Cruise ships change itineraries to dodge Ernesto
Carnival Pride, seen in a file photo, is one of the ships whose schedule has been affected by Tropical Storm Ernesto. (Photo credit: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis News/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — Some cruise lines are having to change up some of their ships’ itineraries or port dates to keep out of the way of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which was bashing the northern Caribbean on Tuesday evening with heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas as it approached Puerto Rico.
As of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, both Carnival and Celebrity cruise lines reported that they had to reroute ships to avoid the storm.
Carnival announced the following adjustments on its news site:
Carnival Pride is sailing from Baltimore to Bermuda. The Pride’s two-day visit to Bermuda was set to arrive Tuesday and depart Thursday, one day earlier than had previously been scheduled.
Carnival Magic is sailing an Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami and has canceled a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday. Instead, a visit to Nassau, Bahamas, has been added for Friday.
Carnival also said the itineraries for the Carnival Freedom and Mardi Gras are “being closely monitored for potential changes, but no changes have been at this time.”
Tropical Storm Ernesto is hitting the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Aug. 13 before it’s expected to steadily strengthen on the way to Bermuda.
Celebrity reported the following changes in an email to CNN Travel:
Icon of the Seas has changed to a seven-night Western Caribbean itinerary visiting Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Costa Maya, Mexico, in place of its scheduled seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing.
Rhapsody of the Seas has swapped the order of its remaining ports of call. It’s now set to visit Bridgetown, Barbados, on Tuesday; Castries, St. Lucia, on Wednesday; St. John’s, Antigua, on Thursday; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, on Friday; and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, on Saturday.
Symphony of the Seas will now visit Nassau, Bahamas, in place of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Holland America and Princess told CNN Travel in emails that they did not have any ships currently operating in the Caribbean. Virgin Voyages said in an email that “Valiant Lady is [its] only ship in the Caribbean at the moment and her itinerary will not be impacted by the storm.”
CNN Travel has reached out to other large cruise operators about the status of their ships, including Royal Caribbean, Disney and Norwegian.
Ernesto is not projected to make landfall on the US mainland. Parts of Puerto Rico are braced for as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain. And the government of Bermuda urged its citizens on X “to accelerate storm preparations immediately,” expecting Ernesto to approach the archipelago as Category 2 hurricane by early Saturday. Bermuda is about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
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