Hurricanes

[Ruste]

This came on an email I receive and I thought some may find it interesting reading.

 

 

Most cruisers were watching the weather last week, as Hurricane Gustav wound its way through the Caribbean, passing directly over Jamaica as a tropical storm and through the Cayman Islands as a hurricane. Considering the storm's potential, these islands escaped relatively unscathed. All Caribbean resorts and cruise ports are open and operating at full capacity.

 

After pounding the western tip of Cuba, Hurricane Gustav entered the Gulf of Mexico as a category 4 hurricane, but weakened to category 2 before making landfall west of New Orleans in Louisiana. Hurricane Gustav caused at least 8 deaths in the U.S. plus flooding and wind damage, but it could have been much worse. It may take several days for all coastal evacuees to return to their homes, as power and water must be fully restored.

 

As is typical when tropical storms or hurricanes move through the Caribbean, cruise ships scheduled to be in or near Gustav's path were diverted far away from the storm to ensure the safety of passengers and crew and to provide a stress-free and enjoyable cruise experience.

 

For example, Carnival and Royal Caribbean altered the itineraries of some Western Caribbean-bound ships, sailing to ports in the Eastern Caribbean and Bahamas instead.

 

Also, Carnival ships that had been scheduled to return to Galveston and Mobile on September 1 will now return on September 3, due to the temporary closure of those ports (two bonus days of cruising). Guests on the now-abbreviated sailings that follow may cancel with a full refund or cruise with a partial refund and future cruise discount.

 

Meanwhile, another storm system, Hanna, is hovering between tropical storm and hurricane status and could reach the southeast coast of the U.S. later this week. As I write this, Hanna is expected to come close to the Bahamas, so lines are expected to cancel calls there and divert to different destinations such as the Western Caribbean or Bermuda.

 

We're keeping a close eye on this storm, and will report any impact on our resort and cruise destinations next week.

[kaseyoz]

I have read that the hurricane season is finished by the end of November, I truly hope so, but with the new emerging weather patterns I don't think anything is for sure these days.

 

We sail the end of December.

 

At least some got a couple of days extra, wonder if they had to pay for them

[gizzigoo]

Ruth,thanks for posting this

It makes for an interesting read regarding cruising. I do hope that Hanna doesn't strengthen as it moves closer.

 

Glenda

[chironex]

I live in Florida - part of the parcel (lived in the tropics in Aust. for 5 years also - hmm must love the tropics).

 

What they do is divert around the cyclone - they may reverse the itinerary, change it or shorten it (then they give you a refund and usually a discount off another cruise to be used by dec 09).

 

One of my sis in laws just got off the boat today .. she said it was perfectly smooth all the way(5 day cruise).

 

We are going on a 7 day cruise on Sunday - it is meant to be to nassau, st thomas and st maarten - but I think they will change it to the west side. I don't care - we got a 7 day cruise for $319!! And they upgraded us to the Lido deck!!:)

 

If you are cruising in the dry season here .. you shouldn't have a problem - it just is a little cooler. Also if it is a US school holiday time .. expect a lot of kids. All the people from up north love to come down to Fl to escape the weather. And they love to cruise during that time too.

 

When I went on the Fairstar .. they diverted from Fiji - because of the coup. So you can be diverted for other reasons than weather. Just enjoy it either way!

[Brossy]

I live in Florida - part of the parcel (lived in the tropics in Aust. for 5 years also - hmm must love the tropics).

 

What they do is divert around the cyclone - they may reverse the itinerary, change it or shorten it (then they give you a refund and usually a discount off another cruise to be used by dec 09).

 

One of my sis in laws just got off the boat today .. she said it was perfectly smooth all the way(5 day cruise).

 

We are going on a 7 day cruise on Sunday - it is meant to be to nassau, st thomas and st maarten - but I think they will change it to the west side. I don't care - we got a 7 day cruise for $319!! And they upgraded us to the Lido deck!!:)

 

If you are cruising in the dry season here .. you shouldn't have a problem - it just is a little cooler. Also if it is a US school holiday time .. expect a lot of kids. All the people from up north love to come down to Fl to escape the weather. And they love to cruise during that time too.

 

When I went on the Fairstar .. they diverted from Fiji - because of the coup. So you can be diverted for other reasons than weather. Just enjoy it either way!

