Tropical Storm Lowell Updates

Updated September 12

Lowell is no longer considered a tropical system by NOAA so they are no longer issuing tracking statements.

Cruise lines reported the following itineraries changes due to Tropical Storm Lowell. (Ships are listed alphabetically.)

Carnival Elation - departed San Diego on Saturday (September 6): Canceled call at Cabo and extends port time at Ensenada. The revised itinerary remains at sea Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and calls at Ensenada on Wednesday (September 10 - 7am-7pm). Elation will return to San Diego as scheduled on Thursday (September 11).

Updated September 11: Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas departed Los Angeles on Sunday (September 7): Canceled calls at Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. On Thursday, the call at Cabo San Lucas was reinstated. The revised itinerary will now spend Monday and Tuesday at sea and call at Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday (September 10) and Cabo San Lucas on Friday (September 12). Vision will then spend Saturday at sea, and return to Los Angeles as scheduled on Sunday (September 14).

For links other information, please see the cruise weather page on our main site at cruisenewsdaily.com.

Grand Turk Updates

Updated September 11, 245pm EDT

Carnival announced this afternoon that the Grand Turk Cruise Center will reopen on October 8, 2008 with the call of Carnival Destiny. All subsequent calls (Carnival and other brands) will operate as scheduled. Carnival reports they still have not completed alternate plans for their ships for the four weeks until Grand Turk reopens.

Details were included in the September 11 edition of Cruise News Daily.


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Additional information was included in the September 8 & 9 editions of Cruise News Daily.

Carnival's September 9 statement on damage to the Grant Turk Cruise Center:

Our assessment personnel who have returned from Grand Turk advise that there is no apparent damage to the cruise ship pier. The Grand Turk Cruise Center facility does have some roof damage as well as loss of landscaping. An accurate dollar figure for repairs cannot be determined at this time, pending a closer evaluation of the roof damage.

Damage to the island in general is substantial and it appears it is going to take some time for Grand Turk to recover. Based on the relatively limited damage to the cruise center, repairs could be completed fairly quickly. However, the pace of repair work and re-opening of the cruise center is largely dependent on overall recovery efforts on Grand Turk. More information should be available in the coming weeks.

For Carnival itineraries that included Grand Turk, the line is working on alternate ports and will advise impacted guests as those modifications are finalized.


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Carnival Cruise Lines' September 8 Statement on Grand Turk:
September 8 - 4:46pm
Initial reports from our assessment team that arrived in Grand Turk this morning indicate that damage to the island is substantial. It appears it is going to take some time for Grand Turk to recover. As a result, we are not able to provide an estimate for re-opening of the Grand Turk cruise facility at this time. Once overall reconstruction on the island gets underway, we can better evaluate the situation. We will pass along any additional details that may become available in the coming days specifically regarding the status of the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

For Carnival itineraries that included Grand Turk, the line is working on alternate ports and will advise impacted guests as those modifications are finalized.

Tropical Storm Hanna Updates

Updated September 7 - 12:30pm EDT

Hanna has now moved to New England where she can interfere with calls early in the week in New England and the Canadian Maritimes. At 5am EDT, Hanna was located approximately 350 miles west-southwest of Halifax, and moving northeast at about 36 miles per hour. Tropical storm force winds still extend outward up to 200 miles from the center. NOAA has now discontinued updates on the storm, but cruise lines are continuing to make adjustments to port calls in the Northeast for the early part of the week.

Cruise lines have reported the following itineraries have been changed. (Ships are listed alphabetically.)

Carnival Glory which left Port Canaveral Saturday (August 30) has canceled its call at Nassau on Sunday (August 31) and will remain at sea. The rest of the itinerary will continue as planned calling at St. Thomas on Tuesday (September 2) and St. Maarten on Wednesday (September 3). Carnival Glory will return to Port Canaveral as scheduled on Saturday (September 6).

