For the most part, the princess and I choose to cruise during the winter.
Living in the northeastern United States, there's nothing better than
trading the cold and snow for the sunny Caribbean; although, as we've begun to
travel more often, we have undoubtedly begun cruising
during what is typically referred to as hurricane season. In fact, our first
attempt at sailing this time of year was a family vacation on Royal Caribbean's
Adventure the Seas in 2015. Well, a hurricane and a tropical storm later,
along with two itinerary changes, we learned a thing or two about cruising
during this time of year. I'm DB from EatSleepCruise.com; and in this video, we
share our 9 things you need to know to survive during cruise hurricane season.
For the Atlantic and the Caribbean, hurricane season runs from mid-June
through mid-November. Lately, early hurricanes have been rare with the
Eastern Caribbean more prone to be hit by hurricanes around August to early
September. In contrast, the Western Caribbean is more likely to experience
hurricanes later in the season, say late September through the end of October.
Hurricanes are also possible in the Pacific Ocean. These storms can affect
both Mexican Riviera cruises and Hawaiian cruises during the same time
periods. One benefit of cruising during hurricane season is the potential to
take advantage of some discounted pricing and special promotions. Cruise
companies know that travelers are a bit apprehensive about sailing around this
time of year, so cruise fares are sometimes lowered, or cruise promotions,
including kids sail free, tend to be more plentiful. Many travel agents also run
specials or other perks to get travelers to book a cruise during some of these
months. Such specials are often run during peak hurricane times. You can
usually take advantage of these lower prices even when booking well in advance.
While hurricane prediction is not an exact science, modern technology provides
the weather service and cruise lines plenty of advance warning about
potential storms and the expected areas of impact. It is rare that a cruise
during hurricane season is canceled completely, but it's not impossible.
Most likely cruise ships will usually sail
around storms. Still, it is advised to buy travel insurance for other potential
travel delays, for instance, situations in which your hometown is impacted by a
storm but not the cruise ports themselves. Cruise ships may also be
delayed arriving into port which might make your trip a bit shortened or
lengthened. If your cruise is shortened or significantly altered, the cruise line
will most likely provide some form of compensation. The cruise lines will do
everything within their power to ensure the vessel cruising during hurricane
season departs. Still, there are no guarantees about your travel to and from
the cruise port being affected by bad weather. If you're driving to the port,
staying up to date on any weather both pre-cruise and post cruise is essential. When
it comes to your flights, you'll be on your own if the storm leads to flight
delays or cancellations. Again, this is why we highly recommend travel insurance.
A good travel insurance policy will help defray the cost that you could incur if
a hurricane impacts your travel plans to and from the cruise terminal.
Additionally, we always recommend traveling a day ahead of time and
spending a pre-cruise day in the departure port. This extra day allows
more buffer time just in case there are any travel issues. If there's a potential
for the impact of a hurricane within the region you're sailing, your cruise ship may
alter the route or change itinerary. For our cruise, the path of Hurricane Danny
was heading straight for the Leeward islands. We were informed the day before
our cruise of an itinerary change. With a second storm in the region announced a
few days later, our itinerary was changed again to a completely new itinerary that
stayed mostly in the southern Caribbean. Depending on the storm's path, it is
possible that an Eastern Caribbean itinerary could be switched to the
Western Caribbean or vice versa. These changes are not uncommon so the crew and
staff are normally prepared especially during this time of year. When cruising
during hurricane season, cruisers need to have an open mind and be willing to roll
with whatever mother nature and the cruise lines throw their way. The best
made plans can very easily come undone. For our Adventure of the Seas cruise, we
spent months planning and picking the perfect shore excursions for each island.
All that planning was essentially thrown out the window. Once
onboard we waited in line at the shore excursions desk with every other
passenger. Knowing this ahead time, you can be prepared and still enjoy your cruise.
After all, you are still on vacation. When booking a tour with the cruise company,
you're ensured that any canceled tours will be refunded. In our case, we had
originally booked only one shore excursion with the cruise company,
another tour was booked directly with a local tour operator, and finally, two
other tours reserved through a third party shore excursion company. After our
first change of plans, we re-booked all excursions with the
cruise company as we did not have the time to search for other options. If you
book tours privately, be sure to check the tour company's policies. We recommend
only purchasing tours from companies that offer refunds if your ship misses
the port. Our third party vendor required that we call to request a refund. We
received our credit in the mail within two weeks without any issues. While ships
can elude the worst of a storm, your cruise ship might not be able to totally
avoid the weather pattern. with unexpected, 2 storms in one week, we were
able to stay clear of the storms for the majority of our cruise; however, the ship
did not completely evade the second storm on our return trip to Puerto Rico.
This meant that the six beautiful days of sun and 90 degree weather
ended on a last sea day with heavy rains, wind, and some rather crowded indoor venues.
Our cruise line was quick to respond to the situation by offering extra activities
and shows. The cruise line also changed location of some events to accommodate
the larger crowds. If the rain, wind, and rocky seas are not completely avoidable
when you cruise during hurricane season, don't worry as there'll still be plenty of
things to do on the ship. The Princess is known to be quite a bit
of an over-packer and unfortunately some of her traits have worn off on me!
Although, when you cruise during hurricane season, it's not a bad idea to
pack a few additional items in case of unforeseen changes. Luckily, we were
prepared for the swaps in our shore excursions with the necessary outfits.
However, sometimes Bermuda cruises can actually swap itineraries for Canada and
New England cruises, so it's always helpful to be prepared. Additional things
you should pack for any cruise but even more importantly during hurricane season
are a lightweight raincoat and extra layers. You never know when they'll come
in handy. And there you have it- those are our nine things you need to know to
survive cruise hurricane season. But of course, we'd love to hear from you. Let us
know your tips for cruising during this time of year in the comments section
below. I'm DB from EatSleepCruise.com, and if
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