Share Your Hurricane Horror Story

[melgray13]

I like to be prepared for worst case. I cruised last Sept and we had some rain and a bit of rough weather. However, I know there are much more serious stories out there of hurricanes impacting your vacation. I want to be prepared for the worst :) Share you story.

[CoxAndr]

Actually, I've sailed near three different hurricanes...the one that particularly sticks out in my mind is Katrina. In all cases, the cruise lines made every effort to make sure our vacation was nothing less than perfect. We were scheduled to leave out of Tampa on the Miracle two years ago on Carnival but Katrina was coming into the Gulf, so they bussed us down to Ft Lauderdale and we sailed our regular itinerary with beautiful weather.

 

I don't mind cruising during hurricane season because I know the cruise lines generally have the guests' best interests in mind. I am leaving on 8/25 on the Glory out of PC and anticipate that we will have a wonderful cruise, no matter what the circumstances.

[donaldsc]

What is the point of knowing the worse case scenario? If you are on the ship, there is nothing you can do about it and worrying about an event that is not likely to happen will only ruin your vacation.

 

The only proactive response you can do to a possible hurricane is to cancel your vacation.

 

DON

[Cinedan]

I was on Carnival Fascination during Hurricane Katrina. We returned to Miami going half speed from Cozumel. This gave us an extra day at sea. The second to the last day the water was a bit rough with some heavy rain at times. I love the gentle rocking of the ship and love to look at the waves. Yes, I'm the storm chaser type. Here is a link to pictures from the cruise: (hope this works)

 

I am booked on the same ship for the Aug 27th 2007 cruise. Looks like Hurricane Dean should not be a problem for me. There's still time for new storms to form. I don't mind an itinerary change but hope a storm does not close the port of Miami for the start of my cruise.

[mwiley48]

I dont have one yet but I'm sure I will by this weekend. We are sailing on the 19th on Carnival to the western carribbean. Too late to cancel, friends from everywhere are already there. Thats ok though I think we will probably end up in the eastern carribbean.:)

[CoxAndr]

I say...don't worry about things you can't change. Just go and have a great time and try not to speculate on what might happen :)

[flvol77]

We were hit by Jeanne and Frances with in two weeks of each other no power for 30 days total - we ate a lot of mac and chesse and learned to cook a lot of things on the grill. Very rough times.

[GuitarPlayer]

Was scheduled to leave out of Ft Lauderdale on Monday, Oct 24, 2005. Flew into FLL Sunday night, hoping to get out and away from FL before Wilma blew through. We were about 12 hours too late, and it postponed embarkation by two days. We were without power and water for those two days. Ended up getting a van to Miami, where they had power and water. Stayed the third night there...a hot shower was nice after two days without.

 

Got on the Legend in Miami on Weds (not Monday :(), and sailed a 6 day eastern rather than an 8 day southern route. The ship was probably just over half full. Lines were nowhere to be found. Had a balcony off the very back of the ship. LOVED IT!. Got a 25% refund on cruise price, and some OBC ($50 pp? I think). All in all, it was an adventure, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. I wish I knew then, what I know now...I would have had the corner wraparound balcony cabin! It went empty the whole cruise. Our room steward unlocked it and showed us what it looked like.

VERRRRRYYYYY NIIIIICCCEEE!

 

I have some pictures posted of Wilma's wrath here http://jjj.dyndns.org/~cruise/wilma.html.

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Airport North, which we found out was built to withstand hurricanes, and even some local folks booked rooms there to ride it out. That made us feel a little better. Also, we had walked over to the Winn-Dixie grocery store and bought some snacks and a case of bottled water. That really came in handy over the next day and a half or so.

 

GP

[flamingos]

We spent the eyewall of Andrew in a tiny bathroom with two men holding the door shut by putting their feet on the sink and their backs against the mattress holding the door shut; we retreated to the bathroom after the windows blew in (1/2 inch plywood shutters included).