Carnival Legend which left Tampa on Sunday (August 31) will substitute a call at Key West for the one in Grand Cayman. The new itinerary will take the ship to Key West on Monday (September 1), Cozumel on Wednesday (September 3), Belize on Thursday (September 4) and Roatan on Friday (September 5). Carnival Legend will return to Tampa as scheduled on Sunday (September 7).

Carnival Miracle, which sailed from New York on Friday (August 29), canceled its calls at San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk. Initially, the itinerary had been modified to call at Port Canaveral (September 1) and then Nassau and Freeport. Due to the strong winds in the Bahamas, on Tuesday (September 2), the Nassau call was canceled. A call has now been scheduled at Newport (RI) on Friday (September 5). Carnival Miracle will return to New York as scheduled on Saturday (September 6).

Carnival Sensation, which sailed on Sunday (August 31) from Port Canaveral, is shortening its port call at Nassau on Tuesday (September 2). It will now leave Nassau at 5pm on Tuesday rather than remaining in port overnight (original schedule called for a 6am departure on Wednesday).

Carnival Sensation which sailed Thursday (September 4) from Port Canaveral will cancel its call at Nassau. It will now call at Freeport on Saturday (September 6 - 8am-4pm). The ship will return to Port Canaveral on Sunday (September 7) as scheduled.

Carnival Triumph which sailed on Sunday (August 31) from Miami canceled its calls at Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. The revised itinerary announced was that Carnival Triumph would instead operate an eastern Caribbean itinerary calling at St. Thomas on Wednesday (September 3), San Juan on Friday (September 5) and Grand Turk on Saturday (September 6). Then Hanna changed things again. The ship called at St. Thomas on Wednesday (September 3), and now will visit San Juan on Thursday (September 4). The ship will then remain at sea and return to Miami as scheduled on Sunday (September 7).

Carnival Victory - departed New York Saturday (September 6): The call at Boston has been canceled, and the day will be spent at sea. The revised itinerary calls at Portland on Monday (September 8), St. John on Tuesday (September 9) and Halifax on Thursday (September 11). Victory will return to New York as scheduled on Saturday (September 13).

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas - departed Norfolk on Thursday (September 4): The ports have been reordered. The new itinerary calls at Halifax on Sunday (September 7), St. John on Monday (September 8) and Boston on Wednesday (September 10). Grandeur will return to Norfolk on Friday (September 12).

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas which sailed from Miami on Saturday (August 30) is reordering its ports so it will now have an eastward path though the Caribbean. It will call at Labadee on Monday (September 1), San Juan on Tuesday (September 2), and St. Maarten on Wednesday (September 3). The ship will return to Miami on schedule on Saturday (September 6).

Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas which sailed Monday (September 1) from Miami canceled its call at Coco Cay and will remain at sea that day. The revised itinerary will call at Nassau on Tuesday (September 2) and Key West on Thursday (September 4). Majesty of the Seas will return to Miami on Friday (September 5) as scheduled.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas which sailed from Port Canaveral on Sunday (August 31) canceled its port call at Coco Cay and remain at sea. The modified itinerary will then call at St. Thomas on Wednesday (September 3) and St. Maarten on Thursday (September 4). Mariner will return to Port Canaveral as scheduled on Sunday (September 7).

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky, which sailed from Miami on Monday (September 1) canceled its calls at Nassau, Freeport and Great Stirrup Cay. Instead, NCL sent the ship to the western Caribbean, calling at Cozumel on Wednesday (September 3) and Key West on Thursday (September 4). Norwegian Sky will return to Miami as scheduled on Friday (September 5).

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Spirit, which sailed from New York on Sunday (August 31) has revised its itinerary canceling the calls at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. NCL is instead sending the 6-night cruise to Bermuda. With the storm's path, the original destination, at the least, probably would have keep it in bad weather during all of its port calls. Norwegian Spirit will now arrive King's Wharf in Bermuda at 4:30pm on Tuesday (September 2) and remain there until Thursday at 5pm. The ship will arrive back in New York two hours earlier than it would have coming from the Bahamas and is now scheduled to arrive New York at 8am on Saturday (September 6).

Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas, which departed Port Canaveral on Monday (September 1), canceled its call at Coco Cay. The revised itinerary will now call at Nassau on Tuesday (September 2), Key West on Wednesday (September 3) and spend the night there leaving Thursday morning (September 4) spending the day at sea. Sovereign of the Seas will return to Port Canaveral on Friday (September 5) as scheduled.

For links to other tropical storm and weather information, please see the cruise weather page on our main site at cruisenewsdaily.com.

This item will be updated as changes are received from the cruise lines.

Hurricane Gustav Itinerary Changes

Cruise lines reported the following itinerary changes due to tropical storm/hurricane Gustav (2008). (Ships are listed in alphabetical order.)

Carnival Conquest, Sunday, August 24 sailing from Galveston: Canceled its call at Montego Bay and instead called at Grand Cayman (August 27), Cozumel (August 28) and Progreso (August 29).

Carnival Conquest, Sunday, August 31 sailing from Galveston: canceled its call at Montego Bay and replaced it with one at Progreso and reordered the ports. The new itinerary called at Progreso (September 2), Cozumel (September 3) and Grand Cayman (September 5).

Carnival Ecstasy, August 28 sailing from Galveston: Called at Progreso on August 30) rather than Cozumel. Carnival then kept the ship at sea until September 3 rather than returning to Galveston on September 1.

Carnival Ecstasy, September 1, 5-day sailing from Galveston was delayed until September 3 and will operated a 3-day cruise to nowhere, returning to Galveston on September 6. Passengers received a 50% refund of their cruise fare and a 50% discount on a future 3- to 5-day cruise. They also had the option of canceling and receiving a full refund.

Carnival Fantasy, which sailed from its temporary homeport of Mobile on August 28, called at Progreso on August 30 rather than Cozumel. Carnival then kept the ship at sea until September 3 rather than returning to Mobile on September 1.

Carnival Fantasy September 1, 5-day sailing from Mobile was delayed until September 3 and will operate as a 4-day cruise calling at Cozumel on September 5, and returning to Mobile on September 7. Passengers received a 25% refund of their cruise fare and a 25% discount on a future 3- to 5-day cruise. They also had the option of canceling and receiving a full refund.

Carnival Inspiration August 30 sailing from Tampa: Canceled its call at Grand Cayman. Instead it called at Key West (August 31) and Cozumel (September 2).

Carnival Liberty August 30 sailing from Miami: Reversed the order of ports, and called at Ocho Rios (September 1), Grand Cayman (September 2) and Cozumel (September 4).

Carnival Triumph August 24 sailing from Miami: After calling at Cozumel (August 26), it canceled its calls at Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. It then called at Half Moon Cay (August 29) and Nassau (August 30).

Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas August 28 sailing from Ft. Lauderdale: The modified itinerary sailed called at Key West (August 29)and Nassau (August 30).

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas August 21 sailing from Norfolk: Canceled its call at Labadee (August 27) and replaced it with a call at Coco Cay (August 28).

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas August 24 sailing from Port Canaveral: Revised route to become an eastern Caribbean itinerary dropping its calls at Labadee, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It called at St. Thomas (August 27) and St. Maarten (August 28).

For other cruise weather information, please see the cruise weather page on our main site at cruisenewsdaily.com.

From the ship update department:

We had a subscriber contact us this week to tell us that Norwegian Star was in need of some sprucing up.

We contacted Norwegian Cruise Line to see what they could tells us, and they know. That's why this week they are in the process of laying new carpet (while the ship is in service) in various parts of the ship.

The Norwegian Star is scheduled for a major drydock in November 2009.

At this time, however, all the Freestyle 2.0 elements are in place on the ship, except for the action stations in the Lido restaurant, and those will be done during the drydock.