Cruisers’ concerns grow as Hurricane Irene Strengthens
August 25, 2011 
12 Comments
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With the Bahamas taking a direct hit from Hurricane Irene, I’ve been busy the last 24 hours fielding questions from concerned cruisers. I completely understand the concern with a category 3 storm coming within 300 miles of the departure port and hitting the vacation destination for thousands of cruisers right before their cruise.
As of 9:00 PM ET, the cruises departing on Thursday 8/25/11 and Friday 8/26/11, are departing on schedule. This includes the Carnival Sensation, Fascination, Fantasy, Destiny, Imagination, Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas,NCL Sky, and the Disney Dream.
Hurricane Irene Lessons Learned
If you read the questions about Hurricane Irene in the last CruiseSource post, you will notice some common threads. It seems that many of the concerned cruisers did not buy Travel Insurance. And my guess is that many booked their cruises directly through the cruise line. My 2 recommendations for cruisers taking advantage of the of the great deals during Hurricane Season is to book Travel Insurance and to book through an experienced travel agent. During times like this with active storms in the Caribbean, your travel agent is here to help make it less stressful.
Many of the questions I’ve answered have been should cruisers head to the cruise port. The answer from the cruise lines is as long as the cruise’s itinerary change has not been announced, then the cruise line recommends to travel to the ship as scheduled. As a traveler, you need to look at the hurricanes projected path and decide for yourself if the risk is worth it. The only way you can cancel your cruise due to fear and get your money back is to have cancel for any reason travel insurance which you have to buy at the time of booking. A good travel agent will walk you through your travel insurance options at time of booking. Just like most travel writers suggest, I recommend buying travel insurance for all cruise vacations.
Hurricane Irene covered by Social Media
Showing how much coverage of news events like Hurricane Irene has changed, Weather.com has captured many of the images and videos from Hurricane Irene shared live via social media applications like Twitter. Click here to see Hurricane Irene Social Media Coverage.
Questions about your Cruise?
If you have questions on potential impacts to your upcoming cruise vacation please leave them in the comments, I will continue to respond quickly.
Post written by Rich Tucker, he’s been covering hurricane and tropical storm impacts to cruise itineraries for CruiseSource since 2008 – that’s a long time in internet years.
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Any updates on the Disney Dream cruise to FL from Bahamas? My daughter is on that and my family is nervous….thank you!
Disney Dream is departing on schedule at this time. Not sure what the itinerary will be once they depart. I will update you as soon as there is announcement. Thank you!
Any idea how a ship could depart Bayonne New Jersey Saturday at 4pm, head to Bermuda and avoid the storm??? (RC Explorer of the Seas) They say the cruise is still on!! We are worried!! Thanks!!
Susan,
Your concern is understandable. I am very confident that the cruise lines will act in the best interest of the passengers safety. Celebrity is even bringing a ship in a day early to be safe. According to the projected path, when you are departing Irene is supposed to be near North Carolina Outerbanks. It will not get to Philly until 2 PM on Sunday. These are all just projections and a lot can happen in the next 24 hours to modify the projected path. So far Irene has been slower and more to the east of all of the projections. If things change, I will post cruise line announcements as soon as they come out. My advice is to make sure you are at the pier as early as you can start boarding in case they have leave earlier than expected. Tomorrow when we get a better idea of where Irene will make landfall the projected arrival time in New Jersey will be more accurate.
My husband and I are scheduled for the same Bermuda Cruise from Bayonne on Explorer of the Seas. I am having trouble understanding why the ship is still planning on departing w/ passengers when governors in most of the east coast states have declared state of emergencies (including NJ). Travel on Saturday to get to the terminal will not be easy considering the amount of evacuations that will be going on during that time. Not to mention our cars being parked at the port during a major hurricane. We also have to consider protecting our homes during this storm which we will not be able to do if out to sea on the cruise during the hurricane. If RCCL needs to get the ship out of the port to protect it, i get that but not sure they are taking their passengers concerns seriously during this Act of God. Still not sure what we are doing.
Kathy,
Thank you for commenting. I’m sure the cruise line is working with the state & federal agencies as well as the coast guard. You make very valid points. Contact your travel agent or the cruise line to discuss your concerns and to find out what your options are – as the information about the location of Irene tomorrow becomes more clear, the cruise line may make different options available to those of you booked on the Explorer of the Seas…if you booked via an agent, you should contact your agent first.
I am scheduled to leave on NCL tomorrow from Boston to Bermuda. I find it very frustrating that I being forced to get on a ship that is headed into a risky situation. Certainly, the amenities of taking a cruise will not be possible as I am sea sick from the swells in open ocean.Essentially I am scared to death and not what I wanted when I booked this trip. I purchased travel ins when I booked my cruise with Vacation Outlet. I tried to cancel my cruise tomorrow with Travel Guard Internationa and they told me that a hurricane didn’t qualify as a reason to cancel and obtain a refund. I feel screwed by the travel ins. by Norwegian and even by Vacation Outlet. Do you have any suggestions or advice?
Nancy,
I totally understand your frustration. I don’t know if it will make you feel any better, but departing from Boston tomorrow puts you further away from the storm than many other cruise ships. When you depart, you will be about 850 miles away from Irene. With the distance, I do not think your seas will be very impacted by the storm. From the wave height predictions that I’m seeing, the biggest waves you’ll see are 7 – 9 ft. which isn’t extreme. Note: These are only predictions and can change. Even without an active storm, crossing the Atlantic to Bermuda is naturally rougher than the Caribbean. From the charts that I am looking at, as long as Hurricane Irene stays on the projected path, I don’t think that Irene will impact your vacation experience. If you are concerned about motion sickness, take some Bonine an hour before you get on the cruise ship. Charts: http://weather.myfoxtampabay.com/maps/WTVT/custom/waves_nc.html
In the future, you may want to look at buying a Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance policy during Hurricane Season. You pay a higher premium and may only get back 75% of your investment if you cancel for an uncovered reason, but atleast it will allow you to cancel a trip if you fear your safety. You did the right thing by working with your agent and Travel Guard to find out your options prior to cancelling your cruise.
Since you do not have a cancel for any reason policy, your only options are not to go and forfeit your money or to go. I don’t want you to think that most people have the cancel for any reason policy… very few people opt to pay the extra amount for the cancel for any reason travel insurance policy.
I hope you found some of this helpful. I also hope that you have a wonderful cruise vacation! Please let us know how it turns out when you return. Thank you – Rich Tucker
Thank you Rick.
Kathy,
Here are the latest updates on the Northeastern departures: http://cruisesource.us/2011/08/hurricane-irene-northeast-cruise/
Thank you! Rich
was wondering if we will get a refund because cruise was canceled because of hurrican irene.we dont have travelers insurance though.
Raul,
You will need to contact your travel agent or the cruise line directly. If your cruise was completely cancelled due to a hurricane then the cruise line typically gives a future cruise credit. If you canceled and the cruise still went out then you will not get a refund.
Hope this helps.