Guests on a 5-night Carnival Cruise Line Western Caribbean voyage have discovered they may spend more time at sea due to a homeport closure.
The Port of New Orleans closed on September 11 due to Hurricane Francine, which is currently bringing 90 miles per hour winds to Louisiana.
The hurricane, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm today, is bringing life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds to the coastline of Louisiana and Mississippi and is not expected to pass until early morning hours of September 12, as it heads inland.
As a result, the 2,974-passenger Carnival Valor, which had set sail ahead of the storm on September 7, 2024, will not be able to make its 8 a.m. arrival on September 12. The news comes during a sea day after the ship enjoyed calls in Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, posted the news on his Facebook page, stating, “It is now clear that the ship will not be able to return to New Orleans at the scheduled time tomorrow.”
He continued, “At best, we are very tentatively anticipating arriving tomorrow afternoon.” He also said the arrival could be delayed further “depending on the storm’s impact.”
Carnival officials will provide further updates for passengers on the 110,000-gross-ton ship, as well as those scheduled to sail on its next voyage, a 4-night roundtrip cruise to Cozumel, which was scheduled to depart at 5:30 p.m. on September 12.
“As the safety of our guests and crew is our priority, we will continue to monitor the storm, and factor in guidance from the National Hurricane Center, U.S. Coast Guard, and the local port authorities to provide timely updates as more information becomes available,” said the cruise line.
Carnival Valor, along with its sister 3,756-passenger Carnival Liberty, homeports in Port NOLA. However, Carnival Liberty is currently in Roatan, Honduras, and its itinerary is unaffected by the storm. It will return to NOLA on September 15.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Getaway and Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, also homeport in New Orleans but are currently spending the remains of summer and fall in the Aegean Sea and Alaska, respectively.
The port also services six river vessels that sail along the Mississippi River, including those operated by American Cruise Lines and Viking.
The port’s operations are pending until terminal operators can assess damage after the storm. It is hoping to resume operations at noon on September 12, weather-permitting.
Francine Evokes Memories of Katrina
Francine developed as a tropical storm off the coast of Mexico on September 9, with weather forecasters accurately predicting it would intensify into a hurricane by September 11.
Originally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated a Storm Surge Watch for the Upper Texas and Louisiana coastlines, prompting the Port of Galveston in Texas to warn vessels to make storm preparations.
However, Francine experienced an eastward shift on September 10, sending the storm directly towards New Orleans, which infamously endured the wrath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
That storm, a Category 3 with wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour when it hit the Louisiana coastline, brought intense flooding that destroyed the city’s levees, placing 80 percent of New Orleans underwater.
It took NOLA 18 months to dry out from Katrina, which killed nearly 1,400 people and is one of the deadliest hurricanes in the United States.
As Francine pummels the area, it is expected to intensify into a Category 2 hurricane, with the City of New Orleans closing government offices and more than 130 flights at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport cancelled.
