Cruising Into Tropical Weather?!

What To Expect When Cruising Into Tropical Weather?

As I write this hurricane Erin is churning its way past the Caribbean islands on its way up the east coast of America as a category 4 storm. A number of cruises have announced they’re skipping stops at the various private islands in in the Bahamas in favor of safer waters in the Gulf or western Caribbean.

Keep in mind that cruise alterations may be an inconvenience but they usually involve forces of nature beyond anyones control. Cruise companies will work to make the impact as easy on you as is possible.

Hurricane season is June through September and that means that cruise ships may have to make adjustments in itineraries to avoid bad weather. Caribbean cruises and Pacific coast cruises to Mexico and Central America are particularly vulnerable to encounters with tropical storms. The responsibility for making changes because of weather rests first with the ships Captan but there are a number of other people involved in those decisions. The collaborative decision-making process involves meteorologists estimating potential weather conditions the ship could encounter along with company management looking at risk to the actual ship, safety of passengers and crew and the financial impact of any decision. Adjustments to an itinerary can include finding safe harbors or changing the ship’s course to avoid heavy rain or high winds, out running a storm to even cancelling the cruise.

While often press releases emphasize that the safety of the passengers is of primary concern, management also has to take into account the enormous investment that a cruise ship represents along with balancing the major financial impact of changes or the loss of canceling a cruise.

If you’ve booked a cruise and upon sailing your ship is threatened by a tropical storm or hurricane you may encounter a number of situations. In avoiding the storm the cruise might get one or more extra days at sea, or the captain could swap out a scheduled port for a different port, if one is available. Sometimes, the entire order of ports is rearranged so that all are still visited but at times when the weather will be less disruptive. Also cruise ships may sometimes be forced to switch entire destinations like, your Eastern Caribbean cruise itinerary could be changed to a Western or Southern Caribbean itinerary, or your entire Caribbean cruise could be replaced by a Bermuda port call.

For those concerned about rough seas caused by a tropical weather system while cruising. Ships are designed to handle rough conditions and newer ships can withstand waves up to 50 feet in height and rolls to nearly 60 degrees, both of which would still actually cause serious problems onboard. In less dramatic conditions passengers will usually experience some motion in waves above 15 to twenty feet. Most modern cruise ship’s deep draft, reinforced hull, and advanced stabilizing systems enable them to provide a comfortable, stable condition with minimum motion in most seas as well as endure extreme weather.

If you’re interested in looking into tropical weather forecasts or where cruise ships are, here are a few really good websites to visit:

Cruise Mapper HERE

Mikes Weather Page HERE

Florida States Advanced Storm Modeling HERE