Cruising during Hurricane Season?

[BNBR]

Pro:  Much cheaper.  Generally great weather

Con: Very unlikely chance of an actual hurricane disrupting your voyage

 

We prefer sailing during hurricane season.  

[karena1]

4 hours ago, huntr104 said:

Hi all.  My family and I usually cruise in the springtime.  I'm turning 50 this year in October and I want to go on a vacation and cruising is my favorite way to travel.  But, I've never cruised in the Caribbean during Hurricane season.  Any advice from the cruisers that travel during this time of year?  Pro, Cons, anything else I should think of that would be different than cruising in the spring.  Thanks!

We cruise all the time in Aug/Sept/Oct/Nov and just don't worry about it.  If a storm happens, they will change the itin and take you out of it.  In all the years we have cruised and we cruise those months every year, maybe 3 or 4 times have we had bad weather. 

[cruiselvr04]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Not sure I understand.

Opps.  I meant Next Cruise!

[huntr104]

Wow, thanks.  I feel alot less worried about cruising in the fall now!

[orville99]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Opps.  I meant Next Cruise!

Ahhh, now that makes it all clear. We hit the Next Cruise desk as soon as the announcement was made, and when we walked by later in the day, the line was out the door for people taking them up on the offer.

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, yogimax said:

Worry about the things over which you have control.  The weather isn't one of them.

It doesn’t hurt to consider it when booking if someone wants to.

[loman]

I always pick september to cruise. I  recall it rained once in San Juan .

And one other time the day before the cruise in florida .

Been pretty lucky with the weather so far.

 

[shellunderwater]

11 hours ago, orville99 said:

Hurricane Dorian…we were booked on a 7 night eastern that turned into a western, that ended up being an 11 night sailing around in circles off the coast of Cuba and stop at Cozumel every morning adventure. Best cruise we have ever taken.

We saved about yhat time.  Added 3 days to our cruise.  We were one if 9 ships in Cozumel as they waited out the storm.

 

Biggest issues are getting to the port and flexibility if your cruise is delayed due to a storm.  You may need to change flights to port or home.

[Teeara]

We sailed out of Port Canaveral prior to Hurricane Jeanne in 2004.  We ended up 3 extra days at sea with an additional stop at Labadee for one of those 3 days.  Had to return to Miami since Port Canaveral had been damaged by the hurricane.  RCI provided a bus for $20 that took us directly to the Orlando airport.  Our original flights had been canceled since the airport had shut down, but they had booked us on another flight that actually worked perfectly with our 3 extra days at sea.  You have to be willing to roll with the weather dice you've been given.  Some people might get extra days at sea.  Others might get less.  And still others have no effects whatsoever and have a great cruise.  Don't stress yourself out about it and just go out and have a great cruise.   And definitely get back to the Southern Caribbean!  Still one of our most favorite itineraries.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Teeara

[wants2cruise2]

Been many times, one cruise we played tag with a few hurricanes, always moved the ship away.  Had most ports changed for others, no problem with that. We also left the day SuperStorm Sandy hit Nj/NY.  That was interesting almost fun, did sail too close into the storm, the captain was very open with us on how the storm was unpredictable and we got caught. Tables sliding, the kitchens shut down for 24 hours for safety  so no hot food.  Handed out cold cut sandwiches no-one starved. Balcony doors not sealed at bottom so some flooded rooms. Lots of flooded hallways and wet carpet.  Biggest problem was they told us 1/2 of the parking lot was under water at the port.  Didn’t know if it was our car until we returned 

[Joseph2017China]

Hurricane Season is 6 months long, not one month.  A large hurricane can happen outside of hurricane season, but conditions are more favorable in the season, thus called hurricane season.  A hurricane is 300 miles wide but the hurricane winds are much tighter circle.  A hurricane is 'tracked' from the moment it is born, to several weeks later as it makes it's way to your ship.  Hurricanes do not hide, or they are not random.  Therefore, the ship, and your trip, will not encounter a direct hit with a hurricane.

[DukeASUGirl]

I'd be more concerned about August-September cruises than October.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

4 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

I'd be more concerned about August-September cruises than October.

Indeed. And I know this because our birthdays are in August and September. 😉 That being said, we're pretty "go with the flow" types, and although we've had our fair share of changed/canceled ports on our birthday cruises, we shrug it off. The captains (and corporate, I'm sure) go to great lengths to keep the ships & passengers well out of harm's way, so if you're okay with the risk of some last-minute changes, that's the main concern. No real threat of drowning. 😉

 

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by la_croisiere_s'amuse

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Indeed. And I know this because our birthdays are in August and September.

