After days of ready for Hurricane Milton to reach in Florida, which remains to be reeling from Hurricane Helene, the extreme storm has formally made it to the Sunshine State on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
However whereas Milton is on the town, the native cruise trade must take a break – which is impacting a number of ships from quite a lot of cruise traces, similar to Royal Caribbean.
Because the storm drew nearer, lots of the cruise ports closed to maritime site visitors for security causes – which is able to sadly stop a number of Royal Caribbean ships at sea from coming back from their present voyages on time.
This, in fact, has a domino impact – and can delay a number of upcoming sailings. To date, Port of Tampa Bay, Port Canaveral, and Jacksonville’s JAXPORT have all shut down.
The Port of Palm Seaside, Port Everglades, and PortMiami at present stay open – however on a really restricted foundation for completely important capabilities and storm preparations (which doesn’t embrace cruising) and are more likely to shut fully very quickly.
The storm, which was a Class 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 180 mph because it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, was downgraded to a Class 3 storm shortly earlier than reaching Florida’s West Coast.
Nevertheless, based on the Nationwide Hurricane Heart (NOAA), the storm remains to be very harmful and already bringing torrential rains to Tampa Bay and wind gusts to Sarasota – with sustained winds of round 120 mph.
Whereas trendy ships are designed to deal with tough waters and stormy climate, docking circumstances could be unsafe and it’s in the very best curiosity for the security and luxury of all onboard to attend out on the storm from a protected distance.
Utopia of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s latest ship is considered one of many who will probably be delayed in her return to her homeport.
Utopia of the Seas was as a consequence of disembark from her present 4-night Bahamas crusing in her homeport, Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, on Friday, October 11, and set sail on a brand new 3-night cruise to Nassau, Bahamas, and CocoCay, the cruise line’s personal island vacation spot.
However because the second busiest cruise port on the planet will nonetheless be closed, the Oasis-Class vessel’s return has been pushed again to Saturday, October 12.
This implies the next crusing will probably be shortened and the port name on Nassau will probably be skipped.
“Because of the closure of the Port Canaveral, our earlier crusing will probably be delayed in returning. In consequence, our crusing will now happen on Saturday, October 12, 2024, and we’ll need to skip our go to to Nassau, Bahamas,” the cruise line wrote in a letter to impacted friends.
The 5,668-guest ship’s present crusing has additionally been impacted by the storm already. Not solely will cruisers be onboard a day longer than deliberate, however the order by which they visited the ports of name – CocoCay and Nassau – was reversed to keep away from the trail of the storm.
Journey of the Seas
Like Utopia of the Seas, Journey of the Seas can be homeporting in Florida’s Port Canaveral and must delay her return from October 11 to October 12.
The Voyager-class vessel is in the midst of a 6-night Jap Caribbean itinerary, and was as a consequence of start an extended 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise on October 11.
Because of the delayed begin, the crusing will skip its first port of name on October 14, 2024, which might have been on Willemstad, Curacao, in alternate for a sea day to assist make up misplaced time.
“We’ve needed to shift our boarding day to Saturday, October 12, 2024, departing by 8:00pm. Sadly, which means our itinerary has been revised and we’ll need to skip our go to to Willemstad, Curacao,” the cruise line up to date.
Nevertheless, the opposite ports of name will stay on the itinerary as deliberate – together with Oranjestad, Aruba; Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic; and Excellent Day at CocoCay.
Independence of the Seas
The following change coming down the pipeline is for Independence of the Seas, which received’t be capable of return to PortMiami as deliberate on October 10.
This implies the Freedom-class cruise ship will now embark on its subsequent crusing – a 4-night cruise to Labadee, Haiti – a day late on October 11.
However due to the delay, it should now not be doable to go to Labadee – and the 4,375-passenger ship will name on CocoCay, Bahamas, as an alternative.
“We’ll need to skip our go to to Labadee, Haiti and revel in a Sea Day as an alternative. To assist make up for this last-minute change, we’ve added a cease to Excellent Day at CocoCay on Sunday, October thirteenth,” Royal Caribbean stated.
This modification is especially unhappy, because the cruise line solely lately started crusing again to Labadee after a months-long suspension as a consequence of unrest in Haiti.
Mariner of the Seas
Mariner of the Seas isn’t fairly as impacted as among the different ships inside Royal Caribbean’s fleet, because the Voyager-class vessel is homeporting out of Galveston, Texas.
Nevertheless, the 4,000-passenger ship is in the midst of a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise, which brings her nearer to Milton and can delay her return to Galveston as she alters course to keep away from the storm.
That stated, she’s going to nonetheless arrive within the Texas port on October 10 as deliberate – simply a number of hours later than anticipated.
Whereas this can delay the embarkation course of, the ship will nonetheless set sail on a 4-night Western Caribbean crusing on October 10 as deliberate – however with a later departure time. Visitors had been issued new arrival home windows accordingly.
Assuming no additional adjustments are made, there ought to be no affect on the one and solely port name on October 12, which is a go to to Cozumel, Mexico.
A Bonus Change: Symphony of the Seas
Whereas the above adjustments have all been for upcoming sailings, Symphony of the Seas could also be tweaking its present 7-night Bahamas itinerary.
In response to friends onboard, the ship is skipping its deliberate name on Labadee for tomorrow, October 10, and expediting its return to Cape Liberty, New Jersey, to keep away from Hurricane Milton. Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean has not but confirmed these adjustments publicly.
“Symphony of the Seas has cancelled Labadee for tomorrow. Captain introduced they’re full pace forward again to Cape Liberty to get forward of Milton,” a present passenger shared on Fb.
Learn Additionally: What to Do Onboard a Cruise Ship in Unhealthy Climate
Labadee was already a late addition to the itinerary. The cruise was speculated to name on CocoCay and Nassau, however switched to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Labadee due to Hurricane Milton.
Compensation for Impacted Visitors
Whereas Royal Caribbean isn’t in a position to management the climate, it understands that these last-minute adjustments to long-awaited holidays are disappointing.
Whereas compensation is being offered for some, what will probably be given depends on the character of the change and the precise ship’s scenario.
For the delays that take away a day from the cruise on Utopia of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, and Journey of the Seas, the family-friendly model will prorate the crusing and supply a refund for the missed day within the type of an onboard credit score.
They may even refund any pre-paid shore excursions in the identical trend. If any funds are remaining on the finish of the crusing, the remainder will probably be refunded to the cardboard on file inside 14 enterprise days.
Moreover, Royal Caribbean will reimburse as much as $200 for home airfare adjustments and $400 for worldwide adjustments for change charges for flights and transfers booked outdoors of Royal Caribbean – no less than for the Utopia on the Seas crusing.
Impacted cruisers are suggested to test with the cruise line to see what their choices are and what compensation will probably be offered, if any, for his or her particular scenario.
