Cruise lines are revising itineraries to avoid the path of Hurricane Florence, expected to make landfall on the East Coast on September 13.
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| © Getty Images Cruise lines are revising itineraries to avoid the path of Hurricane Florence, expected to make landfall on the East Coast on September 13. (photo courtesy of poladamonte / iStock / Getty Images Plus) |
By Ana Figueroa, TravelPulse
Hurricane Florence is heading straight for the East Coast, and it’s expected to hit land by Thursday night. At sea, it’s affected cruise itineraries for the past several days. Lines are scrambling to avoid the path of Florence, as well as other storms lining up right behind her.
Carnival Cruise Line, for one, revised itineraries for Carnival Pride and Carnival Horizon.
Carnival Pride’s September 9 week-long sailing from Baltimore to Bermuda is operating under a modified schedule. Instead of successive days in Bermuda from September 12-14, the ship will now call on Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport, Bahamas.
Similarly, Carnival Horizon canceled a call in San Juan. It will also call on Amber Cove today rather than on September 10 as scheduled. The ship will then proceed to New York, arriving as planned on September 13. The ship is on an eight-day sailing that departed from New York September 5.
Carnival is also keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Isaac (formerly Tropical Depression Nine), heading toward the eastern Caribbean. The itinerary for Carnival Vista’s eight-day Caribbean sailing that departed September 10 has been revised. The ship will call on St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Amber Cove before returning to Miami on September 16.
Norwegian Cruise Line also revised a few itineraries to avoid Florence. The biggest change came for passengers aboard Norwegian Dawn. The ship departed September 7 from Boston, on a course for the Caribbean. It switched to a Canada and New England itinerary, instead. Passengers will visit Sydney, Nova Scotia, Saint John, New Brunswick and Bar Harbor, Maine, before heading back to Boston.
Norwegian Escape’s sailing from New York on September 9 was also changed. The ship was originally scheduled to spend three days at King’s Wharf in Bermuda. New calls include Port Canaveral (Orlando), Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s September 8 Grandeur of the Seas sailing has also been operating under a modified itinerary. Moreover, the ship will now hold in place in Port Canaveral until it’s safe to return to Baltimore.
According to an update from the line, "The ship will have a full day in Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday, September 11th, and will then set sail to Port Canaveral, Florida where she will be in port on Wednesday, September 12th and Thursday, September 13th. We expect Grandeur to arrive in Baltimore no later than Sunday, September 16th."
That means the ship’s scheduled September 13th departure from Baltimore is not going forward as scheduled.
"The departure date and time, as well as the itinerary, are currently being finalized. We do not expect the departure date to be later than Sunday, September 16th,” said the line.
At Oceania Cruises, a spokesperson said that Oceania Serena’s September 7 itinerary was modified to skip Bermuda. Originally scheduled for port calls on September 12 and 13, the ship will visit Nassau on September 15, and return to Miami the next day.
TravelPulse will provide additional updates as they come in from cruise lines.
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