Key Aspects:
- Multiple Royal Caribbean ships are shifting their itineraries due to rough weather in the Bahamas in the next few days.
- Port swaps, moving around sea days, and cancelling port visits are all typical adjustments as needed.
- All ships are being kept safe and will return to their homeports as planned without delays.
A cold front heading south is having an impact in unexpected regions – namely, the Bahamas. While the tropical region won’t see temperatures plummet quite as much as the low 30s expected in the Sunshine State, high winds and rough seas are causing multiple cruise itinerary changes.
Several Royal Caribbean ships have now shifted the days of their port visits to steer clear of the worst weather that could make docking a challenge. Such changes are always made with safety as the top priority and with guests’ best interests in mind.
Where necessary, shore excursions booked through Royal Caribbean will be changed to the new port visit days automatically, or cancelled and fully refunded if necessary.
Radiance of the Seas
Sailing from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Radiance of the Seas is moving the day planned to visit Nassau on the November 10, 2025 departure.
The 4-night itinerary will still visit the capital of the Bahamas, but now on Thursday, November 13, rather than Tuesday, November 11 as originally planned. Tuesday will now be a day at sea instead. The visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay on Wednesday, November 12 is unchanged.
The 90,090-gross-ton ship will still return to Fort Lauderdale as planned on Friday, November 14.
Wonder of the Seas
The November 10 departure of Wonder of the Seas is also a 4-night cruise to the Bahamas, but both the day in Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay have now been changed.
The days are swapped, and the Oasis-class ship will visit Nassau first on Wednesday, November 12, followed by CocoCay on Thursday, November 13.
Tuesday, November 11, will now be a day at sea rather than CocoCay as initially planned. On Tuesday, wind speeds at CocoCay are expected to reach 22-25 knots (25-29 miles per hour) when Wonder of the Seas would have been docking.
Read Also: What Are the Different Oasis-Class Cruise Ships?
This would be a potentially unsafe situation for the cruise ship, as well as make the pier unsafe for guests to walk across with crashing waves and slick surfaces.
Wonder of the Seas will return to Miami as planned on Friday, November 14.
Freedom of the Seas
The itinerary for Freedom of the Seas‘ 5-night cruise leaving Miami on November 10 has been completely changed. The ship was originally scheduled to visit CocoCay and Cozumel, but now both of those ports have been cancelled.
Instead, Freedom of the Seas will visit the Dominican Republic twice with visits to both Taino Bay (Wednesday, November 12) and Amber Cove (Thursday, November 13). The ship will return to her South Florida homeport as planned on Saturday, November 15.
Utopia of the Seas
The 4-night sailing of Utopia of the Seas that departed Port Canaveral on Monday, November 10, has also caused the ship to swap the planned day at sea with the visit to Nassau, as Cruise Hive previously reported. This is a similar change to Radiance of the Seas and for the same reasons, to avoid the strongest winds and roughest waves.
The Oasis-class ship will return to Port Canaveral with no further delays on Friday, November 14.
These Are NOT Hurricane Changes
Given that it’s still technically hurricane season until November 30, it isn’t unreasonable to think this many ship changes might be related to a tropical system developing.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), however, there is no tropical activity currently causing any concern, and “tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 7 days.”
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This just confirms that rough weather can impact cruise sailings at any time, in any sailing region.
Cruise guests should always remain flexible with their vacation expectations. While cruise lines will do their best to deliver the planned itineraries, weather-related changes are outside their control and the safety of the ship, guests, and crew members is more important than any individual port visit.
