Hurricane Helene is now a Tropical Storm moving away from Florida’s cruise ports, but it continues to cause operational issues for some cruise ships and guests, including Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wish.
The ship, completing a 3-night Bahamas cruise and set to return to Port Canaveral on September 27, 2024, will arrive at her homeport later than scheduled. Port Canaveral, the second-busiest port in the Sunshine State, after PortMiami, was closed due to the hurricane on September 26, 2024 but reopened the next day.
Disney Wish issued a statement to guests booked on the ship’s next sailing, which departs on September 27, 2024, advising them to delay their arrival to the cruise terminal by five hours.
“We ask that Disney Wish Guests sailing on Friday, September 27, postpone their arrival to the terminal by five (5) hours after their selected port arrival time, but no later than 7:00 PM.
Guests will not be able to access the cruise terminal or parking facility in Port Canaveral until four (4) hours after their selected port arrival time,” Disney Cruise Line said in an alert to booked guests.
Port Canaveral officially reopened at 9 a.m. on September 27, 2024, with no operational restrictions. The port’s Jetty Park, a public park and campground area, remains closed due to power outages, but the closure has no bearing on cruise operations.
In a notice posted on its website and Facebook page, port officials confirmed they are expecting cruise ships slated to arrive at the port on September 27, 2024, to be delayed.
“These delays will likely impact guest embarkation times for outbound sailings. All cruise guests planning to sail from Port Canaveral on Friday, Sept. 27 or Saturday, Sept. 28 are advised to contact their cruise lines to confirm their embarkation and ship’s departure time,” Port Canaveral’s notice to cruise guests stated.
The 4,000-guest Disney Wish operates 3-night cruises roundtrip from Port Canaveral with port calls at Nassau, Bahamas, and Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island destination in the Bahamas.
Read Also: Disney’s Castaway Cay, Bahamas: What You Need to Know
When Port Canaveral shut down it was operating under Hurricane Condition ZULU, as ordered by the U.S. Coast Guard, meaning it had ceased all operations, both shoreside and waterside. The closure took effect around midnight on September 26, 2024, as winds were expected to reach 39 miles per hour.
Several Other Ships Impacted by Caribbean Storm
Besides Disney Wish, several other cruise ships impacted by Port Canaveral’s shutdown include Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas, both scheduled to return to the port on September 27, 2024.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Glory also is slated to conclude a 4-night Bahamas sailing at Port Canaveral on September 27, 2024.
The powerful Helene, now weakened to a tropical storm, shifted north following its landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region, where the Port Tampa Bay is located. On September 27, 2024 the storm was moving across Georgia.
Ships based at Port Tampa Bay were affected, too. The facility closed to cruise ship traffic on September 25, 2024 and has not announced a reopening. Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas, for example, left Tampa on September 22, 2024 sailing a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise that was to return to the Florida port on September 27, 2024.
The ship’s itinerary was changed to a Bahamas routing, to avoid the storm, and the vessel’s return to Tampa is postponed until September 29, 2024.
