hurricane ruining it. This past year was just especially disastrous.

 

Enjoy!:cool: