The loan term can run one to seven years. Long term loans may not be a good idea if you plan to trade the car in after three or four years; at that point you may still owe more on the loan than the car is worth.
If you do miss the ship, go into the cruise terminal and talk with the port agents, who are in contact with both shipboard and shoreside personnel. They can help you decide the best way to meet your ship, and start to pave the way for rejoining your cruise, which will be already in progress without you.
In many situations in the past, ships have been able to adhere to their scheduled embarkation and disembarkation dates, and get out to sea before the storm gets too close to land. But there are rare cases when a cruise must be cancelled. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew made landfall just south of Miami on a Monday morning. Because the safest place for a ship is at sea and away from the storm, the cruise lines delayed the return of all ships due in to Miami on Sunday, the day before the storm, and again on the Monday when the storm came ashore.