Every summer, people wonder and worry about whether they should plan a Caribbean vacation during the months of August and September. After all, these are peak hurricane months in the tropics, and, while prices tend to drop on vacation packages, one always runs the risk of having a hurricane or tropical storm put a real damper on that much-anticipated vacation.
Here's something you should think about, if such a vacation is already in your plans for next summer. You might be better off booking a cruise vacation, than sticking with just one island. The major reason I say this is that when tropical weather threatens, a hotel cannot just pick up and move out of the way. A cruise ship, however, can alter course to avoid the bad weather entirely. And while that may sound like no big deal, it can completely change the nature of your vacation. For example, a couple of years ago, a major cruise line altered its planned itinerary for a cruise from New York to Bermuda. The island was in the potential path of a hurricane. So the captain, in consultation with the cruise line, decided to take the ship north to New England and Canada for the 7-day cruise. Needless to say, this raised howls of indignation from passengers, who had packed clothing in anticipation of tropical weather, and were now facing weather of a much cooler nature. Many threatened to sue the cruise line. But the fine print in the cruise contract left them with no legal recourse. The cruise line reserves the right to skip scheduled ports-of-call, or even change the itinerary altogether if, in the captain's opinion, the ship might be threatened by tropical storms or hurricanes. Most cruise lines, if they know in advance, will offer passengers the option to cancel and rebook at no charge. If the itinerary change is a last-minute affair, they will often give you some onboard credit to make up for the inconvenience. But be aware that they are under NO obligation to give you any sort of compensation for weather-related itinerary changes.
Having said that, you are still probably better off on a cruise ship that can avoid bad weather than on an island in the direct path of a major storm, with the airport shut down, and no way out.
