As we fully enter hurricane season, a lot of potential cruise ship passengers worry about how the weather will impact their cruises. Cruise lines, of course, cannot stop the weather and have no magic way to ward off rain, wind, and rough seas.
That means that from June 1 through Nov. 30, the traditional hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean, you run the risk of facing inclement weather and potentially missing a port.
You may get seasick, especially if you sail on a smaller ship (with small being relative these days for Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships), but you will never be in any actual danger.
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All the major cruise lines use every tool available to keep passengers (and their billion-dollar cruise ships) out of true harm's way. Ships will change their destinations, remove stops, and even sail way out of their planned paths to avoid the worst weather.
It's not uncommon for sailing from New York meant for the Bahamas to be rerouted to New England and Canada. Sometimes, Florida sailings may stay at sea longer (which could mean hours or even an extra day) to avoid sailing into their homeport when conditions are not safe.
In addition to all the weather services and tools Royal Caribbean (RCL) has to help it make decisions, the cruise line also employs a full-time meteorologist. Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) has quietly been working with its own meteorologist who Brand Ambassador John Heald recently welcomed to the company.
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Carnival welcomes a meteorologist
Amy Sweezey, a long-time television meteorologist, has been working with Carnival on a contract basis for the past 10 months, according to her LinkedIn page. Heald officially welcomed her to the company on his Facebook page.
"I would like to introduce a good friend of mine to you, Amy Sweezey. She’s a brilliant meteorologist and you might see her helping us deliver information to guests on our ships via the cabin TVs, and sometimes here on this page. Alberto was a reminder that the Atlantic storm season is upon us so I would ask please that you take a minute to watch what Amy has to say," he posted.
In the video, Sweezey made it clear that Carnival was "closely monitoring the forecast that's coming out from the National Hurricane Center. We are in hurricane season," she added.
Sweezey, who appears to have formally joined the cruise line, shared what she has been, and will be, doing.
"Thanks John, for the warm welcome. I’ve enjoyed working with the Carnival team to create weather safety information for the ships. I am not involved with the daily forecasting, that’s done 24/7 at the Fleet Operating Center (FOC), but I’m excited to use my meteorology background to help guests understand how weather impacts cruising," she wrote in answer to Heald's post.
Carnival's Fleet Operating Center is in Miami.
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Royal Caribbean has a staff meteorologist
Former Royal Caribbean International Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet posted in May 2023 on his X (formerly Twitter) feed that he was no longer with the company and would not be replaced. He'd worked for the cruise line for six years taking an active role in offering daily weather updates for passengers.
Van Fleet was the first meteorologist employed by any cruise line.
In August 2023, Royal Caribbean did hire Craig Setzer as chief meteorologist.
The cruise line shared that Setzer has a challenging job because of the nature of predicting weather at sea.
"Tracking weather over the open ocean can be tricky. Over the land, there are many weather stations including weather radar to track weather and help create forecasts, but weather data sources are sparse over the open ocean. Craig and his team must go beyond what the models display and think far ahead to analyze and interpret data," the cruise line shared on its web page.
The entire goal of Setzer's job is keeping passengers and ships safe.
"Craig and his team can spend hours working on a cruise critical weather forecast, which requires anticipating not only how bad the weather will be, but how that moving weather system could impact a ship. After that, he reaches out to Captains to discuss the forecast and how to safely avoid bad weather developing ahead of a ship," the cruise line added.
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