Dozens of cruise ships and itineraries were impacted in October 2012 by Hurricane Sandy, which barreled through the Caribbean before hammering the Northeast United States. While lines are sheltered in legalese when it comes to weather-related itinerary impact -- contracts dictate that passengers are owed nothing for missed ports -- many offered some compensation. Without including every itinerary change, this chart is designed to provide a broad overview of what lines doled out to passengers on "modified" cruises. See something you think belongs? Have a bone to pick with one of the lines? Comment below or e-mail dan@cruisecritic.com.
Two acronyms to know: FCC is future cruise credit and OBC is onboard credit.
Related:
- What to Expect: Hurricane Season Cruising
- Travel Insurance Primer for Cruisers
- Hurricane Season Cruise Deals?
| Ship | Sail Date & Embark | Sandy's Itinerary Impact | Compensation |
| Oct. 27, Port Canaveral | Dream's departure was delayed by one day. The ship left Port Canaveral October 28 on a shortened six-night itinerary. Roatan was cut from the itinerary, leaving the originally scheduled ports of Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya. | | Oct. 27, Port Canaveral | Ecstasy's five-night Bahamas and Florida cruise from Port Canaveral left on October 28, and was shortened to a four-nighter. The cruise, originally scheduled to visit three ports -- Nassau, Freeport and Key West -- did not call in Key West. | | Oct. 27, Jacksonville | The ship, on five-night Bahamas cruise, swapped Half Moon Cay for Freeport. The originally scheduled and modified cruises called on two ports. | | Oct. 22, Norfolk | Glory's original cruise, a six-night voyage calling on three ports, ended up being a five-nighter that visited Nassau. | | Oct. 28, Norfolk | Glory's cruise was cancelled. The Norfolk cruise terminal is positioned behind a major flood gate, which will was closed on October 28. Because this happened, there was no access to the cruise terminal, necessitating the cancellation of the cruise. | | Oct. 27, Miami | The ship, on a week-long Eastern Caribbean cruise, visited Nassau instead of Half Moon Cay on Oct. 28, and switched the order of its visits to San Juan and St. Thomas (Oct. 30 and 31). The originally scheduled and modified cruises called on four ports. | | Oct. 21, New York (Manhattan) | Miracle's eight-night Eastern Caribbean cruise became a seven-nighter that called at only one (San Juan) of its originally scheduled three ports. To outrace the storm, the ship returned to New York a day early, arriving on Oct. 28. | | Oct. 29, New York (Manhattan) | Miracle's eight-night Eastern Caribbean cruise departed a day early, on Oct. 28, and so was lengthened by a day. San Juan and St. Thomas, both on the original itinerary, were swapped with Nassau and Port Canaveral. | | Oct. 21, Baltimore | Pride visited one of the three originally scheduled ports on its week-long Caribbean/Bahamas cruise. The eliminated ports were replaced with sea days -- the ship was racing back to Baltimore to outrun Sandy. It arrived a day early, Oct. 27, and passengers were able to debark at that time or use the ship as a floating hotel until the next morning. | | Oct. 28, Baltimore | Due to the impending arrival and predicted trajectory of Sandy, Pride's week-long Bahamas and Florida sailing was cancelled. | | Oct. 20, Montreal | Due to the closure of the port Manhattan Oct. 30 and 31, Crystal Symphony was unable to to call there as scheduled. Manhattan was to be the final port on a 10-night Montreal-to-NYC voyage ending Oct. 30. Instead, the ship sheltered and disembarked passengers in Boston from Oct. 28 - Oct 30. Symphony then sailed directly to the next scheduled port call on the next cruise, Charleston, where it arrived Nov. 1, a day earlier than originally planned. | | Oct. 30, New York (Manhattan) | Due to the closure of the port Manhattan Oct. 30 and 31, Crystal Symphony was unable to to call there as scheduled. Manhattan was to be the final port on a Montreal-to-NYC voyage ending Oct. 30, and the embarkation port on a 19-night Panama Canal cruise starting the same day. Instead, the ship sailed directly to its next scheduled port, Charleston, where it arrived Nov. 1, a day earlier than originally planned. Thus, the cruise became a 17-night Panama Canal cruise departing Nov. 2. | | Oct. 20, Port Canaveral | The ship, on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise, swapped a call in Castaway Cay with a sea day. While there were no other itinerary impacts, passengers reported an extremely rough ride, punctuated by shattered glass doors, smashed crockery and ruined merchandise. Read more. | or | Oct. 20, New York (Manhattan) | Gem's original nine-night Eastern Caribbean was "extended" by four days. The ship skipped a scheduled port call to Samana, Dominican Republic, then docked overnight in Boston Oct. 31 to escape Sandy and take on fuel and provisions. Passengers were able to debark in Boston or wait for the ship to return to New York. | | Oct. 29, New York (Manhattan) | Gem's originally scheduled nine-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from New York City was delayed for four days, and so shortened to a five-night cruise with two calls in Bermuda. | Then two options: or | Oct. 27, New York (Brooklyn) | A four-night sampler cruise became a six-night cruise when Caribbean Princess was forced to seek shelter from the storm in Boston for a few days then hover around New York waiting for the port to re-open. The original debark date of October 31 was thereby delayed until November 2, and the cruise ended in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn. Passengers who wished to debark in Boston were allowed to do so. | | Oct. 31, New York (Brooklyn) | The original 10-night Caribbean voyage departing Brooklyn October 31 was shortened to an eight-nighter from Manhattan, departing Nov. 2. The revised itinerary features five sea days interspersed by calls in Grand Turk (Nov. 5) and Aruba (Nov. 7). The sailing will conclude Nov. 10 in Fort Lauderdale. | Those who sailed: Those who cancelled: | Oct. 24, Montreal | Seven Seas Navigator's 15-night cruise from Montreal to Miami skipped scheduled calls in Bar Harbor and New York City (an overnight). The cut ports were swapped with an overnight in Halifax and a visit to Norfolk. | | Oct. 21, Fort Lauderdale | A scheduled called in Falmouth, Jamaica, was replaced with a sea day on Allure's week-long Western Caribbean cruise. | | Oct. 26, Baltimore | Instead of a six-night Bermuda cruise with three days in King's Wharf, Enchantment sailed a six-night cruise to nowhere. | Passengers were given two options: or | Oct. 28, Boston | Jewel's departure was delayed two days until Oct. 30. Due to the late start, the ship scrapped its scheduled calls on St. Kitts and Barbados. | | Oct. 26, Port Canaveral | The sailing departed late in the day on October 27 and headed out to sea, making no port calls. The originally scheduled three-night cruise included one call in Nassau. | or |