Do you cruise during “hurricane season”?

[Victory!]

I am a newbie with exactly one cruise under my belt. My first cruise was last October on the Carnival Liberty. I completely fell in love with cruising and I am anxious to plan my next cruise.

 

Pricing is everything for me and I see the best prices seem to be during the summer months which growing up in New England, I always equate with hurricane season.

 

I would like to know if any of you purposely avoid those months or take advantage of the possible lower fares. Also, is this where travel insurance would be a must have? Would it make better sense to use a TA? I booked my first cruise directly with Carnival so I’m still learning what advantages there may be to using a TA.

 

Help! I need that next cruise!! 😜

[ontheweb]

Since my DW is a teacher, all of our cruises have been in the summer. On our second cruise in the Western Caribbean (back in 2003), we had a hurricane. We made all our ports, but then had two extra sea days as the ship could not get back to Fort Lauderdale. Oddly, the only other time we had anything resembling a hurricane experience was a British Isles cruise from Dover, England. When we landed in London the previous day, there were the remnants of a hurricane causing some rain and winds.

 

And insurance is always a good idea.

[Pyrate13]

The majority of our cruising has been during hurricane season. Never have had a problem. If a storm does come up your itinerary might change but that's about it unless the hurricane should affect your home port. The worst storm and seas we ever experienced were well outside of hurricane season.

Not saying nothing will ever happen but the cruise lines are usually well prepared if the need arises.

[Bookish Angel]

Never, but not because of hurricanes. We prefer to cruise in January as there are very few kids, temps are cooler and it is our anniversary month.

[paul929207]

Yes.

[smplybcause]

I've gone on several in the Aug to Oct time frame. But I live in Florida so travel issues aren't an issue for me and if there's delays to departure I just stay at my house longer.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Z'Loth]

First off, I always take travel insurance through a third-party provider. The main reason is for the emergency medical evacuation back to the United States. Everything else is gravy.

 

And, yes, I am taking my cruise in September well aware that it is hurricane season.

[Shmoo here]

I am a newbie with exactly one cruise under my belt. My first cruise was last October on the Carnival Liberty. I completely fell in love with cruising and I am anxious to plan my next cruise.

 

Pricing is everything for me and I see the best prices seem to be during the summer months which growing up in New England, I always equate with hurricane season.

 

I would like to know if any of you purposely avoid those months or take advantage of the possible lower fares. Also, is this where travel insurance would be a must have? Would it make better sense to use a TA? I booked my first cruise directly with Carnival so I’m still learning what advantages there may be to using a TA.

 

Help! I need that next cruise!! 😜

Of our 22 cruises, 10 of them were during hurricane season, and in the Caribbean.

 

We book based on itinerary, date, and cost, not whether we might be hit by hurricane.

 

Travel insurance, for us, is primarily for medical and evacuation coverage. Not sure if hurricanes are covered.

 

If you're new at cruising, a travel agent can be helpful in fielding your questions. Using a TA can mean extra onboard credit, or some sort of room gift (bottle of wine, chocolates, or a meal in the extra cost dining room). Some TAs don't offer perks. You have to ask around, if that's what you're interested in.

[6rugrats]

No, because I’d prefer to go to the Caribbean in the winter.

[Victory!]

Thanks for the responses. I had no idea the itinerary would be adjusted (exception being departure port damage). Good to know.

 

Finding a TA has proven difficult. Everyone I know has booked on their own.

[leaveitallbehind]

As to cruising during hurricane season, absolutely we do. There is no reason not to. Hurricane season - which is June through November - is half the cruising year. And the first half of that season , which are the summer months, is one of the busiest cruise times as schools are typically closed then.

 

Hurricane season simply means the time of year when conditions are favorable for storms to develop, not a certainty that they will. This past year not with standing as it obviously was unusually busy. BTW, in 25 plus years of cruising, wiht many cruises during hurricane season, we have been fortunate I guess in that we have never had a cruise impacted by a hurricane or othe severe storm.

