Cruise lines are cancelling planned calls to Bermuda because of Hurricane Florence.
A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line tells Travel Agent that the line has modified upcoming itineraries for both the Norwegian Escape and the Norwegian Dawn. On Norwegian Escape’s September 9 itinerary out of New York City, the ship will call in Port Canaveral, Florida, and Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas to avoid the storm’s path, instead of calling in Bermuda as planned. On Norwegian Dawn’s September 7 itinerary out of Boston, the ship will call in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; St. John, New Brunswick; and Bar Harbor, Maine, instead of calling in Bermuda.
Norwegian Cruise Line will continue to monitor the storm and provide additional updates as they become available.
A spokesperson for Oceania Cruises reports that the luxury line has modified Sirena's September 7 itinerary to bypass the ship's Bermuda call, which had been scheduled for September 12 and 13. Instead, the ship will call at Nassau on September 15, before returning to Miami the next day.
According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, Florence has weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of approximately 65 mph. However, forecasters are calling for the system to regain hurricane strength over the weekend.
Florence is approximately 985 miles east-southeast of Bermuda, and is expected to continue moving west over the next several days, turning toward the west-northwest by the end of the weekend.
No watches or warnings are currently in effect due to the storm system. However, the National Hurricane Center is advising that swells generated by Florence could begin to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions in Bermuda starting later today, and on the eastern coast of the United States over the weekend.
No airlines have yet issued change waivers due to the storm.
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