In what has become relatively common in recent weeks, another tropical system is impacting cruise itineraries.
Hurricane Lee currently sits about 400 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The storm has thankfully weakened from a severe Category 5 with sustained 165 mph winds down to a Category 2 with current winds of “just” 105 mph.
As of now, the impact on land has been minimal, and the forecasted track shows little impact on land in the days ahead. For cruise passengers, however, it is impacting routes on at least two major cruise lines.
Royal Caribbean has adjusted routes for sailings aboard Adventure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, and Wonder of the Seas.
Adventure of the Seas: Leaving September 9th from Fort Lauderdale as planned, the ship will now visit Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel. According to CruiseMapper.com, it had originally planned an Eastern Caribbean trip that would take it to the Virgin Islands.
Harmony of the Seas: Harmony departed Miami as scheduled, and is ported at CocoCay today. It will then sail to Costa Maya and Cozumel instead of the Virgin Islands and St. Kitts.
Vision of the Seas: Departing Baltimore yesterday, Vision of the Seas was originally on a cruise to Bermuda, near the path of the storm. Instead, it will head south to CocoCay and Nassau instead.
Wonder of the Seas: The current largest cruise ship in service is scheduled to leave Port Canaveral today. The original itinerary shown on CruiseMapper.com included stops in the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Maarten. Instead, those stops will be swapped for Cozumel and Roatan, Honduras to keep clear of Hurricane Lee.
In addition to these changes, there are also route updates for Carnival Venezia and Carnival Magic, according to Carnival Ambassador John Heald’s Facebook page.
Carnival Venezia: Departing New York on Friday, this trip was originally scheduled for stops in San Juan, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Grand Turk. While we have yet to see the new full itinerary, the ship is said to be visiting Half Moon Cay instead.
Update: Carnival shared with us that Carnival Venezia will visit Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport to keep clear of the storm.
Carnival Magic: Set to leave Norfolk today on a six-day cruise to Bermuda, this itinerary would put the ship in the path of Hurricane Lee. While we have yet to see details on the new schedule, it is said to be adjusted due to the storm. We will share more updates as they are made available.
Update: Carnival Magic will visit Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport instead of Bermuda.
What to Know About Possible Cruise Line Changes
Thankfully, given the path of Lee disruptions to cruises should be relatively minimal. Remember that if you have a cruise you think might be impacted, the best source for updates on your cruise is the cruise line itself.
That said, having followed the impact of hurricanes on cruises in the past, there are some things to note about what could happen:
Total Cancellations Are Unlikely: Typically, total cancellations of cruises due to hurricanes are rare. For that to happen, usually the departure port needs to be heavily damaged to where it can’t accept cruise ships. Instead, more often there are simply itinerary changes.
Trips Can Be Extended or Shortened: More common is for a cruise to be extended or shortened in order to allow a storm to pass or to allow passengers off the ship before the impacts are felt. This can cause headaches with travel schedules, but is often the only alternative due to the timing of a storm’s arrival. Given Lee’s path, this likely won’t be an issue.
Ports of Call Can Be Canceled/Changed: The most common impact of weather on a cruise is that ports of call are skipped or adjusted. Sometimes this can mean a day at sea instead of stopping in port. Other times it can mean rearranging the schedule to visit once a storm is gone.
We will continue to monitor the situation and report any more impacts the storm might have on cruises.
I am on Regent Mariner mid way across the Atlantic. They just cancelled two day port stop in Bermuda.
Thank you for letting everyone know. Safe travels!