In 2017, Royal Caribbean International became the first cruise line to employ a meteorologist to support critical weather vessel routing for the company’s fleet. Fast forward to 2024, and Royal Caribbean Group now has a Chief Meteorologist and its first-ever Marine Meteorologist, Peyton Collado. She holds the honor and title of Marine Meteorologist, and she studies two forms of geophysical fluids – the atmosphere and the ocean- to create her forecasts. Using and collecting observational data from various instruments, like radiosondes, buoys, doppler radar and other weather satellites, Peyton can share her findings with our fleets’ captains and help them carry out a successful cruise. 

So, what does our Marine Meteorologist do? We sat down with Peyton to get some background on what makes a Marine Meteorologist different from a regular meteorologist, how she found her place at Royal Caribbean Group, and how she feels to be one of few women in this field. 

Peyton holds degrees in math and physics from the University of North Florida and received her Master of Professional Science at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel’s school. 

Marine Meteorology vs Standard Meteorology
What’s the main difference between marine meteorology and regular meteorology?  Peyton’s title and role is a bit different than what we normally think of when we think of the weather. Peyton focuses mostly on the weather over the oceans, tracking changes in wind speeds, wave heights, wind shear, tropical systems that may form and other activity happening in our oceans. 

Hurricanes and Family time
At a young age, Peyton found herself drawn to hurricanes. Her first memorable hurricane was Charley, which hit in August 2004. Peyton was fascinated by these big storms and hurricanes, especially when the power went out in her family’s home, because they’d get to enjoy family game nights.  

Educational Background and Early Career
Before joining Royal Caribbean Group, Peyton worked at the National Hurricane Center, shadowing operations and preparing forecasts with Hurricane Hunters. She spent some time working at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies where she learned how to code.  

While working on her master’s program, many of Peyton’s peers and colleagues discussed working alongside shipping companies as meteorologists, something that she hadn’t fully considered yet. Upon graduation, Peyton received an email from Craig who was looking for a marine meteorologist to work with him at RCG. It was an incredible offer that she couldn’t pass up and the rest is history. 

Challenges with forecasting
Peyton’s most challenging forecast was in September 2023, when Hurricane Lee made its way toward Nova Scotia. For Peyton and her team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), things were changing quickly, and she had to gather scientific data and observations to make her forecast. The intensity forecast and models had supported Lee remaining a Category 5 hurricane, but the forecast quickly changed, with Lee dropping to a Category 3 nearly overnight. “It’s challenging to rework a forecast that’s changed so quickly while trying to understand why the storm downgraded,” Peyton explained. 

A proud moment 
Graduate school is no easy feat, and defending a thesis isn’t a walk in the park either. When Peyton was preparing her thesis for her master’s, she had been warned that her advisor was very strict and would grade harshly. But, when Peyton defended her thesis on Wind Radii Climatology for North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, her advisor had no choice but to call Peyton’s boss at the National Hurricane Center to tell them that it was the best Master of Professional Science presentation he had ever seen!  

Needless to say, Peyton’s boss was beyond proud of her, and her thesis was then presented by the National Hurricane Center at the AMS Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology Conference. 

Stay tuned for more information on Peyton, her experience tracking Hurricane Idalia and how she works closely with our Chief Meteorologist, Craig Setzer, to ensure our guests enjoy their sailings. Be sure to follow along in Hurricane Central for more on our meteorologists and to be prepared for this hurricane season.