Spending my time avoiding a hurricane on a cruise ship with only an itinerary change - not a problem. ;)

[vafamily5]

Don't worry the ship will not place you in any danger.

 

This does not apply to the original PO or any of the other posts so far in this thread. But.......

 

I know that alot of people are intrigued with hurricanes (as well as tornado's) But, I am baffled as to why some people want to know every detail of the carnage in the aftermath of a hurricane. I live in Virginia Beach and have had my share of hurricanes (minor) and that was bad enough. Insurance does not usually cover everything a person loses. Look at Katrina...I hope I never have to see another hurricane like that in my lifetime. Those poor poor people.

[vacruizer]

Don't worry the ship will not place you in any danger.

 

This does not apply to the original PO or any of the other posts so far in this thread. But.......

 

I know that alot of people are intrigued with hurricanes (as well as tornado's) But, I am baffled as to why some people want to know every detail of the carnage in the aftermath of a hurricane. I live in Virginia Beach and have had my share of hurricanes (minor) and that was bad enough. Insurance does not usually cover everything a person loses. Look at Katrina...I hope I never have to see another hurricane like that in my lifetime. Those poor poor people.

 

I also hope to never be in another one. I am originally from your area - grew up in NN. Isabel a few years ago left 4 trees on my parents house in Portsmouth, countless others down in the yard and no power or drinkable water for 15 days. I went to help them clean up almost a month later and the devastation and debris were still incredible at the point. Luckily they had heeded the warnings and evacuated inland during the storm so the weren't in the house when the trees fell on it. This was from what was considered a "minor" hurricane.

[vafamily5]

I also hope to never be in another one. I am originally from your area - grew up in NN. Isabel a few years ago left 4 trees on my parents house in Portsmouth, countless others down in the yard and no power or drinkable water for 15 days. I went to help them clean up almost a month later and the devastation and debris were still incredible at the point. Luckily they had heeded the warnings and evacuated inland during the storm so the weren't in the house when the trees fell on it. This was from what was considered a "minor" hurricane.

 

You are so correct about Isabel. We took our kids and left for Raleigh, NC before Isabel hit, since we were informed that it could be really bad. It was a nice time visiting NC State campus (my husband is an alumni and had played baseball for the Wolfpack many years ago). Thankfully Isabel was not as bad as predicted. However, as much damage as she left, I don't want to know what a real bad one would do.

[Daycare Provider]

We were on the Carnival Conquest when Katrina came through. We started in New Orleans and finished in Galveston. Luckily we were able to see all of ports of call. The ship only rocked and rolled one night.

[SillySoul]

We spent the eyewall of Andrew in a tiny bathroom with two men holding the door shut by putting their feet on the sink and their backs against the mattress holding the door shut; we retreated to the bathroom after the windows blew in (1/2 inch plywood shutters included).

 

Spending my time avoiding a hurricane on a cruise ship with only an itinerary change - not a problem. ;)

We rode out Andrew in Homestead doing the same thing you did! That was the worst night of my life. We lost everything, the house was totaled. We could not fit our dogs in the bathroom with us. I could not believe it when a friend that lived in Hollywood actually saw a picture of my dead pet in what used to be the living room in the newspaper. Needless to say, we left the area. My husband and I went on a cruise only to meet Wilma. We got back just in time to put up the shutters and get slammed by her. Glad you are ok.

[vafamily5]

We rode out Andrew in Homestead doing the same thing you did! That was the worst night of my life. We lost everything, the house was totaled. We could not fit our dogs in the bathroom with us. I could not believe it when a friend that lived in Hollywood actually saw a picture of my dead pet in what used to be the living room in the newspaper. Needless to say, we left the area. My husband and I went on a cruise only to meet Wilma. We got back just in time to put up the shutters and get slammed by her. Glad you are ok.

