Cruise Ships Disrupted by Dennis, but Passengers' Safety Remained Intact
July 13, 2005
A few days after Hurricane Dennis pummeled the Florida coast and swept over the Caribbean in a torrent, it became evident that one of the safest places to be was in the very water from which Dennis was born. Although several cruise ships were subject to some delays in returning to port, at no point were any cruise ships in danger—thanks to the experienced crew, state-of-the-art navigation equipment, and utmost concern for passenger safety.
While much of the Gulf coast of America was hit hard, it fortunately didn't have to deal with the type of destruction that Hurricane Ivan brought only 10 months ago. Still, many home homes along the Gulf Coast and in the Florida Keys were destroyed, roads were washed out, power lines downed, and what's worse, Florida's international island neighbors to the south saw dozens of people killed.
Yet, for those on cruise ships, the worst anyone had to suffer was a delay getting into port or a day or two shaved off their cruise vacation before their ship could travel. No cruise ships were ever in the path of Dennis during his churning rise northward.
For instance, Carnival Miracle was scheduled back into the Port of Tampa on July 10th, but when the Coast Guard closed the port because of the weather, the ship was forced to anchor out in the Gulf, far away from any possible danger. Of course, the delay in Carnival Miracle's return meant that passengers on the following cruise were forced to cut their trip short.
Similarly, Carnival Conquest, the cruise line's largest ship, was delayed for a day from returning to the Port of New Orleans. It too had to anchor in the Gulf to safely wait out the storm. That caused some scrambling at the dock on Monday when the Conquest's delayed return coincided with Carnival Sensation's scheduled return. Yet the port and Carnival managed to successfully disembark the passengers in a timely manner.
Subsequently, however, the following Conquest cruise had to be cut a day short, from 7 to 6 days, and the planned stop at Montego Bay, Jamaica was cancelled. But, ever great for world class customer satisfaction, Carnival gave those passengers the option of backing out without a penalty or getting a 15% refund on their fare and $50 shipboard credit.
Also, Royal Caribbean was forced to change one of its Caribbean itineraries, as well. Its Explorer of the Seas was forced to stay at Nassau, Bahamas for two days instead of one.
Yet in the scheme of things, some altered itineraries and missed ports of call are nothing when compared to the devastation that Hurricane Dennis caused. True, in most accounts, Dennis did not cause as much damage as many anticipated it would, even though the damage undoubtedly reached well into the millions of dollars. And it claimed the lives of 5 people in the U.S. and 28 people in the Caribbean, a heavy toll no matter how you look at it. But thanks to the level-headed thinking of the cruise ships' crew and the patience of passengers, there were barely any bumps in the water for those on a cruise ship.
