Hurricane Lee

[Sun Queen II]

1 minute ago, Parallel40 said:

Have you asked an officer or cruise director? A friend that worked at a cruise check-in counter knew about weather-related itinerary changes and could not tell passengers. 😡

We asked this morning and no one has any news. Not even head of guest services. Guess we will just have to wait and see. Doubtful we will get to NY on Sept 19. Some passengers think CB may just stay north of Nova Scotia to avoid impact. 

[Parallel40]

On 9/7/2023 at 2:11 PM, dvan68 said:

We are leaving out of NYC next Wednesday to Bermuda - so we would be sailing right towards it!  I'm not sure where else they would send us - going to Canada would not help, as it would be right behind us, and have to deal with it to come home.  Does anyone know how far in advance the cruise lines make decisions on itinerary changes?  We are driving to the port, so really it is not that big of a deal to just go a different week if they give us the option

I betcha they wait until last minute.Would you keep us posted please?

[bentleyboo2019]

On 9/6/2023 at 6:23 AM, Cyn874 said:

I doubt it'll get canceled- it's still going to be really far out at sea on Sunday. At best, you might get a revised itinerary. Consider yourself lucky! My cruise is supposed to sail 9/17 out of NYC up to New England and Canada. That's exactly the area Lee is supposed to be on those days.

We are scheduled to leave NYC on the Venezia on Saturday 9/16 and port in St. John 9/18, Halifax 9/19, and Sydney 9/20.  I do not see that happening if Lee continues its path.  If they are sending us south instead I would hope they would let us know before a large percentage of us leave for NYC midweek. No one wants to be wearing jeans and a sweatshirt on a beach. 

[mjmiller]

56 minutes ago, bentleyboo2019 said:

We are scheduled to leave NYC on the Venezia on Saturday 9/16 and port in St. John 9/18, Halifax 9/19, and Sydney 9/20.  

We're on the same cruise. I personally expect to head south. Our situation - we're leaving tomorrow, on our motorcycle, driving to NY to get on that ship. So we definitely won't know which direction the ship will go. So somehow we have to pack for a 5 week motorcycle trip (most of it after the cruise), plus a cruise that could go to Canada or the Bahamas. And all that needs to fit into a little trailer we tow behind the bike. 😂

[AFS1970]

We are also on the Venezia 9/16. I have been tracking the storm, but the various models just seem more and more confusing. I expect to head south, but the coastal route south seems to head towards the storm. 

[Cjonthesea]

5 hours ago, mjmiller said:

So somehow we have to pack for a 5 week motorcycle trip (most of it after the cruise), plus a cruise that could go to Canada or the Bahamas. And all that needs to fit into a little trailer we tow behind the bike. 😂

Here's a sneaky idea:

Make two orders from Amazon, one for cold, one for warm weather clothes. Schedule delivery to a NYC pickup location. Only pickup the one you need. The other will automatically return to Amazon.

[manteonc]

Quebec boarding on 9/16, sail away 9/17?  

Well this is looking interesting. I wonder what happens if you are to board in a port that is scheduled to be hit by a hurricane.  Do they wait until the absolute last minute to pull the plug?  Do you get on board and ride it out at the dock?

[Sun Queen II]

We left Quebec City on Princess CB yesterday the captain informed the passengers that they are closely watching Lee, and may have to “make itinerary changes as the model becomes more clear” He indicated he would have more information tomorrow and Wednesday.  We are supposed to end up in NY on Sept 19 with several stops in ports in Nova Scotia and New England. 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, manteonc said:

Quebec boarding on 9/16, sail away 9/17?  

Well this is looking interesting. I wonder what happens if you are to board in a port that is scheduled to be hit by a hurricane.  Do they wait until the absolute last minute to pull the plug?  Do you get on board and ride it out at the dock?

