Urgent help Cancun Mexico with TUI Beryl Hurricane

[Gilmoregirly]

We need urgent advice please. We are flying to Cancun in Mexico this Thursday landing at 2 p.m. local time. It is an all inclusive package holiday from TUI. I called TUI to cancel or switch to a different location today. They refused and said that they are monitoring the situation and that if it is a concern that they will contact us tomorrow or Wednesday. Since this is a natural disaster I am not sure why they are not allowing us to cancel. Could you please help by providing any ideas what we can do?

Hurricanes happen every year, it's a risk you take booking. If it's likely to affect you they will let you switch but they alter trajectory regularly

What does your travel insurance say?

Listen to Tui?

Look at your travel insurance for terms fir cancellation?

Wait and see what happens with the weather?

It will likely decrease in strength by the time it gets to Mexico so Tui won't go around cancelling everyone's holidays until they've got a clear picture of the situation. Nothing you can do at this stage except pay to go elsewhere. I take it you have travel insurance?

Unless your insurance specifically covers hurricanes (mine didn't for Hurricane Irma - huge mistake on my part), you're probably out of luck.

However, given it's projected to arrive in that area before you are so TUI will have plans in place as to whether they can fly in or not. You'll have to wait and see tbh!

It's currently showing a 20-30%likelihood of tropical storm windspeeds at Cancun (39mph) before it blows itself out, so it's not that you're landing into the eye of a Cat 5.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - this is the most reliable source for all data.

It's hurricane season and you've booked Mexico.

Why panic now? Just see what happens.

I would keep an eye on the situation but it is (quite literally) a fast moving one, which may change its course yet. Latest predictions are that the core of the hurricane will pass to the south of Cancun, closer to the Belize border. The wind strength is also forecast to decrease. Having said that, there is no doubt it will still be wet and windy for a while! Cancun itself is not built of mud huts - it’s mostly large concrete structures designed to withstand tropical weather.

If there is danger to life, no holiday company will send you out - in those sort of conditions is not even possible to get holiday makers out there. The more likely outcome is that you will end up playing cards inside for a day or so, and then afterwards the sea will be messy and not so pretty because the wind and rain churned it all up. The locals depend on tourists for income, holiday companies will not just cancel because it’s not exactly the weather you were hoping for.

I’ve got colleagues all over the Caribbean atm, in hotels, and none have reported anything out of the normal for a hurricane where they are. I’ve been in 2 hurricanes myself, in Bermuda and the Bahamas - they are quite fascinating. The places that suffer are the poorer small communities in lower quality housing. Unless you are going on a home-stay visit you will probably be ok. If the weather is too bad, the most likely outcome is that your flight could be delayed.

Thank you very much for putting things in to perspective. This is our first time flying to Mexico and I was panicking

We had a hurricane while we were in Mexico, it was just south of us and we had a one really windy/rainy day where we couldn't do anything but stay in and a day either side that was a bit grey and breezy. Don't panic yet.

stormcarib.com
I always used to refer to this site when I had to travel for work in the Caribbean, you might find it useful. Nobody can every really be sure exactly where it's going to hit until the very last minute

@CrotchetyQuaver thank you for this. We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed. It is the lack of communication from TUI that made me panic. There are no emails or any updates of reassurance in the app. I am not used to hurricanes and lot of Americans in Tripadvisor are advising to cancel.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico

Thanks @TheSquareMile there is no mention of Hurricane Beryl. I am really hoping that this is because it levels down when it reaches cancun.

The areas they recommend no travel is not due to the weather, but due to the huge organised crime syndicate, drugs cartels, kidnapping and murder....

Cancun isn't on that list.

Currently no warnings about the hurricane either as its too far out.

hurricane beryl is just approaching us to the south.(Dominican Republic) It is far enough out that so far we had a ten min downpour and its a little windy but not bad (actually since it is 31 degrees it is quite nice to have some wind) Jamaica is in the worst position, and I hope they all stay safe. It is a very fast moving storm and is right now cat 4, but is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by thursday early hours.

I would worry about a hurricane, buildings are very strong over there. I would be more concerned about your safety from the organised crime. Just stick to touristic areas and in large groups of people.

It has been upgraded to category 5. My worry is our journey from the airport to the hotel which might get affected with flooding etc and we will get stuck in airport until the roads are cleared etc. currently it says it is a 80 min journey by coach. Also given the resort is in Caribbean coast would it be evacuated. All this is making me panic.

it is not a natural disaster yet. Tui is right to stand its ground. If the situation is dire on Thursday the plane won't land there (planes don't land in hurricane force winds) and arrangements will be made. But hurricanes are notoriously unpredictable in terms of what direction they take.
A more reasonable scenario is that it turns to the north and doesn't hit Mexico, but there may well be some crappy weather in the days ahead. But that's the risk you take booking that area in hurricane season.

@Gilmoregirly

There's a British Consul in Cancun. Could you send a message to the Embassy for clarification on the current situation (via the contact us online link).

https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-mexico-city

Cancun is over 1000km from Jamaica and it won't even reach there for another 8-12hrs.

Please read the factual news about this storm and what is anticipated on it arriving on the Mexican coast - what you are reading about happening on the Caribbean islands isn't necessarily indicative of what will happen in 2-3 days and many thousands of km away. The islands are often low lying and the communities are small and close knit yet they survive these hurricanes in amazing fashion.

You're going to a mainland location with a long history of dealing with this sort of thing.

We were on Antigua for an even bigger Cat 5 storm and came through it unscathed. The actual damage was to people's homes in shanties, palm trees and the effects of storm surges. The tourist resorts we built very differently. The locals really go through a lot every year.

Don't waste their time, just follow the proper reports.

NOAA is the best source of data on the movements of any hurricane.

I know you hear horror stories but trust your tour operator, they deal with hurricanes every year and it's not in their interest either to put their clients into resorts then need to evacuate them. However low level storms are usual for the time of year and the hotels, airlines and coaches know how to deal with them. Not ideal but it's why holidays are cheaper in storm season

thank you all for all your input and it is really making me less panicky. This is a good lesson for me for booking a holiday without checking for hurricanes.

I’m flying to a similar area with TUI tomorrow. It looks like the storm is set to weaken as it travels to the Cancun area with potentially 90 mile winds coming in during the night on Friday. I’m not massively concerned. Weather is always a possibility in hurricane season. Tour operators will be keeping an eye on things and, as others say, wont take undue risks.

Thank you. This is a totally different perspective to panicky messages in the Tripadvisor Cancun forum. We will be traveling with our son who is 4 years old. We feel irresponsible that we are taking him to a hurricane