Hurricane Dorian Forces Disney Dream to Alter Sailings

[Mom24Princesses]

All cruises late Aug. to Nov. are at risk of hurricane issues. I understand about the points being lost and the frustration in that. We aren’t DVC but daughter and SiL are and very early on they were told not to use points for a cruise. The “cost” is much higher with points.

When booking a “fall” cruise hurricanes have to be a possibility in ALL planning. But we live in Georgia and maybe everyone doesn’t think about hurricane season. We have one booked for October and we know a storm MIGHT interfere. We will rebook if need be.

 

[cynditech]

We are on the cruise right now. We are DVC owners but paid cash for the trip. The ship is definitely not full, I guess 1300 people cancelled. We are hoping to arrive back on Wednesday and haven’t heard anything to the contrary as of yet. We were able to upgrade to a 1 bedroom last night around 8pm. So we switched to that. Cozumel is tomorrow and then who knows lol!

 

[Teal03]

We are on the cruise right now. We are DVC owners but paid cash for the trip. The ship is definitely not full, I guess 1300 people cancelled. We are hoping to arrive back on Wednesday and haven’t heard anything to the contrary as of yet. We were able to upgrade to a 1 bedroom last night around 8pm. So we switched to that. Cozumel is tomorrow and then who knows lol!

Are you on the one that left yesterday or today?

 

[Narnia_girl]

We watched the Fantasy sail away today on the Port Canaveral webcam. It made me wonder if the webcam will be up and running (recording the hurricane) or if they take it down?

 

[Boykin]

I don’t understand why DCL hasn’t offered everyone originally scheduled on the 9/2 cruise a discount on a future cruise? My understanding is that is what they have done in the past with a hurricane, so why not this time?

 

[cynditech]

We departed Yesterday on the Dream. Originally 3 nights. Now 5

 

[NancyDVC]

We cruised on the Magic in 2004 when multiple hurricanes hit Florida. Two weeks before our cruise all the ports in Florida were closed due to storms or storm damage. There were 30 ships with no place to go. That 7 day became a 10 day with a port in Galveston to allow passengers to disembark if they wanted and allow for provisioning. The next cruise was shortened to 3 days.
Our cruise was the first out of Port Canaveral after it had been closed for several weeks. (DCL was sailing out of Miami during that time. CC was also closed for several weeks. When we checked in we were told that our cruise was changing from a Western to an Eastern due to still another storm. We were rescheduled to stop at San Juan, PR and St. Thomas, VI. After our day in San Juan that changed to St. Thomas being cancelled due to still another storm. Instead we went to Nassau. We were the first ship back to CC after the closure. Interesting if rather crazy itinerary. We had a great time.
This storm is so unpredictable that making plans is difficult. There have been instances that one of the ships stopped at CC only to evacuate CMs at CC.
The ships can only be rerouted to ports which DCL has contracts with. This is also dependent upon how many other cruise lines have stops scheduled st the same time.
Ships do not move very fast and can not change course to ‘out run’ a storm at the last minute. Better to be safe and miss a port or change itinerary than endanger passengers and crew. Does anyone recall the recent NCL and Royal Caribbean ships out of NYC that encountered ‘Nor-easters’ with ship damage and passenger injuries not to mention insanely rough sailing? I prefer DCL’s plan to keep everyone safe.

 

[xuxa777]

if this storm keeps it track west like it looks like, there won’t be any visits to castaway cay for a few months at least, at the strength it is going to hit, they would lose all the cabanas and structures on the beach most likely or at least heavily damaged. They will be hit by the weaker part of the storm (SW side) but when it is a cat 5 doesn’t matter. I am pretty sure it is the first time the island will be hit by a cat 5. It’s going to be a long day for the CM on the island today. We will know in a few hours

 

[SamFaniam]

We watched the Fantasy sail away today on the Port Canaveral webcam. It made me wonder if the webcam will be up and running (recording the hurricane) or if they take it down?

The camera is on top of the Fishlips restaurant, and in the past they have not taken it down. There have been some pretty dramatic images from hurricanes in the past.

 

[SSRJen]

Looks like the ship won't be coming back until at least Thursday. Looks like the next sailing may be cancelled.

