Storm closed port

[rundent]

Has anyone had experience with a disembarkation/embarkation port being closed? I can see, and have experienced as we all have, a port of call being bypassed due to weather. But when there are flight and hotel reservations what is done? My guess would be that the ones aboard get an extended cruise, with probably some rough seas, and the boarding passengers get a truncated one. The cruise line has to get back on schedule.

[ricka47]

My brother was to sail on the Harmony of the Seas today out of Port Canaveral.  They extended the current cruise by an extra three nights and his seven night cruise became four.  Ironically, it has been a beautiful day at all Florida ports and ships could have come and gone without issue.  Now, Wednesday doesn't look so good.  This has to be a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines!

[Paulchili]

20 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

This has to be a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines!

..and the passengers - both disembarking and embarking 😊

Just out of curiosity - does the cruise line cover one’s expenses (flights, hotels)  in such a situations?

[LHT28]

I saw on another forum POM was closed at noon today  so all those that were travelling  to/from there will be stuck someplace

 

We have been lucky & not had a problem but then we do not sail during hurricane season usually

 

[Waynetor]

When hurricane Sandy hit New York a few years ago some ships that were due to return to the NY port could not, and ended up going to Boston.  This made mess of schedules for the then current and next cruise.   As I recall passengers were given the choice of disembarking in Boston or staying on board until the ships could return to NY - free except for expense such as drinks.  All cars left at the port in NY were write off due to flooding.  

 

Normally staring in NY and ending in Boston would be illegal without a distant foreign port but special case exceptions are allowed.

 

Similar cases can happen with mechanical issues such as when Carnival Triumph broke down in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  It was towed as few days late to the closest port and passengers were allowed to go home from there or be bused back to the original port.

 

How well a cruise line handles these situations can vary greatly and effect their reputation.  

 

If it is a weather related issue the ship would more likely stay at sea longer since if the port is closed so would likely the airport and hotels in the area.   I haven't read the boards for the ships currently effected,  but they could go over the open waters west of Key West and wait until safe to return.  Not good if you need to get back to work, but great if your retired and want a coupe extra free days at sea

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

Not good if you need to get back to work, but great if your retired and want a coupe extra free days at sea

That’s all good for those onboard  but how do the cruise lines handle getting those people home 2 days later - who pays for the new flights?

Likewise, how do they compensate those that should have been on the ship 2 days ago?

[LHT28]

There is a list of ships affected  at

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4381/

I do not see any Oceania cruises listed

 

 

[ropomo]

All spelled out in the cruise contract.  Just received final docs for an upcoming O cruise last week and being somewhat anal, I read them, and the event of curtailed or extended cruise are spelled out quite clearly.  If you arranged your own transportation to or from, your cost/issue, O arranged transportation, they will work with you.  If cruise extended, no cost other than as stated in previous post, incidentals.  Foreshortened cruise, wording a little sketchy as to exactly how you would be compensated, but it indicates you would be compensated (could be $, vouchers, who knows).

[Paulchili]

21 minutes ago, ropomo said:

If you arranged your own transportation to or from, your cost/issue, O arranged transportation, they will work with you. 

That’s just it - most people on mass market lines arrange their own flights (even some O cruisers do) - so lots of people would be caught in this mess of having to buy last minute high priced flights home (if they can even get them in these days of fully booked flights). What a mess!

Hopefully they have insurance.

[Mura]

When we were on the NCL GEM during the Iceland volcano disruptions back in 2010 our cruise ended in Venice.  They were selling cabins to people on board for the next leg because so many people who were booked for that cruise could not get there.  We were supposed to go home from there and considered staying on but DH just stood in line and everything was sold out as he got to the head of the line.  Had he realized it, he could have gone to the concierge in effect to "jump the line" since we were in a low-end suite but he didn't and so missed out.  For us, the worst case would have been just to take a train some place or maybe rent a car and add a week or so onto our trip -- assuming those options weren't fully booked.  As it happened the Venice airport opened the day before we arrived, so we came home as scheduled.  In our case we were planning on flying home the day we left the ship which for us is unusual since most of the time we plan on staying for a few days in the ending port.  Of course, back then I don't think that Venice itself was affected.  It was the airlines.

