Yesterday we brought you a story about a bomb scare aboard a Discovery Cruise Lines cruise. The question that was posed was “How would you want to be notified if there were a bomb scare while you were on a cruise ship?” Today we have another potentially catastrophic event to consider. What if you found yourself aboard a cruise in the Caribbean with a hurricane churning off in the distance? That is the situation facing some travelers aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean at this very moment. Hurricane Irene, the season’s ninth named storm so far, strengthened to hurricane strengthen today. Cruise giants Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines issued sudden changes to their itineraries as a result.
As of 7am this morning, Irene was 50 miles west-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The storm, which already has reached maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, is expected to strengthen. This prompted Royal Caribbean to change plans for its ships the “Oasis of the Seas,” and a few others. The Oasis left from Port Discovery on Saturday, setting sail for a week long cruise. The ship’s new itinerary will be sailed in reverse order, and includes Cozumel, Falmouth, and Labidee, Haiti – which is owned by Royal Caribbean.  Royal Caribbean ships “Freedom of the Seas,” “Allure of the Seas”and“Serenade of the Seas” have all had itinerary changes due to the hurricane.
Carnival has also been affected. The Carnival ship – the “Miracle” – which sailed on Thursday out of New York – will also have its schedule rearranged. It will visit Grand Turk on Monday and half Moon Cay on Tuesday. It will skip San Juan altogether.
So, this brings up the question “How would you handle a situation in which you were aboard a ship and a hurricane threatened?” Do you think it’s fair that the itineraries are changed around, sometimes resulting in skipping entries ports of call altogether? In the 2 times I have sailed – both have been on Royal Caribbean. Funny enough, both times we were supposed to stop on their private island. Both times we turned back because of choppy seas. Now, I am all for safety, and security, but in a way – didn’t I pay for those tickets with the understanding that I would visit certain destinations? If I am not able to do that, due to no fault of my own, should I get at least a partial refund? Leave your comments. Let’s see what you think.
Primary Source:Â http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4581