What Every Cruise Passenger Must Know About Hurricanes -- Now!

Cruise ship passengers bound for tropical waters usually look forward to days of wonderful warm weather. They don't always think about hurricanes and tropical storms, which tend to occur exactly during peak cruise season. So what does a hurricane actually mean for a cruise ship and its passengers?

Stormy weather has always been a problem for ships, but it is less of a problem today than at any other point in history. This is not to say that the weather is any better. It's just that our ability to monitor and predict it has sharpened considerably.

The hurricane season runs from to May to October, with most activity typically occurring in August and September, the hottest months of the year.

Hurricanes form in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic when the waters get very warm. The U.S. Weather Service tracks storms as they start to brew. In the earliest stage, a storm begins as a tropical depression. When it intensifies, it becomes a hurricane. Hurricanes are further classified by category, with Category 1 being the least and Category 5 the worst storm. Storm intensity is measured by wind velocity and barometric pressure.

The good thing about hurricanes is that they do not appear instantly. While they may intensify abruptly and sometimes they travel quickly, hurricanes do not suddenly spring up without warning. This means that hurricanes do not strike without warning or pop up when you least expect them.

Since some of the most popular cruise destinations are located in hurricane-prone waters, cruise ships monitor so-called "weather events" very closely. Should any weather event threaten your ship, the captain has several choices. Whatever decision the captain may reach, the uppermost priority is always the safety of the passengers and the vseel.

Many times, cruise ships can simply change their routes to avoid the path or potential path of dangerous storms. Now this can change the route and even your itinerary. I've been on a cruise ship that could not make one of its ports of its call because of the weather; it was forced to go around a different route. When this occurs, the ship usually offers alternate on-board activities. On my particular voyage, a big on-board bash substituted for the port of call.

For folks who do not deal with hurricanes regularly, it may come as a surprise to know that hurricanes are actually largely predictable--within a range. True, meteorologists cannot pinpoint a hurricane's path precisely. Even our best technology does not help. But if you widen the hurricane's path to a line many miles wide, we can indeed predict its path. In other words, we might not know exactly where a hurricane is going, but we can narrow down its path to a target zone.

That is why ships who travel frequently in the warm hurricane-prone waters of the tropics are able to "dodge" or avoid storms safely. It's not even that unusual. Summertime tropical waters frequently get turbulent and stormy. Sometimes a ship will alter its course subtly to avoid a minor weather event--and passengers never even notice.

Serious storms can delay or cancel a particular voyage. For instance, if you are supposed to leave from your port of embarkation at the same time a hurricane is bearing down on that port city, the trip can be canceled. While this is an extremely unlikely event, it can happen. (If you are due to go on a cruise, follow the weather at the port of embarkation city for at least a couple of days prior to your trip.)

In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, talk to your cruise representative before booking to find out what happens in the event a voyage is canceled. The cruise line has policies and procedures in place that you should know about in advance.

Chances are good that the representative will advise you to consider travelers' insurance as the best way to cover possible storm-related changes to your vacation plans. These are insurance policies written to cover your vacation expenses in the event of storms or other problems (which can also include illness or personal emergency).

Most cruise representatives can direct you to reputable insurance agencies who write these policies, but you can also contact your own insurance agent. Most regular insurance agents will be able to help you (if your regular insurance company does not write such policies, your agent will likely know of an agency that does).

Weather-related decisions must often be made at the last minute, so expect that early information may not always be exactly what happens. In other words, you may embark on your voyage with a seemingly harmless tropical storm on the horizon only to have your voyage altered when the storm intensifies and the ship has to sail around it.

Despite the fact that hurricanes occur every year in cruise ship waters, the disruption they pose to cruise ship traffic is actually minimal.

The best strategy is to inform yourself of the risks and protect yourself, as appropriate, with insurance. Know that if a cruise ship does change plans because of the weather, it is not a decision that is made lightly. It's a safety issue.