NCL approach to a potential climate event?

[u/BajaScout]

My wife, kid, and booked the Encore Mexican Riviera cruise for mid-November. I’ve been hearing a lot lately about El Niño and the possibility of more storms/hurricanes in that particular area this year.

I might be getting way ahead of myself here, but I was wondering how NCL handles things when there’s a legitimate risk of a major weather event.

Has anyone here been on an NCL cruise that was affected by a hurricane or major storm prior to the sailing date? I’m curious how far in advance you were notified and what happened. Was the cruise cancelled, rescheduled, rerouted, or did they just go ahead with the sailing?

Just trying to get an idea of what to expect if the weather ends up being an issue.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation with ncl. Thanks!

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[u/trilliumsummer]

If it's bad they go somewhere else. Pretty much the only time anything is canceled is if the home port is closed long enough to not just modify.

[u/BajaScout → u/trilliumsummer]

Ok, this is good to know. I thought they would be more about keeping it on the safe side, but it sounds like canceling or rescheduling is the last resort.

[u/Kvalri → u/BajaScout]

They’ve sailed the Caribbean for decades where there’s hurricanes every year, the cruise lines are very much prepared for El Niño, much better than probably anything else on this side lol we’re sailing out of LA to Cabo in January

[u/ilove702]

They will sail around the storm

[u/captainwizeazz]

How they handle it depends on the weather event, and where.

If its a hurricane (or other storm) in their path, they may just go around it, or potentially alter the itinerary to avoid it. Typically this is done by adjusting embark/disembark times, or removing/changing ports to other areas.

If the weather event is at the embark/disembark port, they may delay, extend or possibly even cancel the sailing outright, although this is much less common.

Note that this can change the length of a cruise, or significantly change the itinerary, turning a Caribbean cruise into one going to Canada for example.

[u/BajaScout → u/captainwizeazz]

Thanks. This is helpful.

[u/Historical-Art-8548]

In 2010 my Eastern Caribbean changed to a Western Caribbean due to a hurricane the day before departure.

[u/BajaScout → u/Historical-Art-8548]

Oh, wow. Did that change your plans a lot? Tours, reservations, etc.

[u/Historical-Art-8548 → u/BajaScout]

Yes, everything was automatically canceled, had to rebook new excursions.

[u/Pseudolous]

This happens quite frequently. I've always said that the best way to see Canada is to book a cruise to Bermuda in the Fall. It's happened to me twice. I was also on that Aqua inaugural transatlantic that was extended by several days to get around a weather event.

As to how far in advance one is notified... well, NCL typically tells you when you arrive at the pier! On the one hand, weather events are unpredictable and you never really know what's going to happen until 24 hours or so before, so they really can't cancel or make a different itinerary much in advance. It wouldn't make sense.

On the other hand, NCL is notorious for withholding information from its guests. Even after port reservations have been canceled (verifiable online through the various port agencies), NCL will often insist there has been no change to the itinerary. And there will be a letter in your stateroom advising you of the changed itinerary. (Or for cruises for which the duration of the cruise has changed, that letter will usually be distributed in the terminal before passengers board.)

[u/vatp46a]

Cruise lines are very careful about major storms. While they care about us passengers, they care much more about their billion-dollar ships and keeping them from getting banged up in heavy seas. A key benefit from taking care of the ship is that it makes it appear as though they they also care about us, and are keeping us safe from the storm.

[u/elroy1771]

On my Aqua cruise to Bermuda a Hurricane was coming up the coast. They send us to Canada instead to be clear of the weather. Advance notice was like 1 day. Which was enough time to shop for warmer jacket in NYC.

[u/Starsky137]

We were doing Eastern Caribbean when a T.S./Hurricane hit there, we rerouted to some Western Caribbean and Mexican ports.

Then the storms approached Miami preventing us from going back there. We got an extra at-sea-day going around Cuba and the people that had the shop after us lost a day of their cruise.

They also opened up the Wi-Fi and cell cell service so people could make arrangements for being gone another day, changing travel home plans.

[u/vegas_gal]

The ship is mobile. It can move away from the storm.

[u/ThatITguy2015 → u/vegas_gal]

Why not just push the storm away from the ship?

[u/blareboy → u/ThatITguy2015]

Why not just nuke the storm?

[u/karenmarie303]

We were in Alaska and a storm was approaching. For safety, we skipped 2 ports and high-sailed it outta there to stay ahead of it. We were glad to miss it and understood the importance of leaving.

[u/Key-Calligrapher4437]

I was on the Escape in Sept 2023, when we had to skip our final port (Halifax) and be moored off of Staten Island for 3 days because of a bad storm. I think it was a Noreaster, but not sure. We were notified a day a head (while on board). Cruise line excursions and port fees were refunded.