Cruise lines are changing their itineraries in the Caribbean due to the impact of Hurricane Fiona. As reported by Cruise Hive, the Coast Guard has issued Port Condition Yankee for San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, meaning all ports in those areas will be closed for all inbound ships, and all vessels over 500 gross tons must leave the area.
MSC Cruises had already replaced MSC Seashore’s 18SEP day at sea with Ocean Cay, and replaced the 19SEP call at San Juan with a day at sea. On 20SEP, the San Juan call is replaced with a visit to Cozumel, Mexico.
Royal Caribbean announced several changes to the Harmony of the Seas itinerary which departed on 18SEP, keeping the call to call to Perfect Day at Coco Cay, but changing everything else - moving the ship to the Western Caribbean instead with calls to Costa Maya and Cozumel. Allure of the Seas’ 19SEP call at Labadee is replaced with a day at sea. The ship’s 20SEP day at sea is to be replaced with Curacao.
Cruise Week also provided a list of other affected itineraries in the Eastern Caribbean:
- Celebrity Equinox - 19SEP call at Grand Cayman replaced with Key West.
- Disney Fantasy - Day at sea on 19SEP will instead call in Cozumel.
- Norwegian Sky - 20SEP call at Puerto Plata/Amber Cove replaced with Costa Maya.
According to Cruise Week, while in years past, ships would regularly embark and debark in Puerto Rico in SEP, there were no turnarounds scheduled in SEP 2022, so flooding and power outages in the area due to Hurricane Fiona are not impacting the cruise industry “like they would have in years past.”
At the time of publishing, Hurricane Fiona is expected to hit the Bermuda area by early 20SEP.
