Cruise Travel: Hurricane Earl Advisory & Itinerary Alterations

As Hurricane Earl makes its way north in the Atlantic, cruise lines are preparing by altering itineraries to insure the safety of their ships and the passengers and crewmembers on board. These are the most recent updates we've gathered.

Holland America Line
At Holland America Line the safety and comfort of our guests and crew is our top priority. As a result of the projected path and strengthening of Hurricane Earl in the Atlantic, we have decided to modify the following published itineraries:

ms Eurodam August 19th 18-day Transatlantic Cruise: On Friday, September 3rd, the Eurodam will call at Halifax rather than calling at Sydney, Nova Scotia. On September 4th and 5th the ship will be at sea and will remain out of the projected path of the hurricane. The cruise will finish as planned on Monday, September 6 in New York where guests will embark for the 10-day Canada/New England cruise as scheduled.

ms Maasdam August 28th 7-day Canada/New England Cruise: On Tuesday, August 31st, Maasdam departed from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island as scheduled and will now sail directly to Boston, arriving the evening of Thursday, September 2nd. Port calls at Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as Bar Harbor, Maine have been cancelled. This will put the ship safely alongside in Boston ahead of the storm’s anticipated arrival. Guests are welcome to stay onboard the ship until Saturday morning. Subject to receiving approval from the various governmental agencies that are involved in the disembarkation process, we will try and make it possible for guests who want to leave the ship on Friday to do so. No changes are currently planned for the September 4th departure of the Maasdam 7-day Canada/New England cruise.

ms Veendam August 29th 7-day Bermuda Cruise: On Friday, September 3rd, the Veendam will depart Hamilton a few hours early, and is scheduled to arrive in New York as planned on Sunday, September 5th. Guests embarking for the September 5th sailing will do so as scheduled.
We will continue to monitor the weather conditions closely and communicate any future impact on cruise itineraries to guests and others as they are implemented. Updates will be posted at HollandAmerica.com on a regular basis. Guests with questions may call 1-800-577-1728.

Princess Cruises
We have been closely monitoring Hurricane Earl as it heads north and is forecast to be in the path of Caribbean Princess from Halifax to New York.

As the safety of our passengers and crew is our priority, we have cancelled Caribbean Princess' call to Halifax today and will sail directly for New York to avoid the worst effect of the hurricane. The ship will instead make a call to Manhattan on Friday September 3. During the early morning of Saturday, September 4 Caribbean Princess will reposition to the cruise terminal in Brooklyn in time for disembarkation Saturday morning.

We expect embarkation for the next voyage to commence as planned, and Caribbean Princess will sail from New York at 5 p.m. Saturday evening.

Royal Caribbean
Due to the forecasted path of Hurricane Earl, Royal Caribbean International has altered the current itineraries for Monarch of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, and Freedom of the Seas.

Monarch of the Seas was unable to call on CocoCay, Bahamas Tuesday, August 31. The ship sailed directly to Nassau, Bahamas, where it will stay until midnight Wednesday, September 1. The ship will spend Thursday at sea as it returns to Port Canaveral on Friday, as scheduled. Monarch of the Seas is currently sailing a 4-night itinerary, which departed Port Canaveral on August 30.

Majesty of the Seas extended its port call in Key West, Florida on Tuesday, August 31 until early Wednesday morning. It spent the remainder of Wednesday at sea, and calls into Nassau on Thursday, September 2. The ship will return to the Port of Miami on Friday, as scheduled. Majesty of the Seas is currently sailing a 4-night itinerary, which departed the Port of Miami on August 30.

Enchantment of the Seas called on San Juan, Puerto Rico Sunday, as scheduled, but cancelled its call at St. Thomas on Monday in order to avoid inclement weather from the storm. Instead, the ship called on Samana, Dominican Republic on Monday, August 30 and Labadee, Haiti, on Tuesday, August 31. The ship will spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at sea as it returns to Baltimore on Saturday, as scheduled. Enchantment of the Seas is currently sailing a 9-night Caribbean itinerary, which departed Baltimore on August 26.

Oasis of the Seas was unable to make its scheduled port calls to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas on Tuesday, August 31 and Phillipsburg, St. Maarten on Wednesday, September 1. The most recent forecast simply placed the storm too close to these ports of call during the time Oasis of the Seas would be sailing there. The ship will now call at Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Oasis of the Seas is sailing a 7-night Caribbean itinerary, which departed Ft. Lauderdale on August 28.

Freedom of the Seas will be unable to make its scheduled port calls to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas on Wednesday, September 1 and Phillipsburg, St. Maarten on Thursday, September 2. The most recent forecast simply placed the storm too close to these ports of call during the time Freedom of the Seas would be sailing there. The ship called on CocoCay, Bahamas on Monday, as scheduled, spent Tuesday at sea, and called into George Town, Grand Cayman on Wednesday. On Thursday, the ship will visit Cozumel, Mexico. The ship will spend Friday and Saturday at sea as it returns to Port Canaveral, Florida on Sunday, as scheduled. Freedom of the Seas is currently sailing a 7-night Caribbean itinerary, which departed Port Canaveral on August 29.

No other Royal Caribbean International ship's itinerary is currently being affected by Hurricane Earl. Royal Caribbean will continue to closely monitor weather conditions and will update this information if there are any additional itinerary alterations due to the storm's projected path.

Norwegian Cruise Line
At Norwegian Cruise Line, the safety and security of our guests and crew is of the utmost importance. Therefore, the company is closely monitoring the path of Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona.

Because of Hurricane Earl’s path which took it west of Bermuda, Norwegian Dawn is sailing its original itinerary. The ship is currently en route to Bermuda and arrived on Wednesday morning as scheduled.

Because of the adverse weather, Norwegian Jewel did not stop at Great Stirrup Cay and instead docked in Nassau a day early. The ship stayed in Nassau overnight.

UPDATE: At this time, we expect all ships embarking this weekend to sail their scheduled itineraries.

We will continue to closely monitor the weather conditions and will update this information and notify our guests if there are any additional itinerary changes because of the storms’ projected paths. We appreciate our guests understanding.

Carnival Cruise Line
We are closely monitoring Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona in the Atlantic. Rest assured, all of our ships will continue to operate at a safe distance from the storms.

Carnival Miracle, currently on an 8-night round trip cruise from New York, will return to New York one day earlier than originally scheduled, on Friday, September 3. The ship will dock overnight in New York and the cruise will conclude on schedule on Saturday, September 4.

All departures for the sailings of September 1, 2010–September 6, 2010 are scheduled to operate as normal.

We will update this information on Carnival.com if any new information becomes available. Most importantly, we look forward to welcoming our guests onboard this weekend.

Celebrity Cruises
Due to the forecasted path of Hurricane Earl, Celebrity Cruises has altered the current itinerary for Celebrity Summit.

Given Hurricane Earl's location and projected path, it is not possible for Celebrity Summit to call on both Saint John (Bay of Fundy) today and Halifax, Nova Scotia on Friday. Celebrity Summit will now visit Halifax today and spend Friday and Saturday at sea.

Celebrity Cruises will continue to closely monitor Hurricane Earl and any potential impact to Celebrity Summit's next sailing, which is scheduled to depart Cape Liberty, New Jersey on Sunday, September 5. Celebrity Cruises will update this information should any changes be necessary.

Cunard Line
UPDATE: Queen Mary 2 will arrive in New York as scheduled tomorrow and will now remain in New York until 5am on Saturday, September 4.

The call at Newport RI has been cancelled and she will now proceed directly to Boston where she will arrive as scheduled.