In the path of a Hurricane

You have had your cruise of a lifetime booked for a year and a few days before travel you see the news about Hurricane Harvey and then Hurricane Irma. What happens?

Firstly this time of the year is when Hurricanes are expected in the Caribbean, Florida regions. This isnt to say that they will happen every year. I worked in the Dominican Republic back in 2007 and we were not really affected except for a few storms and a little flooding. Again we got married in St Lucia September 2013. We had some huge down pours of the morning of the wedding but by the afternoon you would never have guessed it had rained.

This year seems to be particularly bad with Hurricane Harvey devastating Texas. Its worth noting that this was the first major Hurricane to make land fall since Hurricane Wilma a record 12 years ago.

What we know from this is the Captain on board your ship will have your best interest and safety as his priority. Ships can move out of the  way and re route itineraries. This might not be ideal if you have somewhere in particular you wanted to visit however this is done with your safety in mind. Royal Caribbean & Carnival cruises had around 20,000 passengers stranded at sea. The Port of Galveston was closed for days. The ships managed to get more supplies in New Orleans and passengers were allowed to disembark if they wished. The Liberty of the Seas diverted to Miami and returned to Galveston as soon as it was safe.

Today we have the news that Hurricane Irma is due to make landfall in the Leeward Islands today with it due to arrive in Florida Friday. This is an ever changing situation as the path of the Hurricane is just a forecast and this could change. Today we hear that Carnival have re routed Carnival Pride to Charleston and have changed the itinerary. Royal Caribbean & MSC Cruises have changed their itineraries from Eastern Caribbean to a Western Caribbean Sailing.

We have also heard some Caribbean flights from the UK have been cancelled & Foreign office travel advice has just changed with this latest update

Hurricane Irma is forecast to bring hazardous sea and weather conditions to Puerto Rico and north-eastern parts of the Caribbean from around Wednesday 6 September 2017, and to Florida from the evening of Friday 8 September 2017. The authorities in Puerto Rico and Florida have declared a state of emergency. You should follow the advice of the local authorities and any evacuation orders.

So for those of you over there. Stay Safe and take advice of the local authorities.

Have you been caught up in a natural disaster whilst on holiday?