Cruises have few problems with hurricanes
In modern age of ship travel, storms are merely a nuisance
It never fails. Within hours of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s hurricane forecast for the year, emails start arriving in my inbox faster than most of the forecasted hurricanes. Almost all of them ask the same two questions:
(1) Should I book a cruise during this period?
(2) I am booked for this period … will I be safe? My answer is yes to both. Hurricanes in this modern age of cruising are more a pain in the neck to cruise lines than they are a danger. Sure, from time to time you may have to stay at sea until the storm passes and you may miss a port, but overall cruising in the Caribbean in hurricane season, which runs from now to the end of November, is almost as safe as cruising in non-hurricane season.
While hurricane winds are powerful, they are slugs when it comes to their average forward speed.
They meander along at about 10 knots per hour in the lower latitudes (i.e., the Caribbean).
Cruise ships can power up to double that speed and outrace a hurricane. With today’s sophisticated technology, ships are already well out of range before they have to hit the throttle.
For years I made my living forecasting weather nightly on CBC-TV British Columbia with the support of my friends at Environment Canada, and while I recall reports of cargo ships and cruise ships having to make corrections because of a hurricane, that was a rare occurrence.
Hurricane season never enters my mind when I book a cruise and, to that end, I’ve frequently cruised the Caribbean and Mexican Riviera during the peak of the hurricane season.
Only twice have I been inconvenienced, if you can even call it that.
The first time, the captain of a ship in the Pacific announced we would skip Cabo San Lucas and head south because of high winds in the waters around Cabo, but would stop there on the way back.
The second time, the ship skipped a port in the Caribbean because of high winds but, within an hour, the captain announced a replacement port.
The forecast is better than normal for hurricanes this year, according to NOAA. The organization’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a below-normal year with anywhere from three to six storms that may become hurricanes (winds of 74 m.p.h. or 119 km/h). NOAA cites El Nino (we are now in the middle of it) as one of the reasons for the optimistic look at 2015.
I’ve already booked a couple of cruises in the Caribbean this year right in the middle of hurricane season.
And I’m looking forward to them.
Phil’ s F irst P ick of the We ek
If you’re in Bergen, Norway this summer try Madam Felle in the inner harbour. Chris Owen of chriscruises.com and I were looking for lunch when we ran across this bistro and we immediately put it on our “best burgers of all time” list. No fries here, just roasted potatoes.
Phil’ s Regular Pick of the We ek
This is one of Carnival’s new longer cruises at 14 days, and it covers a lot of the less-travelled Southern Caribbean. It leaves from Miami. Departure: Oct. 31 Miami on the Carnival Glory Ports: Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Thomas, St. Maarten Starting price: $1,658 See carnival.com or a cruise travel agent.