It was a gorgeous day in Long Beach as we woke up ready for our 7 Day Carnival cruise to mexico with a first stop in Cabo San Lucas & then a second stop in Puerto Vallarta.
Look at the blue sky over our ship as we set sail on Sunday October 14, 2012.
Only problem with these pictures? I knew the blue would not last on this trip. Maybe a little joke on the weatherman?
Hours before we boarded the ship, my wife saw a weather report that Tropical Storm Paul had suddenly formed a bit SW of Puerto Vallarta — and its track would take it right near Cabo as a Category 1 Hurricane at the same time we were supposed to be there!
I checked out the maps–and yep–we were headed for stormy weather ahead.
Our weather was perfect most of Monday at sea. But by Monday night–skies turned gray.
By this point we already knew the Captain Of The Carnival Splendor had a plan: add an extra sea day early in the cruise and cut as close as safely possible to Baja California before the center of Hurricane Paul gets there. If we pull it off, we beat the hurricane and get south of it to spend 2 days in Puerto Vallarta then come back to Cabo at the end of the trip after Paul moves out. A flip flop of what was supposed to happen.
We woke up early on Tuesday October 23 because the ship was rocking and check out the view out our window!
It may not look that bad–but trust me–they had the sea sickness bags out all over the ship and they were well used! I suspect it was even rougher than the Captain expected–because Hurricane Paul was forecast to peak as a brief Category 1 storm. Instead, it suddenly became a major hurricane — a Category 3. That bigger and more powerful storm can push a lot more water around.
My wife felt fine but the boys and I went to the center of the ship to ride things out. After a couple hours we felt better.
By the end of the day, seas were getting smoother, sun breaks appeared between thunderstorms on the horizon and the Captain assured us the ship was whole.
Our sunny and warm Mexico weather was back on track as we pulled into Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday. We had conquered the storm and beat the hurricane!
It’s a story everyone on the cruise will have to tell over the years…
A fitting vacation for a weatherman, don’t you think?
馃檪
Fitting, perhaps. But we would’ve chosen sunny and 80 if possible!
Thanks for your post, Phillis.
Reading the headline on this blogpost, made me think you were having issues with Sandy on the East Coast. 馃檪
Glad to hear everything went alright. Maybe next time just go to Hawaii. 馃檪
Richard–you might be right. Hawaii would be the way to go! Thanks for the post.
Welcome home, Bruce ! Thanks for sharing your family cruise pictures. Pretty cool but scary at the same time. Always miss your weather reports when you’re off…you are definitely my favorite meteorologist because you are the most accurate and you say it the way it is….not what we want to hear…and you are right (most of the time)….and you never forget to mention Vancouver. Thanks, Roxanne : )
Roxanne–thanks so much for your nice post. I appreciate it. And yes, it’s true, I try to include Vancouver as much as possible since we’re all in this together. Have a great week!
Bruce
Stay safe my friend. Great weathermen are hard to find.
John & Bev
(Lois’ cousin)
Thanks, John & Bev–
We made it! Hope you’re doing well and staying warm…