Sailing During Hurricane Season

[xlivin0naprayerx]

hey. i want to thank everyone in advance for their help. my family is planning a cruise in august of this coming summer. it will be our first time sailing during hurricane season. unfortunately, due to school vacations, summer committments, and other miscellaneous factors, this is the one time we can sail (can be on the boat from about aug 15-aug 31/sept 1)...my mother is a little worried about it being hurricane season though. is this a valid concern? has anyone had problems? if so, were they minimal and how were they handled? thanks again

[captbill]

Modern ships can generally "outrun" or go around hurricanes, though you may still experience less than desireable weather (wind, high seas). In my view, your biggest risk is the possibility of ports being changed or eliminated. If you can live with this possibility, then fear not!

[cruzincurt]

If you recall, the first hurricane hit Florida August 13th, followed by three more within 6 weeks. Some cruises were cancelled, others had shortened trips or were extended by a couple of days until the hurricane passed the home ports. The good thing, if there is one, the hurricanes generally travel pretty fast and don't linger in one area for long. The weather the day before is sunny and calm, but stormy for a day or two after because of the outer bands and which side of the hurricane (east or west)you happen to be on.

 

It's a roll of the dice; who would have expected 4 hurricanes within 6 weeks all aimed at Florida? The ships at sea changed their routes to avoid the hurricanes. That's why the rates are a bit cheaper during hurricane season. Because of hirricane season, we cruise in May and November.

[mr green]

Any cruise ship can outrun a storm, but, there is always the chance of a dock being damaged, causing any given cruise to be disrupted. Nothing is certain in this life, but to minimise the risk we avoid the Caribbean during 'hurricane season'.Try Hawaii, or New England, the 'storm problem' is usually less in both areas. Good luck.:) john taylor.

[bUU]

I learned a good deal about cruising during hurricane season, by reading the hundreds, if not thousands, of messages about it here on Cruise Critic. I think that is one of the great services Cruise Critic can provide xlivin0naprayerx: I encourage you to do a thorough search of the message archives here for August and September of this year. There was a vast array of threads about cruising the Caribbean and North Atlantic during that time of year, and the final conclusion by most of the people, as far as I recall, was basically along the lines of "Don't book a cruise during hurricane season unless you're prepared for it being cancelled and / or radically changed, including embarkation and debarkation dates, length of the cruise, ports-of-call, etc., with only minimal compensation for your inconvenience." The compensation for the impact the weather could have on these cruises is, essentially, already factored-into the very low cruise fare being offered for these cruises.

 

Oh, and one more thing I learned: Do not skimp on cruise insurance, and separate travel insurance if you book your flights yourself. Shop around and find the insurance that provides the highest level of protection, with only minimal regard for the cost.

 

That's what I learned from the folks here on Cruise Critic about this.

[RichardK]

Good job..........and in two short paragraphs, bicker says precisely everything that needs to be said!!

[Bequia]

I would much prefer to be on a cruise ship then in my home during a hurricane.

[spongerob]

Bicker pretty much said it all. Hurricanes can't be cancelled, cruises can. That's the risk with any cruise no matter the time of year. I would expect that next year, all the cruise lines will have more stringent guidelines regarding compensation for shortened and/or cancelled voyages. I should hasten to add that this year, all carriers went far beyond what was within contractual obligations.

[InSearchOfSunshine]

when exactly does hurricane season begin? does it start in august or before that? people have told me different things, so just want to get the facts straight! thanks!:)

[Bequia]

Hurricane season officially begins June 1st and ends November 30th.

[bUU]

However, the risk is really considered severe in August and September (with July and October being moderately risky).

[Penguin69]

Hello, Well since we just returned from our cruise, the one in which Jeanne decided to join us on..... I'll tell you what happened to us. Our cruise stated on Sept 19th, 2004 that was the month that every hurricane out there wanted to see their name on TV. When we left Miami however, Jeanne was heading Northeast away from Fla. and the weather was great. But a couple days into the cruise, the Capt announced that because Jeanne was a female and we all know how those women are...., she had decided to make an about turn and was now coming back towards Fla. for a second time. During the whole cruise, however, you could not tell that there was even a hurricane in the ocean. The Voyagers class ships are super and most definately our Capt. was Super as well. You really can't feel the class of ships rock because of the way they are built - and I can now even say the same thing for the ships during the hurricane season.

