I heard a cruise captain explain why ships cancel ports. It changed how I see itinerary changes
In:Passengers hate when a cruise skips a port.

Excursions you spent hours picking out go missed, plans are disrupted, and it feels like part of your vacation is suddenly missing.
And then it happened to me again. Before I even boarded my Silversea cruise this week, we had an itinerary change to drop two ports of call because of weather.
But after sitting through a live Q&A with a cruise ship captain explaining exactly how these decisions are made, I came away seeing itinerary changes very differently.
What I heard wasn’t about convenience, cost, or even just guest satisfaction. It was about avoiding situations that can turn dangerous faster than most people realize.
Weather changes quickly, even when it doesn't look it

While sailing on Silver Ray, Captain Giovani Schiaffino held a special event to explain why we were having a change in plans and more importantly, to illustrate the dangers had we not shifted plans.
One of the biggest misconceptions passengers have is assuming decisions are based on current conditions.
Royal Caribbean Group is always looking much further ahead, even up to a week early.

"We are always… looking ahead," the captain explained. "Four or five days ago… we noticed that there was something building up."
That "something" was a developing low-pressure system in the Atlantic, moving toward the coast of Portugal. Silver Ray was scheduled to start a sailing from Lisbon, and sail north to Porto and Vigo before heading south to the Mediterranean.
Royal Caribbean Group doesn't just rely on one app or report, they have multiple layers of forecasting.

Captain Schiaffino said they have three tiers of forecasts, including government reports, the Weather Reporting Institute, and even third-party sites like Windy.
They're taking into account a constant stream of real-time data from professional forecasting systems to make an informed decision. They're certainly not guessing.
Wind, waves, and what happens next

No one wants it to rain on their cruise, but precipitation isn't going to change cruise plans alone.
What the ship's Captain is worried about is what's happening out in the open ocean.

Captain Schiaffino broke it down into the factors they monitor, "Wind condition, sea state, precipitation… and what are they building in the ocean… storms… swell…"
In our case, the concern was the coming danger associated with strong winds and large waves.
"We have gust of 40 knots of wind and… five, six meters swell," he explained.

To put that in perspective, a six-meter swell is nearly 20 feet. Not only is that a very tall wave, but you get lots of motion.
"The period of the swell… the ship will be going up and down… sometimes the period can be anticipated… delayed… and that’s why the ship is moving too much."
That unpredictable movement is what makes conditions uncomfortable at best, but could be unsafe.
Why not just wait out the storm?

A common question passengers ask is simple: why not go to the port and wait for the weather to pass?
The Captain's answer surprised me because sometimes waiting creates a bigger problem.
"We could… stay 60 hours, 72… we were stuck… for three days," he said.

That would have an enormous ripple effect in the rest of our itinerary. Missing one port, and suddenly you're missing the next one too. The entire itinerary can fall apart.
He also mentioned there's another issue people don't think about, which is the port could close because of bad weather.
"Some ports… get closed for the bad weather… they don’t want to have any responsibility."
Cruise ships can handle bad weather, but the Captain is worried about everyone onboard

Modern cruise ships are built to sustain terrible weather conditions that they'll like never actually sail into. They can handle rough seas, but that doesn't mean they should.
The captain was blunt about this, "Ship is very stable… very solid… but I will avoid… I will be a criminal if I put a ship in six, seven meters swell."
That line stuck with me, because it reframes the entire discussion. This isn't about what the ship can do. It's about what the Captain is willing to risk.
Lots of people are involved with a change in plans
A cruise ship Captain isn't acting like Captain Kirk on instinct. He involves a lot of people, both onboard and onshore.
It’s a coordinated effort between:
- The ship’s bridge team
- Cruise line operations teams
- Weather experts
- Port authorities

Royal Caribbean Group employs their own Chief Meteorologist, who is one of those key people in provide guidance.
Craig Setzer's primary job is detection and look at the incoming weather to see signs that skipping a port or sailing elsewhere is something to be considered.
Outrunning a storm is another option

A surprising insight from Captain Schiaffino was going faster is another way to avoid bad weather.
"I increased the speed in order to skip the passage of this weather," he said.
That means burning more fuel to stay ahead of the front and minimizing the impact to the ship and guests onboard.
Cruise ships are called "floating hotels", but they're constantly navigating changing conditions.
Why I'll look at itinerary changes differently now

I'll probably still be disappointed anytime a port gets skipped, but having the proper context helps understand it better.
The next time it happens, I won't chalk it up to some gut call, guess, or assumption. I'll know the ship's Captain saw something coming, and took a deeper look along with leveraging a heck of a lot of resources.
And after hearing how those decisions are made, that’s exactly what I would want them to do.













































































