Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba Tuesday morning as a Category 3 storm and is expected to pick up strength as it barrels toward Florida, bringing with it winds potentially exceeding 100 miles per hour. 

Several cruise lines have announced itinerary changes to avoid Hurricane Ian’s path, sometimes changing the order of calls on their itinerary and other times scrapping their Western Caribbean itineraries entirely to sail in the Eastern Caribbean.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Paradise is sailing a five-day cruise that departed from Tampa on Saturday, Sept. 24. The ship is extending its Sept. 27 call in Cozumel to a two-day stay. The ship is now scheduled to depart Cozumel on Sept. 28. Because Tampa is closed to marine traffic in anticipation of the hurricane, the sailing may be extended until the port reopens. 

Carnival Elation is sailing a five-day itinerary from Jacksonville and will no longer visit Princess Cay. Instead, the ship is remaining at sea on Tuesday and calling in Freeport, Bahamas, on Sept. 28 instead of a scheduled sea day. With the forecast showing Jacksonville may be impacted by Hurricane Ian, Carnival is expecting the port will close to marine traffic and delay the ship’s return scheduled for Sept. 29. 

Carnival Ecstasy, which departed Mobile, Ala., on Monday, Sept. 26 on a six-day sailing, will call at Progreso, Mexico, on Wednesday and Cozumel on Thursday. The ship was originally scheduled to visit Cozumel before Progreso.

Carnival Glory departed from New Orleans on Sunday, Sept. 25, on an eight-day sailing. It will now visit Mahogany Bay, Roatan; Belize and Cozumel, Mexico. The ship was originally scheduled to visit Key West, Fla., Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. 

MSC Cruises

MSC Seashore was supposed to sail a Western Caribbean itinerary on a seven-night cruise out of Port Miami on Sept. 24, but the ship has been rerouted to the Eastern Caribbean. The ship is calling in Nassau on Tuesday, will remain at sea on Wednesday and call for two days in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on Thursday and Friday. It will return to Miami on Saturday, Oct. 1. The next Seashore sailing is expected to have no impact from the hurricane.

MSC Divina departed Port Canaveral on Sunday for a four-night sailing and is set to return on Thursday. If weather and sailing conditions prevent the ship from returning on time, the cruise will be extended at no cost to the guests. Guests were informed of this possibility ahead of time and were offered the option of canceling for a full refund or booking for another date. The Divina is scheduled to sail a three-night cruise from Port Canaveral upon its arrival on Thursday, Sept. 29. MSC said it’s too soon to say what will happen with that sailing but added that guests will be kept informed of the ship’s schedule and their options if the schedule is impacted. 

Royal Caribbean International

Allure of the Seas, which is on a six-night sailing from Fort Lauderdale, skipped its Tuesday, Sept. 27, call at Roatan, Honduras. 

Mariner of the Seas has forgone its call to Labadee, Haiti, on Tuesday and instead at spent the day at sea. The ship is on a five-night sailing from Port Canaveral. 

Liberty of the Seas, on a seven-night cruise from Galveston, skipped its call at Cozumel on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Infinity has swapped calls to Belize and Cozumel with visits to Nassau and Labadee. The ship is on a seven-night sailing from Fort Lauderdale. 

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Sky, which sailed out of Miami on Sunday, Sept. 25, will have a complete itinerary change. The ship is now calling at San Juan, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Nassau before returning on Oct. 2. The ship was originally to visit Grand Cayman, Roatan, Harvest Cay and Cozumel.

Source: Read Full Article