 

Heh, we normally only cruise in June/July b/c my wife is a teacher. She has a new position now that makes taking time off easier and has tons of days saved up. My bday is in early September and we're considering an "extra cruise" around then.

 

Used to hurricanes as they occasionally come right over us. Wouldn't be concerned at all if my house was elsewhere. Not really a big deal here near Orlando (other than 2004) except our house has some issues with water intrusion so being at sea while worrying about that wouldn't exactly be fun.

 

Still debating...

[pyrateslife4me84]

On 6/22/2022 at 12:55 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

Look at itineraries that include the ABC islands which in addition to being beautiful destinations lie outside the hurricane belt.

There is literally a storm headed there this week. 
 

[davy jones]

On 6/23/2022 at 7:58 AM, wants2cruise2 said:

Been many times, one cruise we played tag with a few hurricanes, always moved the ship away.  Had most ports changed for others, no problem with that. We also left the day SuperStorm Sandy hit Nj/NY.  That was interesting almost fun, did sail too close into the storm, the captain was very open with us on how the storm was unpredictable and we got caught. Tables sliding, the kitchens shut down for 24 hours for safety  so no hot food.  Handed out cold cut sandwiches no-one starved. Balcony doors not sealed at bottom so some flooded rooms. Lots of flooded hallways and wet carpet.  Biggest problem was they told us 1/2 of the parking lot was under water at the port.  Didn’t know if it was our car until we returned 

We were on that cruise with you.  Our car was impacted by the flooding.  DW loved her new ride.  

 

Now that there is a parking garage at Cape Liberty, we always park above ground level.

[island lady]

Hurricane season:

 

Living in Florida...my home can't move out of the way of oncoming storm.

 

Cruising during the season.....my temporary home...CAN move out of the way.  😉 

[time4u2go]

On 6/26/2022 at 11:36 AM, pyrateslife4me84 said:

There is literally a storm headed there this week. 
 

But wait!  There's more:

[mommao729]

There are quite a few systems out there. 
 

I am watching closely. We are to be on mariner July 9th. 
 

[pyrateslife4me84]

4 hours ago, time4u2go said:

But wait!  There's more:

It had a baby!

[maggieq]

On 6/22/2022 at 11:49 AM, orville99 said:

Hurricane Dorian…we were booked on a 7 night eastern that turned into a western, that ended up being an 11 night sailing around in circles off the coast of Cuba and stop at Cozumel every morning adventure. Best cruise we have ever taken.

We were booked on the allure over Labor Day weekend that got canceled at the last minute.  We took the lemons and made lemonade and went to Aruba for the week but were very disappointed. 

[flyguyjake]

We were on Harmony when hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose & Maria were raising cane. Our 7 day cruise turned into 10 days. Then due to the extensive damage and crazy flight cancellations in FL (our flights got cancelled 3 times) we decided to go back out in our same cabin for an additional 4 days for $600 each. 14 days, 28 points! We were staying in the A1 Aqua Theater. Weather was terrific with only 1 day many got sea sick. I think that was when we were closest to 2 of them. Capt said we were about 900 miles away. We were stuck in the Gulf of Mexico visiting Cozumel 4 times. But that was ok because we love La Choza Mexican restaurant. So long as you have some flexibility in your life, you'll be fine. Many who had to get back were getting off at the ports and getting flights home. As others have said, it was definitely one of our best cruises.

[FLConnie]

The only thing we do differently during this time of the year is to book excursions either through the cruise line, or make sure they are 100% refundable if the ship can't dock and we do them on our own. Just makes life easier!

[DCPIV]

Here's what you do:

 

1. Book it.

2. Insure it.

3. Plan on going.

4. Prepare to be flexible.

5. Have a good time, no matter what happens.

 

That applies to all travel, and cruising is no exception. 

 

There is no place on Earth you can travel without having some risk of some weather having some impact on your trip.  Yes, there are better and worse times to go to certain places, but don't get wound up about it.

 

While storms in the Caribbean are absolutely certain to happen, very few cruises are affected over the whole season.  If you are looking at late October, then you are more out of the woods than in them.  If you can put it off until November, you're even better.  If you can't, rock on with October.

 

DW is turning 50 right around the same time you are.  We have a Caribbean cruise booked for late September/early October (i.e., during peak season).  We knew that when we booked it.  We're standing on steps 3 & 4, and we're looking forward to step 5.

[Ozark_Kid]

I love cruising in October.  It really blows me away!