Cruise lines change itineraries to avoid Hurricane Ida

November 9, 12:15 AMDallas Tropical Travel ExaminerDebbra Brouillette

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If you have booked a cruise in the Western Caribbean this coming week, you may be wondering if your cruise itinerary will be affected. If you are sailing several days from now, the storm will hopefully have weakened and dissipated after making landfall on the Gulf coast. However, please check with your cruise line closer to your departure date to find out the latest information on cruise travel, as conditions can change quickly.

Currently, Carnival Cruise Lines has two ships in the area of the storm. Passengers aboard the Carnival Inspiration, which left Tampa on Saturday for five nights of cruising, made an unexpected call in Key West on Sunday to avoid the approaching the storm. The 2,052-passenger ship plans to reach Cozumel on Tuesday as scheduled, while the cruise line has canceled a stop in Grand Cayman. Cruisers aboard the Carnival Liberty, a 2,974-passenger vessel, left Miami on Saturday for a 7-night voyage. Itinerary changes were announced that the ship will visit Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on Monday instead of Cozumel, then will visit Grand Cayman and Cozumel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Crown Princess, Princess Cruise Lines' 3,110 passenger vessel, is reversing its itinerary after departing Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. Plans were to visit its private island, Princess Cay, on Sunday before sailing on to Grand Cayman; Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Spokespersons for Royal Caribbean (whose ship, the "Freedom" is pictured above, used with permission of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) and Norwegian Cruise Line say no changes to itineraries have been made to date for the ships they have scheduled to sail to the Western Caribbean this coming week.

How to contact the major cruise lines:

Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival's Cruise Cancellation and Itinerary Change Page

Call Carnival's travel hotline at 1-877-TVL-HTLN (1-877-885-4856) or 1-305-406-4779.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Royal Caribbean's Customer Support/Contact Us Page

Call Royal Caribbean's Corporate Guest Relations Department at:
1-800-256-6649, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. EST
Saturday - Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST

Royal Caribbean shares this information on its FAQ page:

What happens if there's a hurricane predicted at the time of my cruise?  A:  We try to avoid operating any ship in the vicinity of a tropical system and we will monitor the progress of these storms very closely. If there is potential threat to any of our guests or ships, the itinerary may be altered to try to avoid any interaction with the storm or any affected areas.

How can I find out if anything (like inclement weather) has affected my itinerary?  A:  A link to our Sailing Updates Notification form will appear here when any of our sailings are subject to adjustments due to inclement weather. When that link appears, you can fill out the simple form to let us know how you would prefer to be contacted with any updates to your cruise vacation.

Princess Cruise Lines     Call 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) for assistance.

Norwegian Cruise Line     Call 1-866-234-7350 for assistance.

You may be interested in reading these hurricane-related articles: Hurricanes 101: How are hurricanes categorized? and Hurricane Facts: How much do you know?

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