Shifting Ships: Cruise Lines Adapt to Hurricane Earl

 

Carnival Dream re-located Caribbean itineraries to ports in Mexico, Belize and Roatan this weekend

As Hurricane Earl spins near the Leeward Islands with hurricane warnings now up for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, oceaning cruise lines have adapted itineraries to keep ships and passengers away from such ports as St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

“Rest assured, all of our ships will continue to operate at a safe distance from the storms,” Carnival Cruise Lines says in a weather update on its website, noting that it had shifted some itineraries. For example, last Saturday, Carnival Dream sailed from Port Canaveral on a western Caribbean itinerary to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Costa Maya instead of its scheduled eastern Caribbean itinerary that included St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

In addition, Carnival Pride, which sailed from Baltimore on Sunday, won’t call at Grand Turk on this voyage, but will visit Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport. The line is also revising the sequence of port calls for Carnival Victory and that ship will not call at St. Maarten as planned.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic, which sailed this past weekend from Miami, will call at Cozumel and Roatan instead of the ship’s scheduled calls at St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Norwegian Dawn sailed from New York as planned on Sunday but the line said there is the potential for changes in the ship's itinerary and that it’s monitoring the storm.

Royal Caribbean International has adjusted itineraries for both Oasis of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas. The line cancelled port calls for Oasis of the Seas at St. Thomas and St. Maarten. “The most recent forecast simply places the storm too close to call at these ports during the time Oasis of the Seas would be sailing there,” the line said in a weather update on its website. Instead, the ship will call at Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel.

Having departed August 26 on a nine-night cruise from Baltimore, Enchantment of the Seas will visit the Dominican Republic in place of St. Thomas, then call at Labadee and spend two days at sea, before returning to Baltimore.