I took a cruise during hurricane season, this is what it’s really like

Going on a cruise during hurricane season? You need to read this! I just got back from a cruise in the Bahamas during hurricane season. This is my experience of what it was really like.

When is hurricane season?

Hurricane season officially runs from June 1st to November 30th. It primarily affects cruises to the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bahamas. It also affects cruises to New England/Canada, as the cruise ships are in the Atlantic Ocean.

Expected rainy weather

If you are cruising during hurricane season, be prepared for rainy weather. For example, on my recent MSC Bahamas cruise, while in Nassau, we were hit by a torrential downpour!

Luckily I had expected bad weather so we didn’t book any shore excursions. Instead we took it easy, did some shopping in the city centre and then it rained.

We came prepared and packed umbrellas! To avoid disappointment, adjust your expectations and expect to encounter rainy weather during your cruise.

My cruise only had three ports of call: Port Canaveral (Florida), Nassau (Bahamas) and Ocean Cay (private island). We got rained out at one of the ports, so I had a 33% chance of bad weather during our cruise! It could have been worse – I would consider myself lucky with those stats!

Cruise ship skips ports of call

Don’t be surprised if your cruise ship skips a port. Itinerary changes during hurricane season are common. The captain will reroute your cruise ship to keep you safe. Typically, you will be on board the ship when the captain announces this change! So don’t be surprised if this is a last-minute change.

Fortunately, we didn’t have any storms when I went on my cruise to the Bahamas, so we were able to visit all of our planned ports of call. However, not all cruises are so lucky. There have been a lot of cruise itinerary changes lately due to Hurricane Beryl, which looks like an intense Category 4 storm.

For example, Norwegian Jade changed her itinerary. Instead of sailing her original western Caribbean route, she diverted to the eastern Caribbean. She skipped Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel and instead changed course to visit San Juan, Tortola and Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic).

The same thing happened to the Norwegian Breakaway. Due to Hurricane Beryl, it changed its itinerary. Every port of call changed, instead of sailing to Roatan (Honduras), Harvest Caye (Belize), Costa Maya (Mexico) and Cozumel (Mexico), it will instead visit Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic), St. Thomas, Tortola and Great Stirrup Cay.

Sometimes you get lucky and the cruise line changes its itinerary to avoid the hurricane and still stops at all the planned ports of call, but in a different order. That’s exactly what’s happening with Carnival Liberty and Celebrity Beyond, where they changed their itinerary to avoid the hurricane. Luckily for the passengers, they still plan to sail to all the ports of call, but in reverse order.

Get ready for rough seas

If you are cruising during hurricane season, be prepared for rough seas! If you are cruising while a storm is brewing or approaching, you should expect your cruise ship to encounter rough seas. This can happen not only in the Caribbean and Mexico, but also while sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.

During my cruise to the Bahamas, we left from my home port in New York and I was preparing for rough seas as it was hurricane season.

Of course it is a matter of luck or bad luck. Sometimes you are lucky. In my case, on the first day of the cruise, when we were sailing across the Atlantic, I expected a rough sea, but fortunately it was smooth sailing the whole time.

My advice to you is to always be prepared. Book a midship cabin location for the most stable experience in case of rough seas. If you are prone to seasickness, make sure you have seasickness medication on hand.

I was well prepared on my recent cruise to the Bahamas. I stayed in a mid-ship balcony cabin and took seasickness medication with me on our first day of sailing from New York to the Bahamas (the medication takes a while to kick in, so I took some just in case the seas got rough). Luckily, we didn’t have any rough seas!

I haven’t always been so lucky. I once went on a New England/Canada cruise from New York during hurricane season, and it was traumatic! I was late taking my seasickness meds, so my seasickness got out of control. I got so sick I couldn’t even get out of bed! See: Cruising Without Seasickness: Genius Tricks You Need to Know

Be thankful for sunny weather

If you sail during hurricane season, it is common for it to rain and be cloudy, so if you encounter sunny weather, appreciate it and make the most of it while it lasts!

If it’s sunny at sea, go to the pool and enjoy the nice weather. You never know how long it will last!

The same goes for when you are in port: if it is sunny, make it a beach day. Don’t take it for granted! But be prepared, because the weather can change to rain at any moment! Bring umbrellas and ponchos and manage everyone’s expectations to avoid disappointment! Check out: It’s hurricane season, how do you keep bad weather from ruining your cruise vacation?

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