After days of waiting for Hurricane Milton to arrive in Florida, which is still reeling from Hurricane Helene, the severe storm has officially made it to the Sunshine State on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
But while Milton is in town, the local cruise industry will have to take a break – which is impacting several ships from a variety of cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean.
As the storm drew closer, many of the cruise ports closed to maritime traffic for safety reasons – which will unfortunately prevent several Royal Caribbean ships at sea from returning from their current voyages on time.
This, of course, has a domino effect – and will delay multiple upcoming sailings. So far, Port of Tampa Bay, Port Canaveral, and Jacksonville’s JAXPORT have all shut down.
The Port of Palm Beach, Port Everglades, and PortMiami currently remain open – but on a very limited basis for absolutely essential functions and storm preparations (which doesn’t include cruising) and are likely to close completely very soon.
The storm, which was a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 180 mph as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, was downgraded to a Category 3 storm shortly before reaching Florida’s West Coast.
However, according to the National Hurricane Center (NOAA), the storm is still very dangerous and already bringing torrential rains to Tampa Bay and wind gusts to Sarasota – with sustained winds of around 120 mph.
While modern ships are designed to handle rough waters and stormy weather, docking conditions would be unsafe and it’s in the best interest for the safety and comfort of all onboard to wait out at the storm from a safe distance.
Utopia of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s newest ship is one of many that will be delayed in her return to her homeport.
Utopia of the Seas was due to disembark from her current 4-night Bahamas sailing in her homeport, Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, on Friday, October 11, and set sail on a new 3-night cruise to Nassau, Bahamas, and CocoCay, the cruise line’s private island destination.
But as the second busiest cruise port in the world will still be closed, the Oasis-Class vessel’s return has been pushed back to Saturday, October 12.
This means the subsequent sailing will be shortened and the port call on Nassau will be skipped.
“Due to the closure of the Port Canaveral, our previous sailing will be delayed in returning. As a result, our sailing will now take place on Saturday, October 12, 2024, and we’ll have to skip our visit to Nassau, Bahamas,” the cruise line wrote in a letter to impacted guests.
The 5,668-guest ship’s current sailing has also been impacted by the storm already. Not only will cruisers be onboard a day longer than planned, but the order in which they visited the ports of call – CocoCay and Nassau – was reversed to avoid the path of the storm.
Adventure of the Seas
Like Utopia of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas is also homeporting in Florida’s Port Canaveral and will have to delay her return from October 11 to October 12.
The Voyager-class vessel is in the middle of a 6-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary, and was due to begin a longer 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise on October 11.
Due to the delayed start, the sailing will skip its first port of call on October 14, 2024, which would have been on Willemstad, Curacao, in exchange for a sea day to help make up lost time.
“We’ve had to shift our boarding day to Saturday, October 12, 2024, departing by 8:00pm. Unfortunately, this means that our itinerary has been revised and we’ll have to skip our visit to Willemstad, Curacao,” the cruise line updated.
However, the other ports of call will remain on the itinerary as planned – including Oranjestad, Aruba; Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic; and Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Independence of the Seas
The next change coming down the pipeline is for Independence of the Seas, which won’t be able to return to PortMiami as planned on October 10.
This means the Freedom-class cruise ship will now embark on its subsequent sailing – a 4-night cruise to Labadee, Haiti – a day late on October 11.
But because of the delay, it will now no longer be possible to visit Labadee – and the 4,375-passenger ship will call on CocoCay, Bahamas, instead.
“We’ll have to skip our visit to Labadee, Haiti and enjoy a Sea Day instead. To help make up for this last-minute change, we’ve added a stop to Perfect Day at CocoCay on Sunday, October 13th,” Royal Caribbean said.
This change is particularly sad, as the cruise line only recently began sailing back to Labadee after a months-long suspension due to unrest in Haiti.
Mariner of the Seas
Mariner of the Seas isn’t quite as impacted as some of the other ships within Royal Caribbean’s fleet, as the Voyager-class vessel is homeporting out of Galveston, Texas.
However, the 4,000-passenger ship is in the middle of a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise, which brings her closer to Milton and will delay her return to Galveston as she alters course to avoid the storm.
That said, she will still arrive in the Texas port on October 10 as planned – just several hours later than expected.
While this will delay the embarkation process, the ship will still set sail on a 4-night Western Caribbean sailing on October 10 as planned – but with a later departure time. Guests were issued new arrival windows accordingly.
Assuming no further changes are made, there should be no impact on the one and only port call on October 12, which is a visit to Cozumel, Mexico.
A Bonus Change: Symphony of the Seas
While the above changes have all been for upcoming sailings, Symphony of the Seas may be tweaking its current 7-night Bahamas itinerary.
According to guests onboard, the ship is skipping its planned call on Labadee for tomorrow, October 10, and expediting its return to Cape Liberty, New Jersey, to avoid Hurricane Milton. However, Royal Caribbean has not yet confirmed these changes publicly.
“Symphony of the Seas has cancelled Labadee for tomorrow. Captain announced they are full speed ahead back to Cape Liberty to get ahead of Milton,” a current passenger shared on Facebook.
Read Also: What to Do Onboard a Cruise Ship in Bad Weather
Labadee was already a late addition to the itinerary. The cruise was supposed to call on CocoCay and Nassau, but switched to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Labadee because of Hurricane Milton.
Compensation for Impacted Guests
While Royal Caribbean is not able to control the weather, it understands that these last-minute changes to long-awaited vacations are disappointing.
While compensation is being provided for some, what will be given is dependent on the nature of the change and the specific ship’s situation.
For the delays that remove a day from the cruise on Utopia of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, and Adventure of the Seas, the family-friendly brand will prorate the sailing and provide a refund for the missed day in the form of an onboard credit.
They will also refund any pre-paid shore excursions in the same fashion. If any funds are remaining at the end of the sailing, the rest will be refunded to the card on file within 14 business days.
Additionally, Royal Caribbean will reimburse up to $200 for domestic airfare changes and $400 for international changes for change fees for flights and transfers booked outside of Royal Caribbean – at least for the Utopia on the Seas sailing.
Impacted cruisers are advised to check with the cruise line to see what their options are and what compensation will be provided, if any, for their specific situation.