 

As to fare prices, the summer months are not typically the lowest rates. The lower rates most typically are in the fall and spring - which is more of the off season - and during during non holiday periods. And travel insurance is not just related to hurricane season. Typically, if a cruise line has to cancel an itinerary (which is rare) due to a hurricane, your money is refunded. Insurance is a good idea for reasons associated with you canceling your cruise post final payment.

 

We have used the same TA for close to 20 years as they take care of all of our arrangements, monitor pricing for lower pricing changes, and act as our advocate for any issues or questions that may arise with a booking. It is a personal choice and just what we are comfortable with. Often TA's will provide certain perks with come from their commission or benefits from blocks of staterooms booked through them that will be in addition to anything offered by the cruise lines.

 

Enjoy your future cruises.

[mom says]

Sure. Just not in the Caribbean. There are lots of other places to cruise during those months, where the possibility of an Atlantic/Caribbean hurricane aren't a factor.

 

We do our Caribbean cruises in the winter.

[George C]

We normally cruise end of April and also last week on november which is very end of hurricane season. Never had a issue been doing this last 20 years

[pghsteelerfan]

We've only cruised once during hurricane season in September 2015. We were also on Carnival Liberty and did the southern itinerary out of San Juan. We had GORGEOUS weather all week. The only rain (liquid sunshine) we had was a brief downpour just before we left Barbados, but then the sun was back out 5 - 10 minutes later. We also had the calmest seas we've ever experienced on a cruise. During that same time frame in Sept. 2017, several of the islands on that itinerary were hit & devastated by Irma and Maria.

[leaveitallbehind]

We've only cruised once during hurricane season in September 2015. We were also on Carnival Liberty and did the southern itinerary out of San Juan. We had GORGEOUS weather all week. The only rain (liquid sunshine) we had was a brief downpour just before we left Barbados, but then the sun was back out 5 - 10 minutes later. We also had the calmest seas we've ever experienced on a cruise. During that same time frame in Sept. 2017, several of the islands on that itinerary were hit & devastated by Irma and Maria.

 

The furthest southern Caribbean islands, such as Barbados in particular, are below the hurricane zone and rarely are affected by hurricanes. And as you know, seas are always changeable and the calm seas you experienced could be rough the next day.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes - we have cruised during Hurricane season. And once part of our itinerary was changed because of Hurricane Paula.

Yes -- we always buy insurance -- we have missed cruises in February because of massive snow storms.

Yes -- we use a TA -- like the extra perks we get from her -- get nothing extra from the cruise line.

[cb at sea]

Just because it's the "season" doesn't mean a hurricane will affect your route, if there even IS a storm out there! "Hurricane season" simply means the water is warm enough to spawn a storm....and the ship won't go thru a storm if there is a clear route elsewhere.

[pghsteelerfan]

The furthest southern Caribbean islands, such as Barbados in particular, are below the hurricane zone and rarely are affected by hurricanes. And as you know, seas are always changeable and the calm seas you experienced could be rough the next day.:)

 

St. Lucia was also in that itinerary and I know they are not as likely to be affected either. I know hurricanes are rare for the ABC's...an itinerary we'd love to do. Speaking of changeable seas, oh yes! :) Not yet on a cruise (only 7 cruises), but we've certainly experienced that on beach vacations in the Carolinas. What was so ironic was how peaceful it was on our cruise in 2015 and at about the same exact time two years later, total devastation to some of my favorite places.

[squick64]

I cruised during the summer/hurricane season once. I'd rather not, personally, but not so much because of hurricanes but because of all the other disadvantages to traveling in the summer--everything's busier and more expensive, it's hotter, and there are way more kids around.

[dd likes to cruise]

Even though the season is June to November, the highest probably for them to be big or bad tend to be August to Early October. Many years hurricanes are almost nonexistent others we get multiples. No crystal ball available. We live in Florida, so if we choose to cruise during that time, we would probably do a last minute type cruise.

[JTBCruiser]

Yes we've booked a few cruises during the season, scares DW to death but once she gets on the ship, she is good to go. My biggest concern is not so much being at sea during a Hurricane but getting to and from the airport near the port.