Ernesto now a hurricane: Cruise lines change itineraries Here’s how

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Cruise itinerary changes to avoid Ernesto, which strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday. This includes skipping San Juan, switching from the eastern to the western Caribbean and calling earlier at Bermuda.

Ernesto’s heavy rains continued to cause flooding across Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami expects Ernesto to continue to strengthen in the next couple days as it approaches Bermuda on Friday.

Carnival Cruise Line

Miami-based Carnival Magic dropped its call today at San Juan and added a stop in Nassau Aug. 16.

The Baltimore-based Carnival Pride adjusted its Bermuda cruise, with the ship arriving there Tuesday and to depart Thursday, one day earlier than scheduled.

Carnival Cruise Line said it’s closely monitoring the itineraries for Carnival Freedom and Mardi Gras, with no changes so far.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Like Carnival, NCL stepped up its Bermuda visit on the New York-based Norwegian Joy, with the ship arriving Tuesday, a day early, and departing Thursday instead of Friday.

Miami-based Norwegian Breakaway switched from an eastern to a western Caribbean route this week with calls at Roatán, Harvest Caye (Belize) today, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

The Miami-based Norwegian Sky also switched to the western Caribbean and is calling Roatán today, then Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios.

Royal Caribbean International

At Royal Caribbean, Miami-based Icon of the Seas is sailing a western route this week instead of going to the eastern Caribbean.

Symphony of the Seas’ current cruise from Bayonne’s Cape Liberty replaced Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) with a Nassau call today.

And Rhapsody of the Seas, which sailed from San Juan Sunday, changed the order of its port calls to first visit Barbados then St. Lucia today, Antigua Thursday, St. Maarten Friday and St. Croix Saturday, before arriving back in San Juan Aug. 18.

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