 

OMG, that is awful. I am so sorry about your dogs. And I am so sorry for your losses. I really hate hearing this kind of stuff. I makes me feel so sad

[CapeChris]

Well, this wasn't really a hurricane, but 20 years ago, you could sail out of Miami on SeaEscape to Freeport and back in the same day for $90. One trip, on the way home, we hit bad weather. The ship was rocking back and forth, and while in the lounge, where the windows were on both sides of the room, you could see all water from the window on the left and all sky from the window on the right. Wait a few seconds and it was all sky on the left and all water on the right. Back and forth we rocked. You could feel the bow bouncing up and down. People were sick all over the place, and most of the passengers didn't have a cabin to retire to. At dinner, left hand on the plate, right hand on the glass, get the feel of the waves, let go of the glass, grab the fork, food in the mouth, fork down and grab the glass again right before it left the table. I was the only one there eating, everyone else was green, lol. In the disco, on the third deck, you had to hang on to the railing to dance, because you'd pick up your foot and when you put it back on the floor, the floor wasn't where you left it. We were standing on the sofas to look out the windows at the waves going by..... from the third deck. I loved it........like a 6 hour roller coaster ride. The next cruise is to the E Caribbean on Carnival Triumph on 8/25, guess we're gonna miss this storm.

[flamingos]

We rode out Andrew in Homestead doing the same thing you did! That was the worst night of my life. We lost everything, the house was totaled. We could not fit our dogs in the bathroom with us. I could not believe it when a friend that lived in Hollywood actually saw a picture of my dead pet in what used to be the living room in the newspaper. Needless to say, we left the area. My husband and I went on a cruise only to meet Wilma. We got back just in time to put up the shutters and get slammed by her. Glad you are ok.

 

We're still there. After Andrew, they've all been a walk in the park. Generators are a good thing - the longest we were without power was after Wilma - 3 weeks, but we were the first with power back. Our power pole cracked in Dennis, got repaired (finally) after Katrina and so stood up to Rita & Wilma. :)

 

Being on a ship in rough weather is not any fun, but the companies are pretty good about keeping out of high seas. The only real problem is if your port of debarkation is closed.....then you either get an exta day or two, or you have to go to an alternate port and re-arrange your travel.

[Lady Librarian]

We were hit by Jeanne and Frances with in two weeks of each other no power for 30 days total - we ate a lot of mac and chesse and learned to cook a lot of things on the grill. Very rough times.

There's a nifty book out there for times like this, The storm gourmet: a guide to creating extraordinary meals without electricity by Daphne Nikolopoulos.

[snickmcfee]

We have had two experiences with hurricane related cruises. I don't remember the actual year (late 80's) but one time in August we were in Bermuda on the Nordic Prince (I think) and left port a day early. The ride back to NY was quite rough with probably over 33% of the ships passengers sick and quite a few of them actually sleeping in the lobby of the ship overnight. A know a lot of crackers were handed out by room service and luckily both my wife and I survived without being sick.

We moved to Florida in 1990 and two years ago we experienced three hurricanes coming through central Florida. Fortunately or unfortunately we were on the Voyager of the Seas for the middle hurricane (Francis). We did everything in our power to get contact with friends and neighbors to make sure that our dogs (which were in a kennel) would be taken care of because the ship could not return to port on time and we were extended. When the announcement first came that we would be delayed the ship was chaos. Well actually the passengers were chaos, the crew was extremely organized and handled the whole situation well. A good story coming from that trip was initially we could not make contact with our friends at home. We talked to the hotel manager who was taking abuse from all directions. It is amazing that some people do not understand that the ship's personnel do not have any control over the hurricanes. We actually saw two ladies yelling at a ship's officer telling him that RCCL did this on purpose to get them to stay on the ship and spend more money. Amazing! Well after talking to the hotel manager, he told us to continue to try and get contact through the Internet and if we couldn't come down to his office in one hour. However we couldn't make contact so we went down to his office. He went in the back and came out with a bag and told us to follow him. We went up on the highest deck and he pulled out an emergency phone and attempted to call our friends in Orlando. He couldn't get a signal but I will tell his that his effort has made us life long RCCI fans and will continue to support the company through thick and thin. Oh ya, we got an e-mail through latter that day and the dogs were just fine.

