Tag Archives: Antigua

Cruise lines alter itineraries due to Hurricane Gonzalo

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By Tom Stieghorst
Winds and rain from Hurricane Gonzalo have forced cruise ships in the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico to alter their itineraries.

Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International are among the cruise lines that have skipped ports of call because of the storm.

Royal Caribbean said Jewel of the Seas did not call at St. Maarten on Oct. 13. The ship spent Monday at sea before returning to the scheduled itinerary, calling at Antigua on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Explorer of the Seas departed San Juan at 9 p.m. on Oct. 13, instead of staying overnight.

Allure of the Seas is sailing a modified western Caribbean itinerary. The ship will now visit Falmouth, Jamaica on Oct. 15 and Cozumel on Oct. 17.

The storm led to Carnival Liberty staying at sea for a second day rather than calling at St. Thomas on Oct. 14. The cruise will go to Grand Cayman and Cozumel before returning to Port Canaveral. Carnival Breeze will stay at sea rather than call at La Romana, Dominican Republic, on Oct. 14.

Carnival Conquest’s original eastern Caribbean itinerary out of Miami was scrapped in favor of a western Caribbean route that will stop in Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay (Honduras) and Costa Maya (Mexico).

The hurricane is expected to strengthen from its current Category 1 status and move toward Bermuda later this week.

Carnival to sail 11-day cruises from Galveston

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By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival Cruise Lines said that it will offer the Texas market longer cruises for the first time, with four 10- and 11-day sailings between Galveston and San Juan.

A pair of 11-day cruises will also feature a first call for Carnival in Bonaire. Those sailings, scheduled for Oct. 24, 2015, and Jan. 16, 2016, will also stop in Grand Cayman, Aruba, Grenada, Martinique and St. Maarten before concluding in San Juan.

The 10-day departures from San Juan are scheduled for Nov. 4, 2015, and Jan. 27, 2016, and will stop at St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Antigua, Grand Turk, and the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay.

Galveston cruises on Carnival currently depart on four- and five-day Mexican and seven-day Caribbean itineraries.

Carnival said a desire for longer, more varied itineraries was one of the themes that emerged from its series of Carnival Conversations meetings with travel agents.

Final voyage for last truly ‘British’ cruise ship comes to an end

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Saga Ruby marked a little piece of history with the completion of its final voyage this week, in what was the last sailing by a cruise ship to be built in Britain.

According to BBC News, no vessel has been constructed in this country in the 40 years since the Ruby sailed out of Swan Hunter’s Tyneside shipyard in 1972.

Previously, it has sailed under Cunard’s flag and the name MS Caronia, but last year it was announced that the vessel would finally be retired.

While it wasn’t expected back in Southampton until after the weekend, poor weather over the Atlantic prevented it from crossing the Bay of Biscay on its return journey, meaning that it arrived home early.

Ruby’s final cruise was a month-long Caribbean affair, which also visited Antigua, Portugal, Madeira and Spain en route to the islands.

All three of Saga’s vessels witnessed delays this week as a result of stormy seas, as did Queen Mary 2, which is preparing to celebrate its tenth anniversary.