Interesting questions.  In America at least, if a hurricane is coming to port, the port will close for all traffic at least 12 hours before the storm is scheduled to arrive.  Staying in port is not an option and embarking guests certainly won't be.  This does leave a few options, which will depend on the exact locations and the hurricane forecasts.  And Canada might do things different.  We'll see what they do when they have to do something. 🙏

[Parallel40]

From a friend on a cruise during a hurricane. The ship sailed early.  

“I guess most people were on board when we sailed, and we were glad we had flown in the night before and were alerted at the hotel by the cruise line, but about 200 people were left behind and had to join the ship in Boston Imagine the logistical nightmare for those passengers left behind. The weather was rough the first few days, but the rest of the trip was great.”

[dvan68]

Sitting here 2 days before we board and still no word on rerouting for Insignia.  Bermuda is clearly out, so we suspect Bahamas - but it would be nice to know if Nassau or Freeport, and how long we will be there, since we were supposed to spend 2 days in Bermuda.  Or unless NCL lets Oceania use their private island - which I doubt.  

[Parallel40]

Thank you Honolulu Blue

[Parallel40]

Dvan68. It’s the uncertainty….

[CruiserBruce]

9 hours ago, manteonc said:

Quebec boarding on 9/16, sail away 9/17?  

Well this is looking interesting. I wonder what happens if you are to board in a port that is scheduled to be hit by a hurricane.  Do they wait until the absolute last minute to pull the plug?  Do you get on board and ride it out at the dock?

The last place a ship wants to be during a hurricane is tied to a dock. That's the way to significant damage to the ship, and the dock. Out at sea is better. Not sure if being in the St Lawrence River or Seaway is better, as opposed to the open ocean.

 

Quebec is relatively far inland.  Yes, it's realistic to expect some heavy rain, and some pretty serious wind. But I will guess it won't be a hurricane by the time it reaches Quebec. 

 

The reason they wait is there is much indecision on exactly where the storm will go...still 5 or 6 days out. Little variations of 50 or 100 miles now, and decreasing strength,  can make tons of difference. Can make a serious difference in which way they head, and which ports might still be open.

[clskinsfan]

5 hours ago, dvan68 said:

Sitting here 2 days before we board and still no word on rerouting for Insignia.  Bermuda is clearly out, so we suspect Bahamas - but it would be nice to know if Nassau or Freeport, and how long we will be there, since we were supposed to spend 2 days in Bermuda.  Or unless NCL lets Oceania use their private island - which I doubt.  

We are on the Carnival Magic on the 24th out of Norfolk for a 3 overnight in Bermuda. The weather models have another hurricane right on the heels of Lee. Taking almost an identical path. We chose this cruise for Bermuda. Never been. So we are going to be crushed if we end up in Nassau instead. It is what it is.  

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

We are on the Carnival Magic on the 24th out of Norfolk for a 3 overnight in Bermuda. The weather models have another hurricane right on the heels of Lee. Taking almost an identical path. We chose this cruise for Bermuda. Never been. So we are going to be crushed if we end up in Nassau instead. It is what it is.  

Way to far out to predict...

[LevelB]

HAL sail date from Boston is this Wednesday (9/13), with port calls in Portland (Thursday), Saint John (Friday) and Halifax (Saturday), and so on to Montreal. Lee is currently predicted to impact Saint John and Halifax on Friday/Saturday.

My question is: how does HAL typically handle this? We called, and the call center says we should get an email before our sail date. Is that anytime between now and five minutes before we raise anchor 🙂

Does anyone know how much lead time we might get?

I know our ship needs to get to Montreal for its next cruise (return to Boston). Is it likely they will just skip over our first two stops to outrun the storm? Surely the other ports already have ships scheduled.

Still pretty new to cruise life, any help or insight appreciated.

Not a sailor, but Saint John and Halifax seem poor locations for a storm. 

[CruiserBruce]

6 minutes ago, LevelB said:

HAL sail date from Boston is this Wednesday (9/13), with port calls in Portland (Thursday), Saint John (Friday) and Halifax (Saturday), and so on to Montreal. Lee is currently predicted to impact Saint John and Halifax on Friday/Saturday.