 

Snickmcfee

Monarch of the Seas (2)

Song of Norway (2)

Song of America (2)

Sovereign of the Seas (2)

Legend of the Seas (2)

Nordkapp

Sea Princess (2)

Grand Princess (2)

Sun Princess

Star Princess

Pacific Princess

Sun Viking

Nordic Prince

Viking Serenade

Grandeur of the Seas

Legend of the Seas

Norwegian Sea

Mariner of the Seas (5)

Naviagator of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Spendour of the Seas

[tomcruiser1234]

Our worst cruise ride was not in a Huricane but in a strong storm off FLL.

 

In late 80's early ninety's, not for sure exact date. RCL bought out Emerald of the Sea's cruise line and we took our 2 kid's on their first cruise over spring break on this old converted transport cruise ship. (Really not a bad ship for first time, However we did not know)

 

Well they kept annoucing to take med's cause it was going to be rough until they made it to the gulf stream, some 200 miles from FLL and then it would be calm.

 

However all the spring breakers were drinking up a storm and not listening ( they let them drink @ 18 then). Everything was fun until they started out of port. As soon as we broke past the Jetty you new you were in for a ride. The rough ride only lasted maybe 8 hours but the Captain did not slow down. Well needless to say by dinner time ( which was Italian food get the picture) the ship was a real mess. The small shops were a wreck and the wife and kid's were sick for a day. however as they Captain said it was calm there after.

 

But till today that was the roughest cruise time we ever had. Maybe because it was a smaller ship, but it still seemed like "THE PERFECT STORM" :rolleyes:

[Kittybork]

There's a nifty book out there for times like this, The storm gourmet: a guide to creating extraordinary meals without electricity by Daphne Nikolopoulos.

 

 

We always eat better immediately after a hurricane than any other time. Everyone cooks up all of the food in the freezer to keep from losing it. We take turns eating at each other's houses and all bring what we've prepared.

 

It's amazing what can be done with a Bar-B-Que pit and a butane burner!

[CGBCruiser]

We live South of Houston just 10 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico so when hurricane is headed in our direction we have forced evacuations. Well, in September, 2005, when Rita came close on the heels of Katrina, we were forced to evacuate. That is bad enough as it was a nightmare of an evacuation...it took some people 32 hours to drive to San Antonio from here which is normally a 3 1/2 hour drive. We left early enough so we only had to drive 5 hours to our destination instead of the normal 3. But, to make matters worse, my daughter was getting married on September 24th. So, on Sept. 20th we had to make the decision to cancel the wedding and reschedule the entire event for two weeks later. Lots of tears from the bride-to-be! Luckily, we were able to reschedule everything and the wedding went off on October 8th without a hitch. BUT, evacuating with the normal amount of items you have to take PLUS a wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses (her 2 sisters were in her wedding too!), plus ALL the wedding paraphernalia, was absolutely crazy. After living on the Texas Gulf Coast for 30 years, we are somewhat used to boarding up and evacuation, but that time was horrible! :(

[boingy300]

Category 2 hurricane: We stayed in a hotel in the Bahamas<Freeport> in the early 90's. The airport was closing as we landed. At the hotel they offered a buffet,as no one could go out. In this room the walls were covered with heavy velvet-type material. Candles were on all the tables, as there was no power. Children were running around the room (See what could happen?) I sat near the fire doors thinking "This place could go up like a roman candle". On the other side of the fire doors was a hallway to the bathroom. I went to go out the fire doors and realized they were locked. The hotel didn't want anyone sneaking in their $20pp lunchmeat party so they LOCKED the fire doors. We would've been crushed in a fire,with no escape. I threw a fit until they unlocked them. My only fit ever and I own it. I still have memories of the Beverly Hills supper club. Be very cautious in those situations! I even followed up with a letter to the manager, they didn't get it and simply refunded my buffet money, which wasn't what I was looking for (better safety training). It was frustrating.

