Booking a year in advance for a 4 generation, 7 cabin, family cruise, I chose the Valor for its particular Western Carribean itinerary and departure port. Opting to go while the grandkids were not in school, we booked the last week of Aug as it had the best rate.
Watching it as it left the coast of Africa, spent a week fretting about the projected path of TS Isaac, all the time heading for Miami. Hoping it would miss by one day either way, it didn't matter to me if we spent 6 days at sea, as long as we were able to get on the ship. Unfortunately, its proximty coincided with our departure.
With an imminent storm, erring on the side of caution, the Miami Port Authority closed the port the evening before we were to board. It stayed closed for roughly 44 hours. Spent that whole time waiting with baited breath for updates that were slow to come.