Tag Archives: Atlantic hurricanes

Norwegian and Royal Caribbean Cancel Sailings Ahead of Irma

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NOAA

With Hurricane Irma potentially heading to South Florida and key destinations in the Caribbean, cruise lines are scrambling to make changes to itineraries and have also cancelled a handful of sailings.

Norwegian Cruise Line has axed the Sept. 8 sailing aboard the Norwegian Sky. Guests get a full refund, plus a 50 percent future cruise credit.

The Norwegian Escape’s week-long Sept. 9 voyage from Miami is also cancelled. Guests get a full refund, plus a 50 percent future cruise credit.

For the Escape’s current Sept. 2 sailing, the ship will be returning to Miami on Thursday.

“Those guests who are residents of South Florida, who drove to PortMiami or who have travel plans already confirmed that will return them safely home by Friday afternoon may disembark the ship on Thursday if they wish to do so. For those guests who did not drive to PortMiami and are unable to secure a flight back home, we strongly encourage them to stay onboard the ship,” said Norwegian in a prepared statement.

Norwegian Escape will set sail from Miami on Thursday evening on a course away from the storm. While we are unable to confirm at this time when and where the ship will return to port, we welcome all guests to remain onboard to stay safe and secure.”

Royal Caribbean has employed similar tactics, and has cancelled the September 8 sailings on the Majesty and Enchantment of the Seas. Guests will receive a full refund and 25 percent future cruise credit.

Royal Caribbean said it will provide an end-of-day update on Tuesday regarding sailings aboard the Allure, Anthem, Empress, Harmony and Oasis.

The cancelled sailings will impact third quarter earnings.

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.

For cruising, a low-key start to hurricane season

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By Tom Stieghorst
*InsightConsider Hurricane Arthur a kind of warm-up exercise for the 2014 hurricane season, which has five months to go.

Cruise lines had to pay serious attention to Arthur, but didn’t have to do much in the end.

Unlike many Atlantic hurricanes, the storm was never a threat to the Caribbean, and Florida barely had time to get worried about it before Arthur departed for points north.

But hurricanes tend to conform to patterns in a given season, pushed by atmospheric and climate conditions. So the cruise ports up and down the East Coast might want to do a little extra planning now in case another Arthur forms.*TomStieghorst

For what it’s worth, hurricane experts are forecasting a relatively mild season due to cooler than normal tropical Atlantic sea temperatures and the ongoing formation of an El Nino current in the Pacific Ocean.

One atmospheric scientist, Robert Gray of Colorado State University, is calling for 10 named storms, four hurricanes and one major hurricane in the Atlantic this season, which stretches officially until Dec. 1.

Gray rates the probability of a major hurricane (category 3,4 or 5) striking the U.S. East Coast this year at 22% (the average is 31%) and the chance for a Gulf Coast strike at 23% (the average is 30%).

He says the chance of a major hurricane tracking through the Caribbean is 32%, compared with a 42% average for the past century.

Of course, Gray and other forecasters had egg on their faces last year when the stronger-than-expected season they forecasted failed to materialize. Gray predicted before the season that nine hurricanes would form, but only two showed up.

Arthur’s progress up the East Coast prompted some minor itinerary shuffling. The Carnival Splendor called in Bermuda rather than St. John over the weekend. The Norwegian Gem did an overnight in Nassau rather than calling on Great Stirrup Cay, to sail back to New York ahead of the weather.

But it’s worth pointing out that no one had their cruise vacation ruined by Hurricane Arthur, unlike the estimated 250,000 folks who planned to spend their Independence Day weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

The next named storm, according to the World Meteorological Association’s list for 2014, will be Bertha. Let’s hope she’s neither big nor bad.

And should the 2014 be a repeat of 2013, with only 13 named storms, the last one this year will be named Marco. Of course, if we only get to Josephine, Gray’s 2014 forecast will be right on the money.