Hurricane Dorian is set to hit the coast of the Carolinas today with high winds and the potential for a life-threatening storm surge.
According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, the center of the storm is expected to continue to move close to the coast of South Carolina today, and then move near or over the coast of North Carolina tonight and Friday. After that, the storm should move to the southeast of extreme southeastern New England Friday night and Saturday morning, and approach Nova Scotia later on Saturday.
With maximum sustained winds near 115 mph, Dorian is a category 3 hurricane and, while it is expected to slowly weaken over the next few days, it should remain a hurricane through Saturday.
Hotels in Florida, including the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach and Reunion Resort, report that they experienced no damage from the storm, and that they expect to resume normal operations today. Major Orlando-area theme parks opened early Wednesday and were able to operate normally.
Cruise Updates
Carnival Cruise Line has cancelled the sailing of the Carnival Elation that had originally been planned for September 2 out of Port Canaveral, and which was rescheduled for September 5. A full refund of the cruise fare and any pre-purchased items will automatically be processed.
The cruise line plans to embark the September 5 sailing of the Carnival Ecstasy that had originally been scheduled to sail out of Jacksonville from Port Canaveral. Customers should arrive at the cruise terminal in Jacksonville between 2 and 6 p.m., after which complimentary motor coach transportation will be provided to Port Canaveral. Do not drive to Port Canaveral as the ship will return to Jacksonville on Monday, September 9. The ship’s planned call at Freeport has been cancelled, with any pre-purchased shore excursions to be automatically refunded; the call at Nassau will proceed as scheduled.
While the Port of Charleston is now closed, Carnival says that it “remains optimistic” that the September 7 sailing of the Carnival Sunshine will operate as scheduled.
Royal Caribbean reports that its private island destination of CocoCay remains closed as its team reviews the full extent of the damage. It hopes to reopen September 7.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s September 5 sailing of Norwegian Sky out of Miami will depart as planned, on a four-day Bahamas itinerary calling at Key West, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas. The Norwegian Sun is scheduled to depart Port Canaveral on September 7, pending the reopening of the port, on a five-day Bahamas cruise with an overnight in Nassau.
Air Travel
A number of airlines have issued change waivers due to the storm:
American Airlines – through September 7
Delta – through September 6
United Airlines – through September 7
JetBlue – through September 6
Southwest Airlines – through September 7
Frontier Airlines – through September 6
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