If your cruise ship misses a stop, it's disappointing, but the passengers on Ovation of the Seas this week have had all sorts of cancellations.
Ovation of the Seas sailed to Alaska, but there's a bad storm in the Gulf of Alaska that has wreaked havoc on the original plan.
The ship departed Seattle on September 27 and was scheduled to visit Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka, Alaska, with a final stop in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Due to the bad weather, Royal Caribbean cancelled the visits to Sitka and Skagway.
The storm hit the outer coast of the Southeast Panhandle the hardest, which is where cruise ships typically visit. Winds were predicted to get up to 60 miles per hour starting Monday morning, with Juneau’s winds expected to peak at about 45 mph Monday night, according to the National Weather Service Juneau.
High winds are troublesome because it makes docking difficult and even if a ship can dock, has a propensity to move gangways in a dangerous way.
Sitka and Ketchikan will be the port stops most affected by the storm that is expected to continue through Tuesday morning.
To make up for it, Royal Caribbean added Ketchikan instead, but the ship cancelled the visit there too about an hour before they were scheduled to dock in Ketchikan.
Instead, Ovation is headed back south away from Alaska.
So there won't be any made up port visits, and instead, the ship is headed to Victoria for an overnight stay to conclude the cruise. This is a very unusual situation. While ships might sometimes miss a port of call, to miss so many because of bad weather is rare.
Cruise lines use Victoria primarily as a port of call to satisfy maritime law, and often visits there last only a few hours.
Passengers disappointed
"This is the most expensive ferry I’ve ever taken to Victoria," wrote Jay Li on the sailing's unofficial Facebook group.
While Jay's comment exudes some gallows humor, he and many of the people in the group understand the reality of the situation and how safety is the most important factor.
"As much as I want to complain, I’ll fight the urge. The cruise lines can’t predict the weather and it is for our safety."
Mary Smathers added, "Our Captain is just doing what he has to to keep us safe. We are safe and blessed even though we didn’t get to see what we wanted to. Make the BEST of it."
Andrew Mede wrote, "This weather is insane. Hats off to the captain for the the decisions he had to make. Having 100mph headwind hitting us. Yes we have missed ports (and it’s unfortunate for those who looked forward to visiting them) but the weather is not in his hands. He is in charge of 3500+ lives."
Compensation for the changed plans
While there's no requirement to offer any compensation due to weather, Royal Caribbean typically offers some to make up for the disappointment, and that's exactly what happened on Ovation.
Guests received onboard credit per cabin in the following amounts:
- Inside: $125
- Outside: $150
- Balcony: $175
- Suite: $400
- Third and fourth guests: $25 each
Weather in the late season is notoriously bad
September is one of the last months of the cruise season in Alaska and it can be colder and wetter than other months.
Alaska's weather is always unpredictable, but historically the anecdotal evidence suggests you can expect poor weather. It's part of why you can also find better cruise deals on an off season cruise to Alaska.
Up to 20 days of precipitation are expected on average in September.
It also tends to get worse the later into September and October you get.
