Disney Fantasy is currently in the middle of her second “Merrytime” Christmas cruise of the holiday season, but guests onboard may be feeling a little less festive after some last-minute itinerary changes.
Out of an abundance of caution, Disney altered the current 7-night Western Caribbean sailing to avoid any potential fallout from Tropical Storm Sara – which recently formed in the Western Caribbean Sea.
Guests were notified of the change one day before embarkation on November 15, 2024 – with the Dream-class vessel setting sail as planned from Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, on November 16.
“We have been closely monitoring Tropical Storm Sara in the Western Caribbean. The current forecast track shows the system continuing to move through and possibly impacting conditions in the Western Caribbean during your sailing,” Disney Cruise Line wrote to impacted guests.
“As a result, we have made the decision to change your itinerary…we apologize for any disappointment and appreciate your understanding regarding this necessary itinerary change,” continued the update.
The original itinerary called for stops at Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; and finally, Castaway Cay, Disney’s first private island destination in the Bahamas.
But because of the storm, the planned visits to Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Falmouth, Jamaica, are no longer possible.
Instead, the scheduled call on Cozumel on November 18 was replaced by a sea day, the Grand Cayman visit on November 19 will now be a day in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and what would have been a visit to Falmouth on November 20 will now be a call on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
But luckily, the visit to Castaway Cay on November 22 – which is the final port call of the sailing – is still scheduled to happen as originally planned. Even though most of the itinerary was changed, guests will still get the finale to their sailing that they were expecting.
While Disney did not offer compensation for the last minute change, any impacted excursions that were booked directly through the family friendly cruise line were automatically cancelled and refunded.
Tropical Storm Sara Dissipates
After a rough 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, it’s nice to know that Tropical Storm Sara won’t be bringing another wave of damage on the same scale as Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Milton – which battered Florida and much of the Caribbean.
While models once showed Sara as a powerful weather system, it largely dissipated as it passed over Belize and continues to weaken in the Gulf of Mexico.
But as the storm dissipates, the moisture it carried has to go somewhere – meaning it could still bring heavy rain to the US East Coast and parts of the Caribbean (and has already brought torrential downpours, flooding, and mudslides to parts of Honduras and Nicaragua).
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According to the final “Remnants of Sara Public Advisory” shared by the National Hurricane Center (NOAA), the weakening storm has thus far continued to maintain sustained winds of 30 mph with stronger gusts.
In addition to parts of the US, portions of Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala, western Nicaragua, northern Honduras, and the Mexican State of Quintana Roo may still receive several inches of rainfall that can be attributed to the storm.
That said, the threat to land has largely passed and there is no new tropical cyclone activity expected in the Atlantic in the next 48 hours, as per NOAA’s forecast at the time of publication.
Indeed, storm activity will likely keep winding down as this year’s hurricane season comes to a close – which lasts annually from June 1 to November 30.
At the end of October, Royal Caribbean’s Chief Meteorologist Craig Setzer shared a positive weather update for future cruises sailing from US ports – effectively stating that the risk of severe storms in the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea has now lowered significantly.
