Hurricane Franklin

[Kendall James-Vargas]

Carnival Magic had to adjust its itinerary due to Hurricane Franklin. I expect to see other cruises making additional itinerary changes in the coming days. Hurricane Franklin is now a category 4, with sustained winds of up to 145 mph. This makes Franklin the first major hurricane of the season.

Find updates on Hurricane Franklin here. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Kendall James-Vargas

[3Sisters]

You should take a look. Franklin (post-tropical cyclone) and Jose (tropical storm) seem to be neck and neck with one another! 

Now there is a new tropical storm out in the Atlantic, Gert. Hurricane season is in full swing now. These storms are popping up every day!

[Cruising Caribbean]

Only remnants of Gert are left. It no longer poses a threat as it begins to dissipate. The next one in the Atlantic to watch is Katia. Although it's only a Tropical Depression, Katia is probably the only potential threat out in the Atlantic right now. Hopefully, it does the same thing Gert did and dissolves within the week.

[JP1964]

Yeah a Carnival rep told me about a week before our cruise that if the hurricane impacted any of our ports then we would be redirected to a new one. Instead when we got on board there was a note in our cabin that basically said sorry about your luck but we're not going to the Dominican. Instead we got another "Fun Day at Sea" where we got the honor of staying on the ship and spending more money instead of the destination we planned on, or any destination for that matter. When I went to guest services they really didn't care and said no compensation would be given other than a refund of port fees and taxes sometime in the future. 

[Cruising Caribbean]

@JP1964 That's so irritating. I don't know why CCL wouldn't have at least emailed or texted you (even if it was just the morning of or the day before) about these itinerary changes. It just seems so inconsiderate that the cruise line has the time to print out these info sheets and put them in cabins but is unable to send an email update beforehand. I'm not surprised about the lack of refunds and/or credits. When it comes down to natural disasters, it's pretty common that cruise lines do not assume responsibility for any of the storm impacts. Sometimes cruise lines do better, like going to another report of call. I wonder if CCL even tried to reroute to another stop. As you mentioned, it saves the cruise line money if it just offers another "Fun Day at Sea."

[kefthecruiser]

@JP1964 Yep, agreed, it's very irritating. I will add that on CCL cruises where I lost a port of call due to weather, all CCL did was refund port fees to my onboard account. Not defending CCL or knowing your cruise, but with all the port shuffling going on with this active weather season, the other ports may have been fully booked or otherwise off limits.