After knocking nearly a dozen cruise ships sailing in the Bahamas and the Caribbean off course in recent days, a northbound Hurricane Earl is now having an impact on vessels that sail to New England, Canada and Bermuda.
In the most dramatic fallout so far, Holland America says the 1,258-passenger Maasdam, currently on a seven-night sailing to Canada and New England, will return to its home port of Boston today two days ahead of schedule to ride out the storm at dock. Calls at Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as Bar Harbor, Maine have been canceled.
"This will put the ship safely alongside (a dock) in Boston ahead of the storm's anticipated arrival," the line says in statement. "Guests are welcome to stay onboard the ship until Saturday morning."
Holland America also has announced the 2,104-passenger Eurodam, currently on a trans-Atlantic cruise to New York, will call Friday at Halifax instead Sydney, Nova Scotia to avoid the storm. The ship will remain at sea on Saturday and Sunday to stay out of the storm's path before arriving in New York on Monday.
Another Holland America ship that sails out of New York to Bermuda, the 1,350-passenger Veendam, will depart Hamilton, Bermuda on Friday several hours early to make its return trip to New York as the storm approaches.
Other lines with New York-based ships making changes:
-- Princess Cruises. The 3,080-passenger Caribbean Princess will skip today's call in Halifax and sail directly for New York to avoid the worst effect of the hurricane, the line says. In an unusual diversion, the ship will pull into a Manhattan cruise berth on Friday for the day before moving early Saturday to its normal berth across the harbor at the Cruise Terminal in Brooklyn in time for disembarkation Saturday morning.
-- Carnival. The line says the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle, racing to stay ahead of Hurricane Earl, will pull into New York late on Friday, half a day ahead of schedule, as it returns to the city after an eight-night voyage to the Bahamas. The ship skipped a scheduled call in Nassau on Wednesday so it could depart for home early.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Hurricane Earl Impact on scheduled port visits
More cruise ships are altering course today as a "powerful" Hurricane Earl barrels north-westward toward the Bahamas and the East Coast of the USA.
Royal Caribbean says the 2,354-passenger Monarch of the Seas was unable to call today at CocoCay, its private island in the Bahamas. The ship instead is sailing directly to Nassau, Bahamas, where it will stay until midnight on Wednesday.
Also skipping a call at a private island in the Bahamas today was Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Jewel (scheduled to visit the line's Great Stirrup Cay). Like Monarch of the Seas, the vessel docked early in Nassau. Norwegian says that due to the approaching storm Jewel also may have to leave Nassau early on Wednesday.
Two other ships making last-minute changes today include the 2,354-passenger Majesty of the Seas, which extended its port call in Key West, Fla. today until early tomorrow morning. The ship now will spend the remainder of Wednesday at sea before calling on Nassau on Thursday.
The 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory, meanwhile, is replacing today's port call in Dominica with a stop in St. Lucia. The vessel now will visit Dominica on Thursday in place of St. Lucia. As previously announced, the ship has canceled a port call planned in St. Maarten for later in the week and pushed back a port call scheduled for St. Thomas.
The four new itinerary changes are on top of half a dozen others ann0unced over the past two days:
-- The 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride, which set sail from Baltimore on Sunday, is skipping a port call scheduled for Wednesday in Grand Turk and instead visiting Port Canaveral, Fla. A port call at Half Moon Cay has been replaced with a visit to Nassau, Bahamas.
-- The 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream is reversing the order of two port calls in Roatan, Honduras and Belize scheduled for today and Wednesday.
-- Norwegian Cruise Line's 4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic, which set sail from Miami on Saturday, has headed to the Western Caribbean this week instead of the Eastern Caribbean. Port calls in St. Martin and St. Thomas have been replaced with calls in Cozumel, Mexico and Roatan, Honduras.
-- Royal Caribbean's 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas, which set sail from Baltimore on Thursday, skipped a call Monday in St. Thomas. The ship instead called at Samana, Dominican Republic and, today, at Labadee, Haiti. The vessel will spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at sea as it returns to Baltimore on Saturday as scheduled.
-- Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, which departed Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, is skipping its scheduled port calls in St. Thomas today and St. Maarten on Wednesday. The ship instead has headed to the Western Caribbean where it will stop at Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel on Thursday.
Royal Caribbean's 3,634-passenger Freedom of the Seas, which set sail Sunday from Port Canaveral, has headed to the Western Caribbean ports of George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel this week instead of scheduled calls in St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
Taken together, the itinerary changes this week have affected the vacations of at least 30,000 people.
As of 2 pm AST, Earl was 175 miles east of Grand Turk Island and moving to the west-northwest at about 14 miles per hour. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, giving it Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The National Hurricane Center says a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Southeastern Bahamas, although the storm is expected to pass north of the islands (click HERE for the USA TODAY Weather Page's related story on the storm's projected path).
The National Hurricane Center says the storm is likely to remain a powerful Category 4 storm for the next day or two.
Royal Caribbean says the 2,354-passenger Monarch of the Seas was unable to call today at CocoCay, its private island in the Bahamas. The ship instead is sailing directly to Nassau, Bahamas, where it will stay until midnight on Wednesday.
Also skipping a call at a private island in the Bahamas today was Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Jewel (scheduled to visit the line's Great Stirrup Cay). Like Monarch of the Seas, the vessel docked early in Nassau. Norwegian says that due to the approaching storm Jewel also may have to leave Nassau early on Wednesday.
Two other ships making last-minute changes today include the 2,354-passenger Majesty of the Seas, which extended its port call in Key West, Fla. today until early tomorrow morning. The ship now will spend the remainder of Wednesday at sea before calling on Nassau on Thursday.
The 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory, meanwhile, is replacing today's port call in Dominica with a stop in St. Lucia. The vessel now will visit Dominica on Thursday in place of St. Lucia. As previously announced, the ship has canceled a port call planned in St. Maarten for later in the week and pushed back a port call scheduled for St. Thomas.
The four new itinerary changes are on top of half a dozen others ann0unced over the past two days:
-- The 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride, which set sail from Baltimore on Sunday, is skipping a port call scheduled for Wednesday in Grand Turk and instead visiting Port Canaveral, Fla. A port call at Half Moon Cay has been replaced with a visit to Nassau, Bahamas.
-- The 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream is reversing the order of two port calls in Roatan, Honduras and Belize scheduled for today and Wednesday.
-- Norwegian Cruise Line's 4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic, which set sail from Miami on Saturday, has headed to the Western Caribbean this week instead of the Eastern Caribbean. Port calls in St. Martin and St. Thomas have been replaced with calls in Cozumel, Mexico and Roatan, Honduras.
-- Royal Caribbean's 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas, which set sail from Baltimore on Thursday, skipped a call Monday in St. Thomas. The ship instead called at Samana, Dominican Republic and, today, at Labadee, Haiti. The vessel will spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at sea as it returns to Baltimore on Saturday as scheduled.
-- Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, which departed Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, is skipping its scheduled port calls in St. Thomas today and St. Maarten on Wednesday. The ship instead has headed to the Western Caribbean where it will stop at Costa Maya on Wednesday and Cozumel on Thursday.
Royal Caribbean's 3,634-passenger Freedom of the Seas, which set sail Sunday from Port Canaveral, has headed to the Western Caribbean ports of George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel this week instead of scheduled calls in St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
Taken together, the itinerary changes this week have affected the vacations of at least 30,000 people.
As of 2 pm AST, Earl was 175 miles east of Grand Turk Island and moving to the west-northwest at about 14 miles per hour. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, giving it Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The National Hurricane Center says a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Southeastern Bahamas, although the storm is expected to pass north of the islands (click HERE for the USA TODAY Weather Page's related story on the storm's projected path).
The National Hurricane Center says the storm is likely to remain a powerful Category 4 storm for the next day or two.
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