Caribbean Timeshare and Hotel Guests Feel Impact of Sandy
Friday, October 26, 2012
Although forecasters remind us that hurricane season actually extends until Thanksgiving each year, we can’t help but be surprised when tropical weather is an issue late in the month of October. With the bulk of hurricane weather typically ending each year in early September, most travelers do not hesitate to plan a cruise or Caribbean timeshare vacation in October.
This week as a Category 2 hurricane, Hurricane Sandy resulted in the evacuation of thousands of tourists vacationing in the Caribbean. Jamaica’s international airports were closed Wednesday, and cruise ship stops were cancelled as Sandy swept across the island, leaving deaths, injuries, and outages behind. As of early Friday morning, Jamaica’s two major airports, Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) in Kingston and Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, are open and both have resumed flight service. With the storm now passed Jamaica, no hotels in the resort areas of Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, and the South Coast have reported structural damage.
Hurricane Sandy hit southeastern Cuba with sustained winds of 114 miles per hour, causing more than 55,000 people to flee the area and thousands more to be left to ride out the storm. Hoteliers in Santiago have set up generators to provide emergency power.
In the Bahamas, all public buildings, airports, seaports, and bridges are closed for Thursday and Friday as a precautionary measure.
Caribbean Cruise Updates
- Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest passenger ship, and three Carnival ships: the Valor, Pride, and Glory, have changed their itineraries to avoid the hurricane.
- Disney’s 2,500-passenger Disney Dream is skipping a Friday call at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. The Disney Dream will remain at sea instead of calling at port, with Saturday’s port call in Nassau currently tentative.
- The Disney Fantasy is skipping its call at Castaway Cay.
Many Florida Timeshare Resorts Experiencing Heavy Wind and Rain
Most of Florida’s east coast is under, or will be under, tropical storm conditions today. Tropical storm warnings extend as far south as Ocean Reef, the gateway to the Florida Keys. Although Hurricane Sandy is not expected to be a life threatening storm as it passes parallel to the Florida coastline, it will bring strong tropical winds and intermittent rains to the area, effecting weather as far into central Florida as Orlando and Kissimmee. Florida timeshare vacationers should be wary that rough seas and high waves will keep them off the beaches over the next few days.
Real Storm Threat May Be Eastern Seaboard
Ironically, the storm’s impact on Caribbean timeshare resorts and hotels may pale in comparison to what she brings to the New England area. Presently, Sandy still looks as if she will angle toward the US coastline, aiming at New Jersey or New York by early next week. Meteorologists are concerned that Hurricane Sandy could arrive in the New England area at about the same time a major cold front and winter storm sweeps into the area from the west. The result could be what some forecasters are calling, “Frankenstorm” bringing miserable, messy weather just in time for Halloween.
