Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tropical Storm Nicole Diverts Royal Caribbean Ships

The National Hurricane Center's 2 pm EDT update on TS Nicole indicated the storm is moving north-northeast near 10 MPH accompanied by an expected gradual increase in the next 24 hours. Currently the storm is about 80 miles northeast of Havana, Cuba, and 225 miles southwest of Nassau. While tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 345 miles, maximum sustained winds are at 40 miles per hour. Nicole is expected to move over the Florida Straits later this afternoon and near or over the Bahamas tonight. Little change in strength is expected before Nicole is absorbed by an extratropical low later today or tomorrow.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and the northwestern and central Bahamas. Rain accumulation of 5-10 inches is possible in the Caymans and Jamaica, with as much as 20 inches possible in the higher elevations of Jamaica. Rain accumulations of 4-8 inches are possible over portions of southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the central and northwest Bahamas.

At this time the only cruise ship itinerary alterations that has been announced are Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and Majety of the Seas. Instead of making a scheduled call at Coco Cay Wednesday, Grandeur of the Seas is visiting Nassau. The remainder of the itinerary is unchanged. Additionally, Majesty of the Seas also will not tender passengers ashore at CocoCay on Thursday. The ship will remain in Nassau overnight and leave at 5 pm tomorrow, returning to Miami to complete its current cruise on Friday as scheduled.

1 comment:

Samantha said...

Our cruise time is coming up soon and I hope weather won't prevent us from going to coco cay. There are 22 of us going from our family and only 4 of us have been to the private Island. We'd love for them to visit as well. I'm glad I found your blog and enjoy reading all the updates, we'll for sure be checking in with you once november 1-5th comes around!