Various storms continue to impact cruises in the Caribbean and Europe.
Passengers on Saturday's sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas received a notice that was sent out by the cruise line juggling the itinerary at the last minute, due to expected rough weather in the Bahamas next week.
The ship’s departure and return dates will be the same, and it will still keep its ports of call—Nassau and Coco Cay. But the visit to Nassau has been moved up to Sunday, October 25 instead of on Tuesday, October 27, in an attempt to avoid the storm system.
But Harmony of the Seas isn’t the only ship dealing with less-than-ideal weather, and outlets have been reporting plenty of other cruise itinerary disruptions.
The same storm, with gale warnings for Bermuda and the U.S.’s eastern seaboard, has forced Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas to change its five-night sailing this week out of Cape Liberty, N.J. The ship is changing its planned Bermuda stop to St. John, New Brunswick in Canada for an overnight stay.
The cruise line is providing online credit for the change, reportedly ranging from $150-$500, depending on the stateroom level.
Ambassador Cruise Line’s ship Ambition, in the midst of a 17-night sailing, has been forced to bypass some Norwegian ports such as Hammerfest, Leknes, and Narvik, due to Storms Austen and Boelo in the region. The ship is instead visiting alternative ports further south in Norway.
Storm Austen has also affected P&O’s ship Iona, which has had to cancel its last port of call in Bilbao-Getxo. The ship faced earlier changes to its itinerary due to the civil unrest in France, and is now spending its last day at sea.
Austen also forced three other ships—MSC’s Virtuosa, MSC’s Preziosa, and P&O’s Arvia—into port in Southampton early. Forecasted winds from Austen were in the range of 50-70 mph in coastal regions of the southern UK.
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