 

That was the itinerary we were supposed to do when we went on the Paradise but Hurricane Lenny was around so Carnival reversed our itinerary and did the western caribbean instead. We were lucky bcoz we had never been there so we didn't mind and long as we got to cruise but there were others on the ship doing a back to back....lucky them getting to do cozumel twice :D

[gizzigoo]

I live in Florida - part of the parcel (lived in the tropics in Aust. for 5 years also - hmm must love the tropics).

 

What they do is divert around the cyclone - they may reverse the itinerary, change it or shorten it (then they give you a refund and usually a discount off another cruise to be used by dec 09).

 

One of my sis in laws just got off the boat today .. she said it was perfectly smooth all the way(5 day cruise).

 

We are going on a 7 day cruise on Sunday - it is meant to be to nassau, st thomas and st maarten - but I think they will change it to the west side. I don't care - we got a 7 day cruise for $319!! And they upgraded us to the Lido deck!!:)

 

If you are cruising in the dry season here .. you shouldn't have a problem - it just is a little cooler. Also if it is a US school holiday time .. expect a lot of kids. All the people from up north love to come down to Fl to escape the weather. And they love to cruise during that time too.

 

When I went on the Fairstar .. they diverted from Fiji - because of the coup. So you can be diverted for other reasons than weather. Just enjoy it either way!

 

Wow, that price seems so amazing, wish we could get those prices here! Hopefully we will get to do our Caribbean cruise in the near future.

 

You are right with the weather, the wet season is always the most risky here too with cyclones and terrible weather. In all honesty here from April throught till October is good then the weather can get a bit ugly sometimes. But it's not as often as people may think and with all the technology now they can avoid the difficult spots.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Wow, that price seems so amazing, wish we could get those prices here! Hopefully we will get to do our Caribbean cruise in the near future.

 

Thats what competetion and a big market does.

I have friends heading over for a Caribbean cruise and there will be 10 other cruise ships in Fort Lauderdale on the same day.

Cruises in the Caribbean are cheap.

What a shame the airfare over there costs so much.

Perhaps thats why P&O charge so much down here.:eek:

[chironex]

Wow, that price seems so amazing, wish we could get those prices here! Hopefully we will get to do our Caribbean cruise in the near future.

 

You are right with the weather, the wet season is always the most risky here too with cyclones and terrible weather. In all honesty here from April throught till October is good then the weather can get a bit ugly sometimes. But it's not as often as people may think and with all the technology now they can avoid the difficult spots.

 

Unfortunately here .. they add tax, port fees, $10 pp pd tips on top of this - but all up it came to around $885 us total for two people. Still a pretty good deal.

 

The thing they slog you with is the drinks - $4.75 I think for a Corona + 15% on top of that. If you are going to come to the US to do a cruise ... check out the Rumrunner.com site .. apparently everyone smuggles booze onboard as the cost is horrific. Oh by the way a 12 pk of Corona here is $11.99 :). If you want to drink the domestic crap (aka Bud, etc - you can get a 12 pk for around $7.00), a 1.75 ltr of Smirnoff is about $18. And Cigs are 3 pks for under $10!. (these are florida prices - they change from state to state). Forget doing duty free .. the prices here are waaaay cheaper.

 

And best of all ... once you get to Mexico - you can get Corona for really cheap! As well as Cuban cigars and really nice, cheap silver, torquoise jewelry.

[chironex]

Thats what competetion and a big market does.

I have friends heading over for a Caribbean cruise and there will be 10 other cruise ships in Fort Lauderdale on the same day.

Cruises in the Caribbean are cheap.

What a shame the airfare over there costs so much.

Perhaps thats why P&O charge so much down here.:eek:

 

But when it comes down to it .. I think the Sth Pacific kicks arse. You don't have the crowds and they are the same sort of beaches. After all a beach is a beach. I just go here as it is cheap and I happen to live in Fl.

 

But .. do they do National parks here. Fantastic!!! I kayak fish (and I was never a fisherwoman before) - but the mangroves are really pristine. Much better than FNQ. I have seen more dolphins, manatees and turtles here in 5 yrs than I ever saw in Mission Beach, Australia. Have caught some HUGE fish - last week hooked a 4-5"Tarpon on my little hook on kayak - took me on a 600m at least "sleigh ride". And the Everglades is just wonderful. The Florida Keys are a little tacky .. but fishing is fantastic!!

 

If you are coming over to Fl to do a cruise .. make sure you stay for a week or so extra and see some of the sights. No I am not afflicated with the travel industy. I am an Australian, who appreciates what cities/states have to offer.:)