My question is: how does HAL typically handle this? We called, and the call center says we should get an email before our sail date. Is that anytime between now and five minutes before we raise anchor 🙂

Does anyone know how much lead time we might get?

I know our ship needs to get to Montreal for its next cruise (return to Boston). Is it likely they will just skip over our first two stops to outrun the storm? Surely the other ports already have ships scheduled.

Still pretty new to cruise life, any help or insight appreciated.

Not a sailor, but Saint John and Halifax seem poor locations for a storm. 

Portland on is pretty unlikely to be affected. St John a medium to low chance of being affected.  Saturday and Sunday is another question. 

 

Yes, they will make every effort to complete the cruise on schedule.  Alterations will keep that in mind. As mentioned above (have you read the recent posts?) being in port is NOT where you want to be during a hurricane. 

[wiseeyeguy]

Well,  we are to be on NCL Pearl out of Boston 9/15.

NCL not ready to commit, travel insurance doesn’t cover this type cancel,

 

‘’it would if my home was hit by a hurricane!

 

and every port on way to Quebec will be a hit of some sort.

Had high hopes, but going  to Boston and. Will figure it out there.

guess I picked the wrong week……

 

‘’packing the scopolamine, and have the drink package !

 

I don’t envy the NCL decision makers….

so many unknowns 

[Joanzzzz]

6 hours ago, dvan68 said:

Sitting here 2 days before we board and still no word on rerouting for Insignia.  Bermuda is clearly out, so we suspect Bahamas - but it would be nice to know if Nassau or Freeport, and how long we will be there, since we were supposed to spend 2 days in Bermuda.  Or unless NCL lets Oceania use their private island - which I doubt.  

Just heard.  It's the Bahamas.  If Nassau, everyone is going in there.  10K one day, and 20K the other, and that's without the Insignia.  Freeport is way out of town and access to beaches, although with the rip tides, and high waves they have all had, maybe the beaches will be not that great.  It's a shame, but there it is.  NCL island, hope for the best.

[dvan68]

Yes, got this fascinating and informative notice  no dates no times.  Someone from our roll call got someone e on the phone and they said we would be there Saturday and Sunday

[CruiserBruce]

10 hours ago, LevelB said:

HAL sail date from Boston is this Wednesday (9/13), with port calls in Portland (Thursday), Saint John (Friday) and Halifax (Saturday), and so on to Montreal. Lee is currently predicted to impact Saint John and Halifax on Friday/Saturday.

My question is: how does HAL typically handle this? We called, and the call center says we should get an email before our sail date. Is that anytime between now and five minutes before we raise anchor 🙂

Does anyone know how much lead time we might get?

I know our ship needs to get to Montreal for its next cruise (return to Boston). Is it likely they will just skip over our first two stops to outrun the storm? Surely the other ports already have ships scheduled.

Still pretty new to cruise life, any help or insight appreciated.

Not a sailor, but Saint John and Halifax seem poor locations for a storm. 

Looking at the forecast info fresh this morning,  it would suggest to me that the Zaandam might sail east a couple hundred miles, as the storm looks to go almost due north into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They would sail that way for Saturday,  Sunday and maybe Monday at sea. All theory at this time...

[P_M]

Hello all.  We are scheduled to sail the Caribbean Princess on September 19 from NY to New England and Canada.  I'm not having a good feeling about this.  I'm anxious to hear more from the people who are already on this ship, or from anyone else as to whether or not this cruise will happen.  Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

13 minutes ago, P_M said:

Hello all.  We are scheduled to sail the Caribbean Princess on September 19 from NY to New England and Canada.  I'm not having a good feeling about this.  I'm anxious to hear more from the people who are already on this ship, or from anyone else as to whether or not this cruise will happen.  Thanks.

The hurricane will be past by then. It will then depend on damage. 

[P_M]

For everyone's sake, especially those currently on the Caribbean Princess, I hope and pray there will be no damage.