Sailing with Disney Cruise Line during the late summer and early fall is an attractive option for guests looking for the best deals. Unfortunately, those lower prices are due to hurricane season and the potential for it to wreak havoc with Caribbean and Bahamian sailings.
So, what happens if a hurricane interrupts a Disney Cruise Line voyage?
Disney Cruise Line will do whatever they can to avoid completely cancelling a cruise. They may adjust the scheduled itinerary, such as changing an Eastern Caribbean itinerary to a Western Caribbean itinerary, or modify ports they plan to visit. They’ll explore all options before pulling the plug on a trip entirely.
We’ve run into a couple hurricane-related problems on Disney Cruise Line voyages. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian changed our 4-night trip on the Disney Dream to a 2-night cruise. They offered a 50% refund on the trip and a $250 onboard credit, but we decided to reschedule. It’s worth noting the cruise immediately prior to that had their 3-night trip turned into a 5-night trip, which had to be quite the logistical surprise.
In 2022, Hurricane Fiona was directly in the path of our planned 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy. The day before we were set to embark, Disney Cruise Line switched our trip to a Western Caribbean cruise to avoid the storm. We had never done the Western Caribbean itinerary, so we stuck with it. We booked new port adventures on embarkation day and ended up having a wonderful time. See, not all hurricane changes are bad!
Summarized, Disney Cruise Line has a lot of options at their disposal when it comes to hurricanes. They can adjust their routes, schedules and even cruise lengths to make a sailing happen. It takes a very serious storm traveling on a specific path before an itinerary is fully cancelled.
Guests sailing at this time of year (especially in September) should be aware that the weather can be unpredictable. Pack your flexibility and don’t be surprised if a hurricane changes your voyage.
