Hurricane Beryl is moving in on the Caribbean, and Royal Caribbean was one of the first cruise lines to change its itineraries.
Experts predicted the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season would be very active.
As forecasted, the first major hurricane of the season is already a historic storm, arriving earlier in the season than others of its kind.
Hurricane Beryl is predicted to become an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Royal Caribbean currently has three ships in the Southeast Caribbean, where the hurricane's path is scheduled.
Icon of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Harmony of the Seas have all changed itineraries due to the incoming hurricane.
Rhapsody of the Seas is currently on a 7-night Southern Caribbean cruise. As of July 1st, Cruise Mapper shows her position at St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and her itinerary has not changed.
Icon of the Seas was scheduled on an Eastern Caribbean sailing, but will visit Mexico instead
Royal Caribbean's newest and largest ship departed from Miami, Florida on June 29th, 2024.
The 248,655 gross-ton vessel was scheduled to visit St. Maarten on July 2nd, and St. Thomas on July 3rd.
Instead, Icon of the Seas will now visit Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico.
The ship will then visit Perfect Day at CocoCay and return to Miami on July 6th as planned.
Royal Caribbean let passengers know in an email that the itinerary change was intended to avoid strong winds and high waves on the sea.
Wonder of the Seas will skip two ports and call on Nassau, Bahamas
Wonder of the Seas left from Port Canaveral, Florida on June 30th.
Royal Caribbean has canceled the ship's stops at Roatan, Honduras, and Costa Maya, Mexico, according to a message board post.
The Oasis-Class vessel will now visit Perfect Day at CocoCay on July 1st and Cozumel, Mexico on July 3rd.
After these scheduled stops, Wonder of the Seas will go to Nassau, Bahamas before returning to Port Canaveral.
Harmony of the Seas canceled a visit to Roatan, Honduras and moved up her visit to Mexico
Harmony of the Seas, another Oasis-Class ship, is also pivoting her itinerary to avoid the tropical storm.
She departed from Galveston, Texas on a 7-night Western Caribbean sailing.
Guests onboard received a letter that they would be skipping a visit to Roatan, Honduras on July 3rd, and moving up the ship's arrival in Mexico.
Harmony of the Seas will now arrive at Cozumel on July 2nd, and visit Costa Maya on July 3rd.
Royal Caribbean also added a sea day on July 4th.
“We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change caused by the weather – your safety is our top priority," the letter read.
"Please know, being onboard is one of the safest places because we are faster and can move out of the way of any inclement weather."
Hurricane Beryl has been predicted to be "extremely dangerous"
Image taken from the National Hurricane Center's website. Information is subject to change.
according to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Beryl will become an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 tropical storm.
This hurricane comes unusually early in the season, already setting historical records.
“Development this far east in late June is unusual, in fact, there have only been a few storms in history that have formed over the central or eastern tropical Atlantic this early in the year,” NHC Forecaster Cangialosi explained.
On Monday morning, the storm strengthed and poised to hit the Caribbean, threatening Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.
St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and Grenada are most at risk of being hit by the core of the storm, according to CNN.
Hurricane Beryl is currently traveling west-northwest with sustained winds at 130 MPH, categorizing it as a major hurricane.
