Sailing in September

[daisy7113]

We are thinking of sailing beginning of September from Florida. My question is about hurricanne. Has anyone ever sailed this time of year before to the Eastern or Western Caribbean and have you ever run into a hurricane? We would take the trip insurance but I don't know if it would cover anything or we could cancel if a hurricane was due. Thanks for your input.

[DDnRD]

This will be cruise 8, and our 4th in the month of Sept. Never had a problem, knock on wood. Just relax, they know what they're doing.

[tinabinab]

As far as cruising in September, there are never any guarantees when you cruise during hurricane season. We've taken three cruises now out of Galveston during huricane season - twice when there was "activity" in the gulf. Only once have we been able to tell that there was something stirring in the gulf. The ship was a TINY bit rocky, but it was very subtle - not really that bad. The ships stablizers really keep a lot of the motion down to a minimum plus the crew is on-top of the weather situations and will not put their bazillion dollar investment or its passengers in harms way. :)

 

We cruised two years ago during Rita and never saw a bit of bad weather - and never felt ANY rocking or unusual movement on the boat. They steered clear of the bad weather and we actually ended up getting three extra days on board out of it. No we didn't get any "compensation", but I think most people felt that none was needed. We just felt bad for the folks scheduled on our boat the following week as their only option was to take a very abbreviated trip or wait and cruise later.

 

Actually the worse part of that experience was sitting with a couple that kept complaining how everytime they cruise during hurricane season, something happens. DH actually said to the gal one night - "Then why do you cruise during hurricane season?!"

 

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that September is definitely high season for hurricanes and there is always a chance that one may have an impact on your trip. If you go into it with the right expectations (that you may have to be a little flexible) you're likely to have a fantastic vacation and come back wondering why you fretted over it in the first place.

 

Good luck on your decision!

Tina

[Sue L]

You need to be flexible to sail in hurricane season, they could change ports or miss ports if there is a storm in the area. They will not put the ship, crew and passengers in harm's way so they could change the itinerary to accomplish it. If you can live with the uncertainty than definitely book it. We did last year to Bermuda, sailed between two hurricanes and had beautiful weather. But I packed a few warm weather things in case we ended up in Canada.:D

[waterrats]

We have cruised 4 Septembers in a row with our fifth booked for this year. Our first cruise was just fine. Our Second and third were affected by hurricanes. Our itineraries were changed and one year we ended up with two extra days. Last year we had no problems again. It is just hit or miss so hopefully you will be lucky in picking your cruise. As far as getting on the ship, the hurricane just needs to avoid your port of embarkation by at least three days to just get you on the ship. For us, as long as we are on the ship, we don't care where we go.

 

Joe

[Straughn]

We have cruised 15 times in either Sept. or Oct.-prime hurricane season. Other than some occasional rough water or rain, only one of our cruises was impacted by a hurricane. We joke about our unlucky thirteenth cruise, which sailed a day late, and missed three of its five ports due to two different hurricanes in the Gulf and Caribbean.

 

Do we still cruise during hurricane season? You bet. The late summer, early fall time frame suits our work schedules, the prices are lower and as somone else said--as long as the ship sails, we really don't care where it goes.