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As we enter full hurricane season, many potential cruise ship passengers are concerned about how the weather will impact their cruises. Of course, cruise lines can’t stop the weather and have no magic way to stave off rain, wind and rough waves.
This means that from June 1 through November 30, the traditional hurricane season in the Atlantic, you run the risk of encountering stormy weather and potentially no port. You may get seasick, especially if you’re sailing on a smaller ship (with Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships being relatively small these days), but you’ll never be in any actual danger.
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All the major cruise lines are using every tool available to keep passengers (and their billion-dollar cruise ships) out of real harm. Ships will change destinations, remove stops, and even sail off the planned route to avoid the worst weather.
It is not uncommon for sailing from New York to mean rerouting the Bahamas to New England and Canada. Sometimes, Florida cruises may stay at sea longer (which could mean hours or even an extra day) to avoid sailing to their home port when conditions are not safe.
In addition to all of the weather services and tools Royal Caribbean has to help it make decisions, the cruise line also employs a full-time meteorologist. Carnival Cruise Line is quietly working with its own meteorologist, who brand ambassador John Heald recently welcomed to the company.
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The carnival welcomes meteorologists
Amy Swayze, a longtime TV meteorologist, has been working with Carnival on a contract basis for the past 10 months, according to her LinkedIn page. Heald officially welcomed her to the company on his Facebook page.
“I’d like to introduce you to a good friend, Amy Swayze. She’s a wonderful meteorologist and you may see her helping us deliver information to guests on our ships via cabin televisions, and sometimes here on this page. Alberto was a reminder that the Atlantic storm season has begun, so I’m asking you to Please take a minute to watch what Amy has to say.”
Swayze explained in the video that Carnival was “closely monitoring the forecast from the National Hurricane Center.” She added, “We are in hurricane season.”
Swayze, who appears to have officially joined the cruise line, shared what she has been and will be doing.
“Thank you, John, for the warm welcome. I have enjoyed working with the Carnival team to create weather safety information for the ships. I am not involved in the daily forecasts, that is done 24/7 at the Fleet Operation Center (FOC), but I am excited to use my meteorological background.” Weather to help guests understand how weather affects cruises,” she wrote in response to Heald’s post.
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Royal Caribbean has a staff of meteorologists
Royal Caribbean International’s former chief meteorologist, James Van Fleet, posted in May 2023 on his X (formerly Twitter) feed that he was no longer working for the company and would not be replaced. He worked for the cruise company for six years and took an active role in providing daily weather updates to passengers.
Van Fleet was the first meteorologist to work for any cruise line.
Royal Caribbean named a new chief meteorologist in August 2023 when Craig Setzer was appointed to the position.
The cruise line said Setzer has a difficult job due to the nature of weather forecasting at sea.
“Tracking the weather over the open ocean can be difficult. On land, there are many weather stations including weather radar to track the weather and help create forecasts, but weather data sources are sparse over the open ocean. Craig and his team must go beyond what models show and think.” In the future to analyze and interpret data,” the cruise line shared on its webpage.
The whole goal of the Setzer’s job is to keep passengers and ships safe.
“Craig and his team can spend hours working on critical weather forecasts for cruises, which requires anticipating not only how bad the weather will get, but how a moving weather system might affect the ship. Then, he communicates with the captains to discuss the forecasts and how to Safely avoid bad weather in front of the ship.
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