 

Now towards the end of the cruise when we were heading back towards Florida, that's when you could see the white caps on the water (if you went out on the deck at night to watch it). And that was because the ship was really moving thru the water - but it was so cool to watch her slice through the water at such speed. The Capt was very good at constantly keeping everyone up tp date on what was happening (he even put on a slide show presentation one day in the theater if you wanted to attend, so you could hear what was happening on the coast etc).

 

During the presentation is when we found out, that when we left from Miami (for our Eastern Caribbean), the Capt decided to take a different route (going by the inside of Cuba, verses the outside) just to make our trip smooth and enjoyable. And we really didnt' know that until he told us and really didn't care as long as the cruise was smooth, as we were on vacation, and had plenty of food, drinks and there was fun to be had.

 

The only thing that did mess us up were a few cancelled excursions (which the money was refunded back to us without a problem). example: I was suppose to be going on the St. John's Beach Tour, but that was cancelled. So I ended up going into town and went shopping instead. Now my husbands excursion however, (B.O.B. - Breathing Observation Bubble) was St. Thomas (same port however) and his was okay. And he also mentioned how much he LOVED IT and highly recommends it. So it just depends on what excursion you choose and what that part of the Island may have been damaged by the hurricance. They did also cancelled our excursion in Nassau because of the hurricane, so we were out at sea another day, but you know what, we really didn't mind it. They had a full day already planned for us (in case we couldn't pull into port - very organized).

 

Now we were suppose to return back to Miami on Sunday, but because of Jeanne, Karl etc, we were stuck at sea another day. The only time we really felt the weather (hurricane effects) was on Saturday. This is when the Capt announced that we would not be able to pull into port but we would be at sea another day. That really broke our hearts - another day at sea - free food, drinks etc... We did have to go outside (deck 11) in order to get an outside land line (with our cell phone), and reschedule our flights home for the following day. This is the only day that we really felt the weather - raining and high winds. As far as compensating you - they provided free phone service to the airlines (but the waiting time was acouple of hours - thank God we took our cell phone).

 

didn't take the added insurnace, but we were able to change our flight on American Airlines without a plenty charge - then once we docked in Miami, the flight we booked on the ship ended up getting cancelled and again American changed our flights to the next day, and still did not change us. They even gave us a voucher for $60.00 towards a nights stay at one of the near by hotels. I'm sure the best way to go would be to take Insurance, because my father-in-law took it and he was glad they took the insurance because his airline did charge him for changing his flight and he had to pay for this hotel (no voucher). So by him taking the insurnace, they reimbursed him all charges. I guess we were just lucky (this time).

 

Now would I take another cruise in Sept. probably yes. One because of the great price we got, and because we really didn't feel like we were out in a hurricane - the folks back at home were more worried about us than we were. The Capt also mentioned that in his 18 years at sea, has never seen this many hurricanes all at the same time/month as he has this year has. So I guess this year was the first (and hopefully the last of back to back hurricanes). Since returning back home, I've heard we got so many hurricanes because of the water temperatures in Africia. So check out there temperature before you cruise in Sept and be prepared for anything, but you will have a super time no matter when you go. Enjoy the warn weather, sun, fun and all the super folks you'll meet.... no matter when you go.

 

Happy cruising,

[Bequia]

when exactly does hurricane season begin? does it start in august or before that? people have told me different things, so just want to get the facts straight! thanks!

However, the risk is really considered severe in August and September (with July and October being moderately risky).

If you live in Florida and you've experienced a hurricane the risk is from June 1st through November 30th.

[bUU]

My wife lived on the east coast of Florida for 30 years, and didn't experience a severe hurricane outside of August and September more than once.

[Bequia]

Only takes once. ;)

[mr green]

I do not believe that there is any place in this world to live, or to cruise in that is without some of form of natural, or man made disaster. However, hurricanes can be avoided, and, for a potential cruiser's peace of mind, should be. Just think, a month before your cruise, the first thing that you will look at each day will be the weather report. I know, we were lucky a few years ago, we sailed between two of them, George was one but I do not recall the other. Never again! All the best for a safe cruise john taylor.