Disney Dream – current sailing - UPDATED
Disney Dream’s current sailing was scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Wednesday, September 4. However, after careful review of the currently forecasted path, and conversations with port officials in Florida, it does not seem likely that Port Canaveral will be available for our return on Wednesday.

Because of this, we will need to further extend this sailing and now expect Disney Dream to return to Port Canaveral one day later, on Thursday, September 5.

Since Disney Dream will now have additional time at sea, we have arranged a port call for tomorrow, Monday, September 2, in Grand Cayman.

 

[lundve]

We cruised on the Magic in 2004 when multiple hurricanes hit Florida. Two weeks before our cruise all the ports in Florida were closed due to storms or storm damage. There were 30 ships with no place to go. That 7 day became a 10 day with a port in Galveston to allow passengers to disembark if they wanted and allow for provisioning. The next cruise was shortened to 3 days. I prefer DCL’s plan to keep everyone safe.

We were on the 7 that changed to a 10! Though a tad uncertain and a crazy schedule at times we loved its spontaneity. It helped that we didn’t have any kiddos yet. Where the ship took us, the weather was perfect everyday. We did not miss Castaway Cay; the captain took us there first on the day after Port Canaveral. We felt safe the entire trip.

Looks like the ship won't be coming back until at least Thursday. Looks like the next sailing may be cancelled.

Disney Dream – current sailing - UPDATED
Disney Dream’s current sailing was scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Wednesday, September 4. However, after careful review of the currently forecasted path, and conversations with port officials in Florida, it does not seem likely that Port Canaveral will be available for our return on Wednesday.

Because of this, we will need to further extend this sailing and now expect Disney Dream to return to Port Canaveral one day later, on Thursday, September 5.

Since Disney Dream will now have additional time at sea, we have arranged a port call for tomorrow, Monday, September 2, in Grand Cayman.

I love those ports way better then Nassau! I say lucky them

 

[xuxa777]

They hit the three night cruise jackpot, turned into 6 night with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Very nice.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

They hit the three night cruise jackpot, turned into 6 night with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Very nice.

I do agree it's a very nice benefit to get a 6 night for the price of 3! But I think knowing that getting that cruise jackpot is due to something that is causing so many others misery, property destruction, and possibly even loss of life would temper my enjoyment about it quite a bit. Mostly I would rather have the 3 night cruise that I signed up for and no hurricane affecting anyone.

 

[cynditech]

We are on the cruise now and while it’s definitely nice getting the extra days we are very aware of not only the disappointment others are feeling with cancelled vacations, the absolute devastation that people are experiencing with the hurricane. We were able to switch our flights for the third time and are trying to reach our employers and school.

 

[lahobbs4]

We are on the cruise now and while it’s definitely nice getting the extra days we are very aware of not only the disappointment others are feeling with cancelled vacations, the absolute devastation that people are experiencing with the hurricane. We were able to switch our flights for the third time and are trying to reach our employers and school.

I'm glad you have been able to reschedule things! I look forward to a trip report from your cruise. I'm curious to hear how things were handled and communicated on board and all the ins and outs. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[cynditech]

I'm glad you have been able to reschedule things! I look forward to a trip report from your cruise. I'm curious to hear how things were handled and communicated on board and all the ins and outs. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

I’ve been taking notes to do a trip report when we get back! It’s been pretty interesting!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I’ve been taking notes to do a trip report when we get back! It’s been pretty interesting!

Yes please! I’m very curious about this whole thing!

 

[coolpal]

We were supposed to sail last Friday on the dream but cancelled due to all the uncertainty, especially for us having to drive back to Atlanta on return. Though we feel like we missed an opportunity of a lifetime, we are happy with the decision. All the worry while on board would have ruined the experience.

 

[Pidge]

We are scheduled for the 9/6 3-day and waiting to see how all of this will play out. I don’t think it will be cancelled like the cruise before ours, but I don’t think I would mind rescheduling at this point.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We were supposed to sail last Friday on the dream but cancelled due to all the uncertainty, especially for us having to drive back to Atlanta on return. Though we feel like we missed an opportunity of a lifetime, we are happy with the decision. All the worry while on board would have ruined the experience.

Glad it worked out for you!