Karen

[Bassic]

We live South of Houston just 10 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico so when hurricane is headed in our direction we have forced evacuations. Well, in September, 2005, when Rita came close on the heels of Katrina, we were forced to evacuate. That is bad enough as it was a nightmare of an evacuation...it took some people 32 hours to drive to San Antonio from here which is normally a 3 1/2 hour drive. We left early enough so we only had to drive 5 hours to our destination instead of the normal 3. But, to make matters worse, my daughter was getting married on September 24th. So, on Sept. 20th we had to make the decision to cancel the wedding and reschedule the entire event for two weeks later. Lots of tears from the bride-to-be! Luckily, we were able to reschedule everything and the wedding went off on October 8th without a hitch. BUT, evacuating with the normal amount of items you have to take PLUS a wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses (her 2 sisters were in her wedding too!), plus ALL the wedding paraphernalia, was absolutely crazy. After living on the Texas Gulf Coast for 30 years, we are somewhat used to boarding up and evacuation, but that time was horrible! :(

Sounds like you live near me, in TC or LM...we spent 11.5 hours on Hwy 146 before we hit I-10 eastbound. Then it was another 11 hours to Biloxi, where we spent the night. Then another 8 into Macon, GA to my dad's house. It was a nightmare! We're staying the next time. Got a gennie, plenty of water, plenty of canned food, a BBQ with a side burner, so we should be OK.

 

Back in 79, I was in military school, and one of my schoolmates' family owned a bunch of supertankers. He and I got slots on one as Ordinary Seamen (we were 14 at the time). Our first night out of NY harbor, we were empty and riding high when the storm hit. We turned into the storm, and I went to the bridge. Everyone on board was horribly sick, even the Captain. The First Mate and I, and one engineer in the engine room were the only ones not affected. I will always remember the ship sliding up the face of the waves until it got to the tipping point, looking like we were standing on our tail, nothing but storm clouds and rain on the windows; then the horrible creaks and moans from the ship as it slammed down into the next set of waves, the bow and fo'csle disappearing into the foamy waves. On top of that, we had a good deal of twisting going on, the side-to-side roll being magnified a great deal by the pitching. SO it was like being on a roller coaster that wouldn't end! I thought it was pretty cool that the FM turned the ship over to me for about two minutes to go get the reports off the telex. He told me to keep it on the current heading no matter what, and to hold on! He came back and let me stay at the helm for awhile, we talked, and listened to the Captain heaving in his bathroom! After a few hours, the Captain had recovered, and took over the helm, and I went below. The smell of that many people being that sick almost got to me! But I was able to make it to my cabin, which was about 1/3 the size of a cruise ship cabin, and fell out after adjusting my porthole to be open just a crack. The FM later told me that was the worst time they had ever had in a storm, because we were empty and bobbing like a cork. The rest of the crew was fine the next day as well, and everything got back to normal. I don't get seasick, I'm proud to say, and that was one hell of a ride! :D

[CGBCruiser]

We do live close to you...we live in Lake Jackson/Freeport area. Thankfully, I was able to only drive for 5 hours, but we have other relatives here that left only two hours after us and it took them 32 hours for SA. It was a nightmare. I know there will be lots of people that stay next time. We had a few people from LJ that were evacuated from nursing homes and the hospital that passed away in a shelter in Bryan/College Station. Hopefully, all the people in the Houston area that don't need to evacuate will stay put or at least let us down here on the coast out first!

 

Glad I wasn't on that ship. My husband was in the Navy and he's got a few stories to tell too! - Charla