 

It never occurred to us to wonder if we would be compensated in any way for our troubles ... not that NCL was responsible for volcanoes in Iceland ... but then cruise lines today aren't responsible for Dorian.

 

I see that a number of NCL ships are affected this go-around although Oceania does not appear on the list that Lyn referenced.

 

 

 

 

 

[sunnies]

We flew into New York just before Hurricane Sandy to join our Oceania Amazon cruise. Our ship could not dock and we needed to get to Boston. Not easy as there were no trains or buses and taxis were running out of fuel! We found a driver and car with sufficient petrol for $600. Everyone booked on the cruise somehow made it to Boston although the ship departed very late. Oceania did not compensate us for the $600! It was one of our best cruises! 

[clo]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

That’s just it - most people on mass market lines arrange their own flights (even some O cruisers do) - so lots of people would be caught in this mess of having to buy last minute high priced flights home (if they can even get them in these days of fully booked flights). What a mess!

Hopefully they have insurance.

It seems that airlines have gotten somewhat lenient, in really bad weather forecasts, to allow changes without penalty.

[bigmjh]

Hi, Sunnies - we were on that Amazon cruise and totally agree that the cruise was one of the best. Along with all the interesting stories we heard about how people managed to get to the ship in Boston. IMHO, Oceania handled the Sandy situation very well.

[AncientWanderer]

We were delayed a day embarking out of Galveston for a transatlantic cruise due to weather.  They boarded everyone and we just sat in the port until the seas were calm enough for us to leave.  Because we were in a port, the shops, casino, etc. were not allowed to open.  We missed one port stop and then they made up the time so that we reached all of our other goals.  It was a very extensive itinerary, so not too much was lost.  On a shorter cruise, it would be quite disappointing to lose days and stops.

[sunnies]

4 hours ago, bigmjh said:

Hi, Sunnies - we were on that Amazon cruise and totally agree that the cruise was one of the best. Along with all the interesting stories we heard about how people managed to get to the ship in Boston. IMHO, Oceania handled the Sandy situation very well.

 

If I recall we missed the first port which I think was Hamilton. After that all went smoothly with calm seas and blue skies. The Amazon was amazing with so much to see including the pink dolphins. Would happily do that cruise again. 

[floridatravelersforlife]

On one of the old Celebrity Century ships (small) a hurricane on the Florida east coast forced the cruise company to move embarkation from Miami to Tampa. All pax and their luggage were bused from Miami Port to Tampa Port.   We left that evening instead of 5 PM .  The cruise itinerary did not change.  Another advantage of small ships

[PaulMCO]

12 hours ago, Paulchili said:

That’s just it - most people on mass market lines arrange their own flights (even some O cruisers do) - so lots of people would be caught in this mess of having to buy last minute high priced flights home (if they can even get them in these days of fully booked flights). What a mess!

Hopefully they have insurance.

 

If the port is closed, the airport will likely be closed too.   United, SW etc, have waivers in place through Sept 6.  Waiver as they read say no change fees and no increases in fare   So you are protected via that.

[ORV]

3 hours ago, floridatravelersforlife said:

On one of the old Celebrity Century ships (small) a hurricane on the Florida east coast forced the cruise company to move embarkation from Miami to Tampa. All pax and their luggage were bused from Miami Port to Tampa Port.   We left that evening instead of 5 PM .  The cruise itinerary did not change.  Another advantage of small ships

At 1800 passengers and 800 crew it's not exactly small. Yes, it is smaller than ships like the Allure or Oasis, but still 3 times the passengers as an R ship. 

[floridatravelersforlife]

Golly, splitting hairs already.  Small to me means it fits under the Tampa Bradenton Bridge.  The Allure won't 😀