Hurricane Irma derailing cruise and destination travel plans

ROCKY RIVER, OH (WOIO) –

Many of the islands in the path of Hurricane Irma are tourist hot spots. 

Landfall Travel Owner Ann Huber has been mapping out the path of Hurricane Irma. She said she’s already taken calls from nervous travelers. 

“I have someone going to St. Barts and they’re going next week and they’ve planned this honeymoon for several months and now, what are you going to do? We don’t know if the hotel will still be standing by the time they’re ready to go,” said Huber. 

The powerful Category 5 storm has knocked travel destinations off the power grid and left people in Northeast Ohio in limbo.

“We have no way of contacting people to find out how they’re doing, how they’re surviving, is the hotel there or is it gone?” said Huber. 

The hurricane could affect travelers for weeks, or even longer. Huber hopes people bought insurance.

“If you have travel insurance at least you will get your money back, if nothing else,” she said. 

Travelers with insurance can also choose to change their destinations or re-book for a later date. If you didn’t protect your trip, it’s too late.

“People were calling us this week saying, ‘Oh, we see there’s going to be a hurricane,’ and they didn’t have travel insurance. It’s too late to purchase it,” Huber said. 

If you used a travel agent, like Landfall Travel, call them and they’ll take care of the legwork for you. If you booked a trip all on your own, start calling airlines now because phone lines are already overloaded.

“Just be prepared to spend several hours on the phone waiting,” Huber said. 

When it comes to cruises, it’s a bit different. Huber said some cruise lines are rerouting their trips, some are shortening them and some are canceling all together. It’s best to either call your travel agent or the cruise line you booked the trip with.

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