Hurricane Irene Still On The Move & Shuffling Ships

These are the latest ships to change course as a result of Hurricane Irene:

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky steered clear of Freeport, Grand Bahama today and is instead calling at Key West, Florida.

Norwegian's Norwegian Gem is departing Bermuda 6 pm today, a day earlier than scheduled, to avoid the category 3 hurricane as it heads north. The ship will arrive in New York City on Sun, Aug 28th as planned.

Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas will depart Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ, on Sat, Aug 27th at 4pm EST, one hour earlier than originally scheduled.

Carnival Cruise Lines has issued the following statement and updates:

Hurricane Irene is expected to pass through the Bahamas today. At this time, we cannot predict whether we will be able to make our scheduled calls in the Bahamas this weekend. Therefore, we have modified the itineraries below, which will allow us to provide guests with a more enjoyable time ashore.

Carnival Sensation – 8/25/11

We have decided to cancel our visit to Nassau, and instead, will provide an overnight call on the port of Key West on Friday. Below is our revised itinerary:

Thu Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL depart 4:00PM
Fri Key West, FL arrive 12:00PM overnight
Sat Key West, FL overnight depart 6:00AM
Sun Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL arrive 8:00 AM

Carnival Fascination – 8/25/11

Since we are unable to determine if Nassau will be ready to receive visitors this Saturday, we have secured the port of Key West as an alternative. We continue to be in touch with the authorities in Nassau and will provide an update to our guests tomorrow. Additionally, we are now scheduled to depart today at 10:30 PM in order for the tide to lower and allow us safe passage though the Dames Point bridge. Below is our revised itinerary:

Thurs Jacksonville, FL depart 10:30 PM
Fri Fun Day @ Sea
Sat Possibly Nassau or Key West arrive 7:00AM, depart 4:00PM
Sun Fun Day @ Sea
Mon Jacksonville, FL arrive 8:00 AM

Carnival Fantasy – 8/25/11

We are sorry to say that we will be forced to cancel our scheduled call to King’s Wharf, Bermuda, as the route would potentially bring us very close to the path of Hurricane Irene. However, the good news is that we’ve secured the ports of Key West and Cozumel. Below is our revised itinerary:

Thu Charleston, SC depart 4:00 PM
Fri Fun Day @ Sea
Sat Fun Day @ Sea
Sun Cozumel, Mexico arrive 7:00AM, depart 4:30PM
Mon Key West, FL arrive 11:30AM, depart 7:00PM
Tue Fun Day @ Sea
Wed Charleston, SC arrive 8:00AM

All sailings departing on or after Friday, August 26, 2011 will continue to operate as scheduled. In the event we need to make a deviation to the itinerary, we will update our guests. Updates will be posted at Carnival.com.