Wilma Rains on Cruise Lines
October 24, 2005
If it seems like every time you've turned on the Weather Channel or your local news you see another satellite image of a swirling, churning storm careening through the Atlantic, well, that's because this summer has been one of the busiest and fiercest Atlantic hurricane seasons in recorded history. The 21 storms in all—a number that ties the all-time record from 1933— have done their best to keep the cruise lines off track.
With the coming of more than dozen storms and/or hurricanes this season— an angry family of storms with innocuous names like Emily, Cindy, Dennis, and Katrina—cruise lines were forced to scramble on several occasions to make sure the safety of their passengers was met.
The latest hurricane, Wilma, is currently dumping rain over southwest Florida and the Keys. But while it has died down to a category three storms (its winds are still around 125 mph), it has still flooded many Florida Keys cities. Also, it was only a few days ago that its 200-mile per hour winds raged through the Yucatan Peninsula and other cruise destinations in the Caribbean.
First touching down in the region of Jamaica and Haiti, Wilma then headed northwest, smacking into the Yucatan Peninsula (cruise destinations such as Belize, Honduras and Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico are located here) before making a 90° right turn and heading northeast towards the Keys and the southern tip of Florida where lots of cruise lines' ports can be found.
It's forced cruise lines to change several of its itineraries, a move that's necessary to ensure the wellbeing of its passengers. Yet when you look at the destruction Wilma caused—not to mention the fury of Katrina not long ago—it's clear that cancelled cruise lines' itineraries are fairly insignificant in the scheme of things.
For example, on the isolated island of Cozumel, Mexico a popular spot with divers and cruise ships where Wilma hit hard, it isn't cruise ships with which people are most concerned. It's food. A resident said people were nervous because there was little food left.
"Right now, there is nothing to buy on the island," she said. "People are in the streets looking for food, and they are starting to get desperate." In fact, looting has been occurring to some degree. Also, in Jamaica and Haiti, islands located in the hurricane breeding grounds Wilma was born, it is reported that over a dozen residents lost their lives.
In the face things like that, the cancellation of a few cruises is not too severe. However, the cancellation of the cruises is still a part of the overall blow dealt to Mexico's $11 billion foreign tourism industry, a blow that is likely to affect Mexico to the tune of millions of dollars per day.
Of course, Wilma was only one of many Atlantic storms that interfered with cruises and tourism this year. It wasn't long ago that Katrina's howling winds and flood waters slammed into the Gulf coast, disrupting cruises in port cities such as Galveston, Mobile, and New Orleans.
And throughout the season in general, cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Disney, Celebrity, and several others had to keep their eyes open a little wider than normal while looking out for potential problems. Thankfully though, because of their precaution and dedication to safety, there were no incidences whatsoever—other than the occasional shortened or re-routed cruise.
When it comes to Wilma, the hurricane forced Carnival Cruises to change the itineraries of three of its ships, the Fascination, Imagination and Carnival Legend, which were scheduled to return today to the Port of Miami and Port Everglades.
The Fascination's 4-day cruise to the Bahamas will now operate as a three-day trip to the islands of Nassau and Freeport; the Imagination's five-day cruise to the Caribbean will now operate as a four-day trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and the Carnival Legend's eight-day cruise to the Caribbean will now operate as a seven-day trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, the British Virgin Islands and Nassau.
Guests on each voyage will receive a discount of 15-25% for the shortened trip. Or, they can cancel and receive a refund or future cruise credit. So, by offering good customer service and an keeping an eye out for safety, it's clear Carnival Cruises hasn't lost sight of what's important.
Cruise Network prays for all the victims of Wilma, in the U.S. and our neighboring countries to the south. We all hope that the world doesn't see another hurricane season like this anytime soon. If you have any questions regarding the status of a Caribbean or Mexican cruise that you have booked with Carnival Cruises or any other cruise line, do not hesitate to contact a Cruise Specialist for any information.
