Key Aspects:
- Ruby Princess will not be visiting Nawiliwili (Kauai) on her September 17, 2026 sailing, a 16-night Hawaiian voyage roundtrip from San Francisco.
- Hurricane Lowell caused extensive power outages and damage on Kauai when it passed close to the island on September 7-8.
- Instead, Ruby Princess will extend her visit to Honolulu into an overnight stay, but no other ports on the itinerary are impacted.
Ruby Princess will be skipping her planned visit to Nawiliwili (Kauai) on her September 17, 2026 departure, a 16-night Hawaiian Islands cruise roundtrip from San Francisco. To give guests more port time, the ship will extend her visit to Honolulu, arriving earlier than planned and staying at Hawaii’s capital city overnight.
The change is due to the impact Hurricane Lowell has had on Kauai following the storm’s close passage to the island on Monday night, September 7, and into Tuesday morning, September 8. The storm, which peaked at Category 5 but weakened to Category 2 as it passed the western islands, was the first hurricane to directly impact Kauai since 1992 and, according to Kaua’i Now, knocked out power to more than 91% of the island’s utility cooperative accounts.
As of September 16, an outage map from KIUC shows more than 3,100 customers are still without power. Hundreds of structures were also damaged by the storm, as well as roads on the island.
Princess Cruises reached out to guests booked on Ruby Princess‘ September 17 departure to alert them to the itinerary change.
“Due to the impact of Hurricane Lowell on the island of Kauai, Ruby Princess will no longer call to Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii on Tuesday, September 22,” the notification confirmed.
The ship was scheduled to be in Nawiliwili from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The port was to have been the first stop on the ship’s itinerary, but now Ruby Princess will proceed straight to Honolulu.
“Instead, the call to Honolulu, Hawaii has been extended to an overnight call now arriving on Tuesday, September 22 and departing Wednesday, September 23 as scheduled,” the email said.
Ruby Princess was originally scheduled to arrive in Honolulu at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Now, the estimated time of arrival is 8 a.m. on Tuesday, giving guests a full 39 hours in the city before the planned departure at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, plenty of time for an additional tour or more experiences ashore.
The cruise line has confirmed that any shore excursions booked through Princess Cruises for the now-cancelled visit to Kauai will be automatically cancelled and refunded to the original form of payment.
At this time, there are no further changes to the itinerary. Ruby Princess is still scheduled to visit Kona from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 24 followed by Kahului from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, September 25.
The next five full days will be at sea, and Ruby Princess will have a short call to Ensenada, Mexico from 12 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, before one more day at sea. The ship will return to San Francisco for debarkation on Saturday, October 3.
Not the First Storm to Impact Hawaii in 2026
Hurricane Lowell is not the first storm to have impacted the Aloha State during the 2026 hurricane season. In the eastern Pacific, the official hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30.
In mid-August, Cruise Hive reported on the impact of Hurricane Lala, which included cancelled port visits and itinerary adjustments for Pride of America and Norwegian Spirit while the Port of Honolulu was closed.
While Hawaii has had multiple storm impacts this season, the Atlantic hurricane season has been eerily quiet, with no official hurricanes yet recorded since the season began on June 1.
In many years, multiple ports in the Bahamas and Caribbean would have port closures and ship itinerary changes due to the impact of different storms. Though 2026 has not yet seen an Atlantic hurricane, tropical storms can still be of great concern and cause similar adjustments to cruise ship sailings.
