It's hurricane season in Florida and the Caribbean, the period between June and November when hurricanes and tropical storms are most likely to form.
If you live in Florida, the U.S. state most likely to be affected by a hurricane, every weather report includes a focus on storms as they form.
Many storms, of course, never develop into much and some turn away from the U.S. and from the path of cruise ships.
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Still and all, the cruise lines pay special attention to the weather as they make every effort to keep their cruise ships sailing smoothly. Royal Caribbean (RCL) -) has a fleet meteorologist, Craig Setzer, on staff while Carnival uses outside services to monitor storms.
At the base level, both Royal Caribbean and Carnival will take every step possible to keep passengers safe. That can mean changing itineraries, skipping a port, and even leaving late or staying out at sea an extra day.
Canceling sailings or major itinerary changes are rare, but they do happen. Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald talked about his cruise line's weather operation in a video posted on his Facebook page.
"We have this incredible group of men and women at the fleet operations center, the mothership in Miami. None of the other cruise lines have anything like this," he said. ... [It's] manned 24 hours a day. They have the latest technology."
While Carnival and Royal Caribbean take different approaches, they actively monitor the weather. They can and will make changes when a situation requires.
Image source: Shutterstock
How Carnival Cruise Line makes weather decisions
Currently, Hurricane Lee has reached the most powerful level, Category 5, and it could affect the Caribbean or the U.S. East Coast. That's just one of the storms Carnival's team is monitoring.
"They are monitoring the path of Lee. They are seeing what's going to happen," Heald said.
He promised that the cruise line would start sharing information about any changes as soon as decisions were made.
"We don't want to make a decision too early because the path could change," he added. "We want to give you the best itinerary we can and, of course, we will always, always, always keep you safe. Of that, there should never be a single doubt."
Again, it's very rare for either Carnival or Royal Caribbean to cancel a cruise, but they can change the ports at which a ship stops, delay the ship's departure, and keep it out at sea for longer than originally scheduled.
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What happens if my cruise changes?
On their websites Carnival and Royal Caribbean both make clear that a changed itinerary does not entitle passengers to any compensation or give them the right to cancel. Here's Royal Caribbean's policy:
In the event of strikes, lockouts, riots, weather conditions or mechanical difficulties, or for any other reason whatsoever, Royal Caribbean may, at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or port of call and may, but is not obliged to, substitute another ship or port of call and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to guests by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, deviation or substitution.
If a port gets missed, passengers will be refunded any ports taxes or fees. In addition, all canceled excursions will be refunded.
Carnival's policy is similar:
If it is necessary to cancel any or multiple ports, we will do our best to find alternative destinations. However, if we are unsuccessful in doing so, there will be no compensation for missed ports, beyond a refund of any pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions and the taxes, fees and port expenses paid for the cancelled port.
Cruise lines have every interest in keeping not just their passengers, but also their billion-dollar cruise ships, safe. They will make every effort -- including canceling select sailings -- to ensure that effort succeeds.
You might sail through rain or even some rough seas, but both Carnival and Royal Caribbean make every effort to keep their ships well out of harm's way.
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