With the life-threatening weather and Hurricane Ian moving closer, many cruise lines have had to adjust previously scheduled stops and reroute several ships to safer less-threatening locations.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s The Norwegian Sky, has rerouted a Sunday round-trip from Miami previously scheduled to feature stops like Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico, says a spokesperson from USA TODAY. Instead, the ship will visit San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and Nassau in the Bahamas. The USA TODAY spokesperson also stated that “the safety and security of our guests and crew is always our number one priority,” adding that passengers with scheduled shore excursions booked through Norwegian at impacted ports would be refunded via their onboard accounts.
MSC Cruises made major changes to MSC Seashore’s Saturday sailing out of Miami. The company has said it will swap its Western Caribbean itinerary for Eastern Caribbean stops. Field Sutton, MSC spokesperson says, “Guests received a full refund of any shore excursion booked for destinations the ship will no longer be calling at, and shore excursions booked for Ocean Cay were automatically rescheduled for the new call date there.”
WHAT OTHER CRUISE LINES HAVE MADE CHANGES
Royal Caribbean International ships are also rerouting ships, confirming they are skipping several ports due to the super storm. One of the ships affected, Allure of the Seas, is skipping its stop in Roatán on Tuesday. The company’s Liberty of the Seas will also refrain from stopping in Cozumel on Tuesday, drifting from the original schedule. Setting sail from Florida’s Port Canaveral, Mariner of the Seas also stopped a visit to Labadee in Haiti on Monday.
Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Infinity left from Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and will replace their originally scheduled Belize and Cozumel stops with stops in Nassau and Labadee.
Leaving from Mobile, Alabama on Monday, Carnival Ecstasy changed course by reordering its regular destinations. The ship usually visits Cozumel, Mexico first followed by Progreso. Due to Hurricane Ian, the ship will now stop in Progresso first on Monday followed by Cozumel. Another rerouted ship, Carnival Glory, departed from New Orleans on Sunday. Instead of visiting Key West and Nassau, the ship will now stop in Mahogany Bay, Roatán, Honduras, Cozumel and Belize.
The National Hurricane Center reported that life-threatening storms might be felt “from Fort Myers and the Tampa Bay region,” along with many other cities across Florida.
